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Why I Share Articles About Fibromyalgia

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I share articles about fibromyalgia because I want to help people understand what fibromyalgia entails. Fibromyalgia consists of so many symptoms that affect people differently, which makes it difficult to understand. Even those of us living with this condition sometimes don’t truly understand what it’s all about.

We all know those people who think fibromyalgia affects everyone equally. It may be a person with fibromyalgia or a person who knows someone with fibromyalgia who thinks the condition affects us all the same. They assume if one person with the condition is able to be out in the working world, everyone with fibromyalgia should be able to work. They think if that person they know with fibromyalgia is able to do an exercise routine, everyone with fibromyalgia should be able to do that same routine. This tells me they don’t fully understand fibromyalgia. They understand what works for them or what works for that person they know who has it.

Fibromyalgia consists of symptoms that can vary greatly from person to person. Some people with fibromyalgia have “fibro fog” to the extent that it affects their day-to-day life. I’ve heard people say we all have memory issues – it comes with age. I don’t argue the fact that our memory can be affected from growing older. However, “fibro fog” is much more than the occasional walking into a room and forgetting what you went in there for. I want people to understand that not only is it much more than the forgetfulness that comes with age, but that hearing them say this insinuates what we have isn’t real, that it’s normal because we’re just aging. I wouldn’t say to someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia, “Oh, you’re just getting old!” It’s an insult to an illness one can’t control.

In sharing articles about fibromyalgia, I hope to help people with loved ones living with the condition understand what their loved one is going through. I want to give them a different point of view. At times it’s hard to explain to our loved ones what we feel like. So many of us put on a smile every day to cover up our pain because we don’t want to be that person who complains all the time. We don’t want our loved ones to see us hurt. We don’t want the pain to get the best of us or to win. Sometimes another person’s voice can be heard differently and by me sharing an article or being a voice I hope to accomplish this.

In sharing articles about fibromyalgia, I get to help others in a way I’m able to do while living with the condition. I’ve always been the caregiving and nurturing person in my everyday life as well as while I was out in the working world. For me to still be able to give back and be who I feel I was meant to be is self-fulfilling. I want to take this invisible illness and make it visible for all to see.

I want the newly diagnosed to understand after three or four years of going doctor to doctor and having test after test, they’re not “crazy.” Fibromyalgia is real! I want them to know that overdoing it will knock them down for days or sometimes longer, so learning to pace is a must. I want to help them understand what I already know because of my years of experience or all of the research time I’ve devoted to learning about this condition. To give them an ear along with my voice so they know someone truly understands how they feel. I want to tell them that although each new day can bring a new ache or new pain, which is usually just fibromyalgia doing it’s weird thing, don’t always overlook them or pass them off as just that. It’s important to check new aches and pains out because it may be more then fibromyalgia. You are your best advocate and you know your body best. Most importantly I want them to know that together we are “Mighty” and we are strong!

There are so many reasons why I share articles about fibromyalgia, but the biggest reason is to raise awareness of a chronic pain condition that might have invisible symptoms but shouldn’t be invisible to the world. I am impatiently waiting for an exact cause, a cure and a definitive way to test people for fibromyalgia.

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Thinkstock photo via Milan_Zokic.

Originally published: March 31, 2017
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