Ways You Can Help With Fibromyalgia Awareness

If you have Fibromyalgia or know a friend or family member that does it would mean the world to them if you took some time to help make more people aware. When the majority of people hear the word Fibromyalgia they look at you like you have an alien climbing out of your head. Fibro-my-what they might ask. When you go in to the details they often say "Oh, I heard about that on  Dr. such and such's show. I heard it isn't real, or I heard if you get out more you will be fine." This is why we need help creating Fibromyalgia awareness.

1. Do some research on Fibromyalgia. it doesn't take long to do a search online and learn about the different symptoms. If you understand Fibromyalgia you will be able to better inform others. Most people have no clue what Fibromyalgia even is, so how could they begin to understand. They have most likely heard the myths associated with the illness and that doesn't do anything to help. So do your own research and pass it on to others. A great place to start your research is here.

2. Be understanding of people with Fibromyalgia. Even if you don't understand the illness you can still offer compassion. If they have to reschedule last minute, don't get mad. Fibromyalgia sufferers often have to reschedule their plans. They want to be able to go grab lunch, or out to shop, but too often the pain makes it unbearable. We can feel fine one day and then the next be stuck in bed all day. We can't control when the pain comes and goes. Please, don't make us feel guilty and try to convince us to go anyway. We will pay for that trip for several days after. Offer for us to call you on a day we are feeling better. It will mean more than you will ever know. Even offer to come hang out at the house. Some days we just don't feel like leaving, but we would love the company.

3. Think before you speak. You wouldn't tell someone with cancer or diabetes to get out more and they will be fine. You would never think of telling them maybe the problem is in their head. So please, don't say these things to some with Fibromyalgia. Our illness is just as real as any other. Just because we don't look sick doesn't mean we aren't suffering in pain. We get good at hiding are pain from others. We have come up with lies to keep from feeling like a failure. So before you go and give your opinion of what you think Fibromyalgia is, please consider our feelings. I was at physical therapy and overheard another person complaining that she should have the pool to herself( she has a foot injury) because Fibromyalgia is nothing serious. She went on to say at least we can walk. She had to use crutches for her foot. I just wanted to leave and never go back. Now I make sure I don't get scheduled the same time as her. People don't understand how their comments can affect others.

4. Social media is a great way to spread awareness. Almost everyone young and old uses some form of social media. If you see a new study about Fibromyalgia share it with others. Twitter is full of people with Fibromyalgia that are trying to spread awareness. Re-tweet or share when you see someone else post something about Fibromyalgia.(As long as it is positive) We don't want to see things about the latest promise to cure if we buy their product.) If you get the conversation rolling more people will begin to understand what we are truly dealing with each day. We won't feel alone.

It is not hard to help spread awareness about Fibromyalgia. We just need a few understanding people to get the ball rolling. All it takes is one person to start making a change.

Lies we Tell Others About Our Chronic Pain

Anyone dealing with chronic pain knows all to well the look we get when we tell people how we really feel. They pretend like they care, but you can tell from the glare, that they are thinking here she goes again. What a whiner. It's even better when they tell you how they feel. "Oh, I have felt like that before.You have to do more and you'll feel better." Depending on how rude they feel like being, they may even say, you are faking or lazy. So we come up with lies we tell others so we can avoid looking like a whiner.

Lie 1. How are you feeling today? Oh, I feel great. Or, the biggest lie, I am fine. Anyone dealing with chronic pain is never fine. They always have some sort of ache or throbbing pain. It might not be as bad as it could be, but it is still there.

Lie 2. Oh, sure I would like to meet you for shopping, party, dinner, etc. When really all we want to do is crawl back into bed and hide under the covers. Now don't get me wrong, we would like to do these things. It just hurts to bad to do them, and we know how we will pay later.

Lie 3. I can do that. This could be anything from errands for someone else to babysitting their children. In all reality, we can't do that. We can barely do our own errands and keep our own children fed and dressed, but to avoid looking like a whiner we except. It doesn't matter that we will hurt for days after, we don't want to see that disappointing glare from others.

Lie 4. I don't need help. If someone asks if we need help doing a task like housework, we say no. This is due to the guilt we feel from not being able to do these tasks ourselves. When it is too hard to run the vacuum, it leaves us feeling terrible. We will do more than we should so we don't feel guilty. We don't want to think that others are saying, or thinking, we are lazy. We over due it and then suffer the next few days or even weeks depending on the task.

Life would be so much easier if people could just understand what we are going through. If we could switch places for a day, they would never question when we say we are hurting. We would never get another glare questioning if we are faking. We would never be accused of being a whiner. We wouldn't have to tell others or ourselves these lies.