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Handling Life in the Midst of Chronic Illness


I’m spending the week with one of my closest friends, so I’ll have to ask you to forgive my absence. It’s been a whirlwind already but one of the best times I’ve had in a long while. It’s been amazing and I’m loving it so much.

In the meantime, my fibromyalgia does not let up when I have company—if anything, the symptoms are even more unfortunate when I do have friends over. I’ve already had a splitting headache once, last night, and today I’m feeling very fatigued. I’m on a new medication that has a side effect of sleepiness and dizziness, and those side effects hit especially hard today. Despite this fact, I just got done having immense fun outside with my friend and siblings—doing a photo shoot and making amateur videos. It was great fun, but now I’m beat.

One of the things I’ve been working on is being more open and honest with my friends when I do feel awful, and so far it’s paid off well. It means the world to me to have my friend understand and know that I’m not feeling well. Even if she can’t feel my pain, at least she knows about it, and can help share the burden. It’s a beautiful thing, and honesty really does seem to be the best policy. It never fails to shock me how understanding and supportive people can be if I just tell them what I’m going through.

So here’s a question or two for you: how do you do your best to enjoy life amidst the pain? Have you found that being honest about your pain or symptoms has yielded good results?
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Comments

  1. KeaghanOctober 24, 2012 at 4:57 PM

    Since being at college, I've only confided in a few people the full extent of my symptoms and such...but just the other day, at lunch, my stomach decided to revolt. I was nauseous and my day wasn't even half over yet. I took some medication, but I knew I had a choice: fake it and pretend I was fine, or be a bit vulnerable. I chose the second. Instantly, my friends expressed sympathy and mustered around me. It reminded me just how much we really need the support of others to make it through all of this...

    ~Keaghan

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  2. SusannaNovember 1, 2012 at 8:43 PM

    Yes and no. One of the worst of my symptoms is rather debilitating fatigue. I have tried to explain to classmates before that yes, I do have a bedtime because if I do not get at least eight hours of sleep I will not be able to fully function. Ten hours would be preferable, but that rarely happens unfortunately. I have learned to be more open when I am in pain though. The effects of pain are more visible than fatigue, which is probably why it is easier for them to understand why I am having difficulties.

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