lh
I have had FM for over 15 years. Mine too came after extreme stress and was misdiagnosed for 8 years as a pinched nerve. My family in the beginning was rather unsupportive since the correct dx was made after my mother's funeral and they thought it was depression since there are no visible signs. I worked until July 99 as a medical(eye) technician that involved moving and swinging equipment around and at times lifting patients. I also have a herniated back disk (from what I don't know) and interestingly also have spina bifida occult(dx from an MRI for the back disc) Accupuncture and meditation help me a lot. I have also learned to listen to my body and not push it. I take 17-22 herbs and vitamins a day rather than take one prescription rx. I will be 50 y.o. in March. In July, the job got to be too much so I looked for another career and found one-esthetics. (doing facials) Now I work in a quiet, dim atmosphere doing gentle strokes on client's faces. I love it. I have started my business in my home and so the $ is not there yet but I am confident it will be. I went thru physical therapy and massage and they were helpful but not as much as acupuncture. I recently took a course in LaStone Therapy which involves hot and cold stones as part of massage during a facial. The instructor taught about FM and stated the FM clients did quite well with Cold stones rather than hot although they did not like lying on them all clients agreed it helped. You cannot let this disease get you down. There are much worse things to have-just deal with it. Learn to listen to your body and not push too far. I hope this has helped you.