Short answer? I was dx'd at 25, got told I was too young to hurt (by older people who were full of sh*t, btw), and so on. I learned the hard way that pushing myself only hurt me. So I don't. When I hit "Breakdown" I just stop. It's that or spend more time down than I already do. Ugh!

Long answer: A few points
1. You'll be judged no matter what. People who are 70 are judged for the FM diagnosis. I was a teen when I had a severe knee injury and was judged for it then. The judgment comes no matter what. The trick is to not judge *yourself*, okay? Just let that one go. The Big Cosmic DIvine can judge you, but until they're in your skin, the human race has to step back, and you can tell them that....
2. Leading to point 2: You are Your Own Best Advocate. Stand up for yourself (so you can *lie down*).
3. If we had the cure for FM, we'd tell ya. Don't got it. Wish we did. Wish I did. Wish *someone* did.
4. Sleep is your best medicine. (Sorry. Sad but proven true.) If you can get better sleep using melatonin, or L-theanines at bedtime, then those are both holistic safe ways of helping yourself sleep. Also, lemon balm or chamomile tea can help (if you have no hay fever type allergies, which some herbals can trigger, including chamomile).
5. Nutrition. Big big thing. When I'm hitting a worse-than-usual patch, I drink extra water, and whiel I eat a vegetarian-no-processed-food diet anyway, I really add in the B vitamins and electrolytes (calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium). That seems to help me. I add it into my diet, since supps are expensive and not regulated for quality anyway.
6. I'm sorry your family expects so much from you---and obviously, you expect it too. TO quote Tony Robbins, stop "shoulding" all over yourself, okay? Saying "No, I can't, and that's that" is *terrifying*---but doing it is necessary for both physical and mental health with chronic pain issues.

And that is how I deal, as much as I can. I have other issues than FM, and people won't even freaking lay off me for those---and it includes *spine damage*. For pity's sake! *eyeroll* Humans. Ugh.

One last thing---"I shouldn't"---doesn't apply. People are born ill, get ill at any time in life, stay ill for decades, etc. Your age is not relevant here, okay? NOT relevant. Please, think this through, okay? It's a real struggle for a lot of us. But there's people who die of cancer before they're old enough to go to school---who are dx'd with multiple sclerosis in their late teens---or die of self-inflicted stupidity at 26 like my older sister did. Age isn't relevant. Truly isn't.

Sorry to rant/lecture, but wow, you sound just like I did at that age---and my sister. So I triggered. (PTSD. Sucks.)

Gentle healing and peace to you,
Leo

I totally agree with Leox3.
I am 26 right now and feel just like you. I have other issues too, like schizophrenia, and just feel broken sometimes. People expect too much of eachother. They don't realize sometimes that everyone has pain, emotional or physical or both so everyone should be understanding even if they can't understand the amount of pain, ya know? Not sure if that made sense.
I would be honest with yourself and your abilities for the moment and your family and if they don't believe you or respect you for that then they aren't much of a family are they?
Sorry if this sounds rude, sometimes I don't have much of a social filter...

I also agree with Leo. This was a bad *plan* right from the start. High expectations from someone who is chronically ill. Clearly there is a total breakdown in communication not only with yourself but the rest of your family too.

You are committed, so you'll have to go and just do the best that you can. "No" is something that you can and should learn to use. While you are there and when you get back home.

There is no holistic/ effective way to manage this illness. You'll need to eat properly, take your medication, stay hydrated and rest. If Grandma has to miss a social outing because you are unable to drive, so be it. You need to rest/sleep no matter what anyone has to say about it.

Managing a large dog and walking it in high heat is a whole separate issue. Even if the dog is well trained this is probably not something that you should be doing either.

Unfortunately, you have set yourself up for a rough 3 weeks. You are not lazy. You are chronically ill. I hope that you can get through this but I honestly don't think that it is going to go well. Please learn to respect your limits and have an honest dialogue with your family about your health issues. If they are not supportive, support yourself. Good luck and take care.

I agree with all the replies, Take good care of yourself! While you are out there, maybe see if you can get some of your Grandmother's friends to help you at times. If she is resting, you should too. If your Dad or Gram belong to a church, maybe someone there can offer help. Now about the dog, they adjust very quickly to a routine. I have 2 large dogs, when I feel up to it, we play, when I don't, they do their business and come right back inside. If you can only manage short walks that's ok, he won't tell on you. See if someone from the dog's Veterinary office can help you or give you a name of a pet sitter.
You should really talk to your father about all of this. I have been dealing with this for over 20 years now and the best thing I learned is that life goes on if you say yes or no. If people don't understand you then you must do what is best for you. Best of luck and let us know how everything works out.

Shlay: You will be in my thoughts and prayers. I pray that God will ease your symptoms and flares as you take on this task of love. I agree with those who have given you advice on what to do, so theres no need to repeat them

My heart goes out for all you who are so young! Even though, looking back, I had signs of fibromyalgia when I was your ages, they were sporadic and non-debilitating. I'm 59, almost 60, now, and all the symptoms have just now, within the past 6 months, joined forces to become paralyzing, anguishing flares and daily occurrences.

My prayers are for each one of you. May God give strength to each & every one of you and ease your symptoms. May He help the research teams find an answer.

-Sharon-

I understand wanting to help. But, I also understand having limitations and not being able to. Is it possible that you really do want your family to know how sick you are and this is the only way you know of for them to know that ? Because that is all that will be accomplished out of this trip

Dog Park! Forget the walking! The ones who truly love me accept me as I am. Tell them the truth. Best of luck