My name is Brooke and I have suffered from Fibromyalgia for twenty four years since I was thirteen years old. The symptom that started it all off for me was slight pain in my knees which of course was put down to growing pains. After many years of visits to different doctors and much stress and frustration, I was finally diagnosed in 1999.

When the specialist diagnosed me all he told me was I had fibromyalgia. That seemed to be all he could tell me. Although I was finally given a diagnosis on what I was suffering from, it would of been better if I could have been told more about it. A lady from the Arthritis Foundation was brought into the room after the examination and she was able to tell me a little more about this condition and give me a few tips on ways to deal with it. She then gave me two pieces of paper with some words and diagrams on them and told me I had to pay for this information. There was nothing in the information that really could help me understand what I had and how to deal with it.

I am now at the stage where I suffer severe pain virtually every day and am only able to work three hours a day for three days a week.

I have tried several kinds of medication but found none of them worked so I was just as better off not using any. I do take Dihydrocodeine ( otherwise known as DHC). This is a very strong pain killer. Occasionally I take Doxepin which is a muscle relaxant. This is wonderful for helping with sleep but in the morning I wake up like a zombie so it isnt often when I take it.

Over the years, my symptoms have increased and I now have, severe pain throughout my entire body, problems with my teeth, I walk into doors and walls, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, blurred vision, migraines, photosensitivity, and many more, too much to name here.

After dealing with this condition for so many years, I have found some ways of managing the pain, and dealing with what each day deals out to me. Recently I thought about how many people there are around the world who exist with Fibromyalgia and the different methods of dealing with it and controlling it. I thought these people might be able to pass on their helpful tips and information to people who are newly diagnosed. So, after talking it through with Inga, we decided we should do our own research by drawing up a survey asking many questions to see how others are affected by fibro, how they deal with it and what their lives were like pre fibro. This information will then be catalogued and the results finalised.

Once we have the results, we can distribute all the information and conclusions to doctors specialists and supporting foundations around the world so they can get some decent information for a change and also get an insight on what we go through and how we feel.

We understand there are many questions for you to work through, but, you can do a few at a time and come back to them when you are feeling stronger and not in so much pain.

We really appreciate all this helpful information you are going to give us and the time it will have taken you to do it, we understand the importance of it. Our main goals are to help both newly diagnosed people understand this condition and learn to accept it, pass the information onto the medical profession to make sure this information reaches the right people and I can guarantee each one of us will learn something new and different ways to help us cope. We will also give everyone who participated in this survey the results and conclusions.