Aussie scientist seeks fibromyalgia care in Bangkok

Australian former PhD student Victoria Carrington is preparing to travel to Bangkok for treatment at BDMS Wellness Clinic after years of chronic pain she says began with a head injury at a university party in 2018.

The 29-year-old Australian, who has since been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, says she does not expect a miracle. Her aim is to regain enough independence to cook, shower daily, make her bed and potentially return to work.

Carrington had planned a career in fisheries management after studying marine biology and statistics. She earned several scholarships, tutored university students, worked on a fisheries research vessel and upgraded her master's degree to a PhD.

"I was extremely dedicated," she told the Daily Mail. "I was working 80-hour weeks because I loved what I was studying."

Symptoms grew after two head knocks

At a university Christmas party in December 2018, Carrington accepted a piggyback ride from a friend who had also been drinking. She was dropped on to the road and diagnosed with concussion.

She initially suffered headaches, nausea, dizziness and severe fatigue, taking two weeks away from work. But when she returned to boat work, she felt unwell after three hours and needed to lie down.

A month later, while following advice from a concussion clinic to do gentle exercise, she hit her head again during backstroke swimming. She developed an immediate migraine, followed by pins and needles across her body.

Hospital doctors ruled out a brain bleed and attributed the symptoms to concussion, she said. However, her problems worsened over the following years, including migraines, aching muscles, joint pain, nausea, digestive trouble, poor sleep and sensitivity to light, noise, temperature and air pressure.

Carrington said it took her four years to realise she was living with constant pain. After researching her symptoms herself, she was officially diagnosed with fibromyalgia more than five years after they began.

There is no cure for fibromyalgia, a chronic condition associated with widespread pain, fatigue, sleep problems and difficulty with concentration. Researchers believe it involves changes in the way the brain and nervous system process pain, making normal sensations feel painful and heightening the intensity of existing pain. Treatment generally focuses on symptom management.

A final attempt in Bangkok

Carrington said fluorescent university lighting and the demands of study eventually forced her to leave her PhD. She now receives a disability pension and says she needs help with tasks including cooking, dressing, washing and making her bed.

She estimates that medication costs about $1,400 from her monthly $2,600 disability pension. Her application for NDIS support was unsuccessful, she said, because fibromyalgia was not accepted as the basis for funding.

After seeing specialists, physiotherapists, osteopaths and pain clinics, Carrington began looking overseas for more coordinated care. She chose BDMS Wellness Clinic in Bangkok because consultations, physiotherapy and other therapies can be arranged at one site, reducing the need for repeated journeys between appointments.

She has launched a GoFundMe campaign because she cannot afford the trip and programme herself.

"I'd like to be able to paint. I'd like to have coffee in a coffee shop," Carrington said. "I'd like to be able to cook for myself, make my bed and get dressed without help."

Picture courtesy of Daily Mail

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11 August 2026

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