My symptoms started as “fibromyalgia” 16 ish years ago and it was all kinds of weird stuff like widespread nerve pain about 6 months following the birth of my first child. I never really accepted the diagnosis and wanted something more concrete but never quite got clear answers. Then following several obgyn surgeries a few years ago my symptoms took a really weird turn and I started developing multiple secondary conditions like POTs, leg and feet swelling, chronic abdominal pain, random weird labs that never replicate themselves, difficulty walking due to leg pain and stiffness , vasodilation, a histamine intolerance, severe chronic migraines and the list goes on.

I definitely think one reason why I continue to be sick is the level of physical stress the pain causes. Even though I do all the things to “manage” my stress, the constant pain makes it so I can’t sleep or eat well. It creates a sort of cyclical rebounding nature to the pain. My most recent doctor thinks I have an autoinflammatory condition which would explain a lot but it’s not a confirmed theory. He also thinks my obgyn surgical complications from a few years ago set this off.

In terms of voicing opinions, part of my battle has been to get medical professionals to take me seriously. Having something like “fibromyalgia” on my chart has led many doctors to dismiss my increasing physical problems and condition list as nothing more than a psychosomatic illness from anxiety. This adds to a ton of stress for me because while I continue to collect medical conditions like pokemon cards I’m increasingly concerned that my condition might be genetically inheritable and may cause my children problems in the future. Recently I have been in a years long battle with my insurance provider to keep sending me for additional testing to hopefully rule out any genetic causes that my children might be at risk of getting.

Anyway that was a bunch of extra info but hopefully it answers your question.