Hi myjoy, my experience went like this:
in 20005 i quit my job due to a myriad of symptoms that later was diagnosed as fibromyalgia, cfs, major depression, seasonal depression disorder, headaches
etc....etc...
I had went to several doctors: my gp, 2 rhuemys, physciatrist(excuse my spelling) fibro fog and memory loss has really whooped me hard! ran the whole gammet of tests and treatments, but nothing seemed to be working, i was going to my gp on a regular basis, and she suggested i go on disability (which was hard for me to hear because i always associated disability with worthlessness)
2006 i applied on my own and was denied, applied again reconsideration stage, and denied again, i then seeked out a disability lawyer, and the next step was to have alj hearing in front of a judge, there was alot of waiting, and in january of this year i finally was awarded the disability in my favor, so it took me nearly 3 years. It was a long hard road for me, but their are other ones that get favorable decisions on their first try, so you never can tell, but if you are serious about it, you should get started right away.
I have heard of a firm called allsup that deals with alot of fibro patients, maybe that would be something to look into, they say, they do alot of the leg work for you, and another piece of advice would be to go to all your doctors on a regular basis. good luck.......dutchone