My Life as a Fibromite

I find my Fibromyalgia changes so much that when asked which symptom has been the worst for me, I can’t give the same answer from one day to the next. One week, the brain fog is worse, another the pain or fatigue is. And at the times those seem to be under control, other symptoms are cropping up. It’s hard to explain how the symptoms change or how the pain migrates to someone who doesn’t have it. The years it can take before finally knowing what we have can be frustratingly too many as it is, as anyone who has this knows. Add in that it is a very misunderstood disease, even within the medical community, it’s no wonder we run around in circles looking for help. Ten years into the diagnosis with this disease and still some people look at me like I’m crazy when I talk about it. There are people who ask because they truly want to understand. And then there are the ones who just don’t believe Fibromyalgia is real…and are the quickest ones to offer unsolicited advice and make the mos...

A couple of days after my last post, where I mentioned that I would talk about brain fog and what has helped me, I was faced with a real challenge to my biggest brain fog trigger…gluten. My new Dr wants to send me for the scope to check for Celiac disease…but to have the most accurate test results, he wants me to eat gluten for at least two weeks prior to the test. Part of me is looking forward to not having to label read with more scrutiny than a cop on the scent of a criminal and am in fact making a list of the foods I haven’t had in many years. The other part is knowing what that two weeks will be like and wondering if I will be able to go through with it. It will take a lot of planning that’s for sure to prepare both my husband and I as neither of us want me going back to the high pain/brain fog/almost catatonic state I was in before going gluten-free. The decision to try a gluten-free diet in the first place came easier than deciding this. Soon after my Fibromyalgia diagno...

Reading through those seemingly endless lists of symptoms attributed to Fibromyalgia was an exhausting undertaking early on. In light of that I will try very hard, for your sake and mine, to keep my posts short. And hey, if you do fall asleep while reading my blog, I promise I won’t be offended. Sleep away while you have the chance! Chronic insomnia and the inability to stay awake during the daytime had me more than once falling asleep before getting half way down a page, whether I was reading or writing, and I had lost all ability to absorb anything I read. I had just finished doing my writing course, which took me longer to do than most, and started working on a still unfinished novel. I remember one day in particular, typing away, staring off into space and trying to remember simple words. Words I knew I knew but could not access. Not only did I have a hard time remembering the word ‘the’, when I did remember, I had to look up how to spell it. Another time, I fell asleep on my k...

This blog is in no way intended to diagnose, treat or advise anyone dealing with Fibromyalgia or any other medical disorder/disease. Please consult medical professionals for that. Now, with that out of the way, on to what this blog is about…my life as a Fibromite. It’s been a long road to recovery, my journey with Fibromyalgia has, and it is far from over. I was diagnosed in 2011. I have cursed Fibromyalgia many times throughout the years. I miss having a body that I could make do whatever I wanted at a moments notice, that could drop weight rapidly with barely any changes. I miss sleeping like the dead every night and waking up energized, clear-headed, ready to go again, running on steam. But, along the way, something surprising happened. I found how grateful I am for what Fibromyalgia has given me as well.  Is that to say I love being sick? Absolutely not! But I have learned to love (and recognize) so much about myself, my habits, at how interconnected my body, mind and soul ...