(F M .A. N I) is a registered charity organisation dedicated to providing help and support to Fibromyalgia sufferers and those who care for them.
Our mission is to provide an organisation where those with Fibromyalgia can find understanding, knowledge, support and practical help in coping with this disease.

FM.A.NI receives NO council or government funding for our charity & depend on donations to raise the funds it needs to continue, we hope you will find this site useful and informative.

 FM.A.NI was set up to raise awareness of Fibromyalgia especially in Northern Ireland.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain illness that can affect a person from head to toe.
There is no cure, and it includes a wide range of symptoms that affects everyone differently.

Chronic means this illness is for life. Yes there are good days, but for a person living with Fibromyalgia even a good day equals pain. They require living hour by hour, and not knowing what the day ahead will bring, or when the next flare up could happen.

We really want people to help us spread awareness of this debilitating illness, so that the people who are affected with Fibro can live in a more supportive world.
It is hard enough living with chronic pain and all the other nasty symptoms

without being judged because there illness is invisible.

We want to give those affected by (FMS) Fibromyalgia Syndrome a voice.

We want to make Fibromyalgia VISIBLE!

FM.A.NI BLOGS

Hi....My Name is Fibromyalgia, and I'm an Invisible Chronic Illness.

 

I am now velcroed to you for life.

Others around you can't see me or hear me,

but YOUR body feels me.

I can attack you anywhere and anyhow I please.

I can cause severe pain or, if I'm in a good mood, I can just cause you to

ache all over.

 

Remember when you and Energy ran around together and had fun?

I took Energy from you, and gave you Exhaustion.

Try to have fun now!

I also took Good Sleep from you and, in its place, gave you Brain Fog.

I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else

feels normal.

 

Oh, yeah, I can make you feel anxious or depressed, too.

If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take

that away, too.

 

You didn't ask for me. I chose you for various reasons:

That virus you had that you never recovered from, or that car accident,

or maybe it was the years of abuse and trauma. Well, anyway, I'm here to stay!

I hear you're going to see a doctor who can get rid of me.

I'm rolling on the floor, laughing.

Just try.

 

You will have to go to many, many doctors

until you find one who can help you effectively.

You will be put on pain pills,

sleeping pills, energy pills, told you are suffering from anxiety or depression,

given a TENs unit, get massaged, told if you just sleep and exercise properly I

will go away, told to think positively, poked, prodded, and MOST OF ALL, not

taken as seriously as you feel when you cry to the doctor how debilitating life

is every day.

 

Your family, friends will all listen to you until they

just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and that I'm a debilitating

disease.

 

Some of they will say things like "Oh, you are just having a bad day" or

"Well, remember, you can't do the things you use to do 20 YEARS ago",

not hearing that you said 20 DAYS ago.

Some will just start talking behind your

back, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity trying to make them

understand, especially when you are in the middle of a conversation with a

"Normal" person, and can't remember what you were going to say next!

 

In closing, (I was hoping that I kept this part a secret), but I guess you already

found out...the ONLY place you will get any support and understanding in dealing

with me is with Other People With Fibromyalgia.