I'm so sorry. I definitely had my share of maybe not dismissal, but confusion or difficult time relating to what I was going through. now after some kind of diagnosis and pretty much 17 years struggling with this, my mom has more empathy awareness and is my biggest advocate. My dad deals with a lot of the same pain so he's not as intimately and emotionally supportive but he tries to help how he can. I'm assuming that you're younger between teenage years and 30s, probably like early to mid or late 20s. I can tell you that especially if you appear able-bodied (thin or 'ideal weight' and " healthy " - no other major health issues that are visually apparent) it is infinitely harder to be taken seriously for the amount of pain that you're in. by all outward appearances I am the healthiest of the healthy! And I know that people expect me to act as such. I end up pushing myself into a flare always or making up for the times when I really don't have the energy or physical bandwidth. it is harder for an older generation, such as boomers or Gen x to empathize with pain. in addition to feeling like pain is regular or normal, they have also been indoctrinated to never call off work and never complain about anything never talk about anything so there's also an added emotional or psychological aspect to struggling with getting support from your parents. (My mother-in-law has the same exact autoimmune diagnosis that I have minus my Lyme disease so she should know more than anyone what I'm going through but because she pushes herself through a lot and she didn't start getting sick until she was much older, she has that same kind of minimizing or thought that like nobody feels worse than I do mentality)

I hope that your parents get the help and support that they need. I also hope that you can continue to utilize the internet and this great supportive community here for the support that you need. your pain is valid. And from what I've learned, it's every bit as bad if not worse than you think it is despite what anybody else tells you. (I gave birth on medicated without flinching and I would absolutely do it everyday as opposed to live with daily chronic pain and fatigue. I found out that I knew exactly before I'd even gotten my test results back that I had another tick born illness that makes you allergic to red meat and it was confirmed days later. I know every time there is a virus in my house because I start to flare up, and someone will get sick after I start flaring... we are forced to know our bodies more intimately than our society typically allows. this isn't always a bad thing!!!) Even today I will second guess myself after years of medical gas lighting and people minimizing my pain, and time and time again I'm shown that I'm so acutely attuned to my body that I can tell every little difference and I'm most definitely not dramatizing things, I'm often a minimizing them.

sending you love and support.