The Positives of Fibromyalgia
By Karen Crosby
I have had Fibro for at least 35 years now, although not diagnosed until about 20 years ago.
When I look back, I do not think it was any one trigger to start the condition, as I went through many traumatic events in my life around that time and over quite a few years.
I have been thinking about how my long journey has got a few unexpected positive outcomes to do with my every day life.
Knowing me!
The first positive outcome to add is that I know myself, and my condition inside out. When I get flares of pain, for example, I know if it is my fibro or something else.
If it is my fibro, I put things in place to help at that given time, like more rest, gentle yoga stretches, relaxation techniques, yoga breathing, research and many more tools to help get through the pain. It is not usual for me to reach for painkillers, but when I do it does help if I cannot manage during flares.
I know, that in my case there are other factors, like the fact I have practiced and taught yoga for many years and I cannot stress enough how beneficial yoga is, for chronic pain, stress, depression, and just to stay strong and flexible.
However, aside from this, I put my good management down to attitude and knowledge, which is why I wanted to pass some of it on to you today.
One of my areas of work has been stress management, chiefly teaching workshops and courses to others, many of whom have been fibro warriors. In this work one particular part of my teaching is that when we experience pain with an accident, surgery, or getting pain as we do for absolutely nothing, that it is the negative emotional response that creates how bad the pain level is!
By this, I can say that MOST of what we experience with short and long term pain is that our emotions make us think it will never change or get better. In actual fact pain is transitory, it changes with different interventions, the way our bodies naturally release chemicals to make it less acute, pain reducing medication, temperature and so many other factors!
This means simply means that by letting it go emotionally, we can reduce the pain by 80-90%! This is a scientific fact!
However, I know that with fibro and other pain conditions, the pain is long term, and that depression and anxiety is par for the course, BUT if we can stay calm and be safe in the knowledge that the flare will end at some stage, and that we will, and do have good days, then we effectively take the severity from the pain! I cannot claim this is easy, you have apply all you learn about pacing, resting, slowly breathing, taking a short walk, find pain management yoga, OT, meds and all kinds of help, but try letting go of the fear and see where it gets your pain. (It is a good idea to mention Cognitive Behavioural Therapy here, which I found amazingly helpful in helping to deaden pain perception).
Attitude
This has more power than you could possibly imagine, like emotional response above, your daily attitude makes all the difference to how you deal with chronic pain.
I am full of joy and laughter most days, I have a lively personality, and I get joy when walking my dog (even a shorter walk if I need to), seeing the pine forests around my house, singing, and many other things. Mindfulness is mentioned so much these days, but coming from a grateful state of mind, looking at all your blessings, you begin to appreciate all you do have and it takes focus off all that you do not. These are not coping mechanisms, they are simply creating an attitude to live your life in a better state of body and mind! This is one of the reasons I have been writing articles in here since 2015!
Support
I cannot stress enough how important a support network is!
I spent many years not having any support at all, either at home or at work, and got no understanding whatsoever from anyone else.
Thankfully, I am now married to a wonderful loving, kind, supportive husband, and a fantastic best friend whom is a retired nurse and looks after me so well! My circle of close friends are really aware and very understanding when I am in pain, and contact me often to see how I am.
If you lack support, there are many support networks out there, and our very own face-book group when you need help.
Inspiring People
I have met dozens of people over the years practicing my holistic therapies, stress management, and yoga, and the one thing that stands out in my mind most of all is the inspiration others give to me with their strength (sometimes they don’t even know they have), determination and an innate ability to carry on with a smile! There have been many people in a terrible state of body and mind with lots of health issues, whom make my work so worthwhile as I see them improve and grow in confidence through Reiki, Yoga or however I get to work with them!
I have three friends whom have all recently been diagnosed with PMR - Polymyalgia Rheumatica, which is diagnosed with a definitive blood test and is a very painful life changing condition, and I have seen first hand how bad it can be.
Symptoms include: - problems getting up in the morning because of painful muscles: which can last all day.
Alongside that, the person has extreme tiredness, fevers, loss of appetite, depression and weight loss. It first looks like rheumatoid arthritis, but blood tests can rule that out, and find PMR.
The condition also has a risk of developing giant cell arteritis (or temporal arteritis), which is a serious condition that can cause stroke and blindness is not treated quickly.
Symptoms of this condition are frequent and very painful headaches, pain over the temples, jaw pain whilst talking or eating, and vision problems in one or both eyes.
Amazing Woman
My best friend Esme has recently been diagnosed with PMR, and I was at first shocked to see how it was affecting her life.
Esme is a very fit and active person for her age, and still working long after retirement age, also studying and looking after 6 acres of garden and fields! To see how well Esme is coping is nothing short of miraculous!
We do gentle yoga stretches most weeks (is she is not too busy!), and we are working on improving muscle strength to naturally help her condition and build strength!
I am very humbled and proud of how Esme has just carried on with her life, with a little slowing down, but still has the determination to not be defined by her condition!
My Example
As I mentioned above, I have a way of knowing when it is not my fibro causing the problems I encounter, because I am so used to expecting and anticipating (not always) the many symptoms.
A few years ago after having radiotherapy post breast cancer, my neck was very painful, and although I get neck flares fairly often, it just felt different this time. After much ado, trying to persuade my GP to get my neck x-rayed to prove it was not my fibro, I was diagnosed with cervical arthritis, most likely caused by the radiotherapy!
Conclusion
Please remember, not all problems can be part of your fibro, and the medical world are too quick to say things are, if you are not sure, do not take not for an answer, and get checked out!
One of my mantras - If in doubt, check it out!
Happy pain-free month!