Every one is different, and fibromyalgia is becoming more widely accepted in the medical field. Those who have had it for decades probably took longer to receive a diagnosis because doctor's avoided the diagnosis. Personally, I was just recently diagnosed this past summer after about 2 years of actively insisting my doctor refer me to various specialists to determine what was going on. There were symptoms before that, though, and it wasn't until I decided to take my medical health into my own hands that things started moving. You have to be your own advocate and fight for yourself because your doctor won't. They want easy answers and fibro is definitely not an easy answer.

It was my third episode, and I wanted to retire because I was finding it so difficult to manage work. In the end. I had to go privately to see a consultant an
Endochronologist doctrine. Having the diagnosis has enabled me to claim what I am eligible for. My Blue Badge has been life changing.

Old sue can I ask what they are treating separately. My understanding is that each symptom should be treated separately. However, my GP didn’t want to do that at all

That's what I was eluding to - the way women in bygone eras were labelled with situational depression when they had chronic widespread pain. You totally understood.

I think that a lot of us suffer in silence for several years before we are diagnosed. Often times our symptoms aren't acknowledged as being part of a legitimate chronic pain disorder. I wonder if male doctors don't take fibromyalgia seriously as it is mostly women who are afflicted with fibro. If it weren't for my mother, I would have been undiagnosed for years. But she took me seriously, was assertive and forged ahead until she had answers. I asked this question because I want to know how many women #1) Aren't taken seriously by medical professionals #2) by their families or #3) dismiss what their bodies are telling them and swallow the pain.

I got it after my c section when my baby was three months old. My doctor said it had to do with trauma over load and post traumatic stress. From my child hood being abused and molested . And apparently a lot of people with fibro also have I.b.s , endometerosis , gallbladder issues. I have all of these also.
Apparently my doctor thinks it also has to do with being over weight but I went from 250 to 190 and I still have the same amount of pain so that's false I got it three years ago at age thirty. He did a pressure test on my body with his fingers and that's how he determined I have it.