I have the same problem and I also have issues walking sometimes. My doctor had no problem giving me the appropriate paperwork for a handicap placard and because he said it was a perminent disability I have a placard in my husbands car and handicap plates on my van. Good luck with you getting yours too.

Absolutely you should try to get one. I don't know why but I was embarrassed to ask for a long time. When I finally did ask, the doctor filled out the form right away without any hesitation.

The problem was that someone stole the plates from my mailbox and it took another year to get through the DMV paperwork to get another set of plates. I had to have my doctor fill out yet another form.

You can make it easy on your doctor to fill out the form by going to the DMV website and typing in all your vehicle and private info into the form and then printing it and taking it to the doctor.

Be forewarned that everyone will give you the evil eye if you are not on a stretcher when you get out of your car at the store. You just have to learn to get past that.

Someone here even showed a website that people report us on because they can't see our invisible illness :(

http://www.handicappedfraud.org/

Thank you for your encouraging responses. I will ask my doctor for a sticker at my next appointment. Fibromyalgia is such a hidden disability that, though I shouldn't care, sometimes i feel that others, doctors included, think of me a malingerer.

Additionally, thanks for for good advice about going to the DMV website before approaching my doctor about a handicapped parking sticker. I will ask my doctor at my next appointment.

Our Dr was completely fine with us needing one,I see so many of them around here now,they are very easy to get here I know and you do need one if you have fibro,the walking and standing is the worst part for me and my hubby.so don't be shy to ask your Dr about one,you will be glad you did.
Gentle Hugs and Prayers :)

My doc readily gave me one also. Just let your doctor know that u have problems walking long distances.

My one doc won't get me one but I am seeing a 2nd one, so maybe he'll give me one. The first one said that because I can walk into his office, it's more than the distance used to determine qualifications. Grrr. Grocery shopping and then the parking lots are the worst...I can work a full day but if I have to "run errands" afterwards, I'm exhausted! Sometimes I'll just start crying as the car seems a million miles away. My mom has one and we use it when we go out somewhere..very nice.

My primary care doctor was a total jerk about giving me one and said I was not disabled but my pain management specialist is awesome. I see him for my fibro pain but didn't want to make a special appt just for the handicap placard. I did after my primary care doctor shot me down. He had no problem with it and here in Arizona it doesn't have to be renewed for 5 years but I never again have to get a doctors signature I just have to go get a new placard! It comes in handy more than you know for me. Even with the placard it is hard to make it sometimes on bad days. I don't know what I would do without it. Good luck to you.

When I was seeing an MS specialist, I had such trouble getting to her office in a huge metro hospital that SHE suggested it. I wouldn't have even thought of it. So she filled out the papers for me. What a God send sometimes!

I use it at school and the other day I had to walk back to my car for something after I was 1/2 way to the class. That extra walk did me in. I got to class so wiped out and fretful! Yeah, it might be that we CAN walk the distance but when we have to accomplish something when we get there, that's the rub!

I have one because I never know when I get into a store, how hard it's going to be to get out.

My doctor was great about giving me one, but I hate the comments I get from people about why I have it because they don't think I look sick.

My usual comment to that is "you don't look ignorant or inconsiderate either, so I guess looks can be deceiving!" :)

I don't know where you are, but the process here in Virginia is that you get the paperwork from the Department of Motor Vehicles and take it to your doctor to complete.

I filled in everything that I could, including my diagnosis of fibromyalgia, and all my doctor had to do was sign it. He appreciated my saving him the time when I knew the info as well as him :)

I know not all doctors are supportive but mine was - and I have mine for the very same reasons - sometimes walking is an issue - sometimes not.

For whoever mentioned handicappedfraud.org, I actually wrote them a long email saying maybe they needed to do some consumer education and let people know that there are a LOT of disabilities that are invisible. You don't see a bad heart, or lung disease, or HIV, or any of a number of things that could give you trouble walking, either physically or because of energy depletion. I don't expect they cared, but I had to try.

I told them on a very cold day, they might even see me SPRINT from my car to the store, because extreme cold really HURTS me! It's like I'm being skinned alive, and it takes forever for that feeling to go away, so I get in out of the cold as quickly as I can, even if it costs me later.

Hope your doc is supportive - FYI I was able to get the paperwork off the DMV website - you might want to check where you are and see if you can save a trip.

Also, I asked for the tag that hangs from the rear-view mirror rather than the license plate, because that allows me to take it with me if I'm in someone else's car.