Why a Dragon???

So I have fibromyalgia....OK, but why do I refer to it as a dragon?  Well, lots of us with fibromyalgia (or fibro or FMS) call it the dragon.  The term comes from this essay by Mr. Ray White, written many years ago....It explains well how the syndrome can affect us.


The Dragon Grins...
The doctor explains to me that I have a Dragon that has come to possess me.  This Dragon is mean.  This Dragon is deceiving and destructive.  "But," the doctor says, "We can work at keeping this Dragon down."

"What is this Dragon's name?" I ask.  The doctor in his professional calmness says, "The Dragon is FMS...Fibromyalgia Syndrome."  The doctor explains to me ways we are going to keep him down.  "Feed the Dragon some meds like Trazadone or Elavil.  Do some light exercise, maybe the Dragon will get tired and leave you alone for a while."

I turn to leave and for the first time I see the Dragon.  He looks at me with those evil yellow eyes, and the Dragon grins.  I say to myself that Dragons can be slain.  I read that in stories in School.  The armor-clad knight slaying the Dragon and triumphantly returning to his town.  As I am in this daydream the Dragon jumps on me.  I wrestle with him.  His hot breath sears my head.  His roar makes my ears ring.  He leaves me in a pile of flesh on the ground.  I ache all over.  Some parts of my body are painful to touch.  I am exhausted as I pick myself back up again.  The Dragon looks back to me-and the Dragon grins.

"I hate you, Dragon."  I scream as he walks away.  I feed the Dragon the medication prescribed.  Slowly at first, the increasing a little as time goes by.  I do begin a little exercise.  I change some of my diet and increase the carbohydrates.  I move about relatively pain free.  And I say to myself "Maybe I have beaten the Dragon.  Maybe the Dragon was only my imagination.  I was just a little depressed and down, but now life is great."

I look to the sky and see dark clouds looming.  A cold north wind begins to blow.  I hear a thunderous pounding of foot steps.  I have heard that sound while watching Jurassic Park, but now I'm not watching that movie.  BOOM...BOOM...I don't see anything.  BOOM...BOOM...I panic and start to run.  I dare not turn around as I try to run faster...faster. A claw grabs my shoulder.  Searing hot pain rips down my back....staring upwards, terror runs through my body.  And the Dragon grins.

The Dragon has returned!  "You can't escape" the Dragon yells.  "You are mine!!"  I try to get up as the Dragon slams my body back to the ground.  I can hardly stand the pain as he tortures me by stomping my hands.  With his teeth he pulls at muscles in my back and legs.  He burns my head with his intense fiery breath.  The battle is finally over.  He stares at my crumpled body as I try to get focused on this beast.  My eyes finally clear enough to see, and the Dragon grins.

Days pass.  My fingers no longer work like they used to.  My muscles feel like the second day  of Olympic training, but the sensation does not leave.  My head is not clear.  I do not see well at night.  Parts of me are cold and clammy.  I am stiff.  Why did the Dragon beat me so hard?  When I try to sleep, the Dragon slaps me awake several times at night.  Sometimes I am freezing.  In bed I awaken drenched in sweat.  It hurts to stand.  It hurts to sit.  My mind says one thing and my mouth says another.  And the Dragon grins.

Sometimes I think I am in a nightmare and will someday wake up, the real me.  I don't look sick, so why do I feel so bad?  Friends and family laugh when I mess up on my words talking to them.  I feel so stupid looking in the refrigerator and not knowing why, or walking around in circles either not finding what I was after or forgetting what I was looking for.  If I am driving at night and it starts to rain, the road disappears.  And it is not uncommon to go somewhere and then make wrong turns coming back.  My mind says right, my body turns left.  I can go somewhere and not remember how I got there.  I am not dumb, just not "connected" anymore.

Outwardly, I laugh and play, but inside I have to cry sometimes.
And the Dragon grins.

By Ray White
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So there you have it....I look at my FMS as my Dragon, and I call him Keegan....He like to breathe fire and create chaos, and grin at me.  I like to make him drowsy so he naps alot :)   Tomorrow, I'll tell you how we met......

Thanks for stopping in,
~~~~~Sally~~~~~