Explaining Fibromyalgia to Your Friends & Family
Do you dread the question, “What is fibromyalgia”? Or do you know people who refuse to believe in it, mainly because it doesn’t seem to make sense?
It’s always difficult to explain fibromyalgia without getting overly complicated. Those of us who’ve had it for awhile can typically talk ad nauseum about neurotransmitters, the stages of sleep, and the difference between SSRIs and SNRIs. It’s easy to forget how specialized this knowledge is – at least, until you see a healthy person’s eyes glaze over two minutes into a conversation. And to get through most written explanations of fibromyalgia, you have to wade through medical jargon that can make your head spin.
All too often, the people listening to us (or reading an emailed article) are skeptical, resistant, or just not willing to put in the time to understand such a complicated and confusing disorder. In an effort to help all of us educate people, and to help those people really “get it,” I’ve come up with this article:
What’s Going On? A Simple Explanation of Fibromyalgia.
I hope you can use this article to get people to understand why your symptoms are so bizarre, why they come and go, and the impact they have on you. If you’re struggling to understand it yourself, this is a good place to start.
Have you found a good way to explain fibromyalgia? Share it here or in About.com’s Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome forum.
Posted by Adrienne Dellwo
We’re not sure of the cause, could be a head injury, a virus or a chemical imbalance. But in general, it feels like the flu. Also, I am hypersensitive to any type of pain (injuries or illness). Fibro sufferers also have certain other problems with sleep, stomach upset and headaches. For some it feels like your walking on broken feet. Or you’ll have wierd nerve sensations.It can be exhausting, you need to rest a lot. It’s hard to do things when you are in pain., even social events, which can make it can be very isolating.
But I have hope, there are about twenty drugs in clinical trials right now.
I had never considered that.