LCAR: One day, when I was still able to work, I was walking in the office (like all offices I know - the floor is flat) and had a sudden onset of pain in my leg. It looked as if I tripped. Someone in the office, who did not yet know I was sick, saw me and said, "Watch out for the hills."

Wanita P.: Not too many years ago, I could sing, today, I may be able to croak out a bar or two of music. I can no longer let my voice soar to the heights once possible. I have lost control of my vocal cords and diaphragm.

Bottles and jars that I could open with a simple twist of my wrists now remain tightly closed. The effort results in almost unbearable pain.

Peggy L.: …my days are filled with exhaustion, pain, sore throats, headaches cognitive problems, vision problems. I generally feel ill all the time. Maybe this is what MS victims went through years ago. I worked productively for 22 years. I was struck down with CFIDS and FMS and there was no support from the medical community until I went to a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with FMS. I am not bitter or angry... I just want this illness to be recognized and studied so that we have hope for recovery.

P.L. Manahan: I am not lazy, CFS makes you tired all the time. Exercise makes it worse, special diets do not help and weight loss is impossible because the metabolism slows down. Things healthy for other people can make me sicker, some medications work in reverse… usually, I become depressed from not being able to do the things I enjoy.

Nancy S.: A vocational rehabilitation counselor for fifteen years, I helped professionals with disabilities return to professional careers, … When I decided I couldn't do justice to my clients, I took early retirement at reduced Social Security Disability Insurance.

Chris: The loss of independence is probably the hardest.

Jacqueline M.: There is an "up side" to living with fibromyalgia, and I've found it in the acute awareness and appreciation for all I'd once considered normal… Before my body became a prisoner to the oppressive pain, fatigue and other ailments associated with fibromyalgia, I was blind to its miracle. I never watched as I do now, the simple ballet of a mother walking her child, or the marvelous mechanics of a gardener's deeply bent knees as she crouches close to the earth. I never understood the unparalleled privilege in the ability to do such human things that most might consider mundane. …I now look beyond a smile and understand that behind it there may lie pain. It is to my advantage that I now find delight in finishing a simple chore. It is to my advantage that I now understand the absolute freedom that exists in a healthy body. …with the hope that there might someday be relief, there is an eager impatience to use what I have found on a spectacularly normal day.

Margaret Elizabeth G.: I was 19 when I became sick and there was so much I had still wanted to do. Many days I find it hard to get out of bed. ... I live my life day to day. I don't make plans more than one week in advance because it is very likely that I will not be feeling up to doing anything once that day arrives.

Camille C.: My daughter can no longer work, plan her future, have a family or anything near a normal life. Instead, she is confined to home due to fatigue, pain and numerous other symptoms. I pray every day that doctors will take this disease seriously and find a cure. It infuriates me to know there are people out there who still believe this is an "emotional" problem.