new here

[solarflares]

Hi, you can call me Ghost. Any pronouns are fine, but I'd prefer it to be mixed up rather than picking just one to go with. I'm 24 years old, and was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia (though it was suspected for a while before that). I have a slew of other diagnoses and symptoms, but that's not what I'm here for.

It's been a long time since I've used a forum, but I remember how they can be a good source of support. I don't have many friends outside the people I live with, and even talking online has become sparse for me over the last few years. I'm trying again more recently to put myself out there both literally and figuratively, going outside more and reaching out to others instead of waiting for interactions to happen. Though a lot of my time currently is taken up by appointments and dealing with symptoms.

I hope to be able to meet others here to talk to about things like chronic pain and treatments, and also just our hobbies and interests.

I'm very interested in animals and animal caretaking, reading and writing, art, natural sciences, and more.

 

[sunkacola]

Hi Ghost, and welcome to the forum.
I wrote a big advice post for newcomers, which I will link to below. You might want to check it out to see if anything there helps. Do feel free to ask any questions you may have.

We are a worldwide group of all ages and lives of people and this is a safe space to talk about what is going on with you.

Good for you, for working to put yourself out there both virtually and in person, as we all know this can sometimes not be easy to do when you have fibro. We are here to help each other with advice when asked, information, telling each other our stories of successes and lack of success with various medications and techniques and so on, and there's even a place designed for you to post if all you really want to do is complain and vent. Although, you are allowed to do that anywhere, actually, if that is what you need to do.

I am also very involved with animals and animal caretaking, and am a dog trainer and an artist among other things.
I hope you find this forum helpful to you. We welcome your input.

My advice for managing fibromyalgia (especially for newcomers)

I am not a doctor or anything, just a person who has lived with fibromyalgia for several years now and has done a lot of research and trial and error experimentation. What follows is just basics. There are a lot of variations. You will find your own versions of everything I say, as this is not a...

www.fibromyalgiaforums.org

 

[Auriel]

Hello ghost! (cool name, cool profile pic ). Welcome to our forum l like animals too and I read mostly books on all different types of physics (my favourite is meta ) I like crystals as well (a new crystal always cheers me up) I made a starfish and morph (a little british art character) last week out of clay (I go to a depression/anxiety group and they gave us clay to work with last time) fibro is so challenging (and painful) you want to do things and meet people but it can be really hard (people who don't have this just don't get it ) I've tried to manage mine naturally but the burning pain is too much ( so I take gabapentin ) yes, taking initiative to get out and meet people is good (you could be waiting a long time and I have autism so I have to try harder) ok, speak to you much more soon, bye for now

 

[JayCS]

also just our hobbies and interests

Hiya! As you've chosen exactly that wording, I guess you've found that area already...!