Stories from people living with chronic illness

“Four years. Eleven doctors. I had been told it was depression, then deconditioning, then anxiety. I started tracking every day in Flura: pain severity across different body areas, sleep quality, fatigue, and the pattern of feeling significantly worse in the 24 to 48 hours after any real activity. I brought three months of consistent data to a new rheumatologist. She looked at the post-exertional pattern and the widespread pain distribution in the report and said it was the clearest fibromyalgia presentation she had seen documented by a patient in years. I was diagnosed that afternoon. Having the data made it impossible to dismiss.”

“I had been dismissed for two years. My cardiologist kept telling me that my heart rate spikes were anxiety and that I needed to manage my stress better. I started tracking in Flura every time my symptoms were bad, noting whether I was standing, sitting, or lying down, how my heart rate felt, the dizziness and brain fog severity. Over 90 days the postural pattern was undeniable. I brought the PDF to a different cardiologist. She recognised the orthostatic component within the first few minutes of reviewing the data. I was started on ivabradine within a week of that appointment. My symptoms improved by more than half in the following three months.”

“I had been told since I was 19 that severe period pain was normal. I was 29 when I started tracking properly. I logged cycle phase, pain location, pain severity, and any other symptoms every single day for three months. What the Flura report showed was that my pain was severe in the five days before my period and the three days after it, and that it was affecting my lower back and legs as well as my abdomen, not just cramping, but a wider pattern the doctors had never seen documented. My gynaecologist looked at the report for about two minutes before saying she wanted to refer me for a laparoscopy. I had surgery four months later and received a confirmed endometriosis diagnosis after a decade of being told nothing was wrong.”

“For eight months I was told the answer was to push through the fatigue and exercise more. I was getting worse every week and no one was listening. I started tracking what I did each day (including lighter activities like short walks, phone calls, or cooking) and then logging my symptoms in the 24 to 48 hours afterwards. The post-exertional crash pattern was right there in the data, consistent and delayed, every single time. I showed my GP the Flura report and she referred me to a specialist the same day. I was assessed for ME/CFS and the diagnosis changed everything. I stopped the graded exercise program that had been making me significantly worse and started an appropriate management plan instead.”

“My GP kept telling me my irregular cycles and fatigue were caused by stress. Three years of being told to sleep more and stress less. I started tracking my cycle phase, energy levels, skin changes, and mood every day for six weeks. The pattern in the report was clear: fatigue and skin flares consistently worse in the second half of every cycle, with a cycle length that varied by more than two weeks each month. When I brought the data in, my GP ordered a full hormonal panel for the first time. My testosterone and LH to FSH ratio both came back outside the normal range. That was the beginning of actually being taken seriously and getting treatment that made a difference.”