I have had fibromyalgia for some time now, since I was very young I have always had strange symptoms which I now know were fibromyalgia! It started off with pain in my knees, tiredness like actual exhaustion after not doing much at all. I found it hard to come home from school and not take a nap, I was just so tired to the point where I would throw up. I for some reason thought it was normal to feel like that and I didnt want to make a fuss. Anyway, the pain started to spread and eventually it sneaked into every part of my body. The pain levels increased and I decided it would be wise to visit the doctors. They said it was growing pains and they would go when I'd finished growing.

I then started to realise I was getting all these strange symptoms with the pain and fatigue. I had had them for ages but hadn't really put them together. They were things like itchiness, headaches, feeling too hot or too cold, burning pains, being tender to touch, brain fog, finding it hard to think clearly, trouble with loud noise, clumsiness, dropping things, dizziness, sleeping all the time, pain in eyes, IBS - the list could go on for pages! I still get these now, with a lot more added to the list as well. I finally got my diagnosis of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome when I was 17 - I am now 23.

Fibromyalgia affects me daily, I struggle with things people would normally find easy, I often find myself having to rest after a small activity. I haven't had a day without pain or some of the symptoms for years. It makes it hard to study, I am currently a university student so this isn't very helpful as you can imagine. University is hard at the best of times without being chronically ill! It's very hard to manage fibromyalgia at times, I sometimes think of it as small people inside my body who often get angry. It helps me sometimes when I picture that, its like oh my little fibro people are angry again today and they want me to rest!

So, I am raising money for FMA UK because they are a fantastic charity who help many people like me with fibromyalgia. It can be a scary place to be on your own, but FMA UK are there for you when you need them. They have all sorts of advice on their website, there's guidance on different things you can do to help manage fibromyalgia. There's lots of important information to look through and it does help so much! They give so much support to fibro sufferers and their families to help them through what can be the hardest time of their life. Chronic illness diagnosis is really something that tears your world apart, but having charities like FMA UK there to help really does make that crucial difference. This charity is run by volunteers and many of them have fibromyalgia too, this is why it is so important to me to raise money and awareness!

Finally, I'm going to be walking 120 miles in June to raise money. This is a big challenge for me, but I am doing it because I kind of want to show fibro who is boss, I feel like it has taken a lot from me and I want to start getting those things back. I have always loved walking and I thought why not do this challenge and I can explore my beautiful county at the same time, whilst raising money for this fantastic charity. I think this is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I am one of those people who love a challenge and thrive off the sense of achievement it can bring.