Home » Health & Wellness » Fibromyalgia » My FMS is Invisible, but I'm Not! - Page 2

My FMS is Invisible, but I'm Not! - Page 2

© Cynthia Webber (Jausten)

We had a video of our recent holiday, and my husband wanted to share it with his parents, so I suffered in silence until we reached their house. I immediately laid down on the couch, got myself comfortable, and fell asleep. I slept through the two hours of the video, and when I awoke, I had less pain and fatigue.

Sleep does help to reduce the pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia, but trying to explain to others that we sometimes must just stop and lie down can be very difficult. The only visible symptom that people can see in me is the overwhelming fatigue which only shows in my eyes and face. They can't see my pain unless there is a particular area of my body which is hurting so much that I unconsciously massage it. It seems like it is easier for some people to think that it is just my back which is bothering me due to my many back injuries. When I am massaging an elbow, my hands, or a tender point on my legs, I have to wonder how they can believe that it is just my back which hurts.

My own denial of my fibromyalgia was difficult enough to get through without having to deal with other people's denial of my chronic condition. My family and even some acquaintances who don't understand FMS wonder how I can sit at a keyboard, use a mouse, and spend hours working on the computer. What they don't see is the back rest on my comfortable chair, or the fact that I do get up and stretch frequently, or that I am actually distracting myself from my pain by either creating something, or having fun surfin the net or chatting with other people with fibromyalgia.

I am a real person, and do not have a program which makes me human. I have feelings, goals, dreams, and losses that I am dealing with on a daily basis, and I do want to be taken seriously concerning my FMS. Just because I am not crippled and have not had a visible disease or condition occur, does not mean that I don't need a handicap permit or a cane.

Fighting for our rights as human beings who have an invisible condition is more difficult than fighting for the rights of someone who has had a stroke or other more obvious condition. Our FMS may be invisible, but we aren't.

The copyright of the article My FMS is Invisible, but I'm Not! - Page 2 in Fibromyalgia is owned by Cynthia Webber (Jausten). Permission to republish My FMS is Invisible, but I'm Not! - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.