How Fibromyalgia Has Turned Me Into The Flash

Have you ever heard those of us with chronic illness being described as superheroes?

Well, I have and I was thinking about this as I wrote in my journal today. I was writing about my fibromyalgia back pain and how it feels like my spine is trying to vibrate out of my back, like The Flash phases through walls by vibrating his molecules at an atomic level.

• What is Fibromyalgia?
• What Are Common Fibromyalgia Symptoms?

I had a look at his other superpowers to see what else I have in common with the superhero forensic scientist, sometimes known as Barry Allen. As it turns out, we have loads of abilities in common.

Apart from the vibrating thing, he speed reads. I’m sure many with fibro fog will tell you that when you try to read and your brain doesn’t want you to, all you can do is skim over tons of pages and take precisely none of the information in. But still, I imagine it looks similar to someone speed reading. Maybe.

Next on my “I am The Flash” list is throwing lightening and electricity. For me and my fellow fibromyalgia superheroes, nerve pain can feel just like electricity, with shocks, static and all kinds of lovely things like that. OK, so we can’t actually throw it, but imagine if we could – that would be amazing! No more jumpy hands or feet. Instead, we’d just zap it out into nowhere and get on with our day.

If you’re still not convinced that fibromyalgia has made me into The Flash, keep reading and you will be.

Did you know that the superhero speedster from the worlds of comic books and TV can create tornadoes? I can confirm that this is true because I’ve seen it with my very own eyes. On TV.

Well, when I’m having a bad day I tend to put everything that I might need around me on nearby chairs, tables and randomly anywhere in between to save me from having to move too far. At the end of the day, my living room looks exactly like it’s been hit by a tornado. What other explanation is there? I must have created a tornado and forgotten about it because of my bad fibro memory!

Now, if you’re still skeptical, think about this one. The Flash can travel to other dimensions and parallel earths. I have always thought that my feelings of being spaced out or not fully present in my own body were symptoms of my chronic illness or side effects from the various medications I take to manage it. However, now I know the truth – I’m having these out of body experiences because I’m actually in another dimension, or on a parallel earth, engaged in conflict with my evil super villain doppelgänger! At least, I could be. I would never remember afterwards anyway, because as I’ve mentioned previously, fibromyalgia, brain fog, and all other brain and memory problems that it brings would wipe my memory of my other worldly adventures.

So there you have it. I’m The Flash.

Or…Maybe I’m just little old me, complete with chronic pain and cognitive dysfunctions. Also, a bit of a nerd with a little too much time on my hands. But hey, I still think that we are all kind of superheroes to keep going with all that we endure!

Image courtesy of The Flash Facebook page