Fibromyalgia is a nerve disorder that causes extreme pain in the muscles, joints, tendons, and soft tissues. CFIDS stands for Chronic Fatigue Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. This basically depletes my immune system to an unhealthy level and knocks me off my feet for days to weeks at a time. The doctor said its the worse case he’s ever seen, and I have an appointment to see the head of rheumatology in January.

My question to you is this: How do you deal with a diagnosis that means that you will be in constant severe pain for the rest of your life? How do you face the day knowing how much pain and exhaustion it will cause you? Most of all, how do you maintain a normal life?

Honestly, I’m scared to death. I’ve only just turned 19 and have huge goals and aspirations that are being obstructed by this condition which has plagued me since the start of high school. I’m now a college student, but its been getting worse and worse to the point where I’m practically useless a great deal of the time.

It’s affected my family, my boyfriend, my classwork, my job, pretty much everything in my life. My mind is more capable than my body, and that drives me absolutely insane. Sometimes my boyfriend can’t even touch me because the pressure hurts too much on my skin. How will I be able to deal with kids and a job that requires me to be present all the time?

Please offer any advice you can, I know that the situation is kind of specific…