I was living and working in Sonora, California, and everything seemed to be going relatively well. I was still healing from a very emotionally damaging divorce that had left me reeling, a failed business and a business partner who took advantage of me and my money, short-lived relationship following my divorce that left me even more emotional baggage to deal with and long time friendship that had ended, tragically, over money and bogus loyalties. I had drawn pretty far into myself and wasn’t the boisterous, fun loving guy that I had always been. In fact I’d have to say I’d become rather timid and afraid to take risks. Sadly, I spent the majority of my time alone while in Sonora, isolated from other people, though I did have friends who tried to pull me out and get me socializing again. One very helpful friend would invite me to come party with her on the weekends and was extremely kind in getting me out of myself. I took to drinking with her and friends on the weekends; drinking way too much in fact. But I was having fun.
Then I started noticing that I was feeling sick quite a bit. Not “stay in bed I have a cold” kind of sick. Just kind of overall feeling bad. It’s a hard sensation to describe. It’s like your entire body has a run down sick feeling and at times it was joined by body aches, a flu like body ache that pervaded my entire system. Also frequent headaches and backaches in the upper shoulder area, feelings of vertigo and nausea and a lot of other symptoms that came and went from time to time at random. I was beginning to think I was just falling apart and that the years of abusing my body partying and drinking were beginning to catch up with me.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Overcoming Adversity
When I learned I had a chronic disease, one that had no known cause, let alone cure, I didn’t really grasp it. At first it just seemed like it would eventually go away. Well, as anyone knows, something that is chronic and lifelong does not go away, and I was deep in denial. It took me getting so sick I couldn’t work anymore for me to finally admit that I had a disease that wasn’t going to go away. So, I took a year off on disability to learn how to cope with my disease so I could live my life as normally as possible.
It was easy for me to quickly fall into a depression. My life wasn’t normal, nor did it seem like it ever would be. How could I live a normal life when chronic pain and other symptoms kept cropping up on a steady, if irregular, basis? Who would want to be with someone like me, who was dealing with a crippling and horrifyingly painful condition that most people didn’t even know existed, and half of those who did know thought it was psychological? What job could I hold if I had these terrible sick days where I just couldn’t deal with normal every day life things, let alone function in a job? These were the things that were crippling my thinking and I had to let them go.
The one thing I had to learn right away was that the pain was inevitable, but I didn’t have to let it stop my life. There were ways of dealing with it. Diet, exercise and ibuprofen helped a lot. That managed it; it would never go away but it could be managed. The lesson learned? Pain is unavoidable; misery from it is not. I could feel the pain and be happy, live a relatively normal life, if I kept up my regimen. This was not an easy lesson learned. I had to go through a lot to get there.
It was easy for me to quickly fall into a depression. My life wasn’t normal, nor did it seem like it ever would be. How could I live a normal life when chronic pain and other symptoms kept cropping up on a steady, if irregular, basis? Who would want to be with someone like me, who was dealing with a crippling and horrifyingly painful condition that most people didn’t even know existed, and half of those who did know thought it was psychological? What job could I hold if I had these terrible sick days where I just couldn’t deal with normal every day life things, let alone function in a job? These were the things that were crippling my thinking and I had to let them go.
The one thing I had to learn right away was that the pain was inevitable, but I didn’t have to let it stop my life. There were ways of dealing with it. Diet, exercise and ibuprofen helped a lot. That managed it; it would never go away but it could be managed. The lesson learned? Pain is unavoidable; misery from it is not. I could feel the pain and be happy, live a relatively normal life, if I kept up my regimen. This was not an easy lesson learned. I had to go through a lot to get there.
Monday, May 18, 2009
What can you do about Fibromyalgia?
What can you do about Fibromyalgia?
If your doctor suspects that you may have Fibromyalgia Syndrome, also known as FMS, he or she may refer you to another doctor who specializes in this type of disorder. These doctors are known as Rheumatologist’s. A rheumatologist is a doctor who has received schooling and extra training in the analysis, diagnosis and the treatment of problems specific to bones, joints and muscles.
At this point it is likely that your doctor will carry out a physical examination. The doctor will likely ask if you have had the pains you are experiencing for more than 90 days. It’s also a good bet they check certain spots on your body that correspond to pain centers for a sufferer of Fibromyalgia. These pain spots are quite common in FMS victims and are often very tender when pressure is applied to them.
There is no cure for Fibromyalgia. You need to be clear on this. At this point they don’t even know what causes FMS, however there are definitely things you can do to manage the pain and symptoms of this disease. One thing that is recommended is that you learn all you can about the disease. Talk to doctors and other sufferer’s of the disease to learn everything you can. Read everything you can get your hands on. You can still live a full life with this disease, with a bit of forethought and care on your part you can pretty much do everything and anything you did before being diagnosed with FMS.
If your doctor suspects that you may have Fibromyalgia Syndrome, also known as FMS, he or she may refer you to another doctor who specializes in this type of disorder. These doctors are known as Rheumatologist’s. A rheumatologist is a doctor who has received schooling and extra training in the analysis, diagnosis and the treatment of problems specific to bones, joints and muscles.
At this point it is likely that your doctor will carry out a physical examination. The doctor will likely ask if you have had the pains you are experiencing for more than 90 days. It’s also a good bet they check certain spots on your body that correspond to pain centers for a sufferer of Fibromyalgia. These pain spots are quite common in FMS victims and are often very tender when pressure is applied to them.
There is no cure for Fibromyalgia. You need to be clear on this. At this point they don’t even know what causes FMS, however there are definitely things you can do to manage the pain and symptoms of this disease. One thing that is recommended is that you learn all you can about the disease. Talk to doctors and other sufferer’s of the disease to learn everything you can. Read everything you can get your hands on. You can still live a full life with this disease, with a bit of forethought and care on your part you can pretty much do everything and anything you did before being diagnosed with FMS.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Fibromyalgia
"Fibromyalgia" -
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Fibromyalgia is a debilitating chronic syndrome (constellation of signs and symptoms) characterized by diffuse pain, fatigue, and a wide range of other symptoms. It is not contagious, and recent studies suggest that people with Fibromyalgia may be genetically predisposed. It affects more women than men, with a ratio globally of 3-5:1. Fibromyalgia is seen in 3-10% of the general population, and is mostly found between the ages 20 and 50. The nature of Fibromyalgia is not well understood, and there is no cure, though it can be managed."
I took my newfound knowledge to the Doctor and presented it to her, and she at first shook her head skeptically, then after more tests was forced to conclude that I was right. The problem? There is no treatment and there is no cure. Her answer? To give me a permanent prescription to Oxycontin and say there you go.
Well, howdy Doc and thanks a lot.
So I became an expert in what to do and what not to do. I found that a high protein, low carbohydrate diet helped a lot. Staying away from sugar helped quite a bit as well. Exercise and taking ibuprofen (instead of the habit forming Oxycontin thank you very much) were two of my greatest allies.
I've learned to deal with it, and, strangely enough, I'm stronger mentally and physically than I've ever been. But by the reactions of a lot of people I tell about it you'd think I had the fucking plague. 90% of the time women run the opposite way when I tell them I have this condition. What do I say to that? Good riddance. Anyone who is shallow enough to think this qualifies as a weakness is a fool. I've become stronger than ever before through dealing with this. Sure, I have bad days sometimes, and it does to some extent affect my daily life, but overall, I love life.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Fibromyalgia is a debilitating chronic syndrome (constellation of signs and symptoms) characterized by diffuse pain, fatigue, and a wide range of other symptoms. It is not contagious, and recent studies suggest that people with Fibromyalgia may be genetically predisposed. It affects more women than men, with a ratio globally of 3-5:1. Fibromyalgia is seen in 3-10% of the general population, and is mostly found between the ages 20 and 50. The nature of Fibromyalgia is not well understood, and there is no cure, though it can be managed."
I took my newfound knowledge to the Doctor and presented it to her, and she at first shook her head skeptically, then after more tests was forced to conclude that I was right. The problem? There is no treatment and there is no cure. Her answer? To give me a permanent prescription to Oxycontin and say there you go.
Well, howdy Doc and thanks a lot.
So I became an expert in what to do and what not to do. I found that a high protein, low carbohydrate diet helped a lot. Staying away from sugar helped quite a bit as well. Exercise and taking ibuprofen (instead of the habit forming Oxycontin thank you very much) were two of my greatest allies.
I've learned to deal with it, and, strangely enough, I'm stronger mentally and physically than I've ever been. But by the reactions of a lot of people I tell about it you'd think I had the fucking plague. 90% of the time women run the opposite way when I tell them I have this condition. What do I say to that? Good riddance. Anyone who is shallow enough to think this qualifies as a weakness is a fool. I've become stronger than ever before through dealing with this. Sure, I have bad days sometimes, and it does to some extent affect my daily life, but overall, I love life.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Fibromyalgia Syndrome
It's July, 2003.
For some time I had felt sick. I ignored it, thinking it would go away; Classic denial. Deep down I knew something was vitally wrong. I experienced flu-like symptoms and a host of other wonderful things every day. Drinking on the weekends helped to mask them so I took to drinking too much on weekend nights with my friends. We would drink and dance the nights away, blissfully unaware that my life was soon to change forever.
Life was good. I had a great job I loved, lived in a small community that I was in love with, had a nice circle of friends who were all single and loving it like myself. How could things go wrong?
Finally I got so sick in December of 2003 I couldn't go to work. I made an appointment with the Doctor, who promptly diagnosed me with having a prostate infection, despite no evidence to back this up. He put me on anti-biotics, which didn't help at all. I kept going back, and kept going back. He got sick of seeing me. Finally I switched Doctors because I was going nowhere.
After a battery of tests they could find very little wrong with me. I began to think I was going crazy. I was sicker than ever and had no clue why. I was getting desperate.
I started doing research on the Internet about my symptoms, which were many. I came up with a lot of different diseases that fit the classification, but eliminated them one by one until only one was left - FMS - Or - Fibromyalgia Syndrome. A disease that strikes mainly women, but is probably greatly under diagnosed in men due to it's being thought of as a "woman’s disease".
For some time I had felt sick. I ignored it, thinking it would go away; Classic denial. Deep down I knew something was vitally wrong. I experienced flu-like symptoms and a host of other wonderful things every day. Drinking on the weekends helped to mask them so I took to drinking too much on weekend nights with my friends. We would drink and dance the nights away, blissfully unaware that my life was soon to change forever.
Life was good. I had a great job I loved, lived in a small community that I was in love with, had a nice circle of friends who were all single and loving it like myself. How could things go wrong?
Finally I got so sick in December of 2003 I couldn't go to work. I made an appointment with the Doctor, who promptly diagnosed me with having a prostate infection, despite no evidence to back this up. He put me on anti-biotics, which didn't help at all. I kept going back, and kept going back. He got sick of seeing me. Finally I switched Doctors because I was going nowhere.
After a battery of tests they could find very little wrong with me. I began to think I was going crazy. I was sicker than ever and had no clue why. I was getting desperate.
I started doing research on the Internet about my symptoms, which were many. I came up with a lot of different diseases that fit the classification, but eliminated them one by one until only one was left - FMS - Or - Fibromyalgia Syndrome. A disease that strikes mainly women, but is probably greatly under diagnosed in men due to it's being thought of as a "woman’s disease".
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