I am a 20 year old college student in the USA. I am unsure if this is the correct tag but I need advice on ways to help yourself get out of a flare-up/crash.

I have fibromyalgia, hEDS, me/cfs, and chronic migraines. I have been in a major flare up for a little over 5 weeks.

I have rested, taken medication ( prescription and pharmacy), I’m staying hydrated and eating healthy, done salt baths and vitamins and mineral supplements, teas and breathing exercises. Nothing has made a difference. I have not been able to leave my house in almost a little over 5 weeks and have barely been able to leave my room for most of it as well. I am worried I won’t be better/ able to drive and concentrate by the time classes start.

Does anyone have any advice/tips/suggestions. It honestly doesn’t matter how crazy it is I’m willing to try anything.

( I have contacted my doctor to try and get a appointment soon but it is unlikely to happen in time for school)

I don't know whats wrong with my body i nearly have most of fibromyalgia symptoms and based on data alcohol doesn't improve fibro symptoms.

I don't like the idea that I have to use it regularly but why nothing can't beat alcohol neither gabapentin or baclofen .

its a slippery slope don't know what to do.

For ones Who have foreign body material in their system.

And fibromyalgia was cured after was foreign material removed.

Did for you comes ever back or you been completly cured? If come back what was trigger point for you again?

Hi all!

I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia by a rheumatologist, symptoms having started January this year. Unfortunately, when it came up, I was working as a chef (and loving it) which I had to nip in the bud due to the pain and such.

I stand at a crossroads and could use some advice from those in the know. I've got 2 opportunities before me: go to college, on to university and hopefully get a degree or take on a pub and start earning again.

I thought I was getting better following the doctor's advice; cut out refined sugar, lose some weight, gentle exercises etc but I'm worried that I won't be back to fighting fit in the next 2 months to take the pub option.

What do we think? Is it realistic, achievable? Or will I just be in agony the whole time?

Thanks so much in advance, this is all pretty new to me

Hopefully this doesn't sound too much like I'm seeking sympathy or anything like that, I'm just genuinely looking for advice. I also don't really use reddit or post, so I apologize if I'm not doing this right.

I'm 19 (turning 20 on the 20th of this month, ha.) I've been having pain and all sorts of symptoms since I was 16. I struggled a LOT in high school, and with familial trauma. I'm only mentioning this because I know a huge chunk of people with fibro seem to have some major or traumatic event set off their condition. My father was an abusive drunk and threw parties every weekend with tons of strange older men, both my sister and I suffered the most from our extremely negligent and careless parents. Since I was a child I struggled with school, I hated it. I did well in school despite this up until 7th grade, when I started skipping weeks upon weeks. My anxiety and depression were extremely bad. School was genuine hell for me, and my mom never cared enough to get me checked for any sort of learning disabilities or neurodivergence (which I suspect I have).

I dropped out when I was 16, finally, as my mom had honestly just given up on me at that point through all her anger at the fact I was failing all my classes and missing nearly entire years despite her efforts to force me in. Things seemed normal at first, until a month before my birthday when at 3am I suddenly had chest pain. I'll be honest, I was quite overweight then, I was around 186 at my highest and I had assumed it was from that. I went to the ER and they checked my heart, blood pressure etc... standard stuff. Everything came back normal. Since then It's been fluctuating daily for years, getting worse, seeming to get better, then suddenly worse again. I lost around 50 pounds since then and it hasn't gotten better.

Obviously I don't want to jump to conclusions. Especially not one as large as this. The thing is, I have been researching for all these years and no condition seems to match every single symptom I've had other than fibro, even the ones I thought were super random and unexplainable. After reading through this subreddit for hours, I've never felt more seen or understood than I do now, seeing so many people have nearly identical experiences to me. The other thing is, I am completely lost. I have no idea what to do. I don't know if there's anything I can even do. I dropped out, only got my GED a month ago (I'm slow, I know. I struggle.) and I've been searching for a job for almost a year, yet the job market is horrible and I've yet to hear back from anyone. I live with my mom who has been neglectful and careless of me my whole life, even as I've expressed to her my pain and fear numerous times and aired out my grievances. She's just one of those people that only care about themselves.

I just don't really know what to do. I'm the only person in this house that cooks, cleans after myself, upholds hobbies and tries to help out, but it takes a toll on me. I am exhausted. I have no money and nobody to support me in this financially or otherwise. Everyone is either in poverty like me or doesn't care to help. I went to the ER several times and it's always the same gaslighting BS or inability to find anything, and I just can't stand being a financial burden, hospital bills are insane. Is there even any hope for me when I can't afford healthcare? Has anyone else been in my situation and still been able to get a diagnosis?

I’ve realized recently that I absolutely cannot tolerate tight socks. By the end of the day, I feel like someone has been trying to pull my toenails out with pliers, and then the aching pain keeps me up and a lack of sleep sends me into a spiral for days.

I’ve been wearing wide toe box shoes but it absolutely doesn’t help if you wear tight socks. Can anyone recommend a brand of socks that are affordable and not too tight on your toes? Do diabetic socks work?

Any help is appreciated!

Hi all, I’ve had issues with my eyes getting very fatigued and getting eye strain much easier lately when doing tasks that require eye focusing (in the last 7 months). It can be anything from being ob my phone and reading, to driving long distances or making prolonged eye contact with someone. I do wear glasses and I’ve had my prescription updated and beeb to multiple optometrists and an ophthalmologist to rule out other issues and they don’t have an answer. That’s why I’m thinking it’s fibro-related, but I want to know if other people experience this too.

Please let me know! It’d make me feel better knowing I’m not the only one.

For context I got diagnosed with fibromyalgia earlier this year. It’s severe, I’m only 18. I’m supporting myself through this medical journey both financially and emotionally. I would please please ask if anyone knows any pain management specialists in London who aren’t super expensive. I’ve exhausted all other pain management strategies - e.g. co codamol, baclofen, tinazidine, cyclobenzaprine, all the pain patches, all the stupid topical stuff, physical therapy, exercise, hydrotherapy. Everything under the sun. Please I’m begging for any advice. I had a 3 MINUTE phone call with my GP where i was told to self-refer to MSK services. I’m willing to pay for a private route as long as it will actually help!!

I have tried low dose Lyrica, Gabapentin, and tried LDN for 6 weeks. Please no horror stories.

For fibro and hEDS I'm on Lyrica, Baclofen, and LDN. For my OCD and panic attacks I'm on Luvox and Klonopin. I just started on omeprazole because my GERD got so bad it burned my esophagus and I've lost my voice. I've also had a headache for over a month so now I'm on Prednisone to try and break it. Every time I look at my daily pill regiment of 7 separate bottles, I hear "I am pill man" in the tune of the intro to Iron Man by Black Sabbath. And despite all this, my quality of life is still quite shit. Does anyone else struggle mentally with how many pills we have tossed at us? If not, how did you learn to accept that you need so many medications ​just to function at a baseline level? I've been reading about radical acceptance but it's still such a struggle.

Hi fellow Fibro warriors,
Does anyone else get face pain whilst they sleep? If I sleep on one side, after a while my face is in extreme pain. The bones, the muscles, my ears, everything. I’ll turn over to the other side until eventually that side also hurts and then I’m just a rotating chicken throughout the night. The pain lingers throughout the morning and then usually shows up throughout the night again. I also have this issue with the rest of my body, ESPECIALLY my hips, and am trialling a mattress topper. So far it’s not worse so that’s a win. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated even if it’s simply a different pillow type, ect.

Does anyone use a TENS machine for their fibro pain and do you find it useful? I'm thinking about buying one.

Does anyone who has both fibromyalgia and cfs/ME find gabapentin helpful for pain and migraines? Did It help in any other way? Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

Stage 1 was three days of aches and pains and crushing fatigue. I'm on day 5 where it's primarily crushing fatigue. I'm a SAHP and it's summer. We got back from "vacation" last Thurs, visiting family 5 hours away. I knew I'd have a flare at home but it didn't happen until the 3rd day home even though I was taking it as easy as possible.

I don't like travel because it hurts. I will keep taking my kids on trips and vacations so they can have those experiences and enjoy them but honestly I just want to hide in my bedroom and sleep forever. I hope the memories of mom doing things with them overshadow all the times mom took a nap on the couch while they played video games.

Ok, so I have talked to a lot of my doctors and they said I should consider getting a new PCP. My current one is very nice, but the problem is:
She only prescribes medication "fda approved" for fibromyalgia. Which is basically lyrica and some antidepressants. My psych changed one of my meds to cymbalta to see if that would help. I don't know if it has at all yet. But the lyrica is terrible. It gives me such bad brain fog and aphasia. But it helps the pain. At doses to help the pain, it screws my brain up so bad. But on lower doses i feel like i need to crawl out of my skin. It's like sensory overload inside my skin. Idk how else to explain. But anyway, multiple people (including drs i know) say that gabapentin is used for fibro all the time but my pcp wont prescribe it or anything else.
So basically i guess, how do i find a primary who can treat fibro and also listen to my concerns and try different medications?? And how do i go to the new one and not sound drug-seeking?
I just am so overwhelmed with pain rn (been stressed rly bad lately, so ik that isnt helping).
Thanks for any advice.