When I wake up in the morning, I have to psych myself up to put my feet on the floor, because of the pain they feel when I walk to the bathroom.
Walking through the grocery store my leg starts to hurt like someone hit it with a bat. After x-rays, examinations, and MRIs the doctors say nothing is wrong. My pain is real, they say, but there's no reason for it.
I can't wear a watch because the weight of it hurts my wrists. I can't wear a wedding ring on a bad day because the weight of the two millimeter titanium ring my husband got me makes my fingers throb.
Doctors have told me I just have a sprain, I’m depressed, perimenopausal, menopausal, stressed from having young children and all I really need is to exercise and lose weight.
I've had eight Lyme titers and a spinal tap Lyme test, all negative. Two MRIs and cat scans each of my head, multiple colonoscopies, endoscopies and abdominal cat scans, neck and chest x-rays, and countless blood tests. All negative. My pain and medical concerns are taken seriously, but there's no visible reason for them.
I used to hike the Appalachian Trail, 15 miles a day, with a 45 pound pack on my bag for 7 days straight. Now, if I walk 1/8 of a mile down the hill to the mailbox and back, I feel wiped out and like I have the flu for the next 24 hours.
Fibromyalgia is a nebulous disorder you hear about and don't really know what it is. It's not life threatening, so it doesn't send out urgent emails to the prayer list and no doctors follow you to watch your progress. It is a real thing, even though it often gets treated like a middle-aged woman's neuroses.
Fibromyalgia is life-altering, debilitating, constant pain and fatigue. Walking through molasses every day with joints and muscles that throb and ache, trying to forget about the pain as I complete everyday tasks and take care of the kids. There's no cure and so half the battle is learning to adjust and not throw a self-pitying temper tantrum with God every other day (although I do and those take energy, too).
I'm not writing this to be whiny or get sympathy. I have learned compassion, patience, to prioritize my family more, what to let go of and what to hold on to. I've learned to be more efficient and effective in my actions, because I have less energy to do superfluous activities. But it's all been learned under the umbrella of pain.
I just wanted others to understand that when I say, "I have Fibromyalgia," it doesn't mean I'm just a little tired and sore. It means my life has been radically altered and I'm coping with it as best I can.
Thank you for reading. Sometimes it helps just to be heard and understood.
Walking through the grocery store my leg starts to hurt like someone hit it with a bat. After x-rays, examinations, and MRIs the doctors say nothing is wrong. My pain is real, they say, but there's no reason for it.
I can't wear a watch because the weight of it hurts my wrists. I can't wear a wedding ring on a bad day because the weight of the two millimeter titanium ring my husband got me makes my fingers throb.
Doctors have told me I just have a sprain, I’m depressed, perimenopausal, menopausal, stressed from having young children and all I really need is to exercise and lose weight.
I've had eight Lyme titers and a spinal tap Lyme test, all negative. Two MRIs and cat scans each of my head, multiple colonoscopies, endoscopies and abdominal cat scans, neck and chest x-rays, and countless blood tests. All negative. My pain and medical concerns are taken seriously, but there's no visible reason for them.
I used to hike the Appalachian Trail, 15 miles a day, with a 45 pound pack on my bag for 7 days straight. Now, if I walk 1/8 of a mile down the hill to the mailbox and back, I feel wiped out and like I have the flu for the next 24 hours.
Fibromyalgia is a nebulous disorder you hear about and don't really know what it is. It's not life threatening, so it doesn't send out urgent emails to the prayer list and no doctors follow you to watch your progress. It is a real thing, even though it often gets treated like a middle-aged woman's neuroses.
Fibromyalgia is life-altering, debilitating, constant pain and fatigue. Walking through molasses every day with joints and muscles that throb and ache, trying to forget about the pain as I complete everyday tasks and take care of the kids. There's no cure and so half the battle is learning to adjust and not throw a self-pitying temper tantrum with God every other day (although I do and those take energy, too).
I'm not writing this to be whiny or get sympathy. I have learned compassion, patience, to prioritize my family more, what to let go of and what to hold on to. I've learned to be more efficient and effective in my actions, because I have less energy to do superfluous activities. But it's all been learned under the umbrella of pain.
I just wanted others to understand that when I say, "I have Fibromyalgia," it doesn't mean I'm just a little tired and sore. It means my life has been radically altered and I'm coping with it as best I can.
Thank you for reading. Sometimes it helps just to be heard and understood.
