Jan, I hope your biopsy(ies) go okay. I have never heard of biologics but I just looked them up. They sound interesting, if they work. Right now I'm considering CBD oil, it's been recommended to me by a few people and I'm going to talk to my doctor about it. My sister says it helps alleviate all kinds of things for her, without any kind of mind-altering experience or chemical hangover. Upon doing some basic research (my wife has been doing research too, bless her heart) it appears that it has the potential to address many of my concerns, from pain to sleep to skin inflammatory conditions to OCD, anxiety and depression. It's hard to hope that anything could help, I've had such crappy luck with everything I've tried. But I'm too sensitive to take painkillers and because of my history of addiction I'd rather avoid them anyway. I was also thinking it would be nice if I could find someone who drives and could pick me up a few times a week and take me to a pool so I could do water aerobics. That way I could get exercise without having to bear my weight, which is next to impossible anymore. The ironic thing is I live perhaps 2 blocks away from the rec centre on campus, which has a pool and water aerobics classes, but it's up a series of hills and they're just impossible for me right now. And the nearest bus stop is almost as far away as the rec centre.

Child - I hope you are able to get done what you need to do to take care of yourself, and that the pain eases for you. It can be so frustrating.

Cake, sorry to hear about the fires. I live in BC (Canada) and every year a quarter of the province burns, I swear. The fires were nowhere near us this year but because of how many there were we were clouded in smoke most of the summer. It was awful. I've lived right in the middle of them before, with the roads cut off in all directions for safety reasons, no electricity, no toilets, no showers, no telephone, no stores open, no way to keep food. It's scary. I'll be thinking of you. Hopefully you are able to avoid the worst of it, whatever that looks like for you.

Gus and Jan - thanks for your greetings. I have missed you both. I am hoping to learn some stuff about what I am experiencing. It feels weird because I've been experiencing most of this for decades but never thought to get it checked out as a possible condition (fibro) but I've tried diagnosing lots of the separate components and all the tests keep coming back negative when I know there's something wrong and it all impacts my life dramatically. It would just be a relief to know I'm not imagining it all.