Just having a bad day, for the last 4 months....

[sunkacola]

Oh, I see it! On the forum homepage - it says 77 right now. It's a mix of web crawling bots and trackers.

Web bots are usually just data collecting for search engines or for targeted advertising. Search engine bots crawl websites to update their indexes so that they can give good search results. Advertising trackers are gathering data to learn how to make people buy things - they are also why you will sometimes see advertising relevant to something you Googled or read about earlier - and they might come in the form of cookies or other types of trackers that either embed on your computer or profile your online behaviour. As we move around on the internet, we pick them up from different websites, and then they follow what we do elsewhere.

If you click on Current Visitors, you can see where the bots on the forum came from. I can see:
SEMRush, with is a search engine optimisation company
Google, Majestic-12, and Bing, all search engines
Applebot, crawls for Siri
Adsense, Oracle, AdmantX, and Proximic, all advertising bots

Search engine bots are useful - they are looking at websites rather than us and are how we are able to find what we want online. However, if you don't like the idea of advertising trackers, some browsers like Firefox have pretty good tracker protection built in, and plugins can add even more privacy. There's a great TED talk about trackers if you want to learn more.

Right, back to fibromyalgia and my coffee I hope everyone had a good day!

thanks very much for that info, Jemima. I, for one, am creeped out by that.
but also recognize that everything we do online is tracked all the time anyway, so the choice is ether don't let it bother me, or don't use the internet.

I do use an advertising blocker, though, and get zero ads. Love that.

 

[Auriel]

Femfatiigued I’m on fibro mum of twos thread we talking about the impact fibros had on us if you and jemima want to join in

 

[dolphindora]

I’m not sure where you are from but I ended up giving my job in but that was also partly due my employers making it difficult for me and telling me I’d had more time off sick than anyone and eventually made it uncomfortable for me but I get help and also recently awarded LCWRA which is Limited Capability for work and work related activity this is for 17months I believe so I have no pressure to have to work but don’t get me wrong when I feel like I’m controlling this more and able to manage I definitely would like to work. I do voluntary work for NHS at home as a Check in and Chat volunteer through Covid. I’m also going to try and do Level 3 Understanding Mental Health Course from home just to keep my brain active and to feel more productive and in turn it might make me feel less low.
If you really feel unable to work and you are in the UK look at options because my doctor was giving me fit notes for months whilst on Universal Credit then I had an assessment done and was awarded the above and had more financial help. I’ve also sent in a PIP application but that was months ago.. it’s such a ridiculously slow system and there are so many many people being left to cope for themselves in unbearable pain because they can’t afford to get any help with anything and left like it for months and months..there really ought to be a much quicker turnaround. Hope this helps and even if you worked less hours you can still get help…this is from the perspective of being in the UK. I suffered so much pain and depression going to work it was too much for me personally. I reduced my hours but eventually even that was too much for me..look after “you” the best way you can.

 

[Jay087]

Wow Els72. I am new to the site and yours is one of the first posts o have read. Everything you say EVERYTHING I totally understand and relate to. The pain, the fatigue, the fog, all of it. I know it’s not much but you are not alone. You are taking so much on all with FM. I don’t know how you can work and function you are strong and amazing. My wife said go online and see people’s stories, I was thinking nobody could be having it like me but it looks like there are plenty. Stay strong and one day at a time

 

[sunkacola]

Wow Els72. I am new to the site and yours is one of the first posts o have read. Everything you say EVERYTHING I totally understand and relate to. The pain, the fatigue, the fog, all of it. I know it’s not much but you are not alone. You are taking so much on all with FM. I don’t know how you can work and function you are strong and amazing. My wife said go online and see people’s stories, I was thinking nobody could be having it like me but it looks like there are plenty. Stay strong and one day at a time

You are strong too, Jay087.
All of us who have difficulties in our lives that make it hard to function (and that means hundreds of millions of people) are strong just to be getting through each day in the best way we can. Most of us are stronger than we think we are. You never find out just how strong you are until you are tested, and the testing may not be much fun but it will show you who you are, and there's nothing wrong with taking some pride in that inner strength. I do.

Your wife gave you good advice about reading other people's stories. It is also valuable to communicate with others, because you feel less alone and you get tips and ideas for things you can try to make it better for yourself.
Here are my best pieces of advice for managing fibromyalgia. I hope that something here can resonate with you and that you can work with your body in a way that will be helpful to you. Come here and create posts that ask questions if you have any, and come here to vent when you need to. We will be here.

My advice for managing fibromyalgia (especially for newcomers)

I am not a doctor or anything, just a person who has lived with fibromyalgia for several years now and has done a lot of research and trial and error experimentation. What follows is just basics. There are a lot of variations. You will find your own versions of everything I say, as this is not a...

www.fibromyalgiaforums.org

 

[DebMarPir]

Wow, not sure how you do it! I cared for both parents and then mostly my Mom, for close to ten years. I was in lot of pain, exhausted so badly I could barely move, etc. We had aides helping but three out of four quit and with the economy, I was only able to replace one out of three. My stress level was very high. I felt I could never rest, I had to get up all the time to see to Mom, even if I needed to lie and rest. Mom thankfully agreed to give me a respite stay by going into a nursing home and, as it worked out so well, has stayed. So now I am trying to get me properly seen to. My internist was thinking I might have fibro, but then around this time, I suddenly started having spasms all over my body, and the moved, and were intense. I was so glad I did not have Mom with me; she was cared for much better than I could have done! But keep praying, that is the key for us. That and maybe better meds but working full-time is probably too much now. I did until about 1.5 years ago, when my position was eliminated right before COVID. Now I wonder how I did it. But my meds help and if I can get sleeping better, and reduce stress, for me that is key. You really need to see what works for you in reducin your stress load. Take care of you, too, because you deserve it along with the others. I always put myself last, I felt I had to. But at some point your body hurts to much that you can't say "Hold on!" anymore. I wish you well!

 

[JayCS]

I always put myself last, I felt I had to. But at some point your body hurts to much that you can't say "Hold on!" anymore.

Yup - we often learn and feel we need to give more, and we can do so, and see others who are needy. FM opens the door to love ourselves "as thy neighbour". In my case I'd never have learnt the lesson to put myself first otherwise. It still takes a lot of practice, feels like sacrilege.

 

[Auriel]

Denmarpir, I always used to put myself last too, I was trained growing up that the family’s needs were more important than mine, any pushbacks were met with aggression and accusations of me being ‘selfish’ I sacrificed 16 years looking after my Nan and grandad( it was a thankyou for showing me kindness growing up +not putting their hands on me) I did feel very lonely and depressed sometimes, I didn’t know about carers organisations or buildings I could have gone to+ with his random cooker fires, wandering out +leaving doors open +having to find our pets up the road in the morning( yey fun times) I did eventually phone s.s they put him in a day centre a couple of hours a week so that was nice , but he did have to go to a nursing home eventually the Alzheimer’s increased, it’s the way it had to be, Nan had been gone a while , other than that I won’t put myself last anymore , I just found it got me used/abused and manipulated to high heaven + due to the fibro, the fatigue was making me give in to pestering people so I cut them all out , hope you get some support for what your doing ,