Fibromyalgia
Cynthia Webber
Articles
Ten Ways to Beat the Fibro Blues
Guest author, Carol Wallace, suggests ways to start being more positive and beat the fibro blues.
A guest article, written by Fibro Friend Barbe Brice, with some tips for empowering yourself, overcoming doubts and believing in what you feel.
The Balancing Act of Fibromyalgia
Walking the fine line of dealing with fibromyalgia on a daily basis, and learning to keep our health balanced.
Letter to Ann Landers about telling people the DO's and DON'T's of arthritis (fibromyalgia).
Anger and fibromyalgia, plus an excerpt from my novel.
Something creative to do which doesn't increase the pain or fatigue of fibromyalgia.
A fibromyalgia study where we all can become involved.
Fibromyalgia flares and how to handle them during the heat of the summertime.
Enjoying summer rather than trying to keep up with the perfect neighbors.
Utilizing May 12 in order to inform the media and government of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.
Using our own critical thinking skills in order to make choices for ourselves regarding what we choose to use in order to improve the quality of our lives with fibromyalgia.
Approaching Your Primary Physician
Keys to approaching your primary physician, and how to become an active participant in your own care.
A Valentine's Day Gift: The Basics of Fibromyalgia
An excellent web site for basic information about fibromyalgia via a video broadcast to be shared with loved ones.
A New Century; a Time to Place Ourselves First
Taking this new year and learning to place ourselves first, and learning as much as we can about fibromyalgia rather than trying everything that others suggest to us.
Holidays; The Gift of Listening
People are more important than things, yet do we really listen to each other?
Images and words combined which show the true picture of living with fibromyalgia by Susan Harman.
Fibromyalgia vs Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Fibromyalgia Syndrome vs Myofascial Pain Syndrome and what are the major differences.
What I Did on my Summer Vacation
An essay of what I did on my summer vacation, and what I gained by just being myself.
Summer Renewal & Spirituality
Summer Renewal and the role of Spirituality
Summertime and learning to become a human being rather than a human doing.
Coping with living in the Sandwich Generation while dealing with fibromyalgia.
It's Springtime, so let's begin a Walking Program
It's springtime and time to begin a walking program for health and improving ourselves through exercise.
Living Culture & a Journey of Self-awareness
Living Culture & a journey of self-awareness in order to discover our uniqueness and yet our oneness with each other.
Daily Activities & Fibromyalgia
Dealing with daily activities and fibromyalgia, plus learning to listen to ourselves rather than others.
One Man's Perspective on Living with Fibromyalgia
A man's experience with living with fibromyalgia, and a story that all can relate to.
Sharing our stories of fibromyalgia, and discovering others who feel as we do. Finding friends online, and exploring a unique group of women, The Diva's of the Net.
The Damaging Effects of Physicians
Physicians who hurt rather than heal, and what their responsibility is for us, their patients.
Scientific vs. Alternative Medicine
Scientific vs alternative medicine, and how to combine the two with education and awareness for good health.
Which TV Network will tell our story of Fibromyalgia?
The media and fibromyalgia and the impact of how a prime time show could aid in education, research, and government support.
Boundaries & Online Relationships
Online relationships and conflicts, normal or due to our FMS?
New Year's resolutions and what works for those of us with fibromyalgia. Making gradual changes in ourselves works much better for us.
Holiday & Winter Blues
The Holiday Blues & Winter Blues, and how to deal with them.
Holidays & Fibromyalgia
Getting through the holiday season with fibromyalgia by putting our own needs first.
Self-massage, managing pain with massage without going broke.
Painful words that are said to those of us with FMS, and how to deal with them.
Fibromyalgia & Those Stinging Comments Made by Others
Fibromyalgia and stinging comments made by others. Becoming assertive, setting boundaries, and taking time out.
International Rest-a-Thon for CFIDS & FMS
Rest-a-Thon for CFIDS & FMS. October 25th..a day of rest to earn money for research into CFIDS & FMS.
Summary of the Oregon Fibromyalgia Convention
Summary of the Oregon Fibromyalgia Convention, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Treating TMJ, or How not to get Wired
TMJ, what is it, what are the symptoms, and what is the treatment. Dealing with FMS and TMJ, and my personal experience with TMJ.
Measuring Pain in Fibromyalgia
The one symptom that those of us with fibromyalgia seem to all have is pain. There are many ways to deal with the pain, and these range from taking narcotics to meditation.
The Oregon Convention on Fibromyalgia
fms, fibromyalgia, convention in Oregon, Dr. Rob Bennett
The Unconditional Love & Comfort of Pets
Pets as healing with fibromyalgia
Oprah's Show: Diseases Doctors Miss Most
Oprah's show about CIFS
FMS, fibromyalgia, and sexuality, sex, relationships
Special Holidays & Summer Vacations & Fibromyalgia
Canada Day, Independence Day, Summer Holidays & Vacations and coping with fibromyalgia
The Damaging Effect of Unexpected Stressors and Fibromyalgia
Unexpected stressors & fibromyalgia. Anxiety, fear, anger, and loss without the benefit of support.
Father's Day and The Expectations of Others
Father's Day and dealing with a Fibromyalgia flare, or the loss of a dad.
How many more Suicides until We are Heard?
fibromyalgia and the lack of support from our physicians, government officials, and the media.
Fibromyalgia & Fibrofog. Information and ways to cope.
Mother's Day & Fibromyalgia
Mother's Day and dealing with fibromyalgia when we are in need of mothering ourselves
The fatigue of fibromyalgia.
Trying to Understand how to Help a Friend with Fibromyalgia
A friend trying to understand fibromyalgia
Exploring Ourselves Through Journal Writing
One way in which to regain contact with our inner selves is by keeping a journal.
It is difficult to continue to give love and understanding to those who don't acknowledge our hidden disability. With friends or acquaintances it is easy to just end the relationship when it has died. However, a family is different.
Coping with fibromyalgia on a daily basis can be made more difficult for those of us with the condition when our families are unsupportive. The following open letter is a part of an entry from my daily journal, and part of a letter which I wrote to my own family recently. ...
Fibromyalgia is Not an Emotional Condition
It is time for our physicians, our governments, our friends, and our families to learn about our condition, and give us the support that we need rather than us continuing to be treated as though our fibromyalgia is all in our heads.
A Walk through the 12 Steps: Step 12
Step 12 of any 12-Step Program is related to having a spiritual awakening as the result of the previous Steps, and we are to try to carry this message to others, and to practice the principles of the Steps in our lives.
A Walk Through the 12 Steps: Step 11
Step 11 of any 12-Step Program says that we sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.
A Walk Through the 12 Steps: Step 10
Step 10 of any 12-Step Program says that we continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
A Son's Perspective on Fibromyalgia
This week's article was written by my 20 year old son.
Living with fibromyalgia is not the end of living. Rather it is the opportunity that we've been given in order to make our lives even fuller with inner peace and beauty than we ever imagined was possible.
Valentine's Day is a day to show those whom we love just what they mean to us.
The choices of my life have become different since I accepted the fact that I have fibromyalgia.
Keeping the Candle from Burning Out
Many of us with fibromyalgia have tried to burn the candle at both ends in the past, and some of us even continue to try to do it in the present. When we do this, the candle will eventually meet in the middle and totally burn out.
Music as therapy has been used by a multitude of people to deal with both physical and emotional conditions. It doesn't matter whether we are just listening to it or actually creating it for it to have an impact upon us.
A Walk Through The 12-Steps: Step 9
Step 9 of any 12-Step Program suggests that we make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
A Walk Through the 12-Steps: Step 8
Step 8 of any 12-step program suggests that we must make a list of all people we have harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all.
A Walk Through the 12 Steps: Step 7
Step 7 of any 12-Step Program says that we humbly ask our Higher Power to remove our shortcomings.
My New Year's resolution is to take those tiny steps and enjoy the journey of discovery of myself and how I can live life to the fullest in spite of my fibromyalgia.
Finding ourselves running on empty means that we need to stop and focus on what is really important in our lives.
Getting Through the Holidays with Fibromyalgia
Keeping the holidays simple can become a time to reflect upon what is really important to us.
A Walk through the 12-Steps: Step 6
Step 6 of any 12-step program says that we are to become entirely ready to have God remove all our defects of character.
A Walk through the 12 Steps: Step 5
Step 5 of any 12-Step program says that we are to admit to the God of our understanding, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
A Walk through the 12-Steps: Step 4
Step 4 of any 12-Step Program says that we are to make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
We need to accept our anger towards our fibromyalgia and deal with it in a constructive manner.
We all have good and bad days, but it is the turning of ourselves over to the Master Piano Tuner which can make us into beautiful instruments that help us to get through the bad days.
Trying to simplify our lives is very difficult. But when we are living daily with a chronic illness, we are given the wonderful opportunity to learn how to do just that.
A Walk through the 12 steps: Step 3
Step 3 of any 12-step Program is related to our spirituality. We make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a Higher Power.
A Walk through the 12 steps: Step 2
Step two of any 12-step recovery program is coming to believe in a power greater than ourselves which can restore us to sanity.
A Walk Through the 12-Steps: Step 1
The first step of any type of 12-step program is admitting that we are powerless over something, and that our lives are unmanageable.
We are responsible for our own well-being, and if we find ourselves feeling depressed about our life, we first must make sure that we do not have a clinical depression by seeing a physician who has a great deal of knowledge about both fibromyalgia and depression.
Fibromyalgia & The Family
Learning to communicate my needs with my family without feeling guilty is an ongoing struggle for me, but education of all members of my family will help to bring us even closer together.
Just because we have a chronic condition which doesn't have a known cause or a cure, does not mean that we have the right to whine and complain to others about our pain, fatigue, and lack of understanding from our families, physicians and friends.
Learn to Fight for Your Rights!
As a registered nurse, I have little tolerance for poor nursing care, and I refused to lower my standards just to please these people who had no knowledge of fibromyalgia and the effects it can have upon a person, both physically and emotionally.
The Three P's - Pacing, Perfectionism, & People
Learning to pace oneself means learning what our limitations are, and doing the things which must be done, and letting the rest go.
My FMS is Invisible, but I'm Not!
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.
Don't Feel Guilty about your FMS - Put Yourself First!
Getting the right kind of support from friends and family members can be frustrating at times. Because those of us with fibromyalgia look better than we feel, it is sometimes difficult to get both the physical and emotional support that we need.
Taking Charge of Your Fibromyalgia
Educating ourselves via books or the internet is the only way to gain solid knowledge. Learning to do our own research rather than depending upon others to tell us how to cope with fibromyalgia is a responsibility that we need to learn to take seriously.
Don't be led down the so-called garden path!
The important aspect of dealing with fibromyalgia is to do one's own research, consult with a well-educated physician who understands fibromyalgia, and not be led astray by every new product, treatment, or miraculous "cure" that some zealous convert tells us will "cure" our FMS.
Denial is not a River in Egypt!
Denial is a form of distancing, and what we put at a distance is ourselves.