I'm not sure when it truly started. It could have been at five when the teacher asked me to sit “Indian Style” and my legs fell asleep. Or, maybe it was when I was in a car accident at 19, followed by the injury to my back in a dance class two weeks later. It may have even been after I gave birth to my beautiful daughter. Regardless of when it started, or even the cause, I know that I've had aches and pains for as long as I can remember. I had grown to feel like they were an old friend of mine. They were there to speak up and give me advice about what to wear or plan, every time it rained or poured. I had a keen sense of knowing before the weather man what tomorrow would bring, and I didn't need a degree in meteorology to help me out. I loved my old friend for that because my plans could always be made for the day without having to make a “rain date”.
As the years went by, however, it became harder for me to rely on my friend. I was having sparse pain that would last for a minute or two and then stop as quickly as it came on. Holding a coffee cup in one hand proved a difficult task on some days and others, it was writing my name legibly. I would have problems with turning on a light switch on some days too. Even at that point, I wasn't going to give up on my friend. I was young and still alive and kicking at 27 years of age. I figured that my friend would stop the “chatter” sooner or later if I just kept moving. I didn't think to complain about it either, because, after all, why complain when no one listens anyway?
A few blinks of the eye and I was 32 years-old and having difficulty with sleep, migraines, concentration, anxiety, and stress, along with walking. I thought it best to find out why my friend was adding more “chatter” to the conversation than normal. I came to this conclusion after I had no feeling in my legs, to get up from a seated position on the floor.
In two months time, I was diagnosed with the syndrome, Fibromyalgia. I thankfully had heard about the syndrome through some friends, a few magazine articles, and the web. It was a relief to know that it wasn't fatal-- annoying yes-- fatal, no. I began to make a few changes in my life so my friend could go back to being a nice conversationalist about the weather. I started to eat the right kinds of foods for my syndrome, practice yoga along with other forms of exercise, and I left my manual-labor job. This took about two years to learn with a lot of encouragement from my friend, aches and pains. I'm 34 now, happy, and when it rains… it doesn't pour on my parade in life anymore.
