WeAreFibro.org - The Social Support Network for People Living with Fibromyalgia

  Saturday February 13, 2010 Parenthood is enough of a challenge when you're healthy, and with an illness like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, it's especially difficult. I know it's something I struggle with every day, and a recent comment left by a reader put our common struggle into words really well: "I still feel like I'm letting my kids down because I'm not able to do/be/have enoughenergy to give them everything they need. But at least, I guess, they're learningthat when Mom says in answer to, 'Can we go/do.......?' 'It depends on how I'mfeeling' really means just what it says. I...

http://www.fmaware.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9251 Margaret struggled to stop her tears. Jeff, her 10-year-old son, would be bounding through the door any minute, full of energy, smiles, and chatter about how many strikes he pitched at his Little League game. She had promised herself that she would go to this game no matter how much she hurt, how tired she felt, or how difficult it was to move—yet here she was, slouched over the kitchen table, barely able to hold her body upright. She had never spoken to Jeff about fibromyalgia because she didn’t know where or how to begin. She barely understood all the ins and outs of FM herself, so how...

Explaining Chronic Illness to Your Child: As a parent, if you become ill, your illness has a profound impact on the entire family system. In spite of your own increased stress, confusion and anger, your children will look to you to maintain or return to normal family routines as soon as possible. If you, or your spouse, present an image of feeling overwhelmed or being consumed with the illness, your children will feel as if life is spiraling out of control. As parents, it is often instinctive to want to protect our children from hurt or pain. We want them to be...

Fibromyalgia and Family -- How it Really WorksA single mom working two full-time jobs, I was outgoing and enthusiastic. I spent time with family and friends or worked on one of the many creative projects that I had on the go. With the exception of a few minor bumps in the road, my life seemed to cruise along smoothly until fibromyalgia slowly transformed my identity.What's wrong with me?I began to notice many subtle changes in my life. Not only was I forgetting everything and getting confused, I was tired and cold all of the time. My arms and hands were...

Do you dread the question, “What is fibromyalgia”? Or do you know people who refuse to believe in it, mainly because it doesn’t seem to make sense? It’s always difficult to explain fibromyalgia without getting overly complicated. Those of us who’ve had it for awhile can typically talk ad nauseum about neurotransmitters, the stages of sleep, and the difference between SSRIs and SNRIs. It’s easy to forget how specialized this knowledge is - at least, until you see a healthy person’s eyes glaze over two minutes into a conversation. And to get through most written explanations of fibromyalgia, you have...