Living with an invisible illness is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. When you have a cold, it goes away. When you have the flu, it goes away. When you have the chicken pox it goes away. Everyone also knows you have those as they are visible.
What happens when you have an illness that nobody can see, and you are the only one that can feel it?
That is what I deal with on a day to day basis. I suffer from Fibromyalgia a chronic illness that nobody really knows what causes it or what really to do for it. Doctors are just now starting to believe it exists, but they still really don’t know how to treat it.
There is no cure, there are only ways that you can prevent yourself from having a flare up and those really are up to the individual. Not only is the actual pain that you feel throughout your body hard but emotionally it hurts.
Emotionally is where we need the most support as we deal with society looking at us and judging us because they cannot visibly see what we are truly dealing with. When parking in a handicap spot with an actual handicap sticker you are looked at as though you have committed a crime.
When you have an emotional support animal with you due to, they keep you calm so you don’t stress out and cause a flare up people look at you like you are just trying to get your pet on the plane for free.
It is how people look at you and treat you that is the hardest. It is when your family and friends don’t support you that is the hardest. Living with an invisible chronic illness is something that is heartbreaking, emotionally draining, and painfully real.
We need as much support as we can get as staying positive is probably the hardest thing to do.
I have been living with Fibromyalgia for over 9 years now. In that 9 years I have never missed a day of work due to my illness. I may have had to change the way I do things but I am lucky as I have a family that fully supports me, but there was a time before I was diagnosed that they thought I was just making excuses and that it was all in my head.
Not only does pain come with Fibromyalgia, but it causes other problems in your body. It messes with your gastrointestinal functions and causes you to have issues with foods that you never had issues with before. You can develop acid reflux, GERD, chronic constipation, you can have issues with your triglycerides, you can develop livedo reticularis in your limbs. There are so many other things that this illness impacts and in turn it impacts your life.
Yes, I can tell you from firsthand experience that this all has happened to me. Each year or every few months something new develops that I must change the way I eat, the way I exercise, the way that I function each day. Is it going to change? No, but I know that and each time that something new comes up I stop and breathe.
Stopping and taking that breathe allows me to stay focused, positive and on live life on my terms. If I don’t do that then I would react and turn everything into a negative. Remaining positive is what has helped me deal with each time something new comes up that I must change.
It still goes back to before you make an assumption about someone ask them politely if you are curious as I am sure they would not mind talking to you about what might be going on rather than an assuming.
Living positive each day is what helps me get through all the negative that surrounds my illness. Staying positive is not always easy that is why I always take a breath when something is bothering me.
Fibromyalgia is a horrible illness and it can be debilitating as well. There are so many things out there about it that it is hard to know what is true and what is not so if you really want to know ask the people who have the illness as they truly will be your best resource now.
For those that are suffering from Fibromyalgia try and stay positive each day and stop and take that breath and put yourself first.
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