
I wish……..
Living with a invisible illness like fibromyalgia I can never forget about it.Â
I’m naturally a positive person and find every day my body feels different in some way.Â
I can wake up with my head full of things I want to do and a body unable to carry them out. Normal everyday tasks are restricted by fibromyalgia. Over time I have adapted tasks to enable me to carry out as much as I can.
The single biggest obstacle I face on a daily basis is based purely on other people’s perceptions of me with fibromyalgia. Just putting it into words is difficult.Â
I’m constantly frustrated how difficult it is to give an accurate explanation of what fibromyalgia is and what it’s like to live with.
Saying that, it’s difficult to be accurate because everyone that gets fibromyalgia has different symptoms and severity which can complicate a good definition.
This difficulty is illustrated well by my carer who recently said….
‘Every time I explain what it is, it takes half an hour,’
‘People go quiet,’
People seem to second guess what it is, and not listen to a explanation…
‘I know, Fibro cystic……. yes, I’ve heard of that, that’s not good,’
Oh,……I had something similar when I was young, it made me really ill for months,…..but now I’m fine.
Just to be clear,   IT’S  NONE  OF  THE  ABOVE
I am going to try now, with the following definitive list of symptoms.
My definition will be accurate in my individual case only. Some of these symptoms may be shared by others with fibromyalgia.
The fibromyalgia I live with varies from day to day in severity. It can include all of these symptoms at sometime, not always together but occasionally I can have several at once.
Aches and pain throughout the bodyÂ
AnxietyÂ
Balance problemsÂ
Bladder problemsÂ
BloatingÂ
Cognitive problemsÂ
DepressionÂ
Dizziness
Dry mouth and eyes
FatigueÂ
Fibro fog
Frequent HeadachesÂ
IBS
Jaw pain
Light sensitivityÂ
Lower back pain
Muscle spasmsÂ
Noise can impact on my symptomsÂ
Numbness
Painful periods
Pain in joints and musclesÂ
Physical activity increases can exacerbate my conditionÂ
Poor quality sleepÂ
Rashes
Restless leg syndrome
Sensitivity to smell
Stress can affect my symptoms on a daily basisÂ
StiffnessÂ
Sinus’s problems
Temperature changes effect pain in the body
TinglingÂ
TinnitusÂ
Types of pain experienced a ache, burning pain and sharp stabbing painÂ
Varying degrees of painÂ
There’s no cure, but with exercise and diet symptoms can be improved to some degree.
As you can see Fibromyalgia is a difficult illness to describe and live with, because it encompasses so many variables.Â
If you are worried about having similar symptoms and have not received a diagnosis for them, you should contact your doctor or health professional for advice.
Have a look at the NHS description of fibromyalgia, and links to support groups and the online community if your a sufferer.
UK Fibromyalgia is a brilliant site that covers a wide range of information about fibromyalgia. Also Fibromyalgia Association is a registered charity that provides information and help to sufferers.
