Hello. I am kind of new to this community, and I am curious to hear your stories of diagnosis, how long it took to get that diagnosis, your struggles, etc. I find other people's stories to be fascinating and insightful and I think it will help me better process my own recent diagnosis.
I have had a history of issues starting from when I was a teen. I'm 31 now. Back in the 2010s I was put through the rigamarole of tests after it turned out that I wasn't "overreacting" about my pain and symptoms, of which I had many, including really really horrible TMJD. After I fought for a referral to a head and neck surgeon and then asked for an MRI, we found I had severely damaged jaw joints and would likely need joint replacement surgery. I was then tested for every autoimmune issue under the sun because I was so young and the level of joint degeneration I had was insane. Then, I was tested for Fibromyalgia using the pain point diagnostic. Based on that, I apparently did not have fibromyalgia, because none of the pain points hurt, just "felt uncomfortable".
The final results: we don't know why you have all these symptoms and we don't know why your jaw is so damaged. There was no real followup. I got the surgery, things got better, but I still had a lot of unaddressed issues. But my quality of life was finally at a place where I could function enough to have a job, even if doing said jobs was definitely a constant internal battle.
Despite all of that, I did pretty well for myself. Graduated University, got into my career of choice, moved states, moved up the ladder. It all got worse again when I turned 30. All of the symptoms and flare-ups had begun escalating again. My new doctor didn't mess around and immediately ordered every test she could think of. She found I had a positive ANA result, but my tests did not pan out in not much else. But based on that, and my history, she immediately diagnosed me with Fibro just this last week. And unfortunately, due to how the Rheumatologists out here work, my referral for further testing was rejected.
Is Fibro the whole story? I kinda doubt it. But does it explain a lot? Yes. And I am finally getting put on some treatments that might actually help with my quality of life. I just hope it helps.