How To Discuss With Your Family
Some people dealing with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are fortunate to have loving, supportive families. Others aren’t so lucky. Almost everyone suffering from these conditions has dealt with skeptics who have told them: “It’s all in your head,” “You’re just lazy,” “All you do is complain,” “Just deal with it and get on with your life.”
Even doctors and many others in the medical community can be skeptical, unsupportive and even scorn people with this debilitating condition. Here are suggestions to deal with unsupportive medical professionals or family members who may not fully understand what it’s like to live with this condition:
- Fibromyalgia is not “all in your head.”
- It strikes life-long athletes as viciously as couch potatoes.
- People with Fibromyalgia aren’t just tired.
- Those with Chronic Fatigue struggle with unrelenting fatigue that is so debilitating that sleeping/resting 20 hours day is often common and necessary.
- You may laugh at the clumsiness and forgetfulness that affects so many with Fibromyalgia, but when it’s your body that you can’t control and your brain that doesn’t work, it isn’t funny. It’s terrifying.
- There are good days and bad days.
- Be caring and supportive
- There is nothing someone suffering from Fibromyalgia wants more than to get his or her life back.
These symptoms are not psychological, they are physiological. In 1987, the American Medical Association recognized Fibromyalgia as a true physical illness and major cause of disability. Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) has also been recognized by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Probably the single biggest misconception is that these conditions are more likely to affect sedentary people. On the contrary, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome tend to affect type-A overachievers in a disproportionate ratio. People with this condition want to participate in physical activities, but can’t. They don’t want to give up their jobs, miss out on their kids’ activities and stop living their lives. They’d give almost anything to be able to participate in the daily activities we all take for granted.
All too often, sufferers live in a state of physical exhaustion. This isn’t something one good-night’s sleep can fix.
The problem is that most people affected by these conditions don’t have any control over them. They have to cherish the good days, which are often the only things that keep them going.
The only thing worse than having a disease is being misunderstood or blamed by those you trust such as family, friends and medical professionals. Love and compassion go a long, long way. More than you might imagine.
Sufferers are desperate to be the kind of mother, wife, father or friend that you want them to be.
At the Fibromyalgia & Fatigue Centers, we’ve treated over 17,000 patients with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. We know the toll it takes on patients and their families. That’s why we think it’s important for your family to be fully informed, and we encourage you to include your family in your treatment program. Our doctors will sit down with you and your family to fully explain your diagnosis and the steps that we’ll take together to treat your condition.
The cost to you and your family
The financial and emotional costs of dealing with Fibromyalgia can be devastating. The strain on marriages, the erosion of intimacy and even the incidence of divorce are realities that our patients deal with every day. The good news is that the crippling effects of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be reversed. We help our patients get their lives back.
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