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| Category: Miscellaneous |
Date published: October 8, 2005 |
Tale of a Young Fibromyalgia Sufferer
by Debra Brechbiel
A Tale of a Young Fibromyalgia Sufferer
By Debra Brechbiel
I am under 30 years old and living with a chronic condition with no cure known as fibromyalgia. I first developed it around the age of 17. I learned as much as I could about it and tried many different things to improve it. I tried antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, various diets, supplements and countless other things. I never thought it would get bad enough to be disabling. I just knew that occasionally I would feel too bad to go out, and that I would be uncomfortable, but I had no idea to what extreme.
Last week, all of a sudden my body went ballistic and I now know the true wrath of the all powerful Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). I have come to realize that a lot of things seem to contribute to bad flares. I have been having the all too familiar crisis of a twenty-something that has been out of college for several years that cannot find a position related to their studies. Part of the reason is because of the FMS, and a fear of being too unreliable on the job with absences and doctors appointments. The rest is a lack of physical endurance and stress control, lack of experience, and the very frightening realization that the real world is a very competitive and unforgiving place.
Just as I was beginning to try and sort out my thoughts on my life, the fibromyalgia disaster struck. I have had bad flares before, but never anything of this magnitude. To help those not affected, let me explain what happened.
I ended up with a bad case of the flu that rapidly descended into a sinus and ear infection. To make matters worse, a lot of people have coexisting conditions to FMS that worsen it. I have a multitude of things that exacerbate symptoms, including being ill, hypoglycemia, IBS, anxiety and Gilberts Syndrome. Gilberts Syndrome is supposedly a harmless condition that causes elevated bilirubin in the bloodstream and can lead to jaundice. Doctors in mainstream medicine all claim that this has no effect on fibromyalgia patients or other patients. I have learned that this is untrue from personal experience and talking with others who have it. Like FMS, GS sufferers also suffer the consequences of invisible diseases that are poorly understood.
I was bedridden for nearly a week which has never happened before. I could not eat, which aggravated the hypoglycemia. The lying around in bed flared the fibromyalgia pain, and the influenza caused my bilirubin to rise. All the while the mainstream doctors were telling me I was crazy.
I couldn't feel anything throughout my body except for an unbearable buzzing and burning feeling, and such extreme fatigue that I could not function. I literally felt like I could die at any given moment. This situation led me to the local emergency room for help, which was in vain. The nurses and doctors gave me strange looks while asking my ten times if I felt I would harm myself, if my husband abuses me or if I had been sexually assaulted. They also inquired if I was hearing voices. I explained to them about my FMS and GS syndromes, which they said were totally unrelated. I was clearly delusional in their eyes. They drugged me with medications which only exacerbated symptoms more because they were toxic with the conditions I have. These doctors were completely ignorant of this. They were all dumbfounded and had no idea how to respond to this. You may be asking what my point is? The moral of this story is that you must trust yourself. You are more in tune with yourself than anyone else could ever be. People with illnesses like this need support from others, and instead they are often deemed as having mental illnesses. You should never ignore the signs your body gives you to slow down. I learned that lesson a little too late. The best thing to do I have found is to exercise gently, eat as close to organic as possible and try to find a support system somewhere. The best thing you can do for us is to listen, and help with fibromyalgia advocacy.
My story is very similar to other fibromyalgia sufferers. This illustrates the vast need for mainstream medicine and the general public to understand the mechanisms of fibromyalgia and that is a true physical illness. Patients with unbelieving or unsupporting physicians are only causing more pain and grief rather than helping them.
People like you are desperately needed to help spread the word about this potentially disabling illness. Have them read this story to understand the effects it can have. Tell them to imagine living daily with the body aches and fatigue of the worst flu they ever had. They will get the picture.
More information is available from the NFA website:
www.fmaware.org
[All work by author is copyright protected. If you would like to use this experience, please contact the author for permission.]
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In My Own Words: Out-of-the-Ordinary Experiences
