myfibromyalgia: one man’s experience of living with chronic illness

＂When disabilities of any kind are discussed, what you’re really talking about are people: flesh and blood, breathing, thinking, feeling people. We are all different. We share symptoms but our experiences in life, beliefs and lifestyles are unique to each of us. Welcome to myfibromyalgia.＂There are millions of people the world over who suffer terrible pain and fatigue every day, having developed a severely disabling condition. On the outside they can look as if nothing is wrong with them. They are insulted at best, misled at worst, by fake news and bogus health websites, self-styled wellness gurus and a thankfully diminishing number of doubters, even some doctors, who rank their illness alongside fairies, the Loch Ness Monster and UFOs. But this illness is real.These people have Fibromyalgia Syndrome, or FMS. The American Chronic Pain Society estimates three to six per cent of the global population has FMS - that’s between 200 million and 400 million people. Between 75 and 90 per cent of fibro sufferers are female, with many people thinking of it as a ’women’s disease’ - but men do get it, a fact not often acknowledged.This is a book that is both informative and involving. It tells the truth, from the perspective of a patient rather than a doctor, about what it’s like to live with fibromyalgia. It isn’t a textbook devoid of personality but the living, breathing testimony of a real FMS sufferer. Andrew Hinkinson presents a highly personal and frank account of the symptoms and possible causes of FMS while examining the statistics and outlining the challenges he’s had to address and overcome in his own life in fighting the illness.