Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I just found out about this, kind of late in the day, but (thanks to lothie) let me point out that today is International Awareness Day for fibromyalgia, CFIDS, and ME. Ironically, I'm too wiped (fatigue and pain from fibromyalgia, no doubt exacerbated by my long day yesterday and having to force myself out of the house to get to a doctor appointment today) to write something meaningful about it, but a lot of what Lothie wrote applies, so I encourage y'all to please go read her entry (linked above). My story differs from hers but the important points are there. Some things that are easy for others are not easy for us; we don't look sick; it sucks to get hit with a double-whammy of having to change plans due to pain and/or fatigue and then feeling guilty for letting others down.

Believe it or not, there are still some folks out there claiming that it's "all in our heads". One of my bandmates pointed out this MSNBC article about new developments, including an objective proof that we're not imagining the pain.

This quote jumped out at me: "Often patients are workaholics who push themselves to the limit, despite years of escalating pain. Then a trigger -- a car accident, a viral infection -- pushes them over the edge and knocks their nervous systems out of whack." That sounds familiar.