This Is Strange #NHBPM Day 2

The prompt I selected for day 2 of National Health Blog Posting Month is “What is the weirdest thing about my health?” Living with chronic illness like fibromyalgia can feel pretty weird at times and is also often seen as “weird” by outsiders and even physicians because it is so widely misunderstood. It was a no-brainer for me to pick this topic. I have more than one strange thing to share with you, so if you are here, you might as well read on…

Weird Thing #1

Me. A lot of people think that you are automatically weird if you have fibromyalgia. There is a lot of speculation that fibromyalgia is “psychosomatic” and that only people who are attention seeking and/or a hypochondriac are given this diagnosis. While I may have my share of challenges, and I am uniquely me, my pain is very real. There is just no doubt about it, I feel it, just like you would feel it if someone poked you with something sharp. Simply stated, I am not making this up. (Really, why would someone make up pain anyway?) And for the record, there are all kinds of studies that now show that people diagnosed with fibro are experiencing pain at higher levels than those without. (please excuse my lack of source citing here, I’m in a hurry) So, call me weird, call me crazy, call me what you want, that doesn’t change the fact that I live with this health condition. Besides, my daughter says that being weird is awesome.

Weird Thing #2

Fibromyalgia. What a strange and bizarre “syndrome” this is… it isn’t even called a disease, it has no cure and no one even really knows what the mechanisms are behind it. Essentially, it is a collection of symptoms that wreak havoc and misery (at times) on the lives of those living with it. The most common symptom is pain and second to the often widespread pain is fatigue, but the list goes on (IBS, migraines, sensitivity to light, cold, heat and noise, etc.). The weirdness of it is how hard it is to explain and how hard it can be to treat, not to mention the difficulty in finding relief.

Weird Thing #3

My Strangest Symptoms. This post would not be complete without the mention of what I find to be one of my strangest symptoms. When I am having a “flare” I find myself experiencing some weird “neurological” symptoms, for lack of a better description, one of which is that one of my ears or sometimes both will get very hot in sensation and to the touch (you would be able to feel it and see the redness if you were standing next to me). It is uncomfortable and well, uh, weird. It may last a few minutes or an hour or more. I will also on occasion get a burning sensation down the back of my arm and it is as if you could trace the exact line that this sensation is following, and it hurts, pretty badly when it happens. It doesn’t last very long, thank goodness. It’s just odd.

That’s what’s weird about my health/health condition. What’s weird about yours? =)

 

It Helps Me #NHBPM Day 1

 

 

It’s been a long time since I have attempted to do anything like this, but I am feeling extra inspired, or perhaps I am a glutton for punishment! Selfishly, I just want to write and the National Health Blog Post Month created by WEGO Health gives me good reason to do just that. 30 days and 30 posts all about health. Thank goodness for the 30 days of prompts they have provided as well.

Today starts off with the topic “Why do you write about your health?” (or your health condition) and so, in case you haven’t heard for a while about why I do this, I will share:

I write about my health because it helps me. First, I thought I started writing because I wanted to help others (which I desperately do) but I have found more than anything else it helps me. It helps me along my journey of living a more beautiful life whether I am feeling joyful, content or experiencing depression. It helps me cope when I am in pain from fibromyalgia or experiencing one (or all) of the many other symptoms that go along with it. It helps me to feel connected to the rest of the world, especially to those who also experience similar challenges. It helps me be a better person, it helps me see how far I’ve come and where I need to start over again. It helps me get a fresh perspective and it helps me to vent when I just want to well, you know, whine. I could actually make a list of all the different ways it helps me (maybe I should!) and I bet that would be a great post in and of itself. For the sake of time, I will just say one more time… it helps me.