Dear Fibromyalgia

Category: Fibromyalgia Pain

A comprehensive look at Fibromyalgia pain, its symptoms, triggers, and effective strategies to manage and alleviate discomfort.

  • Fibromyalgia and Opiates for pain: Helpful or hindering?

    There has been a study published in the Journal of Pain from Australia that might suggest opiates may cause increased sensitivity in some types of pain.  The study had the patients who have chronic pain and hyperalgesia, which is that intense response to pain, we also see in fibromyalgia.  They were taking methadone and morphine for the study.

    Hyperalgesia is an increased pain response such that more pain is felt than dictated by the stimulus or injury would suggest.  It can be specific to an area of the body or widespread.  It can be seen with some inflammatory conditions, with some nerve damage situations and it is also a main feature of fibromyalgia.  It is quite commonly associated with long-term use of opiate medications so it is not surprising this study likewise had similar results.

    “A second finding showed that similar nociceptive profiles are found in chronic pain patients treated with methadone. Third, the study showed that pain sensitivity associated with methadone administration also is found in morphine-treated patients. According to the authors, the study demonstrated that hyperalgesia but not allodynia is associated with the long-term administration of opioids.”

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    In many cases, opiate based medications, such as Percocet (oxycodone) are not as effective for people with fibromyalgia and a more effective treatment are the medications acting on the brain neurotransmitters themselves.  Lyrica and Gabapentin are anticonvulsants which by affecting certain neurotransmitters try to dampen the pain signals and decrease pain where it is in fact starting.  Fibromyalgia is brain pain and medications that focus on the brain have a better chance of treating that pain.  Other medications that aim specifically at FM are Cymbalta and Savella which are antidepressants used to affect the serotonin neurotransmitter, often found to be lower in FM patients.  However, some people do take them for pain management so this will be a concern if it, in fact, increases their sensitivity to pain over time.  In the cases, where pain medications are used it might be something to be used in moderation and careful consideration.

    It should be noted this risk factor occurs with all chronic pain and is a low risk. When it occurs the patient is switched to another opiate. It should also be noted Tramadol is in the guidelines for treatment as it is one that has been studied as effective for fibromyalgia pain.

    This is a reprint of the study I had published on a site that is gone, so putting it up again. As I said, this is a risk factor for all people using opiates. It does run the risk of causing hyperalgesia and this study doesn’t indicate if the risk is greater with FM. However, my previous research into this effect suggests it isn’t a common reaction at all. Typically the patient is simply switched medication. There have been little studies on FM and opiates and the studies Minimal to make any conclusions about. Mostly on Tramadol, which is seen as acceptable and is in the guidelines for treatment.

    Here’s the problem with this type of blanket statements: these recommendations are based on the results of only a few small studies showing they were ineffective for fibromyalgia pain. Since no large trials have been done, the recommendations against opiate use for fibromyalgia are based on data from less than 100 subjects! Also, these small studies only looked at patients taking opiates every day for pain, and we know that daily, long term use of opiates does result in negative side effects and diminishing medication benefit over time. None of these small studies assessed the most successful use of pain medications, which is when they are taken just as needed for flares.

    So take it with a grain of salt. But know doctors will resist the idea based on these very little studies.

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  • Fibromyalgia: orthostatic intolerance

    Fibromyalgia: orthostatic intolerance

    This is of concern to me due to my low blood pressure issues and dizziness. And it makes me wonder. Especially since my doc mentioned I may have POTS.

    So the study is looking at the Baroreflex  response. Without it we would stand up and get dizzy and could faint. It is mechanism in the body that tries to regulate our blood pressure.

    The response involves nerves in the blood vessels near, in and around the heart.  Receptors called baroreceptors found on these nerves constantly (fractions of a second) monitor your blood pressure. When your blood pressure gets too high, baroreceptors inhibit the heart rate by turning down sympathetic nervous system activity.  When it dips too low, they send a message to the brain to increase the heart rate.

    Studies have suggested this baroreceptor problem could explain the pain in FM.  “A 2010 study asserted that the role baroreceptors play in pain inhibition has been “well-documented.” It concluded that problems with cardiovascular control likely played a role in producing the pain problems FM patients face. Reduced baroreceptor activation in a 2015 study was associated with increased pain intensity in FM as well.”

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    So are dizziness, rapid heartbeats, increased pain and such known to be common symptoms of FM? They are of M.E/CFS. And they are with me. Even chest pains, and palpitations. People with FM do get palpitations, that I know.

    The study

    “Baroreflex dysfunction has been observed in women with FMS. However, it is unknown whether the limited involvement of the baroreflex control during an orthostatic stimulus has some impact on the quality of life of the FMS patient. Therefore, the aim of the study is evaluate the relationship between the quality of life of the FMS patient and indexes of the cardiovascular autonomic control as estimated from spontaneous fluctuations of heart period (HP) and systolic arterial pressure (SAP). ”

    They enrolled 35 women (age: 48.8±8.9 years; body mass index: 29.3±4.3 Kg/m2). respiratory activity, blood pressure and electrocardiogram were consistently recorded during a 15 period of rest laying down. (REST). And in Orthostatic position during active standing. (STAND).

    Results:

    Traditional cardiovascular autonomic control markers were assessed along with a Granger causality index assessing the strength of the causal relation from SAP to HP (CRSAP→HP) and measuring the degree of involvement of the cardiac baroreflex. The impact of FMS on quality of life was quantified by the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) and visual analog score for pain (VAS pain). No significant linear association was found between FIQ scores and the traditional cardiovascular indexes both at REST and during STAND (p>0.05). However, a negative relationship between CRSAP→HP during STAND and FIQ score was found (r = -0.56, p<0.01). Similar results were found with VAS pain.

    They concluded that the lower degree of cardiac baroreflex involvement during STAND in the subjects the higher the impact of the FM quality of life. In other words, we might have problems doing things while standing.

    Worthy to note other studies previously:

    Evidence of orthostatic problems, however, showed up early in a 1997 study finding that 60% of FM patients (but no healthy controls) exhibited a significant drop in blood pressure during a tilt-table test.  Martinez-Lavin followed that up with a 1998 study highlighting the autonomic nervous system problems that popped up when FM patients stood.

    A 2005 study found a high rate of fainting (44%) during a step-wise TILT test.  I was unable to find any studies evaluating the incidence of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS: >30 heart rate increase upon standing), but Staud, in a 2008 review, claimed that POTS commonly showed up in tilt table tests in FM. 

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    References:

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    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

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  • Learning about Disability

    I’m taking a disability studies class this term as part of my social work program. I study part-time, online. I thought I would post some of my reflections on reading articles for the class. People living with FM and CFS/ME don’t always think of themselves as ‘disabled’, but the way the world is organized and the way these conditions affect our bodies certainly mean we do live with a disability.

    Reflections on Eli Clare’s (2001) Stolen bodies, reclaimed bodies:

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    I found that this poetic article illuminated the physicality of the experience of living with a disability in a way that I had never encountered before. Weaving the author’s personal experiences along with disability theory was incredibly effective in making the central point of the article. Clare argues that the disability rights movement identifies the social and material conditions that oppress disabled people as the locus of change, rather than the individual’s impairments of the body. However, in so doing, the body and somatic experience often gets lost in progressive disability discourse. Clare makes the point that our bodies are a key part of our identities, and mediate our engagement with the external world.

    I have never thought about the social model of disability in these terms before. It makes sense to me, though, both intellectually and viscerally. I identify as a person living with a disability, and one component of my experience is chronic pain. Chronic pain, from my perspective, never fits neatly with the assertion by the social model of disability that the only location of problem and change in society. My relationship with my body, the pain that I feel every day, is also a site of struggle, and a challenge in my life, alongside the social oppression that I face as a disabled person. Disability, then, for me, is about both a relationship with myself and the external world. This article provided me with new ways to understand the internal and external realities of disability. Clare connects one with the other, as part of the disability rights movement; “without our bodies, without the lived bodily experience of identity and oppression, we will not truly be able to reconfigure the world”

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    References:

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    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

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  • How do fibromyalgia and chronic illness upend your life?

    How do fibromyalgia and chronic illness upend your life?

    You’re sitting in the doctor’s office, being told you have an incurable illness. Maybe you have to leave your career, or pull back on your workload, with set accommodations. You can’t live up to being the involved wife, parent, sister, or daughter you planned on being. Travel becomes difficult, athletic ability falls off, and favorite hobbies or pastimes become more challenging. But mostly you just don’t feel like you. A period of grief ensues over your previous life, and it crashes over you in waves.

    Eventually, you start asking the big questions. Can you live a good life despite pain? How do you find meaning again amidst all the change?

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    I don’t have THE answer, but I did find some answers. I had to understand what I’d found meaningful in life Before Fibro (B.F.). And then I had to find the meaning behind the meaning- why is something sustaining, nourishing, enjoyable? Finding meaning is epitomized by the quote “A life well lived is a life fully experienced.”

    I was a very career-focused B.F., finding satisfaction in the field of global health (HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment). Once all that stopped, I felt stuck and lost. The one thing I had been certain of, my “calling”, was gone. Making a difference through my career had given me a sense of purpose.

    Travelling was my favorite activity. I came to realize that experiencing different cultures and ways of life was important to me because it had made my own worldview expand. Broadening my horizons made me feel vital and alive.

    How to replicate that feeling from my couch at home? An answer came surprisingly from the podcasts and audiobooks I listened to during my enforced rests. I found I enjoyed learning about history, as a way to travel from my armchair. (I’m a ?). Learning feels like time well spent, whether it’s listening to a historical mystery or an episode of a podcast on ancient Egypt. After all, curiosity keeps your brain healthy and young. What do you geek out about? It can be anything, from an academic subject to a hobby, to DIY project techniques. Intentionally find ways to learn about things you find interesting, from online classes, podcasts, audiobooks, or just connecting with interesting people online and asking them questions. The time that feels spent on rewarding things makes meaning.

    Over time I came to see that there is a lot of life to live here, in ordinary life, without globetrotting or being career-driven. I never appreciated that B.F., assuming everyday life was boring and humdrum. But in learning to be mindful and still, I’ve found how much I missed before, and how much being present enriches my life. Being on autopilot, or always looking ahead, meant I whizzed past sunsets, birdsong, long hugs, savored meals, belly laughs and so many other moments. Connecting to the beauty and wonder all around us via our senses is possible, even while in pain, even at home. Finding ways to feel that makes life more worthwhile. Mindfulness as a practice, or just realizing the need to be present, means showing up for moments big, and small. Choose to stay with an experience instead of reaching for a distraction.

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    And the difficult experiences of chronic pain, surviving the limitations, still mean that you are living fully. I’ve grown in strength, resilience, compassion, self-confidence, and patience in ways I never would have before my illness. After all, what else really is the point of life other than to become a better, wiser version of ourselves on this journey? This is another way to have a purpose in life. I’ve come to value growing as a person as one of my most important accomplishments, instead of getting promotions, keeping up with the Joneses, or any of the other markers we are taught to measure our success by. Without fibro, I would have let external factors determine my self-worth. It’s not that I’m grateful for fibromyalgia, or that I’m glad I have it, but I have found a way to make meaning out of it, and find a silver lining. I’m developing as I go; it’s a work in progress, but a worthwhile one.

    I’ve written before about the critical importance to our happiness of self-expression and contributing to something greater than ourselves. We are often taught that the only way to do this is to work and be a “productive citizen.” However, there are so many other ways to find connections, such as sharing your story and finding online relationships, to learn from and support others. Writing on my blog and now writing as a freelancer, has transformed my life. Volunteering, supporting others online, teaching, mentoring, and sharing your experience are all ways to contribute, big and small.

    Fiction writing has engaged me again in a new way through imagination. (I’m writing a historical mystery set in Niagara Falls during the American civil war when the area was a hotbed of spies and intrigue). Creativity can be a form of salvation, as a craft, art, music, interior decoration, in the kitchen, the garden, on the page, or anywhere else. We shift into an active mode, not passenger mode when creating. Yet we also refrain from intellectualizing, analyzing, number crunching, or any other left-brain thinking. Creativity is about engaging intuitively, emotionally, and symbolically with the world, through self-expression, using the right brain. It’s good for your heart; it’s good for your soul. Don’t disparage it as “unproductive” or unimportant, because it is a meaningful source of intrinsic pleasure. It’s meaningful because it’s a way of being open and engaging with the world around you (sensing a theme yet?), via your senses and interpretations, from your own unique perspective.

    We find meaning in our relationships, in our faith, and in our philosophies. But we have to be present, open, and engaged to really benefit from these resources. That doesn’t happen overnight! But tuning in to our senses, our inner strengths, our creativity, our intrinsic interests and sources of pleasure allows us to connect to the world in ways that create and cultivate meaning in our lives. This is a form of strengths-based healing – leveraging your inner resources to create a life fully experienced, and well lived – in spite of adversity.

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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

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    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

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  • I Survived the Fibromyalgia Flare

    Last week I found myself in the worst flare of my life. After a month of mounting stress, marital grumblings, and the sheer psychosis of living chronically ill I hit bottom. Bottom when you have Fibromyalgia really hurts. So I proceeded to walk around stooped over like a little old lady holding my lower back, wailing and crying and gnashing my teeth over how absolutely awful everything was. Then the anger I try so hard to keep tucked tightly under cover flew up and gave me waves of new aggressors to aggravate my rapidly crumbling illusion of reality.

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    Oh, I was a mess. And Fibromyalgia saw this weakness and POUNCED, took her claim back over my body. Elephants ballet danced with thunderous weight across my upper back, the pain from my lower back radiated all the way down my legs, into my feet for crying out loud! My hips forgot they were made to swivel and when I walked my body weight threatened to crush my internal organs. It was as if somebody pushed the rewind button and took me back to 2006 when I was disabled from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME. No wonder I was such a mess, I thought to myself. This is horrible! I became convinced I was never going to run again and immediately crumpled into a Jello-ing heap at the thought of gaining back the 30 lbs. I just found out I have lost this year. How was I going to write a blog with a positive spin on how to survive Fibromyalgia? How was I going to write the book I am working on to raise awareness? How on earth could I keep the burning embers of The Fibromyalgia Crusade stoked and roasting? How, how, how? For there was just so much pain.

    The life I know and have been working so hard to rebuild ceased to be a reality as the evil fingers of cranial destruction pushed on damaged neurotransmitters and overactive pain receptors. I experienced agony beyond a medicate-able amount, sending me not only through the roof but darn near jumping off it when I got there. Am I going to get my life back, or is this just the way it is now? I seriously wondered. Then I recalled with acute clarity the first time I asked myself that question and how many years and how much work lay between then and now. I am just not up to it, I can’t do it again, I reassured myself as I slept and watched mindless reality television, looking for any escape. But something strange happened as I took leave of my stress and took care of myself. I started to feel better. Slowly but surely I started to feel better until one day I woke up and had to remember the flare, for it had passed. But I have renewed in my efforts folks, shouting from the rooftops as loud as my little lungs will carry how absolutely horrible Fibromyalgia is and how living in that unbearable pain is perhaps the worst thing in the world. God bless all of us who suffer from this illness.

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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

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    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

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    Fibromyalgia Stores

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  • A Woman To Be Remembered for Fibromyalgia

    A Woman To Be Remembered for Fibromyalgia

    The world lost a woman yesterday.
    A boy lost his grandmother, three people lost their mother and a man lost his wife.
    This woman was a pistol, tough and strong and a force to be reckoned with.
    I grew up with her tales of adventure, living overseas while young and newly married, her husband in the military.
    I learned of a day in 1929 when this girl took a shoebox of money she was saving to the bank, to be turned away empty-handed, for her money was worth nothing.

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    I recall dramatic and gory stories when she worked as a nurse, the night shift in the E.R.
    I ate many holiday dinners at her dining room table and swam many summers in her swimming pool.
    I never shared blood with this woman, yet she is the person who gave me one of my mothers. And she too suffered from a silent illness, Lupus.
    An illness of shared compassion to us Fibromyalgia patients.
    But she braced herself up and raised her family, one of her daughters developmentally disabled and by her side every single day.
    She was a woman of courage and strength and integrity, a beauty from a bygone time.
    Blessed with long life, part of her will go on.
    In the friends, she loved, each child she created.
    Birthed and raised and taught right from wrong.
    Each life she touched, I.V. she poked or Special Olympics she attended to watch her daughter win gold and silver medals.
    That is what goes on.
    The memories her loved ones share when brought together as they laugh through their tears, recalling something they did that made her really really mad.
    The animation and times of a person with a life well-lived.
    Respected and remembered.
    Rest in peace, you will be missed.

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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

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    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

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  • Unspeakable Pain but Were you Hurt Most?

    Unspeakable Pain but Were you Hurt Most?

    There is a book whose title I will not tell, written by an author that will remain unnamed, that everyone in the whole wide world made such a gigantic fuss about. Hollywood even made it into a movie! And all I heard from everyone I knew was to read this book. It is great! Empowered womanhood! You will love it! They all assured me. So I broke down and bought the darn thing in paperback at Target. Immediately I was turned off, for this woman had been portrayed as a hero, a goddess of unprecedented proportions for overcoming unspeakable pain and triumphing over all her wrongdoers with a transcendent peacefulness.

    But all I could see was a woman with an endless bank account and oodles of time on her hands void of any responsibility cavorting around and indulging herself. And I got mad. Actually, I was really really jealous. Because I wanted her life. And I wanted her problems. And most of all I wanted her solution, irresponsible and generously funded self-indulgence! I put the book down after my 6th or so attempt to get into it, fuming and angry as I had been the 5 times I had previously ventured into her world. Did anybody even edit this book? It reads like she turned a tape recorder on and recorded her stream of consciousness, whatever came to mind and published it hot off the transcriber’s desk. Finally, I decided this is not the right time in my life to be reading this book and it went back on the shelf for another place, another journey, a whole other attitude adjustment.

    Then irony smacked me upside the head a few times to catch my attention. My complete lack of compassion became glaringly obvious. I judged this woman because her trauma was not worthy of my respect. It was not big enough, grand enough, destructive enough. But it was still her trauma. She had every right to feel what she felt, for if that was as bad as her life had gotten she was a very lucky girl and must not have much to compare it to. She had every right to make millions of dollars off this venture if she is writing what her customers want. Just because this woman had not befallen to a multitude of health problems or natural disasters or an abusive past or anything equally traumatic I judged her. Yet I would not ever in a million years with what I have been through on even my worst enemy. This found me in a particular set of reasoning that made no rational sense. My heart softened and I found empathy and even a little joy in being reminded not everyone suffers so horribly in this thing called life. So go for it girl! Live your life and keep loving and laughing and doing what makes you happy, I begrudge you nothing. I hope she never has to find out about the devastation that comes when life really betrays you and leaves you stripped naked and beaten lying on the floor wanting to die. I can only pray.

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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • The Fibromyalgia Spectrum

    Recently I posed a question in Fibromyalgia Support Group, our support site on Facebook. I am looking for more information about this Fibro-monster, but not what I can pull up in a quick Google search or another strange set of statistics gathered from who knows where. I want real honest to goodness patient-based information from the patients I interact with every day. The real people that have this illness. For there has got to be some commonality among us! So I asked, inquiring minds wanting to know if you were in a happy time in your life when you first got sick with Fibromyalgia or were you super stressed and unhappy or things were not going all that well? I got a good cross-section of responses, I would say about 70 by the time it was lost in the feed. And I did get some sort of a clearer understanding about how this illness strikes us differently.

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    See way back when I was on Prednisone to treat strokes I quickly realized one of the amazingly good benefits of that crazy-lady inducing drug was I felt no pain! It was a cruel joke, for Fibromyalgia was all but gone, but living life on steroids was not exactly my cup of tea either. I noticed some people did not have the same anti-inflammatory response to the drug that I did, though. Now Fibromyalgia is not supposed to be an inflammation-based condition. There is no actual damage to our ligaments, tendons, and muscles, right? Does it just feel like it? So I asked, and the response seemed to be split.* About half the people experienced total pain relief on high-dose steroids and about half did not experience any at all. Well, that seemed pretty big to me and I decided there were two types of Fibromyalgia, at least. Inflammation-based and non-inflammation-based. For it only seemed the rational conclusion. I got a similar response about that happiness question.* There were plenty of folks that were happy in life when Fibro fanny-smacked them off their feet. They mostly seemed to be able to pinpoint an accident or illness with a definitive start date they never recovered from.

    But for those that could not say, for example, “I was very happy but in June of 1992 I slipped and fell and have never recovered,” it was not nearly as clear cut. I read a lot of, “It kind of snuck up on me” and “I think I have always had it” type of answers from the folks that were indeed stressed out and unhappy, generally speaking when they got their Fibro fanny-smack. I was one of them myself. I have always been a hyper-vigilant little birdie, the dominant personality type that gets Fibromyalgia. When I got sick I had a very stressful job in which I was eating, sleeping, and breathing. Then I went through a sort of “hell week” and it just got worse from there. So my rational conclusion was that there was an emotional link the unhappy patients recognized but the happy patients with sudden onset did not experience as significant. Again, just a sweeping generalization, and I am sure all of this has been explored by doctors and scientists with more brains in their left pinkie than I had at the height of my cranial development. But now I feel I have witnessed two very distinct and opposing symptoms of Fibromyalgia. Either inflamed or not, and either unhappy or not. Of course, the biggest question in the room is why some folks get it and others do not, given the exact same set of circumstances? Maybe that is where the genetic component comes in, which would make it three distinct types, or a strange mash-up of a few at a time in each person? Who knows! But maybe if they split up the patient population based only on the experience of specific symptoms, they may realize we are as different as we are alike, and actually get somewhere with that research. But with my luck, I would be the one to have the type that does not come with a cure. Touche my friends, touche.

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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • The Stigma of Fibromyalgia

    The Stigma of Fibromyalgia

    A thought just suddenly popped in my head, seemingly from nowhere, and I am finally able to put my finger on exactly what the stigma of Fibromyalgia brings to the table. See it’s not that we don’t want to get better or are lazy or are working the disability system or are crazy, drug-seeking or just feeling the normal aches and pains of age. That is what the ignorant must believe for some odd reason of their own. But I am talking about the rest of the folks we know and come into contact with. The ones we expect support and belief from. Their reactions can lie from fascinatingly interested (my favorite of course) to apathetic, sympathetic, or just plain uncomfortable. And oftentimes we are treated poorly, our proclamation of ill health met with skepticism and the truth that lies underneath that attitude. The belief is that if you would stop indulging in this problem of yours and just assume yourself better, you could have your life back. And that is all it is my friends. Dismissed as optional. Once I was able to assess this fundamental truth I felt the scales fall away from my eyes. It was extremely easy for me to picture why we are not taken seriously.

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    I remember, long before I got sick, hearing about something called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Maybe it was towards the end of college, in my early 20’s. And I distinctly recall thinking to myself Well then why don’t they just get enough sleep? Go take a nap! Many moons later I got a very serious and debilitating group of infections with the same name, but in no way did the name fit the disease I was afflicted with. The debilitating, painful, life-sucking sickness that disabled me. And I understood. But you can’t really understand until you have it. Unless you have it. In the meantime, we are made to feel frivolous and indulgent about being sick! How about the disappointment and inconvenience factor? We are reminded, often in painful ways, how unacceptable our behavior (illness) is, or how harshly judged we are, and not even behind our backs! I struggled with this for years. Especially with family. Most of my friends had fallen by the wayside once I took ill. But family gathering, oh those were some doozies! As the salt of the earth traditionalists, the men watched football and women cooked and cleaned. Frequently it was inquired as to why I was only bringing one dish. Whispers wisped around, tongues clacking that I was not helping enough with food prep or clean-up. And inquiries straight to my, and my husband’s face, as to why on earth we don’t have children yet and need to hurry up already! We ain’t gettin’ no younger! Oh, that was an ugly one. The lack of empathy was never so strong as it was on that topic.

    And all this judgment and criticism and refusal to accept that I was sick with something real only served to make me not want to be around them! It took a lot of strength, forgiveness, and self-love to get to the point where a complete lack of interest in my medical condition rolled off my back. And some days I am up to it, strong enough to deal, and others I am not. But I still am cut to the quick when I am challenged over my diagnoses. When it is implied, or blatantly stated, that I am just dramatically nurturing depression or am lazy or worst of all, don’t have good manners! Everyone suddenly turns into a diagnostic technician, doctor, herbalist, or pharmacist. Especially the ones that had a friend who had Fibromyalgia and just did and is all better now! So guys and dolls, we have a lot of work to do. A handful of doctors have picked up this diagnosis and sought to find a cause and cure. A bunch of organizations has been formed to spread awareness and raise funds for research. And those are SO important to advancing our cause. But the biggest social impact to raise awareness and validity of this illness lies with the 6 million and counting in the USA alone that have Fibromyalgia. We are the voice of this illness! We are the normal people walking around amongst our peers that must stop and inform everyone our lives touch that Fibromyalgia is real, we have it, and we are not going away because it is an inconvenient or disbelieved illness. I get a lot of inquiries as to what that purple band on my left wrist is for and cherish each opportunity to explain, educate, and ultimately make the reality of living with Fibromyalgia a much more decent place to dwell.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

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    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • I am so sorry I have Fibromyalgia

    I am so sorry I have Fibromyalgia

    I frequently find myself either bitterly acting out or saying this to those around me. Apologizing to those whose lives are affected by my illness, as though it is something I did or like or want or don’t suffer horribly from myself. As hard as Fibromyalgia is to manage, the guilt on top of everything else is ridiculous! Do other chronic illness sufferers feel the same way or is this particular to our condition because science and medicine are still so clueless about it? Because there is a massive “blame the patient” stigma attached to Fibromyalgia? I honestly don’t know. All I know is that when it comes time to take care of myself because I am in a flare or have not slept or am hurting so bad I simply cannot get up off the sofa I feel guilty. Guilt tinged with absurd anger, and usually jump up to try to perform whatever task is in question. Many ‘o many a time I have picked a fight with my husband simply by projecting this onto him. I take my own disappointment in myself, my own frustration at my limitations, and get mad at him for treating me like I am letting him down. Poor guy! Still wonder why he puts up with me… He will just stand there helpless as I freak out and slam the dishes out of the dishwasher, into the cupboard, or begrudgingly start throwing laundry around, stuffing it into the washer. Sometimes he gets mad back, if he is short-tempered already, telling me this is my issue, not his. Other times he shows me compassion and tries to get me to be nicer to myself. Either way, it sure sucks to be him right then and there!

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    Why is it so hard to show me kindness and self-respect? I know Fibromyalgia is “not in my head”, yet my actions sing a different tune! I know how to take care of myself to minimize the symptoms I suffer from on a daily basis, yet feel it frivolous to do so. One of the biggest personality flaws that reared its very ugly head when I first became so ill with CFS & Fibromyalgia was the need for approval to be sick. I needed it everywhere, from everyone! Mom, dad, husband, friends, coworkers, bosses…not to mention doctors and therapists! It was as though if everyone would get together and collectively say “Poor Leah, she is so sick!” I had the permission I was looking for to take care of myself. But there was NO ONE lining up to do that. No one knew what was wrong with me, it was living hell finding a doctor to even take me seriously, let alone people that I crossed paths with on the streets of life.

    The emotional growth I went through on this 1 issue alone was massive. I had to really get to the root of why it was so important for everyone to “agree” that I was truly ill. Did this stem from childhood need for acceptance? Did I need permission to lay down my “type A” evil ways and just be? Was I completely lacking the self-esteem necessary to be nice to myself? All I know is that accepting that Fibromyalgia and Leah had to come to terms with each other was something that happened bit by bit, little by little, inch by inch. I slowly peeled back the layers of emotional weakness that needed so bad and realized that if I was to survive this monstrosity it was only going to happen because it was on my terms. Getting to the point where the opinions and judgment of others regarding my methods of managing myself were of little importance to me took years. It is still something I struggle with, but I can sure say that my need for approval has gone from Amethyst to Lilac and that makes it much easier to take care of me.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store