Fibromyalgia

sharon59

morning girls!
Roxi -sending you a hug -cant really add anything to the good advice already given.I have family but sometimes still feel very alone and isolated due to not being able to join in etc.My big hobby is cross stitch and that helps keep me sane-or sanish!!! Do get down when my hands swell and cant hold needle but persevere.If you fancy a go at cross stitch pm me and l have loads bits l will send you to have a try.
Think l am in throes of a flare-due to my back being so bad but will perservere!
hugs to all who need it xxxxxxx

Unity

sharon59 wrote: »

morning girls!
Roxi -sending you a hug -cant really add anything to the good advice already given.I have family but sometimes still feel very alone and isolated due to not being able to join in etc.My big hobby is cross stitch and that helps keep me sane-or sanish!!! Do get down when my hands swell and cant hold needle but persevere.If you fancy a go at cross stitch pm me and l have loads bits l will send you to have a try.
Think l am in throes of a flare-due to my back being so bad but will perservere!
hugs to all who need it xxxxxxx

Morning Sharon,

I meant to reply to Roxi as well - but forgot :rolleyes:. I don't live alone, but either way I know the illness can get you down so I too use a lot of distractions. I'm a knitter so I always have one or two projects on the go but like you Sharon I also have bother with my wrists swelling up so that - and the pain - curtails things more than I'd like. I'm also an avid reader and you won't need more than one guess as to what I'll be getting for Christmas since I put my wish-list on Amazon:D. I've also got a monthly cinema pass and DH gets in free as he's my carer. Just at present we are spoilt for choice - so many films I want to see from 'Body of Lies' and 'Quarantine' to 'Transporter 3' and 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'.

BZ was entirely right :T, you have to have something to look forward to, to make you want to get out of bed. I've suffered a lot with depression and the worst thing you can do, I feel, is to let the days pass monotonously. I guess being an only child to some extent made me get used to my own company so I can't say it really bothers me, but then again I suppose that is down to choice and if I didn't have the choice it might bother me a lot more iykwim? Am I wandering? I suspect so. Put it down to practically no sleep at all last night .

Love,
Unity

pamaris

Hi ladies,

I was just going to comment on the isolation. Thankfully I do not live alone, but for many years I battled with depression. Strangely, the depression has lifted over the past few years.

I am a very independent loner, so I usually don't mind being alone. However, I do make a point to organise at least 1 thing a week, so that I stay connected. That is very good advice, whoever gave it. When I have in the past been so isolated I knew no-one (due to a move) I would find some way to meet people- whether it be by taking an art class or attending church. I know it is a very hard thing to do, but I think that getting out there (or even doing it at home) and pursuing our interests feeds our soul. Just as long as we can find something to get the blood pumping and the brain cells working.

In general this disease prevents me from going out and about nearly as much as I used to- I am much more home-bound- but even though I spend so much time at home I am not as isolated as I was when I was depressed. All that to say... I think that depression can be a natural result of fibromyalgia if steps are not actively taken to prevent it. For me, that meant putting myself out there when I didn't feel like it.

Unity, you had me going about the chocolate, but I've decided not to give it up. Though I must say I'd give up chocolate before coffee.

I am kind of annoyed that I am not as articulate as I used to be. If my posts are sort of random, I am sure you guys understand.

p.s. This talk of isolation reminds me of the film I watched last night- 'Lars and the Real Girl'. It was about a guy who never left his house, & hardly knew anyone. He told his family he met someone on the internet & was bringing her to dinner. Turns out she was a blow-up doll but he thought she was real. He had a "relationship" with her for a few months. It turned out to be a quirky, funny, disturbing, creepy but heartwarming film. Oh and definitely one to watch alone.

LameWolf

Unity wrote: »

Suep knows of course that I would move next to her tomorrow;) as we have been friends for years! We used to belong to a FMS support forum - but they didn't like us 'cos we told jokes and didn't moan enough :eek:.

I had exactly that experience with a lupus forum. It got to be such a whinge-fest in the end, that I used to come away feeling more depressed than when I'd logged on!

On the subject of isolation, I can relate to that also, despite being married to the most wonderful man I could wish for. He works full time, and I'm stuck here on my own all day; if it weren't for online stuff, I'd have no contact with anyone at all. Unfortunately I have severe social phobia, so phoning or visiting anyone is totally out of the question, even if I could get out unaided. I actually get a panic attack at the thought of using the phone!:eek: :eek: :eek:

One thing my husband has said is that he'll support me financially rather than have the government bully me into trying to go back to work and sending myself into an early grave. I really do think GB and co have lost the plot. Either that or they want to kill us all off as a way of saving money.

OK getting off soapbox now.

somebody_else

LameWolf wrote: »

One thing my husband has said is that he'll support me financially rather than have the government bully me into trying to go back to work and sending myself into an early grave. I really do think GB and co have lost the plot. Either that or they want to kill us all off as a way of saving money.

OK getting off soapbox now.

You're not the only one who's wondered about that, Wolfie. I've wondered if a lot of this talk is intended to scare us half to death.

I actually wrote to Teflon Tone a few years ago about the effect all this talk was having on people like me, and if he ever stopped to think how distressing it was when you're too ill to work to be constantly viewed as a malingerer. Oh, and I made a point of telling him that I wasn't going to take an overdose, just so there weren't so many of us on IB!

LameWolf

Teflon Tone :rotfl: Never heard of him referred to as that before, but it's very apt!

mummyof3boys_2

Hi all
Sorry i havent been on for the past few days but things been manic here , appointments everywhere.

We have just got back from the CAB and i have to say they were as much use as a chocolate tea pot !!


However we did get the number of the local disability rights charity and after speaking to them they have agreed to help us appeal and will do form filling and represent my husband at the tribunal, this is a great weight of our minds and maybe we can get a decent nights sleep at last.

Just a quick question for you all , O/H went to pain clinic the other night for the first time they have decided that because he has tried most treatments for the FMS ( they either dont work or have terrible side effects) the next course of treatment they want to try is a Lignocaine IV infusion , has anybody had one of these? do they work and are there any side affects, the other thing they are going to try is accupuncture!! well you can but hope that one of these is going to help.
S/E you mentioned the other day that you have experience of Gulf war syndrome do you know of any doctors that specialise in this area as we are still looking into a misdiagnosis and i dont think our GP is very clued up on this .

somebody_else

mummyof3boys wrote: »

S/E you mentioned the other day that you have experience of Gulf war syndrome do you know of any doctors that specialise in this area as we are still looking into a misdiagnosis and i dont think our GP is very clued up on this .

Erm... need to correct that a bit. I have knowledge of Gulf War Syndrome, not experience of it.

I'm afraid you may well have difficulty finding a doctor who specialises in this as the official line is that it's not a real illness and/or its psychosomatic (sound familiar to anyone?). Once again, it's one of those illnesses that this gov isn't putting any real money into researching 'cos someone might have to admit that they've made a mistake somewhere along the line.

If you want to PM me, I'll give you some info that I wouldn't want to put on a public forum, but I'm not sure how much it'll help in your appeal for the DLA.

Careful_with_that_Axe

Unity
I've pm'd you with some mystery shopping site details etc.

I'll be back later hopefully. Am running out of time to clear room as was out for far longer than I thought i would be.
Later all

RoxsiScotland

just a quick note to say thanks for all the support and good suggestions. i think im just feeling worse at the moment cos although my partner moved out, things were going quite well with us, but now he's stopped contacting me and generally turned into a bit off an a**ehole! not nice so close to christmas. anyhoo ive got an appointment at the edinburgh crisis centre tomorrow, to hopefully sort out some stuff to make me feel better. will go shopping after and get some retail therapy i think! maybe buy chocolate yay! (who mentioned it on here, i cant get it out my head now?)