Hello all, complete newbie here! I'm very fortunate to be in good health myself, but my boyfriend/partner has CRPS the chronic pain condition, and Fibro, a few other medical issues too but these are the main ones. I've been searching online for support groups for family/spouses of people with these conditions so that I can educate myself on the conditions themselves and also how I can support him best whilst being respectful of who he is and not letting his conditions define him or us. We haven't been together very long (well there is a story there, we were high school sweethearts at 14/15 who lost touch when school finished, but he found me last year on Facebook and now we have picked up where we left off!) .. So it's all quite new to me and I'm a bit overwhelmed about where to start looking for info and help with supporting him. I hope this is making sense. This seems like a really friendly site anyway. Thankyou for reading this and my very best wishes to everybody here 
Hello :-): Hello all, complete newbie... - Fibromyalgia Acti...
Hello :-)
Hi
And welcome to the forum.
Yes we are a friendly lot. And helpful.
If you need to ask a question someone will help you.
A lovely story about finding each other again.
Fibromyalgia is different for each of us and most of us have other illnesses.
But we all help each other ON our bad days and our good days.
So hope you find us helpful.
We are always here.
Trace x
Hi and welcome t the site great you's found each other again, me and missus have been married 31 years this June and after becoming ill with RA and oa in 2014 she is my rock and always will be take care
Hi Popsmith thanks for the reply, sending my best wishes to Mrs Popsmith too. It was about 31 years ago that I was first seeing my partner, shame we had a 30 year gap but never mind. Enjoy the rest of the weekend
Hello Julia - Kate.I dont know how much you both know about fibromyalgia, if it is the same as a lot of us had when we were diagnosed, not a lot.
This is the link to to our mother site.
And this is the link to the nhs site.
nhs.uk/conditions/Fibromyal...
Both contain info on fibro, i hope that they help.
Sue.
Your welcome, if there is anything else just ask. i am sure that you will think of something. 
Just to say welcome to the site and it must be lovely for your partner to have someone so caring on his side as it makes all the difference how we xope with this illness if we have that support. As others have said ask away with any questions you or your partner might have and we will do our best to help you.x
Hiya Rosewine, that's very nice of you to say so. As I mentioned , this is a new relationship so we're still getting to know one another really, which includes me wanting to know more about his conditions so that I'm not a) going on about it to him all the time and b) asking too much of him if he needs to be resting etc, just for example. But a big THANKYOU for the friendly welcome x
Hi Julia-kate
Welcome to the forum and it is wonderful to make your acquaintance. I can see that Sue has given you the link to our mother site, FMA UK which hosts loads of useful Fibro information, so it is really worth checking this out.
I want to genuinely and sincerely wish you and your boyfriend all the best of luck.
All my hopes and dreams for you
Ken
Hi Ken,
Thats really lovely of you, I'm quite touched by how friendly and welcoming this forum is. I'm currently reading through all the great stuff on the FMA UK website, it's so helpful I'm learning loads.
All the very best to you too, you are very kind
Julia x
x
Not sure whether there is a carers centre near you...try googling Princes carers trust which may be give you details of nearest centre. Although they may not have specific group for fibro they will have lots of experience of supporting carers including those for people in chronic pain and might be able to shed some light on what's available in your local area.
Hope this helps.
Hi Sam and thanks very much, I hadn't even thought about the Princes trust, I will certainly have a look. I appreciate your reply, thanks again! x
Your welcome, hopefully they can provide info and support that works for you. In the meantime, keep being there for each other and learn together how to live alongside the illness in the best way you can 
Hi I would like to welcome you both to a great site!!You backing him and him not allowing Fm/other issues run your lives Is a GREAT start.I say find him a good caring, understanding Dr. and you all are ahead in the game!!!I wish you the very best.Ive been around a few months now and will tell you I've chatted with some very knowledgable, helpful, funny (humor Is GOOD medicine) AND kind people. Look forward to chatting with you.Have a good day!!! Peck ✌
Hi Peck, thanks for the reply, yes I'm so pleased to have found such a welcoming, suportive and interesting place where hopefully I'll be able to learn more about the conditions that my partner has without bothering him all the time about it. It's still early days for our relationship and I'm just starting on this journey to be as supportive and useful to him as I can be, but without wanting him to see it's bothering me too much. (If this makes any sense!)
Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting again.
Hello there
I just wanted to wish you a very warm welcome to our lovely forum
If you have a look on our mother site fmauk.org you will be able to find out whether there are any local Support Groups in your area, if you're interested. I think it is on Page 2.
If you can't find it, let me know and I will find the link for the page for you.
You may like to look into locking your future posts and perhaps this one. Unlocked posts are open to anyone who signs on to the Internet and your post and all of your replies can be read by complete strangers. You can tell a post is locked by the little black padlock at the end of the post title.
If you take a look to the right of your screen you'll see under Pinned Posts, Step by Step Instructions on how to lock your posts. If you would like any help at all, please don't hesitate to give me a shout. If you're unsure what something means, just ask away.
It is wonderful to see how much you want to look out for and care for your partner. You are obviously a very compassionate and caring person.
I look forward to chatting to you.
Wishing your partner less pain and both of you much peace
Lu x
Volunteer Administrator
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