1. "I get tired, too..." Fibromyalgia is more than just being tired. It messes up your body's ability to go into deep sleep, so even if you sleep more than eight hours, you feel like you didn't sleep. This is the kind of tired that you get when you get the flu and you have no idea what people are saying to you because you are so tired.
2. "My muscles and joints hurt too, but I still..." Fibromyalgia pain is more than just being sore. Since your body has a hard time going into deep sleep, it has a hard time recovering and repairing the minor injuries of the day. This pain is like when you have the flu and feel like you have been run over by a truck because every part of your body hurts. Only it never goes away.
3. "If you would just ..." My mom should be the only person that can start a sentence like this. Exercise and eating healthy are definitely great strategies to improve health, but it is a little more complicated than it is for other people. Fibromyalgia makes your body react funny to exercise. Most people can exercise and recover within a day or two to exercise again. It takes a lot longer for people with Fibromyalgia. It is a difficult balance to have healthy exercise without having a flare up.
4. "I forget things, too..." Fibro fog is like trying to remember to do things in a dream. The most ordinary tasks and information seem suddenly impossible to grasp. I often have to write down my own phone number or address when calling someone who needs the information because I know it will be hard to recall it on the phone. Fibro fog makes you lose words as you talk, forget things like your birthday or phone number, or names of people you have known for years...it is more than just forgetting things sometimes.
5. "You should try ..." This is usually followed by the newest idea or get rick quick scheme for curing Fibromyalgia. I appreciate your help, but my doctor and I have a medical plan. I have tried most things and lost money and time. Some of them even made me more sick. It would be nice to have a cure, but we aren't there yet.
