For many years, people who suffered from fibromyalgia not only had to endure their mysterious, debilitating symptoms, but public skepticism, as well. Their ailment was often dismissed by health care providers. Family and friends sometimes thought they were faking.

Today, fibromyalgia is a recognized neurological disorder. Although its cause remains a mystery, researchers finally are studying the malady. More effective treatments are available.

Lynn Adams of Corvallis said all of that is encouraging, but hardfought. As one who helped fight for these developments, she knows that all too well.

For years after a 1993 car accident, Adams wasn't sure what was wrong with her. Although she'd done all she could to recover from her injuries, Adams noticed that far from being able to complete her pre-accident four-mile run, she couldn't even cross the room without her legs buckling. She couldn't remember major events in her life. She had muscle spasms that would cause her to inadvertently throw things.

Now a facilitator of the Linn and Benton County chronic pain support group, Adams recounted a years-long journey from bewildered sufferer to empowered researcher, advocate and resource to others in a similar situation.

It's a journey out of pain; unbearable pain.

To escape it, "I'd beg to go to sleep; I'd do anything to go to sleep," she said.

After a few months of struggling with her pain, a doctor in Hawaii, where she was living at the time, prescribed a combination of pain medication that helped control her symptoms and enabled her to go back to work. While she had previously worked as a psychotherapist, she decided to take it slow when she returned to the workforce, and she got a job with AT&T.

Adams still was taking the pain meds when she moved from Hawaii to Corvallis in 1996 to be near her elderly father. But rather than just medicating her illness, she wanted to understand it. It was at a pain clinic in Eugene that her ailment finally gained a name: She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

Adams said she was elated and relieved, although her friends and family found that an odd reaction.

"It's better than thinking you're crazy," she said.

Her new doctor adjusted her pain medications, which allowed her to regain energy and strength so she could fight her illness head-on.

Adams, who holds a bachelors degree in biochemistry, physiology and a masters in clinical psychology, began to explore the science behind fibromyalgia. She drew on her experience as a lab researcher and a psychotherapist who worked with drug and alcohol treatment and obesity programs.

She soon began working directly with other chronic pain sufferers, offering them emotional support and putting them in touch with medical resources where they could receive treatment.

Although the money for research and public awareness in fibromyalgia is growing, Adams said the medical profession still is lagging behind patient needs. So, she said, patients need to become their own advocates as they navigate the system. Fibromyalgia can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms mimic multiple sclerosis, pre-Parkinsons disease and even early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Fibromyalgia sufferers face other hurdles, as well. The Oregon Health Plan does not cover pain medications to treat fibromyalgia or even doctor's visits to treat the illness.

"Patients have got to start taking responsibility for ourselves," Adams said. "You've got to be persistent … People can be their own champions."

With her private-practice work and her pain support role, Adams feels driven to gather as much information as she can on new medical advances and new resources available to sufferers. She often attends national conferences. She is excited about an upcoming opportunity to confer with international physicians about their own approaches to fibromyalgia.

"I'd love to talk to somebody and ask, "How do you treat it in Germany?'" she said.

At a glance

Who: Lynn Adams, 63

What: Advocate for sufferers of chronic pain and fibromyalgia

Family: Son, Patrick, 32; grandson Addison, born Feb. 29

Favorite hobbies: Wearing tropical shirts and researching brain function

Next support group meeting: June 28, 1:30 p.m., Two Rivers Market, Third and Broadalbin streets, Albany