Why Fibromyalgia Can Be Isolating
There are many reasons why having fibromyalgia can make you feel isolated from the rest of the world, sometimes even your closest friends and family. Here are some of them.
Invisibility
Fibromyalgia can bring intense pain for no reason and this is something that other people cannot comprehend. For some people, pain can come from an injury, broken bone, etc. But with fibromyalgia, the pain is invisible. This invisibility is what makes the patient feel lonely and isolated.
Trauma
Even though fibromyalgia is not yet fully understood, the symptoms are often triggered by traumatic events. Our body should be in a state of rest and relaxation, but if you have fibromyalgia, you are always in a fight or flight state. Since your body is set to respond in trauma, it can be difficult to foster relationships, which can explain why fibro patients feel isolated.
Like many conditions it is lonely but in time you get used to it. You have a choice either waste your life doing nothing or try and obtain some form of normality. It has taken me years to obtain some form of normality, and now every day and every minute and second matters. I tired to be sociable like I was once before and it just ain’t happening. I prefer to be alone tbh, I enjoy me time. Yes I was once a sociable person and enjoyed having company but now I enjoy me time.
I think the loneliness is adjusting to our new life and a new way of life, i find talking to others via the interweb very depressing and now stay of social media. The thought of going to a group which sits and talks about how we are feeling or what we experience is also daunting and depressing. My mum goes to one, she goes to pain clinic and she had told me that everyone just complains about how much pain they get into. My mum and I are like just deal with it, get on with it. The reason we say just deal with it or get on with it is because the more you sit around thinking about the pain or the isolation, the loneliness the more you feel depressed and the more pain you experience.
Taking pain meds this is another brain mess up, its been scientifically proven to. I don’t do meds no more, find something you can do and enjoy doing, find you time. This helps with a lot of parts of your life. It can keep you fit an active, your mind and body.
Since been diagnosed I have found pleasure in art and crafts. I am better than I was ten years ago but my body still requires rest and sleep.