About 7 years ago when I was in my mid 30's I was one of those people that was always on the go. I worked full time, had 3 young children, went to all school and sporting events, was cub master for cub scouts and in my free time was constantly cleaning or doing some kind of project around the house with my husband.

     As time was going by I started to notice I was losing my energy and started having a lot of pain in my upper back up to the back of my head. Then it was getting to the point where I would wake up in the morning and it felt like a truck ran me over. It would literally take about 2-3 minutes for me to actually be able to get out of bed. I started getting depressed because I had no energy to clean, which drove me crazy because I was a compulsive cleaner and then I also started losing weight because I just had no energy to eat. I started to get snappy at work, with my husband and kids. The pain continued to get so bad in my back that I even thought maybe I have bone cancer or something. I felt like I was going crazy!!!!

     I finally went to see my doctor. He did all kinds of blood work and test and couldn't find anything wrong. Thank god he is one of those doctors that will not give up. He sat down with me and started asking me all these questions. He asked if I had stress at work, which I most definitely did. He then asked all the areas that I was feeling the pain and if it was waking me during the night and all other sorts of questions. When we were done he said he knew exactly what I had "fibromyalgia". The problem is there is no test for to diagnose fibromyalgia. First thing I did when I got home was look it up on-line. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was like the information was written about me. From being stressed and over extending myself I was tensing my muscles so much that it was causing me pain. When you don't get enough sleep you body does not produce enough serotonin which is something you need so your muscles regenerate while you sleep. Since I wasn't getting enough sleep my muscles were basically deteriorating causing the severe pain I had, so it was like a viscous cycle. My doctor prescribed medication for the depression and told me I need to learn to relax and also realize that there's always tomorrow and my house didn't need to stay clean 24/7. I also had to learn to say "no" and not volunteer for everything. Believe me, it was very hard but I knew I had to do this for my family. The only problem is when I sit for a long period of time I get really stiff, even 7 years later.

     There is no cure for it and basically what you need to do is change your lifestyle. Some people who have it decide to quit their jobs but for me I did the total opposite because I was afraid if I sat home and did nothing that I would make myself a real invalid. A few years ago not only did I become the fulltime manager for the company I work for but I also had opened a gift shop with a friend. I had to close my store though this past year because of the economy.

      I still have the pain on and off because of course my 3 boys now 20, 17 & 13 have added stress to my life as they have gotten older and 5 years ago I was diagnosed with basal cell skin cancer and will be having Moh's surgery for it next week. What I have had to learn is how to deal with the stress and also how to relax myself. It's funny because many people cannot believe I'm in my 40's but I tell them somedays my body feels like it's 80.