How to Help Your Family Understand Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a terrible and exhausting disease, however if you don’t have the support of your loved ones it can be 10x worse.  Maybe you feel you are not able to ask for the fibromyalgia support you so desperately need.

This is a real disease with very real symptoms and getting support from your family and friends could make all the difference in the world!

I want to help! In this article I am going to share some tips to help your family better understand what you are dealing with.

How to Help Your Family Understand?

It is very hard for someone who doesn’t have a chronic illness or constant pain to understand what living with fibromyalgia is like. Here are 3 suggestions to start the conversation

1. Educate your family

There is a lot of great information from respected experts and institutions to help dispel doubts your family may have about your condition being real.  The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases states that more than 5 million people in the United States live with the fibro. Sometimes your family and friends are simply uninformed and simply do not understand your illness, so take the time to educate them.

2. Explain Fibro In Your Own Words

You may want to put your pain in your own words. Some explain fibromyalgia to be like having the flu every day, feeling achy, fatigued, and foggy. Let your family know you are doing all you can to overcome fibro but it’s a really hard battle with some days worse than others. That you often read blogs like this one for tips and help with treatments. You may be surprised of your family’s reaction if they hear your sincere words of how the condition affects you and how hard you are trying to beat it.

3. Explain How Every Day Is Different

One of the hardest things about fibro is false hope. Sometimes you simply have a really good day. These are great and you should enjoy them, but also don’t feel guilty if the next day isn’t quite as good. Let your family know that with fibro sometimes you wont know what your capable doing a certain day until that day actually comes. This is important for your family to know that sometimes there will be activities you simply can’t be a part of because of the pain, but that you will do everything you can to be a part of everything you can.

A Few Things To Remember

1. Don’t be shy to ask for help

I know it can seem embarrassing sometimes to ask for help. However, that is what family and friends are for. I’d recommend being specific about what you need when you ask for help. Such as asking someone to make dinner one night so you can take that time to rest and reboot.

2. Join Support Groups

We have a great private facebook group that is all about supporting each other. Feel free to join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/myfibromyalgiafriends/ … There are also local support groups and many other ways to find support from others dealing with this condition.

3. Never Give Up

You are allowed bad days, you are going to have days that are no productive at all. Whatever you do, please don’t give up completely. Remember that you are not alone and others are walking your path along with you.

Please share your thoughts with our community. How do you communicate with your family about fibro?