Hi, I'm new to this group and was wondering how many people are diagnosed at a young age. 

I was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the age of 18. It only took my doctor to physically see my muscles spasms on a series of xrays to believe I was truly in pain. Since I was a young child I have had pain. Of course the doctors always said growing pains.

When I stopped growing and the pain stayed they attributed it to stress and depression. I frequently went to the doctor as a child for this pain. They always told my family it was an excuse to get out of school, it was too often to be growing pains, I was just faking it.

My family knew I was not faking my pain. Being up crying all night just to skip school? That would be quite the exaggeration and story to keep up with. Screaming And crying for my dad to take me to the hospital because the pain was so intense. Sometimes heat would help, but more often than not I was stuck with the pain.

I never tried to skip school, I loved going. Frequently I was in the nurses office for not being able to sit still due to the pain. Crying in class because of it, the teacher would sent me to the nurses office to "calm down" and not disrupt the class. My family was called in once a year to talk about my disruptions, but there was nothing that would ease the pain. 

As I got older and into the 3rd and 4th grade I was able to fight through and not cry during class. I would wait until the bus came, or if it was a really bad day i would take a quick bathroom break to "scream" the pain away. I still went to the nurses office 3 or 4 times a week. But it was much better than once or twice a day.

The nurses slowly understood I needed 10 minutes to rest and I would be on my way. They became more understanding as the years passed. I'm sure they thought i was either quite good at keeping the ruse going, or truly there was something wrong, something that taking 10 minutes to rest helped. They stopped going to the principle about me, and I started to try to just alternate the class I went during, or tried going during lunch. 

The day I was diagnosed I cried with joy that someone believed me. Finally, after all those years I knew what was wrong. I knew I wasn't crazy. And while there are still doctors and people who say fibro is just another name for depression, I have been lucky enough to fine a primary care doctor who believes the diagnosis and wants to help any way he can. 

I'm currently 23, and on my second pregnancy in 2 years. The fibro was not as bad the first time around, but this pregnancy I am struggling with the pain. And with the lack of items I can take there isn't much I can do. I try to be active, but am frequently beyond exhausted and in pain. Luckily my daughter takes 2 decently long naps during the day and sleeps through the night, which helps a lot. 

That's my story so far. So, when we're you diagnosed? How many years were you in pain before Diagnosis?

And for fun, how many of you are red heads? I have a very low pain tolerance and a very high tolerance to medication. I truly believe it's because I am a redhead as I have no other explanation. 

Thanks for reading, I'm excited to join this group and get and give advice. 

Sweets