"It's Just Stress"

OK - This has got to be the worst.  I know anyone with Fibromyalgia can identify with the following situation and have probably experienced it countless times.

People say things with good intentions but with ignorance sometimes.  You can't ever understand what a person is going through unless you've experienced it yourself.  I'm sure I've been guilty of the same thing many times, judging someone without knowing all the facts.  It's something of which I'm always reminding myself.

We were out to dinner last night when I was talking to my husbands sister-in-law and the subject of my not feeling well came up.  She began by talking about her daughter and how she'd had a really hard time with post partum depression and sleep deprivation after her son was born .  Admittedly these are both very serious conditions.  I can certainly identify with the depression piece after having endured it for most of my life but these two conditions have absolutely nothing to do with my situation.   She said something to the effect of  "It's probably stress that's causing your problems".  I didn't say anything but it really hurt.  It always hurts when someone tries to downplay your pain or imply that you're a hypochondriac,  just aren't dealing with it the right way or, just complaining.  It's so hard to say "I have Fibromyalgia" because no one really knows what it is and with so many drug ads on TV, some people think it's just the newest diagnosis created for the sole purpose of selling more drugs.  I can understand how they might feel this way, but in my case (and MANY people's cases), that just isn't true.  We're suffering with a horrible debilitating disease that no-one knows how to treat or what causes it.  I know I'm preaching to the choir for those who are victims of Fibromyalgia, but I needed to put it in writing since it's already happened to me several times and I was only diagnosed six months ago.  I'm realizing that this is something I'll have to learn to get used to.  I'll have to find a way to de-emotionalise these comments and let them just roll off my back.