Living with Fibromyalgia

Living with Fibromyalgia, First Drug Approved

Getty Images Symptoms of fibromyalgia include fatigue, pain in muscles and joints, difficulty sleeping, and morning stiffness.

After meeting on the Internet in 1997, Lynne Matallana and Karen Lee Richards discovered they had a lot in common. They both had seen numerous doctors before being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by fatigue and widespread pain in muscles and joints. They both had trouble finding medical information and support for coping with the illness. Seven months after meeting, they started gathering with five other people with fibromyalgia who also wanted to bring awareness to the issue.

"We called ourselves 'the pillow posse' because we would meet and have our pillows to support our aching bodies," Matallana says. Those gatherings grew into the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA), an organization that now provides support, research information, medical education, and messages of hope to millions.

Fibromyalgia affects 2 to 4 percent of the population, according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). It mostly affects women, and tends to develop in early to middle adulthood. But men and children also can have it.

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