Fibromyalgia 101

.   In December of 2016 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Doctor after doctor kept telling me it was all in my head and that I was just depressed but I kept pressing the matter until finally my new PCP finally believed me and agreed that it was fibromyalgia

 

Let me tell you. It’s a frustrating illness to say the least. Most people think that because they can’t “see” the illness then I must be faking to get attention. Other people think I’m just being lazy. It’s hurtful and unfair . I want to bring more awareness to this chronic illness. So  here is a list of some of the many problems people with fibromyalgia face:

 

 

Fibro Fog

Due to “fibro fog”, people with fibromyalgia tend to forget words, even in the middle of talking. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me and it can be quite embarrassing.

I have the worst memory ever. I can forget a conversation I have had with someone only moments later.

 

Pain

This is a given. Pain is the number one symptom of fibromyalgia. I am 34 but sometimes (okay, all the time….) feel like an 85-year-old getting out of bed! Morning stiffness is the worst. There are days it takes me quite a bit of time just to get out of the bed. Then once my feet hit the floor I’m in pain because my feet ache, my knees are killing me and I just want to crawl back into bed. (I could so easily fall back into my depression because of this but I haven’t yet. Praise the Lord!)

Fatigue

I am not exaggerating when I say I’m tired ALL THE TIME! It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get….I wake up tired. I go to bed tired. I’m always tired. 

I guess what I want people to know is that fibromyalgia is REAL! It exists and it hurts to hear “Oh you’re just lazy.” “Oh, you just want attention.” And here’s my favorite: “But you don’t LOOK sick!” To which one day I WILL respond “Yeah and you don’t LOOK stupid but here we are….(Okay I probably will never say that…..it’s just not in my nature to be mean like that.)

I never asked for this and I don’t understand why I have to suffer through it but by God’s grace I will keep on moving forward day by day.

Altar Ego Update

Hey friends! How is your Wednesday going? Great, I hope!

I’m currently reading Craig Groeschel’s book Altar Ego and am loving it! I’m currently on chapter 11. But I wanted to share with you what I’ve gained so far:

• All Christians are called to be Christ’s representatives here on earth

• There is no sin too great for God’s grace. There is no habit too big for his healing. There is no label too strong for his love. God’s power is bigger than your past.

• The ultimate gift card of salvation carries an infinite balance over the charges of our sins.

• You can’t earn your way to salvation. You can’t save yourself

• Faith filled attitudes lead to faith filled actions. Godly beliefs lead to godly behaviors.

I just finished up the chapter on living with gratitude. I was hit with guilt as I read about how ungrateful we can be. I know I’m guilty of this. I have a big tendency to care about “me, me, me” instead of others.  I can be selfish. I know this and I’m being convicted of it daily. I’m working on changing  that now as I type this. Groeschel makes a statement that really got my attention

To overcome our dissatisfied, ungrateful attitude, we must first identify it in specific areas of our lives.

Identifying the problem is the first step, right?

So how do we overcome the seeds of ungratefulness? We turn it to praise! Matt Redman has a song called “Blessed Be Your Name” and there is a line that says “every blessing you pour out I’ll turn back to praise.” Basically, to cultivate an attitude of gratitude we need to turn every good thing in our lives into an opportunity to worship!

(this video includes the chords if you are learning to play the guitar! I think it would be cool to learn!)

This book is great! I encourage you all to get your hands on a copy and read it! Craig Groeschel has a way with words that make things easy to understand. Which is good because I have such a simple mind that I need things broken down for me. 🙂

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!

Happy Wednesday!