In short, the answer is yes, Fibromyalgia is real.

I’ve been sick with something since I was 9 years old. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another — and we never really knew what was going on. Every doctor I went to and every test I took went the same way. It led to nothing, even though my mother and I KNEW something was wrong because of my symptoms and constant challenges. My mom always wondered if it was Fibromyalgia, but it was the beginning of the days of: “Is Fibromyalgia real?”

It wasn’t until I was much older that I finally got diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. A lot of people think this illness isn’t even real — but to me, as someone who waited for this diagnosis forever and lives with the pain every day, it’s very real.

There’s a lot I can’t do in my life because of Fibromyalgia. Even standing up to wash dishes is hard, my back starts hurting and it makes me feel like I’m going to snap in half. I can barely walk around the grocery store without my shins and back giving out.

I’m not alone in my struggles, either. Millions of Americans deal with this chronic pain issue, yet, some people still believe this illness is a myth. Why?

If it’s real, why do people believe otherwise?

There are a couple of reasons why people don’t believe in Fibromyalgia. For one, there is no lab test that can detect it, only a manual test the doctors can do where they touch you in certain areas with specific pressure and if you feel pain, you have it. To me, this is a perfectly valid way to diagnose something. There’s a pain reaction to pressure, similar to the way that your reflexes react. There’s no lab test to test your reflexes either — just a manual test in the chair.

However, this in itself is another reason people don’t believe in it, because many doctors don’t even agree on how to diagnose patients and feel that it is subjective from one doctor to the next. But ya know what? Doctors across many fields don’t agree on a lot of things, much less doctors in the same field. Every doctor is different because they are human, and are going to believe different things.

Another reason is that Fibromyalgia also has no clear cause. There is nothing that doctors can point to and say “This is what caused your Fibromyalgia.” It’s a mystery what causes it — but it is real. Just because you can’t see something or don’t know why it happens doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

This leads to yet another reason people don’t believe in Fibromyalgia. Lots of people think it’s all in our heads — that our brains are just making up all this extreme pain just because. Personally, I think this is the most ridiculous of the reasons, and, frankly, the most insulting. However, even if that WAS the case — something is causing THAT. The pain is still real, whether it is “made up” or not.

So, what is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic illness that causes pain all over the body. The main pain spots are the head, arms, chest, abdomen, legs, back, buttocks, neck, elbows, hips, shins, and knees. Honestly, it would probably be easier to tell you what parts of the body AREN’T affected. Everyone experiences Fibromyalgia differently, and each pain area is different for each person.

For me, my main pain areas are my neck, back, hips, shins, and knees. I have so many problems with these areas. ESPECIALLY my neck and back. There are days that my neck is in so much pain that I can’t even turn my head, and my back always feels like I’m going to snap right in half.

If you’re sitting there wondering if you’re crazy for thinking you might have this illness, don’t. You’re not crazy, because Fibromyalgia is a real thing. I’m sorry that you’re experiencing what you are, I know how hard it can be to deal with invisible disabilities. My whole life is an invisible disability. To read more about the disabilities I have and how I deal with them, please refer to this post for more information.

Anyway, if you have Fibromyalgia, you have a real disability. Depending on how bad it is for you and what kind of doctor diagnosed you with it, you could actually get on disability. That’s the biggest indicator that this illness is a real thing — it is recognized by disability. How could something classified as a disability not be real to so many people?

My Experience with Fibromyalgia

How it Affects Me Physically

Here’s how I know Fibromyalgia is real — I have it. I live with it every day, and I have to move through it every day. If I want to make pasta, I have to take lots of breaks and sit while I wait for the water to boil and the noodles to cook. If I want to take a shower, I have to lean against the wall a lot between washing my hair and washing my body. If I want to wash my hands or brush my teeth, I have to lean over the sink and do it because I can’t stand up straight for that long.

When I have flare-ups, I call the sensation a “pulling” feeling. The best way I can describe it is like my muscles are trying to separate from each other, and it hurts like hell. Sometimes it hurts so bad that I get completely out of breath and I have to sit down and it takes MINUTES to catch my breath.

As I have grown up with Fibromyalgia, over the years, different parts of my body hurt at different times. For example, when I was little, my hands and hips were the big areas that hurt for me. Now, it is my back, neck, and hips (mostly). It’s strange to me that it happened this way, but it is just something I’ve noticed. I wonder if I will keep my back pain or if it will shift to somewhere else in the future — there’s no way to know, I just have to experience it as time goes on.

How it Affects Me Mentally

Besides the physical things I can’t do, Fibromyalgia also affects me mentally. In my head, for the longest time, I could do anything I put my mind to. So, I put myself in situations where I wasn’t prepared for the outcomes, which would be me feeling like shit all the time and not being able to finish tasks or continue on at all. It took me a long time to realize my limitations, and once I did, it made me really sad. I have an active mind and an active spirit, but my body simply cannot and will not keep up. It’s not its fault — it’s just the way things are for me.

I believe it has also led to body image issues for me. I’m a bigger person and not only does that make my Fibromyalgia worse, it also affects my mental state. Think of it like this — what’s the first thing that people say when someone expresses they don’t like their body? “Well, think of all the wonderful things it can do for you!” See the problem here? For me, my body doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to and is always in pain. That’s something that is hard to be grateful for, even though my body DOES do wonderful things for me and keeps me alive every day.

In Conclusion…

Fibromyalgia affects me every day. I can’t do anything without feeling it — even when I’m just sitting on the couch. It blows my mind to think that some people, even some doctors, don’t believe in the very illness that has just about ruined my life many times.

Whether you believe in it or not, Fibromyalgia is a real thing. It affects millions of Americans every day, not to mention people outside of the US. How can you tell millions of people that they’re wrong about their health — about something that affects their everyday lives in such a negative way?

In my opinion, it’s because those people aren’t experiencing Fibromyalgia and have no idea what it’s like to live in constant pain every day. Maybe if they did, like we do, they would believe. This world is a complicated one, and a lot of people feel like if they don’t experience something, it must not be real — if they can’t SEE it, it can’t be real.

But we know the truth! You can’t see the wind, and yet it is there. You can’t see the universe, and yet it supports us and expands and breathes every day. You can’t see these things, but you sure can FEEL them. Keep that in mind the next time someone tells you Fibromyalgia isn’t real.

I hope you found something here that is useful to you, thank you so much for reading!

— Bee <333