no but do not think of yourself as junkie seeking pills....that is wrong....and nobody else is a judge....they judge but they should take the timber from their own eyes before trying to remove splinter from your finger.....hugs

I am 19 and also suffer from chronic pain I was incorrectly diagnosed with Fibromyalgia at 15 and now know what is really causing my pain. As far as pain medication goes and people thinking you are "drug seeking" most doctors can tell when a patient is really in pain and when they are just looking for drugs, and if you are in enough pain that you need pain medication you should not be afraid to tell your doctor. I know how it feels when people don't believe you are in pain because of your age or physical appearance, but don't let your fear of judgment stop you from getting medical care.
Best wishes,
-Kayleigh

Hello. I am do sorry that you are going through so much at s young age. I wasn't officially diagnosed until I was 36 but I had been having pain since I was a child. The pain was always called growing pains when I was s kid. Then in my 20's I had no idea what was wrong with me except I had Spondylolisthesis in my low back & sacrum. But that didn't explain the other pain I was having. Finally the pain became chronic & I started to experience other symptoms. I went to see a very good back surgeon who diagnosed me with Myofascial Pain Syndrome & my primary care physician diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia a couple of months later.
At the time I was diagnosed Fibromyalgia wasn't even accepted by most doctors as an actual disease. Fibromyalgia is a disease that has it's own medical code now. The majority of doctors believe it is real & know that their patients are suffering. There are more & more people being diagnosed with this complex disorder.
Don't feel bad for needing pain medication. I understand how you feel though. Don't worry what people think. You must take care of yourself.
The people over on the Fibromyalgia support site recommend the book Fibromyalgia for Dummies. It will help you understand Fibro & things you can try to control your pain. Those who are close to you who want to understand fibro & what you are going through

Should read it. Sorry, hit send too soon.
Make sure you are getting deep restorative sleep. It is SO important with Fibro to get good restorative sleep.
There is a post over on the Fibromyalgia support site about a woman whose 12 year old son was just diagnosed with Fibro. As I said earlier, people dismiss children's pain as growing pains, until it is finally seriously looked into.
I hope that you can find something that helps you. Look into that book. You can get it from the library or buy one of your own.
Gentle hugs.

It is actually pretty unusual to have Fibromyalgia at such a young age. Now that Fibro is an excepted diagnosis some Docs can get lazy and instead of chasing the proper Diagnosis use this as a blanket Diagnosis. The problem is, you're very young and it will be difficult to get Pain Management in the form of medication from most Dr.'s. One thing to remember, there are multiple different ways to deal with pain, like physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, hot/cold therapy, TENS Unit, etc. You have to be your own best advocate and find things that work to help you and use as many things together as you need. People tend to want to "freeze up" and not move so much when they hurt, but doing the opposite actually helps more, stay mobile, move around, keep active. If you have access to a swimming pool, exercising in a pool is incredibly helpful for body/joint/muscle pain as its a weightless environment and doesn't hurt to work out.

What do your parents say? Have they taken you to all Specialists to cover all the basis? Since your Rheumy is skeptical as well that would make me take my child to all the major Docs, i.e. Neurologist, Orthopedist, etc. I'd get their Spine worked up completely to check for any type of Scoliosis or Spinal issues, get the Immune System checked for any type of Immune Suppressant Illness, check for any Neurological issues, etc.

There can be many things that cause pain in a teenager, and some of it can even be growing pains, that is actually a thing, I have a 17 yr old son who suffered from Growing Pains when his leg bones grew faster than his muscular structure and other bones...they call that Growing Pains...eventually everything caught up to itself, but he had pretty bad pain for a few years.

I've been in Pain Management since I was 17, I'm now 47. I've had 30 surgeries in the last 17 yrs. and I have multiple diseases that cause chronic pain, so I know what its like to be in pain at a young age, its hard and a lot to deal with.
Have you had an HPV Vaccine? It can cause Full Body pain in some people who have reactions to it, and your around the age of kids who get that vaccine.

If you've been to all the Dr.'s and they've checked, double checked and ruled out anything else, then you may have to accept the Fibro DX until something changes or further develops. I'd keep a Journal to record any changes in your pain, any new symptoms, any changes in where it hurts, how bad it hurts or when it hurts. Sometimes it just takes time and new developments to tell what something might be.

Hang in there, Support Boards like this are good places to come and get ideas or just talk to others who deal with the same types of issues. Dealing with constant pain is not easy and it helps to talk. If you feel yourself getting down or seem to always be in the dumps talk to your parents about seeing a Counselor or Therapist, having someone to dump your head on, can really be helpful at times.

Take care,

Hey there! I don't post here on the Chronic Pain group very often, but I started getting chronic FM (fibromyalgia) pains at 17. I didn't get a diagnosis until 22. Looking back, I was one of those teenagers that commented on what felt a lot like growing pains, with everyone dismissing me, saying it was impossible since I had already stopped growing. I also started having chronic fatigue problems around 12.

On the Dailty Strength FM support group I've most certainly seen people join who are your age or even younger and got the diagnosis of FM.

Unfortunately, attitudes towards FM and chronic pain patients in general differs from doctor to doctor. It depends on their scepticism and mistrust, I suppose. I'm glad you found support groups such as this for a few extra heads to ponder a problem and to have listening ears!

Hi and welcome from me too. I'm sorry you're suffering so much and have to deal with all this at such a young age, that must be really hard to accept. Do you, and or your parents, agree with the diagnosis? If not, I agree with others and would keep looking for answers.. either way, you've come to the right place for support because we all get what living with cp is like so I hope it helps you knowing that.

Unfortunately many of us have been judged by drs, family and friends for taking pain meds so I know how hurtful it can be. When a dr filling in for my gp said he's sick of dealing with damn addicts then threw the script at me I cried and raged for a week but now I just think screw you..they've got no idea how bad my pain is or the affect its had on my life. I also know I'd have zero quality of life without them so that makes it easier to handle too. Regards Maddy