Fibromyalgia Symptoms: Signs, Diagnosis & What to Expect

Fibromyalgia: The body holding on to past trauma

“The traumatic moment becomes encoded in an abnormal form of memory, which breaks spontaneously into consciousness, both as flashbacks during waking states and as traumatic nightmares during sleep”, Judith Lewis Herman Trapped in our psyche, past traumas wind themselves into the body and present as a multitude of physical symptoms. Pain, extreme crushing fatigue, intestinal difficulties, severe itching, rashes, tingling of limbs- the list seems endless. We seem not able to control our anxiety about when…

by chronicillness•06/14/202208/23/2025•0

Fibromyalgia and Neuropathic Pain

“Pain is real when you get other people to believe in it”, Naomi Wolf As I have frequently written there are two kinds of pain: nociceptive and neuropathic. Those of us with fibromyalgia suffer from the latter. It is the most difficult to live with as it is long-term damage to the nervous system that has become chronic. It cannot be treated with opioids long-term as it only gives temporary relief. Many find some degree…

by chronicillness•06/13/202208/23/2025•0

Fibromyalgia and brain ‘zaps’

“There’s someone in my head, but it’s not me”, Pink Floyd Just as I thought that I had nothing new to write about I have discovered that the weird ‘brain’ sensations I have, which only last for moments, are common among those of us with this frustrating condition of fibromyalgia! I have had these peculiar short-lived experiences that are followed by dizziness for several years now. The episodes are almost like a small temporary memory loss, almost feeling…

by chronicillness•06/11/202208/23/2025•0

Fibromyalgia is an anxiety disorder

” People who are prone to anxiety are nearly always people-pleasers who fear conflict and negative feelings like anger”, David D. Burns Everyone worries, it falls under the umbrella of anxiety. It is not about living in the moment but rather it is about looking back in the past where it all began and into a future that is pure fantasy. Those of us with excessive anxiety are prone to catastrophic thinking, our thoughts go…

by chronicillness•06/08/202208/23/2025•0

Fibromyalgia and its Siblings: Symptoms, Symptoms, Symptoms!

” Trying to eradicate symptoms on the physical level can be extremely important, but there’s more to healing than that; dealing with psychological, emotional and spiritual issues involved in treating sickness is equally important”, Marianne Williamson I have become discouraged of late with a fibromyalgia group on FaceBook. One person asks about a particular symptom and others write in that they too have the symptom. While it helps to know that others are suffering to the…

by chronicillness•06/07/202208/23/2025•1

Fibromyalgia and the highly empathetic/ highly sensitive person

” Highly sensitive people are too often perceived as weaklings or damaged goods”, Anthon St. Marten Anton St. Marten writes that to feel intensely is “the trademark of the truly alive and compassionate”. Rather than believing that the person who is highly empathetic and sensitive is weak, it is, in fact, a general society that is dysfunctional and often lacking in empathy. In the fibromyalgianewstoday.com issue I received recently there is an article published on January…

by chronicillness•06/06/202208/23/2025•0

Fibromyalgia- Conversion Disorder?

“We must cultivate the courage to look deeply, with clarity and courage, into our own suffering”, Peter A. Levine Dr. Levine is the world’s leading expert on the study of stress physiology. I began reading his works years ago when my physiotherapist suggested Waking the Tiger and I have not looked back since. His theories resonate with me. It was in 1969 when he began his work on the mind/body healing approach which developed when…

by chronicillness•06/04/202208/23/2025•0

Living with fibromyalgia and heart disease

“Coping with a chronic illness is work”, Carolyn Thomas A very new book has just been published by Carolyn Thomas: A Woman’s Guide to Living with Heart Disease, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017. It is one of a kind! Finally, a book that allows the woman with heart disease or those with a family history of heart disease, to pour over it and sigh with relief as questions about the leading cause of death…

by chronicillness•06/03/202208/23/2025•0

AFFLICTED…Netflix documentary reviewed

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear”, Mark Twain I have watched all episodes of the documentary Afflicted on Netflix. My mind is reeling and disturbed. I am hoping that by writing this blog I can begin to piece together my thoughts which to this point are rambling and disjointed. I have heard from one reader who has said there is a group who is writing to ask Netflix to…

by chronicillness•06/02/202208/23/2025•0

A pandemic and fibromyalgia

” Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow” Albert Einstein I apologize to my dear ‘old’ readers of the past for not writing blogs for many, many months. I do hope that some of you are still around thinking about this site and will join me once more. I have not had much energy this past year and most of you can understand the lapse. When one sometimes cannot bear to even open…

by chronicillness•05/31/202208/23/2025•0