Coping

[Marinemommy1009]

I was wondering I know that we are all different with fibromyalgia. My question is why some people are able to work and some not. My mind is so confused all the time I don’t know how anybody could work with this condition. I am new at this, so I am still learning each and every day knowledge is power. Trying to learn thank you and have a wonderful day and be safe.

 

[johnsalmon]

it all depends on the person and how fibromyalgia affects them - it is not a simple condition in which every one feels the same. Some have continuous pain while some have flares some use medication some do not - so to answer your question you need to find some one on the forum that suffers the same degree of pain and works then talk to her/him
Fibromyalgia is quite a variable condition

 

[sunkacola]

Johnsalmon is right that it is different for everyone.
There's no way to compare your symptoms or their severity to any one else's, really. Everyone has different pain thresholds and you don't really have any idea what someone else is experiencing even if they describe it, because if you were in their body you might describe it differently. So finding someone with the same degree of pain isn't really possible - you won't know if it is reliable.

The most important thing to remember is that it's up to you to take care of yourself and be as healthy as you can possibly be. Do your best each day, and remember always that your best is going to vary from day to day. Your best is different from any one else's best and different today from last week or next week or even tomorrow.

I had my own business and my work was extremely physical and simultaneously very mentally draining. I worked when I felt terrible, I worked when I was foggy minded and I worked when I was in a high level of pain when every part of my body hurt, every step I took hurt, and I had sharp shooting pain up my spine that almost brought me to my knees. I had no choice, because no one else was going to pay the bills. I m not recommending this; if it is possible to live without pushing yourself to work when the pain is bad, then that is better for you in the long run. But if you have no choice, you do what you have to do. Most of the time, this is what it comes down to; this is the determining factor for whether or not someone who has a chronic pain condition keeps working or not.

 

[JayCS]

why some people are able to work and some not. My mind is so confused all the time I don’t know how anybody could work with this condition.

Maybe the individual severity of the strongest symptoms is the main difference.
And if these can be improved, then that will be in different amounts.

Details of my story may help to unravel at how many levels this can be.
When my full flare started my sleep was terrible, my local pains all over, plus severe ache & exhaustion, GI bad as ever, but brain clear & motivated, no depression. All doc treatment trials in the first half year, esp. meds & some supps, increased everything, because I was confused and listening to them, not my body. Then, listening to my body, learning more and more, doing loads of research & trials, but more carefully and self-directed and self-paced all got better, and some I've not cured, but got completely under control: sleep, local pains and GI. On my way there I started work again after 10 months bit by bit, but had to stop at 40%, but the conditions/type had to be adapted a lot, too. If not for the additional conditions & symptoms that then came, I'd now probably be able to do the 40% with less adaptation. As it is I still have everything under control which I had, plus all new symptoms. It's like plate-spinning with 300 plates instead of only 30, but I could do it. Trouble is, the new stuff the brought my energy from 35% down to 10% (severe ache, exhaustibility, stiffness), so I'm only able to walk & talk a bit, and my movements have to be slow, even though I'm still strong and my mind is clear enough to write quite a bit of stuff like this, privately, for job, for others.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. But can still be used for other things than the seeming original purpose. The more creative we are, the more we can discover and use the beauty in it. In Murphree's drtalks Fibromyalgia summit last week (functional docs), Osborne ("no grains, no pain") said: "Anyone looking to see a functional medicine expert, you really have to be embracing of change". Well I think that works many general ways too, like to improve fibromyalgia, and what you can't, to cope with it.

 

[JamieMarc]

You pretty much answered your own question when you said that we are all different, we are all unique in our severity, symptoms, pain and experience with fibromyalgia. Like you, I cannot work a full-time job due to my own fibromyalgia pain. There was a time in the beginning when I could perform a job full time, but ultimately my symptoms progressed to a point where I was completely unable to sustain any job full-time. Thank you for your question, and I wish you nothing but the best. Keep working at it and it will get better.

 

[JamieMarc]

knowledge is power

So true and well said!

 

[hope23]

As you said in your question we are all different, and our experience with fibro(and other conditions if you have multiple which many of us do) is different. It can be a harsh learning curve when you go from being one way and having those capabilities to no longer having that or your ability is reduced or impaired. I think the best thing ive learnt on here and through my own experience is that you are the expert on your body, what you're capable of doing. Its also worth considering what your approach to your fibro and symptoms is. There are an abundance or natural methods to try and experiment with, and going through that trial and error process whilst it can feel daunting is well worth it. Depending on your own thoughts and views there are medications that can help but i would still recommend you trying the many different natural things you can that may help, my experience has been that often you have many things that help just a little and work together to help a lot(whether that is natural methods or medication).
For my personal experience i got sick on the 19th of February 2016(im a bit of a querk in that i have a specific date, and there was not trauma or anything at that time, i was on holiday). 7 and a half years later and i have diagnoses for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue syndrome, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and Ankylosing spondylitis. Everyones journey and experiences are different, i have continued to work full time(between 40 and 50 hours a week) throughout my journey. There are a number of reasons why, the main being if i wanted to have a roof over my head and food to eat i had to work, there was no other option. Was it easy? HELL NO!! Had i had another choice/option would i have changed what i did, probably.
My treatment approach and methods is heavily medication based, the reason being that i have tried every alternative therapy available to me in new zealand, i have tried countless different diets as well as a whole bunch of other things. For me whilst a couple of the things i tried helped it was not enough to be able to function and live. As i said my approach is heavily medication based but for a lot of people the medications that have helped me, made them worse, didn't help at all or had horrendous side effects. My personal journey and approach isnt for everyone but for me this is what works.

Everyones situation and choices are different and they need to be made about you, and about your situation as your are the expert on your body. This is a great place to get ideas of things to try, get support when your struggling and even talking to people who truly get it. Unfortunately for a lot of us the fibro journey is a journey of trial and error and finding those things that work for you. But when you find those things it makes it all worth it