How do your families support you when you have Fibromyalgia? Do they understand that you are in pain, having a worse-than-usual day even though you look fine, are fatigued even though you just took a nap, and are depressed even though life looks promising? I’m having a little trouble getting my family to make these connections. The biggest problem for me is that I’m afraid they think I’m being lazy when in fact I’d really love to have the energy to join them for a trip to the mall or a movie. I get the feeling that they think Mom doesn’t want to do fun family things because she’d rather stay home and take a nap or read a book. They don’t get it that I do those things because that’s all I have the energy for some days.
And how do you manage the weight gain from medications? I’m hopeful that my nutrition counseling will help me lose the 15 pounds I’ve packed on in 3 months, but I know that for my own well-being I NEED to take this medication in order to continue working full-time. And how is it that I’m still expected to make dinner every night and do the family’s laundry and keep the house clean, when I work a full 40 hours a week, too?
The invisible part of this illness is what makes it difficult for my family to understand that it’s REAL. I’m not getting a lot of understanding and compassion, and I’m trying to educate them as well as get involved in as many things as I can to make myself feel better—yoga, aquacise, eating right, walking, meditating, medicating, chiropractic, having good sleep hygiene, using theracane to release trigger points—I’m doing all those things and more. How can they think that this isn’t real?
