Some Fibromyalgia Facts

When you first find out that the crazy things going on in your body and head are really all connected and they have a name - fibromyalgia - you begin to look for information. Fortunately, we have the Internet to help us find out almost too much information. You can sit for hours getting severe muscles cramps and pushing yourself into a full blown fibromyalgia flare just surfing the 'net to learn more.
BTW, I read a great tip online to managing fibromyalgia and it has to do with pacing. The lady ( sorry, I didn't note her name or the site :-( called it the 20/20/20 system. After reading what she said about it I realized that it took me years to find that I had evolved to a similar pacing system of 20 minutes of standing or activity, 20 minutes of sitting, 20 minutes of lying down. In fact, 20 minutes of anything seems to be my threshhold before pain and irritability increase or muscle tightness or cramps ensue. It is not easy to limit yourself when fibromyalgia is already limiting you but learning the boundaries of what you can and can't do or tolerate is important if you want to avoid feeling worse.

Whether you are a veteran fibro fighter or new to the whole scene, I found a link today that I thought summed things up nicely and even gave me knew information. I like it because it sums up statistics, tests, studies, etc. and is medical and scientific, yet clear and understandable. Here it is:

http://www.fmnetnews.com/docs/FactSheet.pdf

The saddest statistic for me to read was that about 16% of people with fibromyalgia receive some form of disability income, yet 30% of people with it are unable to work sustainably. It is too sad that about 15% of people unable to work due to fibromyalgia are without a means of support or dependent on others. I am currently in that percentage. It is criminal.

If you are in the same boat, please check out www.DisabilityDigest.net where you can find helpful info to get you through a frightening and stressful time. It's free.