I called up my best friend today to interview her for this blog, although I could have skipped it since it has been a conversation we have had many times for twenty some years now. My friend has fibromyalgia. It is a chronic illness that affects every day of her life. She lives with chronic pain in her muscles. She has to pace herself every day according to how she feels. About seven days per month she is totally shut down and cannot do anything but lay on the couch. But on the other 21 days she wakes up and slowly gets moving. Weather sometimes messes with her. Travel of any sort is difficult for her so she rarely gets to see her extended family. Movement is also hard for her. She is very sporadic with exercise because as soon as she starts walking or riding her bike, something in her body gets injured and she stops. She has taken medicine for years and her newest drug seems to be helping her a lot. She also has seen an alternative doctor and she is improving her diet. She has great inner strength and her faith in God helps her through her days. She is a great wife, mom, and friend. I am proud of her because she is determined to not let this illness defeat her. You can find more information on fibromyalgia in the website listed below in the references.
References
Pub Med Health. (2011). Fibromyalgia. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001463/
Buckley Blog Comment 1:
ReplyDeleteRebecca,
I'm sorry to hear that your friend has to live with pain everyday. Although I do not have fibromyalgia myself, I have been placed on Lyrica before, which is a fibromyalgia medication. What I think is unfortunate about most of the fibromyalgia treatments is the side effects. When you experience pain all the time, you miss out on a lot of life. You begin to feel almost like a zombie. So on the days that you can actually get out of bed, you want to savor every waking moment. What I found with Lyrica and from what I have read about other treatments, is that it can cause extreme lethargy and can be almost impossible to function due to your severe sleepiness. I really hope that your friend does not experience this side effect, and I truly hope that someday there will be a fibromyalgia medication that can provide relief from pain without the side effects.
Yes,
ReplyDeleteShe is on Lyrica now and she hates the side effects too. It is always about the side effects it seems. When you mentioned the word "zombie" I chuckled because if I remember correctly, Kim has used that very word for how she feels sometimes!
-Rebecca
I am glad that your friend is doing well and fighting that fight of faith. It is wonderful to hear that she has a friend like you because you seem to be present in her illness. You are a great friend and I am sure it means a lot to her. They are some medications that are greatly helping those with fibromyalgia and I hope that your friend is having significant improvement in pain, fatigue and her overall quality of life. I know that the side effects can be troubling but I hope that she can find something to counteract the effects.
ReplyDelete