|
Joy Schraft* is in her fifties and has been suffering from fibromyalgia
for 34 years. "I saw a rheumatologist for the first time about 10 years
ago, and he said there was no question that I had fibromyalgia. He checked all
the pressure points, and etc. By then, I was taking very good care of myself,
so I was in better shape than ever. He didn't think pain medications would
help, and I had things under control.
I Feel Like I'm Pulling a Load of Bricks.
I tried a chiropractor and she thought she could rid me of the
fibromyalgia, but that didn't happen; it never came to the point where it was
gone. I gave up on it as a permanent treatment but when I feel it coming on I still go to the
chiropractor for help. There are periods like at the end of the day, when I'm tired, when it's hard to go up the steps. I feel like I'm pulling a load of bricks. On
the one hand I'm in good shape but on the other hand I can't move myself. I
have to be really careful about what chair I sit in, because different chairs
will press on the wrong parts of my body."
Cognitive behavioral therapist Sara Halevi, MA, MFCC, finds that much of
the work with fibromyalgia patients revolves around getting them to accept
their limitations and relapses without feeling hopeless. "In terms of
working on the acceptance of relapses, this must be done without allowing for
thoughts like: 'I'll never get better, my life will always be like this.' The
idea is to believe that this latest relapse is just a bump in the road rather
than a dead end."
I'm in a Better Place.
Joy says, "I see fibromyalgia as a blessing because it forced me to
eat right and exercise, so now I have better skin, and I'm in a better place. I can see
where it would be terrible for somebody else but this is not necessarily so bad
for me. Diet has a powerful impact on things like depression. It's very
powerful. I wouldn't be surprised if diet keeps people from getting depressed.
Being a mother puts you in another place. If you have a newborn of 2 weeks
you're not going to stay in bed. When you're depressed, you're not in control, but
if you're in pain, you're still going to nurse that baby. You're in pain, you
can't turn your head, but you're going to do it. You push."
*Not her real name.
|
