> I have fibromyalgia.
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> I will be going to the doctor again as soon as I get insurance. Until then... help?

A weirdly large number of people in my life (friends, employers, and one family member) have fibromyalgia and/or some other chronic, systemic ailment. From my experiences of working, praying, crying, or just sharing life with them:

Everything Ria said. There are very few hard-and-fast answers for a disease like this, but there's lots of support. Take the time to make sure the people in your life understand what this disease is and what effects it has on you: since the symptoms are so internal, it's hard for us on the outside to know what you're dealing with unless you talk about it.

Among my different friends who have fibromyalgia, there's a lot of variation in the effect it has on them and the treatments that work. One friend (an unusual case, I think) manages to "tune out" the pain most of the time, and leads a very active life. When she goes to the doctor, though, having to talk about her symptoms makes them come forward and she has to spend the rest of the day in bed. A woman I nannied for, on the other hand, spends several hours a day in bed. She has a part-time job and three kids; the people she works for are very understanding and flexible, and she hires a nanny to help with the kids. So it really varies-- don't measure yourself against other people, even if they have the same condition, because every case is different. Learn to measure success and progress on your own terms.

The exercise thing helps: the woman I worked for made herself walk for a while every day, and found it made a big difference.

One of the hardest things my friends with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue have had to deal with (outside of the disease itself, of course) is looking so normal and healthy. One of my best friends, who has chronic fatigue, would always get dirty looks from people when she'd park in a handicapped space. Or people who knew she was sick would tell her "You look great!" and she'd have to bite her tongue to keep from saying, "Thanks, I feel horrible." Then there are the people who pooh-pooh the diseases themselves, saying it's all psychological and similar things. Try not to get upset by these people: they don't know.

It's going to be okay. As Ria said, you'll have to know your limitations and you'll have to adjust your expectations and plans, but the essentials of life are still fully open to you. My friends have jobs, have gotten married, have had kids. We all have limitations: yours are more prominent and more painful than most, but there's nothing stopping you from doing whatever is most important to you in your life.

I hope this helps. You'll be in my prayers.

Lirelyn