What is it Like to Live with Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a disorder that causes severe chronic pain and is still far from being comprehensively understood by doctors and researchers. Those who live with fibromyalgia suffer from extreme fatigue, pain all over their body and brain fog, more commonly referred to as fibro fog.
Fibromyalgia is an invisible illness and many sufferers outwardly appear to be fine. This can make it an extremely difficult disease to live with as it can be hard to explain the illness to your friends and family.
Fibromyalgia is especially difficult to describe to your family and friends because the symptoms vary in severity each and every day. It is hard to articulate the impact the condition has on your life and state of mind. When you have to cancel plans because of your illness, it is very tough to explain to your friends and family why you were not able to attend parties or milestones in their lives. Fibromyalgia can leave you extremely tired and it can be so difficult to motivate yourself to leave the house.
When you have fibromyalgia, it can be difficult to balance your activities and work commitments. You never know how much energy you are going to have on any given day, so it is optimistic to commit to an array of activities when you are not 100% sure if you are going to be physically up for the challenge. If you overexert yourself one day you then may not have enough energy to fulfil your commitments over the next few days.
Sleeping can be a huge issue if you suffer from fibromyalgia. Getting to sleep can be so tough because of the relentless chronic pain and the anxiety that results from both the pain and lack of sleep. This can you leave you feeling restless for extended periods of time and the tiredness can begin to have a negative influence on all aspects of your life.
Fibromyalgia impacts the central nervous system, and this means that the pain your body is in is amplified to a horrific level. Many fibromyalgia patients experience shooting pains similar to an electric shock on a regular basis and they can even be prolonged. It can be extraordinarily inconvenient if they occur during a work meeting or during an event you should be enjoying.
Fibromyalgia remains to be somewhat of a mystery disease. It has yet to be deciphered precisely what causes fibromyalgia and as a result, it can be almost impossible to properly treat fibromyalgia and patients are often left to try to find their own solutions using natural remedies or therapies. There are still many doctors that are so unfamiliar with fibromyalgia as a condition that they do not even believe that it is a real and extremely serious condition. This means that even if you are pretty certain that you do have fibromyalgia, actually getting a diagnosis so you can be properly treated can be a marathon which is extremely arduous, tiring and time consuming.
Many doctors often tell fibromyalgia sufferers that the do not know what is wrong with them and some poor patients even get sent home without a referral and not even a suggestion of how to try to find out more about their condition. Trying to understand exactly what is going with your body can be a very lonely ordeal, especially if the medical professional designated to help you is not providing you with any answers or even solutions.
Sometimes even getting out of bed when you have fibromyalgia can be a real struggle. When you have aching muscles and you have not got much sleep for the last few days, finding the motivation can be hard. This feeling can last throughout the day, leaving you totally exhausted by the end of the day. Often the pain does not cease, and many medications do not seem to have an effect. CBD can be a source of relief and can help you get through the day.
Some people who have fibromyalgia find that their body does not regulate their body temperature as well as it once did. In the winter many people find it to be extremely cold and this makes them reluctant to leave the house.
Even though your family and friends are aware of your condition, it can still be hard to understand how dramatic an effect the condition has on your life and how you feel day to day. When you consistently pull out of dinners, events or meet-ups after a certain period of time the invites begin to get lost in the post and you are left feeling even more isolated through no fault of your own.
A pet can be a great idea if you are lonely or struggling to cope with your fibromyalgia. A pet can force you to exercise and get out of the house and they are also amazing companions, and they are great company. They can provide you with a friend in these lonely times and can give you the motivation to get out and about.
One major issue with fibromyalgia, is that you never know when you are going to have a fibromyalgia induced flare up. When your fibromyalgia flares up it can be almost impossible to commute to work let alone work hard for an entire day. Even if you are just sitting at a desk all day, it can still be unbearable when you are going through a flare up. Throughout this year, working from home has become common in many industries and if you are a fibromyalgia sufferer it is important to speak to your boss about how you can organise yourself to ensure you can work from home whenever you deem it to be necessary.
Possibly the most frustrating symptoms of having fibromyalgia is brain fog, more commonly known as fibro fog. On particularly bad days it can feel like you are living in a mist of confusion and cannot get yourself together. The worst part of all is that it feels like there is nothing you can do to pull yourself together. Fibromyalgia can make your life ridiculously challenging, but it can enable you to appreciate the good days more than you otherwise would.