I was diagnosed with Fibro 5 years ago following a severe auto accident in which I received numerous spinal injuries, many pinched nerves and stenosis. My doc diagnosed me with Fibro and I fought it. I thought the diagnosis was giving the person responsible for the accident a way out, but I was wrong. I was unaware that Fibro can be brought into light from a "dormant" state and the trauma from the accident could have been responsible for the Fibro flaring. Anyway, 5 years later, it really doesn't matter to me anymore how I got it, I just need to learn to deal with it. I did receive permanent disability following my accident so I no longer work outside the home. I have all the symptoms everyone else talks about in here, headaches, severe soft tissue pain, pain at the pressure points, RIB CAGE PAIN (here is the first place I've heard of others having this!!), achy body, stiffness, tremors, vision changes, sweats, pain with inhaling, tingling in my limbs, nerve pain in feet, sleep problems, comprehension and cognitive problems, exhaustion all the time. I wake as tired as I was when I went to sleep the night before. I've tried telling people around me about the rib cage pain and they look at me like I'm speaking another language. I'm so glad to hear that someone else can relate to that kind of pain also. I am having a terrible time with some members of my family believing me. It's so frustrating. For the most part I am in my nightgown every day. I don't go out of the house because of the fatigue. I have 3 older kids and an older mother I am helping out in many ways. I have other family members who are sitting back and letting me be our mother's caregiver and I'm resenting that also. They are healthy. But I am the only girl so I am the one who takes her to doctor appointments, grocery shopping, etc. She is an addict and could really care less what I'm going through. She thinks of herself only. She was on a binge recently for a few weeks so I packed her up and brought her to my house so I could monitor her meds and get her back to the real world again. She's a lot of hard work! Especially because I also am a single mom of 3 and I take care of my kids too. When I tell my mother about how bad I am feeling and what hurts on me, her typical response is, "oh really? Bummer!" or better yet, the other day I was in tears as I was doing the dishes and I told her my back was just killing me and she said, "well, if your back really hurts as bad as you say it does....." HUH???? Are you kidding me? Most of the time my back hurts worse than I say, as I am not a complainer. I don't bother telling others how bad I hurt because I begin to sound like a broken record to myself so I try not to bother others with it. But she should know I'm not feeling good because I rarely get dressed and cannot find the energy most of the time to even take a shower and shampoo my hair. I used to be such a hard worker. I always worked 45 to 65 hours a week and took care of everything related to my entire family myself. Every extended member calls me for advice whenever anything goes wrong - medical, legal, financial, etc. I've felt like some of those around me have felt like I'm lazy now, and just don't care about myself or my home anymore. My mother acts like I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. I would get her reading material and try to educate her, but to be honest, she doesn't care enough to read it. I just want everyone to leave me alone and let me be sick. Does that make sense? How do I get others around me to understand what I'm going through each day? Also, how do I go about getting some help around the house? There are certain things that have been going undone around the house because I never feel good enough to do them, like vacuming and cleaning the bathtub, scrubbing the floor. Are there community organizations that do that without pay? Or does Medicare pay for help like that? Thanks for listening.