What is fibromyalgia? And how I deal with it

By Fatima Nadeem

Imagine every single day of your life, you have back pain, neck pain, and migraines. When you tell

someone they don’t understand, or they say don’t look at your phone screen too often, you read too

much, or you have bad posture. That is my life everyday with fibromyalgia and so many others suffer as

well.

Fibromyalgia is defined as a condition that causes pain in muscles and soft tissues all over the body. It is

an ongoing (chronic) condition. Fibromyalgia is often misunderstood due to numerous reasons such as

there being no specific tests like blood or any lab test, it has overlapping symptoms such a pain, fatigue,

and sleep disturbance which can be similar to other conditions like sleep apnea, Lyme disease,

depression, RA, Lupus. MS, anxiety disorders, etc. There is also not much understanding of what causes

fibromyalgia. Some experience it gradually while others can get it due to physical trauma or mental

stress. There are not enough studies to better understand the causes, long term effects and treatments

of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia only affects 2% to 5% of the population and it is noted that women are

more likely to get it than men due to hormonal fluctuations and the differences in ways women and men

react to stress. Anyone can get it including children and the elderly and it often develops in individuals

that are aged 20 to 55.

Fibromyalgia has no cure, but you can go through treatments to relieve the symptoms Treatment can be

through changes in lifestyle such as diet and exercise or relaxation techniques. If someone has

fibromyalgia they should on eating nutrient rich foods, vegetables, fruits, and proteins and to avoid

processed, added sugars, and artificial sweeteners. For exercise I recommend doing low impact workouts

such as Yoga, Pilates, Hiking, Stretching, Walking, Dance, and swimming. Meditation and Acupuncture a

good relaxation technique that help relieve the pain and symptoms and give relief. I also recommend

getting good quality sleep. You should sleep and wake up early and maintain a good sleep schedule.

I had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia back in March of 2024 two months before my 14 th birthday. It

was one of the best and worst days of my life. Best because I finally knew why my body was acting this

way, I was honestly really worried that I had some life threatening disease, but also worst because I

found out it was chronic and may or may not go away. When days got bad I wished I was normal and I

wanted the body pains, migraines, straining, and everything in between to just go away…. It is not easy

but you get used to it and now I am bettering myself. I don’t eat chips, drink soda, and I avoid processed

fruit juice and I am even cutting down my chocolate intake and trying to eat more vegetables. Maybe me

getting fibromyalgia was a lesson in some sort. To preserve and never give up even when life gets a bit

too tough and to be always be grateful for what you have because it could be go away any moment.

I once heard a quote that said You can’t control everything, but you can control how you react to things.

At the end of the day I ask you to be kind to those who have fibromyalgia because you wouldn’t know

what they have to endure every day. Please be more understanding, a lot us get told we are overthinking

or it is all in our head when that is simply not true. We just want someone to listen, to sympathize, and

understand us. Whoever reads this please I ask you to spread awareness. That is why I am writing this

article, because I have yet to meet someone who is not a doctor and knows about fibromyalgia. The

more we spread the word, the more the effort will be made to research and find effective treatments and

cures for fibromyalgia. We may not be able to see fibromyalgia but the pain is still there.