This is a blog post from Caz at Invisibly Me blog marking:

International Awareness Day – ME/CFS // Fibromyalgia // MCS – 12th May 2018

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Today I’d like to do my own little tribute for the International Awareness Day for Fibromyalgia. It’s a little in advance as I’m sure that come Saturday there will be many posts on this.

Fibromyalgia has long been looked upon with scepticism, with many individuals and medical professionals doubting its existence. Some have regarded it as an umbrella term for lack of an officially recognised diagnosis, while others have intimated it to be psychological. Recent years have thankfully begun to shed light on this condition. Tireless campaigning has helped to raise awareness, increase understanding and has worked towards official recognition. But the fight isn’t over yet. There’s a long way to go to reduce stigma and improve both diagnosis and treatment for those dealing with fibromyalgia.

I was officially diagnosed with fibro by my rheumatologist last year after dealing with symptoms for years, initially thought of as being due to other conditions, that there was nothing wrong with me or perhaps that it was in my head (which they also said about my stomach issues, and here I am now, with a stoma!) For a while, I had asked to avoid labels and ‘umbrella terms’, mostly for fear it would signal the end of the road. I didn’t want them to stop looking for causes and the root of the problem, leaving me forever feeling worse and with no real way to get any better. I wanted them to keep looking, to figure out what was wrong, how my life has taken such a turn so quickly and left me like this for so long. The official diagnosis is to be reviewed in the near future due to overlapping symptoms between fibro & ME and the query over whether it’s both.

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