There are many books and articles out there that tell you lots of things about fibromyalgia. Here are five very important things you should know:
1. Mood disorders come with fibromyalgia. You don't necessarily have a bad mood because you're irate about being in pain all the time. One of my doctors is amazing and she published this article about diagnosing fibromyalgia and how mood disorders are often co-morbid with fibromyalgia. I used to be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Then I saw this awesome doctor and we talked for two and a half hours. She came up with bipolar II--a much more fitting diagnosis than GAD.
2. Some days you'd rather not be productive than actually be productive. It's way easier to sit on your butt and not do something than do something and hurt so much you have to quit. Quitting sucks. That's the hard truth of it. It's horrible. And people with fibromyalgia have to quit a lot of things they used to do: sports, work, going out, things they loved doing. Some days it's too hard to have to quit again. And you'd rather sit the day out. Just let it go by without quitting anything. Some days that's easier.
3. You start relying on things you never thought you would care about. I cancelled my cable about a month ago. We didn't need it and we were paying way too much for it. Before that, I watched "Good Morning America" every morning. And then I didn't watch it for a month. You wouldn't believe how much I missed starting my morning with Robin, Sam, Josh, and Lara. It had become a part of my days. I tweeted GMA and they tweeted me back. There was some part of me that had gotten to "know" them. I know it sounds stupid, but I needed them. We got an HD tuner over the weekend and today I got to watch GMA again! It was so good to see them again!
4. You will have to fight for your relationships. I got engaged after I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I asked my new fiancé if he'd thought about what it would be like to live with someone with a chronic pain condition or not. He said that he had and he was willing and happy to be with me. So, I thought that was it. But now that we're married, I want so much more to be the best wife ever. And I'm not the wife I want to be. It changes our relationship--he's a caretaker as much as he is a husband. And that's not the husband I want him to have to be. We fight for our relationship every day.
5. You will be angry and scared and upset more than you will be happy--but when you're happy, you will be happy. There are so many days that will suck more than you can every imagine. But when you get a good day, you will be over the moon, I promise! You will try to pack it as full as you can of everything you need to do: errands, phone calls, cooking, cleaning, and tons of other things! And you'll be so happy and so full of energy and life! And then the next day, you are going to hurt so much and be back where you were before your great day. But those days are so worth it! And you'll learn now to not completely pack your day full to the point of exhaustion!
Be happy, be healthy (as much as you can), and keep smiling!
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi
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