Re: -FMS Self-Help - Advice to a New Patient

[Guest guest]

Sherri,

This is great advise. I wish I didn't beat myself up so much about not

being able to do things. I've had this disease for over 20 years, but

I can't say I've accepted it to well. I guess I'm afraid if I accept it, I'll

give

into it. So I push to far and wind up paying the price. I love doing things

for others, and do it in spite of what it does to me. Then I get all depressed

because I feel so bad. It's a vicious cycle that I have to break.

FM is so misunderstood that there are even doctors that still beleive it is not

a physical disease in spite of research.

a

Re: [ ] -FMS Self-Help - Advice to a New Patient

1) Accept Your Illness

Whether you have CFIDS or fibromyalgia, your illness is real, physical,

and

long-term. Getting it was not your fault.

I think this is just such an important thing to note. When I was first

diagnosed, I was so frustrated with myself for my ever-increasing lack of

stamina and ability to keep up the pace I had always kept in the past, I was

almost relieved to have a name for it. Despite the diagnosis, I was amazed at

the number of people who were not only unsympathetic but did their best to

convince me that this was all a " psychological phenomenon " and that physically

there was nothing wrong with me. I learned the hard way, that you are the only

one that knows what you are feeling and you can't let anyone else's lack of

information or lack of empathy make you feel like you shouldn't take care of

yourself in the way that you need to do so.