Victims of fibromyalgia find that one of the hardest things to bear is the lack of understanding of their condition. Because we look OK (sometimes anyway!) on the outside and don’t have plaster casts, bandages or scars, it may be assumed that we are OK. We aren’t.
Chronic pain, severe fatigue and difficulty coping don’t always show visibly. (If you’d like to read more, see https://wordpress.com/page/lookseepray.com/25 where I offer my understanding of “invisible” illness.)
I am managing quite well. The doctors have put together a package of care for me which is helping. It’s not a cure- but I am VERY grateful to be improving at the moment. I was able to retire early, so I can pace myself and not overdo stuff. Not everyone can retire…
If you encounter someone with fibro, you can help with sympathy, care, and if you’d like to pray, that would be great. We would love to see properly funded research, and good training for GPs and nurses since not all are as well informed or helpful as they might be! That isn’t a dig at the medical professions, who are generally wonderful, but they can’t be expert on every condition- and fibro is hard to diagnose and treat. Public pressure on politicians and the DHSS needs to be kept up.
You may see purple butterflies or flowers: they’ve been adopted as a fibro “badge” to help boost the public perception. The slogan is “Not all disabilities are visible.” Here is my purple flower contribution! A purple Iris- the yellow says the sun still shines. 🙂
More info available from the NHS websites, or the Fibromyalgia Association, http://www.fmauk.org/ or a very good website at http://ukfibromyalgia.com/index.php – or look on Facebook for support groups.
Look, See, Pray 