The Personal Impact of Fibromyalgia

Greetings,

How fibromyalgia (FM) affects the particular person is personal in many ways. Not all people with the condition are affected in the same ways or to the same degree. In my case it is usually, if I can actually use that word, associated with four main areas. These are very much interconnected as some physical effects are associated with mental effects. Not all of them will happen at the same time, though on particularly bad days they can. In my particular case I have some good days and some bad days. Unfortunately due to the condition itself it can be very difficult to pick what the next day will be like. The symptoms that I have in particular have been described previously and an explanation of the impact of these will be described in very general terms.

In the case of most of my issues there are certain trigger mechanisms which can result in a bad day happening. A change in weather, or changeable weather affects me quite a bit. Cold weather is worse, but where warm weather is changeable it can be just as bad. Over-working myself is a definite trigger. If I work myself hard for a day or several days in a row, this tends to build up and create a problem. There are also some psychological effects which can affect my physical state. If I have a particularly stressful time due to some particular occurrence, this can lead to physical symptoms manifesting resulting in a bad day.

One of the issues which I have is a lack of sleep, or good sleep as the case may be. What happens is that sleep is interrupted by pain or other issues resulting in bad sleep, or a lack of deep sleep results in the body being inadequately rested. Some particularly bad days even if I have upwards of eight or even ten hours sleep, because it is not particularly good or deep the result is still the same if I had a lack of sleep. A lack of sleep or quality sleep as the case may be will result in an increase in fatigue and some of the mental issues that will be described. The lack of deep sleep results in a lack of dreams which can affect mental issues also this can be a particular problem over long periods of time and is usually triggered by an increase in stress.

Fatigue is one of those things that all people with FM get to some varying degree. Everyone feels tired and this is usually due to a lack of nourishment or sleep and can be remedied by eating or getting some sleep. In the case of a person with FM even these solutions will sometimes be ineffective. This fatigue is long-lasting and can sometimes last a full day or even multiple days in a row. This will affect a person's mental state. In my case it makes it difficult to think properly or clearly. This particular factor, in my case can also increase my pain levels which makes things even more difficult to deal with. On particularly bad days of fatigue issues I sometimes end up spending the day in and out of bed or in front of the TV. In my case these days will affect my mental state as I will feel that a day has been wasted. This is one factor which is very difficult to combat.

Anyone with arthritis or other joint issues will know about the sort of joint issues that can happen. In the case of a person with FM this can be debilitating as with any form of arthritis or other joint issue. In my case my main joint issues are to do with mobility issues. It is difficult to move as the joints feel like they have frozen up and are hard to move about. This is often closely associated with pain issues as well as the joint will also be painful to move. This is often the result of over-use of the joints. A perfect example of this is when I have been fencing constantly for an extended period of time. Anyone who has seen me fencing from a chair, this is usually the result of me having worked myself too hard previously or having some other joint issue at the time. Due to this there is also a distinct ability reduction and this leads to frustration, especially in my case. This can also be associated with a semi-mental issue which will be described in the next part.

One of the reasons why FM is so oftenly thought to be primarily a mental issue best fixed with anti-depressants is the presence of depression. The problem is that often while the depression is present it can be associated more with the change in circumstances due to the condition. Depression in my case is a factor and one of the hardest ones to fight against. This often leads to a high level of frustration in my case.

Memory issues in my case are associated with things such as forgetting simple things. On those days if it is not written down somewhere it simply does not happen. I also have some rather large gaps in my memory of things I just can't remember and this does not help either. Needless to say this can lead to a high level of frustration.

One of the reasons why I don't like public speaking is due to the speech issues that I have associated with FM. The words sometimes do not come out the way that they are supposed to, or is some circumstances, they just don't happen. This can even be when I am simply trying to read off something. Needless to say there are communication issues associated.

One mental issue which is closely associated to the physical ones is when the motor-neurones are not working properly. This can lead to co-ordination issues. I have had days where it is so bad I can't even butter bread. Sometimes it is just the messages do not get through, or they get through and do not stop. On bad days I am not allowed near glass as I have almost crushed a glass in my hand. I used to have a plastic glass with stress fractures in it from these bad days.

This is a brief description of how FM affects me in my everyday life. It is not designed to be here so I can get sympathy, far from it. The purpose of this is so that these issues are better understood by those reading this blog so that they can understand what goes on in my case. As stated the degree to which FM can affect the individual is often random depending on the day, and is a case by case basis. Some people will be affected less and some people will be affected more. It is important that these symptoms are recognised and then dealt with by the person with the condition. In some cases they can and in some they cannot. While sympathy is great and appreciated, empathy is more what the aim should be, this is far more useful to the person with the condition. Dealing with the issues is a subject for another blog.

Cheers,

Henry.