There is hands down absolutely no doubt that my fibromyalgia has been working AGAINST me…EVERY step of the way…for over fifteen years now…the devastating chronic fatigue…the random and incapacitating pain…the unpredictable and alarming symptoms…it’s an overwhelming, dismaying and formidable opponent to be working against EVERY hour of EVERY day and EVERY night.
I’ve had fibromyalgia all these years. That’s just the hand I’ve been dealt.
But I tackled it a long time ago, right from the start really, in a way that’s made it work FOR me as well.
So let me explain.
So I know this sounds inconceivable to some, unbelievable to many, that fibromyalgia could work FOR anyone…in ANY way…whatsoever. But I guess it’s just that I’m always determined to make the best of a bad situation…and to think outside the box maybe…and to question WHY do I HAVE TO do things a certain way? WHY do I have to “take this lying down”? (literally, in the case of fibromyalgia!)
No, all those years ago when I was first trying to come to terms with my new fibromyalgia reality, I wasn’t going down without a fight. I would combat it; I would “minimize it”. I would even USE it.
I mean, if I was going to be stuck with this fibromyalgia thing, I would make it work FOR me too!
Of course when I started out on this path, like everyone with fibromyalgia I would imagine, I was just trying to be able to function in my every day busy life, to keep my head above water when I felt like I was drowning in the vicious circles of fibromyalgia. And I needed to figure out a way to function FAST. I was sinking under the pressure and stress of managing the construction of our new home while raising a busy young family, as fibromyalgia suddenly and swiftly took over my body.
So, as I’ve written about in earlier posts, it was both a relief and a source of strength when I remembered my “combat mode” of my earlier endometriosis days…I would do everything I could do to feel as healthy as possible. I would work on the things I COULD control…I would increase my overall healthiness to try to tip the scales in favour of increasing my feeling of well-being and hopefully that would help minimize the effects of my fibromyalgia on my life…I guess, trying to make the good outweigh the bad as much as possible.
There WAS something I could do.
And it helped…almost immediately…I was able to feel like I had some control over managing my symptoms, probably partly due to the actual changes and partly due to the pro-active and positive “combat mode” mind-set I had now.
And the actual changes? Well, things that started out as voluntary…like exercise, eating healthier (and healthier), making changes to get better sleep to name a few…THEY WORKED!…and they worked well…so, without any medications to help me…these healthy lifestyle choices quickly became a necessity for me to be able to keep functioning in my life…really, these lifestyle choices ARE my “meds”…if I don’t do them (still to this day), my fibromyalgia is off the rails pretty quickly.
And I must confess, I like being healthy. I DO want to be fit and healthy. I did even before I got fibromyalgia.
So I USE MY FIBROMYALGIA. (Why not?)
I use it as my reason to make myself do things I feel I should be doing anyways.
If I must have this fibromyalgia thing, I’m going to get something out of it…I’m going to make it work FOR me!
So I let my fibromyalgia be my reason…that fuels my willpower…to continue to do all these healthy things…day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year…even decade after decade.
Because, I don’t know about anyone else, but it takes me a LOT of willpower to have the discipline to continue to workout and eat healthy and work on my sleep, and so on, and so on. I’ll take any reason and any motivation I can get!
And now, fifteen years later, after all these years of working on doing everything I can to feel as healthy as possible…well…I’m pretty healthy! I mean, I’ve said it before, and I know it sounds odd, but I’ve ended up so much healthier for having had endometriosis earlier in my life and now fibromyalgia, because of the way I’ve went about combatting them, using a healthy lifestyle as my “med” of choice.
Now, I’m talking big picture, overall health…good blood pressure, good cholesterol, healthy weight, physically fit, getting proper sleep…when I think about it, THESE ARE SIDE EFFECTS I CAN LIVE WITH!!
With a healthy lifestyle as my “med” of choice…definitely, THESE ARE SIDE EFFECTS I CAN LIVE WITH!!
Yes, I’m the picture of health. Of course, having fibromyalgia, I don’t always FEEL that way, but I feel a lot closer to it. And living with fibromyalgia and doing all these healthy things, that was the whole point of it in the first place…TO FEEL AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE TO BE ABLE TO FUNCTION IN MY LIFE. All these other (great) health benefits are my bonus side effects from my chosen “med” and as I get older, and my longevity crosses my mind here and there, they become increasingly important to me and my overall health.
When I initially started this to help live with endometriosis, back in my 20’s, and then resumed it to help live with fibromyalgia fifteen years ago, that was the furthest thing from my mind. I was just trying to keep my head above water, to feel better day to day, to be able to function in my very busy and demanding every day life.
Well, I’ve not only been functioning throughout the last fifteen years with fibromyalgia…I’m gradually improving…slowly, steadily, but unmistakably…improving.
So, yes, fibromyalgia is rough, devastatingly rough, but what I know is real is that I have to make it work FOR me in some way…I just have to…I have to make something good come out of it.
I won’t let it be all negative.
I just won’t.
