r/Fibromyalgia • • 21h ago

Question Partner to Fibro/EDS woman here! Alternatives to “calorie deficit” weight loss?

68 Upvotes

Heya! My girlfriend has both fibro and EDS. She’s been talking to me a lot recently about being really concerned about her health and weight. I want to emphasize that her weight isn’t and never will be a factor in how much I love her, I really do just want to see her happy again.

Here’s where I need some extra help - she has battled an eating disorder before. She started feeling a lot better after she got help and helped herself out of that.

But she talks to me like she’s on the other side of some peak in her life. We’re both 20, and she feels like her life is being stripped away from her. Reading through this subreddit I’ve seen so many people share that sentiment, but I’ve also seen so many people find hope and purpose.

I really want to support her in every way. She is my everything. But I’m scared, the only advice I’ve found for those with mobility challenges is to “count calories, count calories, count calories”
That is NOT an option. It’s such a slippery slope, and as someone who has body image and has experienced problems with food, it is absolutely the last thing I would wish upon her.

I don’t know if I’m phrasing any of this right. And there are probably a million things that she’s feeling and experiencing that I’ll never fully grasp, which is why I want to confide in this community. Literally anything would be a nice starting point.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 16h ago

Question Friends who understand

25 Upvotes

Hi guys! I have fibromyalgia and chronic migraine... I'm tired of explaining for my friends and family how I feel. I'm looking for friends that understand my reality... If u are at the same place and want to talk dm mee ❤️

Some things about me:

• Brazilian

•24 years old

• graduate as geography teacher on May 2026

•have a dog: Apolo

•having chronic pain since 8 years old

•love TV shows, puzzles, music, reading etc

What a about u?


r/Fibromyalgia • • 15h ago

Discussion Isn't it crazy that lots of the time it even hurts just to SPEAK?

14 Upvotes

Or simply BREATHE. 😭 And both heavily.

But attempting for someone that does not suffer from this understand that it is CHALLENGING to EVEN breathe should be a craaazy thing to explain to people when u look healthy in the outside :/

Most of the times when I'm hurtin like that really bad and I'm in a conversation with sbdy I can only get monosylabic or just do small talk cuz i'ts getting soo hard inside myself to even let a word out.

Only with simply breathing I just feel the tension in my diafragma and tummy that won't let me exhale, and the neck pain and headaches it generates (that also exist in fibro on its own) it's just... I understand it is because oxygen won't get in your brain so easy cuz of tension, therefore, if its hard to breathe it will be even harder to TALK and think through it all lolol

I've been diagnosed 2 years ago but lived with this thing for 15 years -started when I was a kid- . In the last months or maybe years been having more anxiety due to flares and living with family again and they dont rlly understand fibro so a lot of the time they just think I barely speak or I'm in a terrible mood when I'm only just ✨hurting around😭✨.

Well, just little more detailed fibro things I feel lol.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 12h ago

Discussion After over a decade of pain, here I am.

13 Upvotes

​

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.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 18h ago

Question Anyone else experience hives?

12 Upvotes

I’ve been getting hives for no good reason, most of the time being around when I get a flare. It’s always on my arms. Ives watched everything, what I eat, my laundry detergent, literally anything I could think of. I can’t pinpoint anything. Anyone else with fibromyalgia experience rashes like hives? If it’s not linked to your fibromyalgia, what other condition is causing this symptom? I have a list of illnesses, fibro just seems to be the one that affects literally every bit of my body.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 21h ago

Question Jobs

8 Upvotes

I work in assisted living and I love my job. I have been so torn but my pain has been so bad, I just started taking meds (pregabalin) and my doc wants me to take Cymbalta but we a waiting for my psychologist to approve that because I am taking Lexapro.. anyway I have been considering getting a different job because of my pain, I love my job so much, it makes so so sad it’s making my job so hard to do. But what are jobs to work that I could make enough money to live?


r/Fibromyalgia • • 14h ago

Question Alternatives to Bengay?

8 Upvotes

It has served me faithfully for 15 years, but now I have to apply it three or four times just to go to sleep. Driving me crazy. Suggestions?


r/Fibromyalgia • • 8h ago

Question vertigo

3 Upvotes

I've been experiencing episodes of vertigo(i think?) and dizziness sometimes lately, when waking up either from a full sleep or even a little nap. its a new thing and its pretty disruptive, it feels like im falling & it lasts for hours, gradually improving, but for a while i really cant get out of bed. is this something that could be a fibro thing? does anyone else experience this or have advice?


r/Fibromyalgia • • 11h ago

Question Asking for advice

3 Upvotes

Hello, I'm looking for advice for my GF who has fibro, I hope I make sense as english isn't my first language.

Lately she has been suffering from some severe bouts of cystitis and since all tests have come back negative (urine tests, Antibiogram, ultrasound, manual exam) she has concluded (she's a biotechnologist so ít wasn't an uneducated guess) that it must be interstitial cystitis triggered by fibro. My question is, for those of you that have experienced the same condition, is there something that helps you relieve the pain? Antibiotics are of course a no go since it's not infective.

Thanks in advance!


r/Fibromyalgia • • 15h ago

Question Need a new heating pad for my shoulders

3 Upvotes

I usually use Ruqui extra large. Open to suggestions:


r/Fibromyalgia • • 17h ago

Question Anyone with a pain like mine?

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2 Upvotes

r/Fibromyalgia • • 12h ago

Discussion This took me outhttps://i.imgur.com/ljKiy1L.jpeg

1 Upvotes

r/Fibromyalgia • • 15h ago

Question Vocational Rehabilitation

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1 Upvotes

r/Fibromyalgia • • 11h ago

Question Pregablin withdrawal

0 Upvotes

So i used to take 1200/2100mg everyday gained a ton of weight in the last 5 months so i decided to quit it’s been 7 days and ive decided to have alchol but it doesnt feel the same feels different i dont get the usual nice relaxing buzz why’s that is it cause im withdrawing im so confused it doesnt give me that nice relaxing buzz when i drink??

Even smoking weed during withdrawals doesnt give me the munchies or put me too sleep when it did before whats happening to me can anyone explain?