Fibromyalgia and work

As a fellow-sufferer of 15 years or so, you have my heartfelt sympathy; even now I sometimes feel that lots of folks don't consider this to be a real illness. Fortunately my GP is clued in and supportive, but at the end of the day, how many pills can one take? I try to live one day at a time depending on what kind it is, and try not to feel guilt when I can't function. So, if you can't do it, don't; if you need a sleep have one.

Keep going, you're important!

Best regards

As A fellow sufferer....I take PREGLABIN for nerve pain....TRAMADOL for pain...PARACETAMOL at same time as tramadol as works better taking together......I also take CO-ENZYME Q10......VITAMIN D ...MELATONIN ..to help with my sleep. I take melatonin inbetween 6-30pm and 7-30pm...found it help with my eratic sleep patterns. You need a supportive GP AND FAMILY to help you recover...Pace yourself and dont overdo things or symptoms return twice as bad...good luck with your recovery...Sharon x

Thank you Tivmeldrew and Sharon that's helpful.

I will be receiving a phonecall from my GP tomorrow hopefully. I will mention the various medications she may try me on them. I was on slow release morphine then went to tramadol due to the drousy effect, but with tramadol I find that I have constant shakes increased.

When it was confirmed that I had fibromyalgia at the rhuematology clinic they mentioned I was low on Vitamin D so hubby decided to buy over the counter vitamins. So obviously it is a long term illness then? Is there any chance of it going away?

Thanks for your advice though it has helped, and nice to know I'm not alone

There is no cure, but they can help control the pain. dont over do it. Get proper rest as much as you can. Ask to be referred to the Pain Management Clinic if there is one at your nearest hospital. Contact Fibromyalgia.UK for more information. Hope this helps.

Los

i too have me/cfs and find it difficult to express to people how it feels. I have spent most of the past week in bed or on the sofa felling like poo. I dont really have a supportive doctor and feel very deflated everytime i see him. Im waiting for an appointment for a support group and hopefully will get a place this month. My sister-in-laws friend has m.e and attended the meetings and found them really helpful. Almost everyone i speak to knows someone with either m.e or fibromyalgia so there must be doctors out there who do believe its real, just not mine!!

Aww bless ya sammiej, you seem bit low about how you're feeling with ME and CFS, don't give up hun we are all here to support you and each other. Just because you don't have spots or a limb missing, general public can't see what's wrong. I'm standing up for us at my surgery, luckily I have a supportive doctor and family. Although I have support I feel people need to be educated about our illnesses and how to deal with us as individuals and how to help us with our conditions. There are many websites and if you type into your search engine you will find self help groups local to you. If not give me your area and I will search or try and help you. Kind regards

Lollypops x

aww thanks, thats lovely. like you say unless people can see a physical disability they assume your ok. ive now had my appointment through for my group sessions and start in 2 weeks so hopefully that will help. Good luck on your journey, i hope you find something that helps.xx

Hi Lollypops

I have similar situation at work. In fact i got written warning after some big misunderstanding .

Coworker went out of her way to complain about me. After speaking with my manager about my condition

and problems , my honesty turned against me . I was told that I throw fibro in peoples faces and was told that

We are not allowed to reveal our conditions to each other . I researched alot different sites only to find out that fibro employes were encouraged to talk about their conditions so coworkers could better understand.

Well, not where I work. The whole stress made fibro relapse,went back on med. leave d/ to depression and anxiety as well. So I can say I understand, how u feel.

Take care . Ewcia

When you say no one understand do you mean friends and family, as you wrote your boss understands and you are very fortunate to have a GP that is willing to help you.

We need a positive outlook, sort of cup half full not half empty. The pain medication for fibro that I take is nefopam with paracetamol, I also take clonazepam for restless legs,

Himalayan rock salt baths, available from west lab, on the Internet, soak in body temp water for 20 minutes before going to bed.

I have fibro for over 20 years, I'm afraid people do get fed up with us talking about it, what I have done is use a traffic light system so that I am not running through my symptoms to everyone I meet, as this tires me out and makes me feel sad, red day means I am having a bad day and need a lot of help or I cannot do anything, Amber day means I can do something's but need help, green day means I can carry out tasks, so when any one asks how I am or get up feeling worse I just say it is a red today or amber, then very feels more like helping than thinking here we go again, they can not feel our pain nor would I want them too, just their patienceand understanding. I found that this helps a great deal in helping people to understand , I then receive co-operration and support, the most important thing is pacing so that flare ups become less of a problem. Anotherimportant thing is being positive , looking at what I can do not what I can not, looking at what I have achieved in the past and feeling proud that no one can take away what I have done, and look for new thing that can be worked around or adapted to this horrible condition. I suggest that you speak to your co workers with your manager present and tell them about fibro as a group, say you are going to use traffic light system and how it works, as you don't want them to feel upset about you talking about your unfortunate health condition. Tell them that you are proud that you are still able to work, and want to get along with them and want continue in your employment with their support, that you are sorry if you have upset them by talking about fibro but you were following the advice of websites and that you really thought it was going to help you if they understood

what was wrong with you, and that you had not intended aggravate them , like you said being honest does

pay,

I have found it does hurt at first when you find out people do not understand, and that they say horrible things behind your back, the same happened to me, I was pulled before nursing officer other nursing staff said I

was just lazy, when all was explained it was much better, please try and stay positive, I'm sure you will win

them round eventually. Just remember you know you have pain and chronic fatigue does it really matter what others think so much. I hope you manage to sort things out and have better pain control

Kind regards

Fellow sufferer