Can be read on Storywrite.com/50016. A research paper on the signs and symptoms of Fibromyalgia. The criteria for diagnosis and the treatment. Alternative therapies and movement from being fear based to love based decision making.
A contest entry
- Writing Workshop On Disabilities Fall, 2008 by kareneisenlord.
3500 points, ended November 15, 2008, 10 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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Comprehensive Indeed!
Here's the direct link for others to read;
http://storywrite.com/story/50016
This is very informative and comprehensive indeed. Having been diagnosed with fibromyalgia myself, I immediately recognized what you were saying about the “flu-like” symptoms. That became the best way for me to describe what otherwise seemed indescribable and a mystery and incomprehensible to many people, even doctors.
So much of what you covered in your article rang true with me. Although it is unique for everyone, there are certain groups of other disorders that appear to go along with it; such as the sleep disorder, fatigue, anxiety, endocrine problems, allergies, panic - the list is endless. It is an intimate and delicate interaction and inter-relationship between the mind and body. Once one system is thrown off, the entire homeostasis of the body/mind balance begins to plummet.
I think that you are very correct in targeting the fear factor; that fibromyalgia is quite possibly mainly a stress-related disorder. I liked the stages that you describe because I feel that it has been a journey such as that for me. A slow death, so to speak and then a re-awakening to myself in an entirely different way. It is almost as though I have had to come to accept myself as a different and new person. A stranger that I have had to allow myself to become familiar with. It has been an opening up and releasing of myself to myself.
There were years that I felt I couldn’t breathe. I had to learn to breathe, to accept, to surrender and to forgive myself and others. In my case, it was always a flight or fight response with me, that never seemed to relax. There may be a predisposition to this, but I think in my case that a lot of it came from an unsettled early childhood and being abused/neglected. In other words, it is both nature and nurture (the environmental and genetic) that contributes to the development of this illness. It is soul-healing on the deepest level. In a way, and I know this sounds strange, it has been a blessing in that I have been forced to either heal my soul or to spiral downward more into the dark pit of despair and pain. I chose the former obviously, thank God.
During this entire process however, I did lose faith in the medical profession and I turned more to holistic and alternative healing and medicine. The homeopathic and holistic approach was more healing in my case, and as your article points out so well, this is a major component in the success of dealing with fibromylagia; the ability to release oneself to others in a trusting and healing relationship. I found this relationship mainly with myself and the Divine; but in this process I am finding myself more open to others in this way. It is a two-way nurturing - both the ability to receive nurturing and to give of it freely.
I have also found that so much of my problems are also related to allergies and nutritional problems that again is a very individual and unique thing. It was a matter of taking responsibility for my own healing. No doctor could do that for me. Much of what I learned was from my own research and trial and error. Doctors put me on an endless list of medications with more to address the ever new symptoms developing from side-effects to the drugs. I put an end to that! That was the best move that I took because all the medications were just contributing to my body being in a state of toxicity; which was contributing to the overall pain. I still take a few medications as needed, and this is a personal thing and everyone should always seriously weigh, research and get professional input on their medications. Being a healthcare practitioner myself, it was my decision to go out on my own more; but it is not what I recommend for others. What I do recommend for everyone is to be informed, take responsibility for your own well-being, get more than one opinion, be open-minded and seek a balance of traditional medicine and alternative practices. Preventive medicine and measures is the best cure for all disease because it prevents the disease from developing in the first place!
Thank you so very much for your in depth article on fibromyalgia. I am very impressed with it. You certainly covered a lot here. I want to write my story about it too. We all have one to tell. Sometimes the cure can be so very simple that we miss it entirely. In my case, I discovered a severe allergy to sulfites was one of the triggers my fibromyalgia (pain). Although it is not the only cause of it; cutting out this enemy to my health has helped tremendously. It is commonly found is so many things naturally and used as a preservative. Eating out in restaurants is one of the hardest times for me to avoid it because it is used so freely in foods at restaurants as a preservative.
Other than a few typos and grammatical corrections that your article needs, it is top notch. You didn’t give permission in your Author’s Notes for it to be showcased in our Group for People With Disabilities forum. I would like your permission to do so. Of course, giving you full credit. It is your choice to decline, as well. I would be disappointed though, because so many of us in the group do deal with this dreadful condition, and your article does shed a lot of Light (pun intended) on it. Thank you again for writing this and for submitting it to this contest.
For those who want to read the article, here is the link to google. I had trouble with the one that was given for some reason. This one works for me;
http://storywrite.com/story/50016
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