Firstly, I want to say thank you for the people who commented on my page giving me a warm welcome and support. Thank you <3 My Names Michelle, but everyone just calls me 'Shelly'. I've been dealing with Fibro for 16 months now, it's been a right roller coaster nightmare trying to get diagnosed.
I suffer with quite a lot of symptoms; achy joints, body and muscles, dizziness, constipation, allergies, restless legs, muscle spasms/twitches, fatigue, sensitive to heat/cold, numbness/tingling, sometimes my legs feel like lead or my waist/hips feels like an anchor. I also have fibro fog and I suffer with depression and anxiety. I'm in a vicious cycle as; the pain gets me down, the depression adds to the pain, I either get lack of sleep or get sleep but still feel tired and so on and so on.
I do, try and get out the house when I can however, when me and my mum did our recent weekly shop on Monday by the time we got home, I was hot/clammy, thirsty and had to sit down because my energy was just drained. I ended up falling asleep on my computer desk as I was that tired. Sometimes just walking up or down the stairs makes me feel like I've ran a marathon.
I'm doing my best to cope/manage and be strong. I'm only 27 years old but sometimes with how I feel, I feel like I'm 50 years old. I did some voluntary work for a while but took a break due to it was getting too much, the cold weather didn't help and my manager, even though I hadn't had a diagnosis at the time, would always try and convince me that 'it's all in my head' and 'Nothings wrong with you' nor would she help me when I kept forgetting simple things.
Basically, what started all this was a car crash I was in back in... I think February last year? I can't even remember the exact month or date. But, I was in a taxi, in the passenger seat in the back. We were stationary, I was on my way to the job centre, however this was when england was having that bad snow weather and next minute, a car rammed into us from behind and I got bad whiplash. From then on it was just pains and damaged soft muscle tissue. Then the depression came followed by the anxiety and it went downhill from there...
I'm sorry for babbling on, it's just nice to see a friendly, supportive site especially for an invisible illness like Fibro. Its nice to see others who understand. So, thanks for reading my babble/story =)
Welcome Shelly, I am glad you posted an introduction! Fibro can be tricky as you well know and it is awesome to have a place to go where others' understand completely. And you don't even have to change out of your pj's or get out of bed to come here :-). What are some things you do to try to help with the pain and symptoms? We love to share ideas around here, I have learned a lot from the wonderful people on here. Anyway, I wanted to say "hi" back and welcome again! Hugs!!!
Hi Shelly. Welcome to the site. I sympathize with you and your difficulties and symptoms. I am 29 and was diagnosed pretty quickly in June. But I didnt want to believe it. So now, I have seen 4 more doctors and have additional diagnoses of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (hypothyroidism) and arthritis. It is a marathon every day. Stairs, feeding my cats, and hopefully feeding myself. Hope this site helps you as much as it has helped me. Everyone is very encouraging and supportive and we all love to read about each other’s babble.
Welcome! hugsmeow*
Heather
Thank you <3 as for how I cope with the pain, I do try and do some exercises but, it kills me to do so. Even just walking, tired me out. I used the painkillers if I have a bad flare up. My Mum gives me a massage before bed to ease my muscles before I go to sleep. Sometimes having a warm shower helps ease me but, not always since just even trying to wash my hair, my arms get tired.
If you have any suggestions on how you cope with the pain, I'd be happy to hear them! *hugs*
Auburnm said:
Welcome Shelly, I am glad you posted an introduction! Fibro can be tricky as you well know and it is awesome to have a place to go where others' understand completely. And you don't even have to change out of your pj's or get out of bed to come here :-). What are some things you do to try to help with the pain and symptoms? We love to share ideas around here, I have learned a lot from the wonderful people on here. Anyway, I wanted to say "hi" back and welcome again! Hugs!!!
Thank you <3
I have a Cat myself and sometimes just playing with him to keep him entertained tired me out lol! But there has been times where I've been so fatigued, I end up taking a cat nap with him <3 I can see this is a friendly site and I've already had a few warm welcomes including yourself and Auburnm =)
Meow said:
Hi Shelly. Welcome to the site. I sympathize with you and your difficulties and symptoms. I am 29 and was diagnosed pretty quickly in June. But I didnt want to believe it. So now, I have seen 4 more doctors and have additional diagnoses of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (hypothyroidism) and arthritis. It is a marathon every day. Stairs, feeding my cats, and hopefully feeding myself. Hope this site helps you as much as it has helped me. Everyone is very encouraging and supportive and we all love to read about each other's babble.
Welcome! *hugs*meow*
Heather
Welcome, Shelly! I am positive that you will find this site to be a wealth of information. You will meet friendly helpful people going through the same things as we all have FMS in common. HUGS from Deb
Many HUGS Deb, thank you! <3
Deb said:
Welcome, Shelly! I am positive that you will find this site to be a wealth of information. You will meet friendly helpful people going through the same things as we all have FMS in common. HUGS from Deb
Welcome Shelly. I am very glad you found us. This is a great place to. Make new friends and find support while you learn about and explore this disease. Hugs.