BACKGROUND: Individuals with fibromyalgia (FM) frequently use health care services and experience only short-term improvements. They often feel that health care staff do not take them seriously. This increases the burden of living with the illness. AIM: To describe how men living with fibromyalgia-type pain experienced being patients in the Swedish health care system. METHOD: Narrative interviews with 14 men who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for classification of fibromyalgia. Content analysis was used when analysing the data. RESULTS: The results are described using five themes. Theme I 'Feeling afraid of being looked upon as being a whiner' highlights how the men endured a lot of pain before they sought health care, and how difficult it was to find a receptive listener. Theme 2 'Feeling like a guinea pig' shows that the men's feelings were twofold; they wanted examinations, even if these made them feel that they were being exposed to numerous treatments without any cure. Theme 3 'Feeling hopeful' describes the hope for a cure after having been referred to a specialist clinic. Theme 4 'Feeling neglected' illustrates being looked upon as an uninteresting patient and theme 5 'Feeling no recovery' illustrates the pain relief they gained, but not the actual cure. CONCLUSION: Men with FM type pain experienced a long wait before treatment at a specialist clinic as well as no continuity and follow-ups in primary care and general hospitals. Encounters with engaged and skilful staff promoted the men's well-being despite the fact that no cure was available. Not being respected led to a feeling of being neglected despite the care received. Thus, the men had to accept the fact that they would never recover.