I’m here because I’m seeking support from others who understand the struggles of living with chronic illness and pain. I’ve had migraines and headaches since my 20’s and I’m now 52. Then in my mid 40’s when I was finally working my dream job I got the flu and everything changed. I developed a host of strange symptoms that never went away and that in most cases doctors have never been able to explain or treat: taychicardia, heat sensitivity with profuse sweating, fever of unknown origin, chronic fatigue. As the years went on I developed more and more issues and the existing ones got worse. I have a headache pretty much every day of my life to some extent from nuisance up to full blown down in bed sick migraine. I have arthritis in my L4,L5 S1, I have now developed arthritis in both knees making walking painful which has lead to me putting on a lot of weight and the weight makes the knee and back pain worse so that’s a circle, I have stomach and intestinal issues that at one point we’re misdiagnosed as gastroparesis but have since been classified as functional Dyspepsia and IBS. I also suffer from Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and PTSD. Those are worsened by my health issues and that too is a viscous cycle. At one point I was taking over 25 different medications including opioids for the pain which in turn created even more issues. I’m now down to just seven prescriptions and several supplements but I’m having so much difficulty dealing with my chronic pain. OTC pain reliever doesn’t make a dent. I use STEM, have done chiropractic, massage, PT and acupuncture and while the regular massage did seem to help my husband lost his job at the end of January so not only do we not have insurance right now but there’s no way we can afford to self pay. I have a new neurologist who’s amazing, the best one I’ve ever had, and I do get Botox injections for my migraines, but I’ve tried pretty much every rescue medication on the market and nothing has worked. I did have good success with Elyxyb but then my insurance decided to take it off the formulary and now I’m without insurance altogether and that drug isn’t available as a generic and there is not way to afford it with no insurance. I’ve looked at doing a Medicare health plan but only a portion of my many doctors accept Medicare so I’d either have to go back to the drawing board and start over with a bunch of new doctors or pay the Medicare premium and fees plus self pay for all the doctors who don’t accept it. I found this group hoping having others who would better understand my struggles would be helpful for me. My husband says I complain too much. I try very hard not to but when you are sick or in pain every minute of every day it’s very hard not to. I was becoming afraid if I didn’t find another outlet my marriage might be in jeopardy. I look forward to getting to know others here and both getting and receiving support from others who understand. Thank you.