Hi folks! I've been working really hard these last few months to minimise the effects of my fm on my daily life. I still get joint and muscle pain - mostly in the mornings, but i've 'pushed thru' it and can now be fully mobile within ten minutes!
I have to walk my dog every day and this has also helped - i go to bed properly tired at night and the quality of my sleep has also improved soooo much! I've changed my diet considerably, though I still can't give up the chocolate, but I've lost weight and this helps with my very tender knees!
My job is to look after an elderly lady for 30 hours per week. I help her with personal care, do her cooking, shopping and cleaning and I'm OFF Benefits (hurrah). Don't know how long this will last as she very old (97!) but for the first time in ages my self esteem and confidence have both had a massive boost. best of all, I can ring ATOS and cancel my home visit. I'm my own person again and that feels great. Still have bad days when moving is painful, but I've promised myself that I won't let it beat me. I won't be held to ransom by a horrible condition any more.
Just wanted to share some good news! Take care all xxx
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THG123
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Congratulations I hope it lasts for a good while for you. You are an inspiration, although some of us know we will never be able to get a job let alone hold one down.
Thanks for your support. I'm aware that i'll have bad days, but having a job to do has made me feel so much better. My 'employer' is aware of my condition and somehow jollies me along when it gets a bit tough sometime. I'm just grateful!
as a PS ... i've found that eating loads of veg and giving up fizzy drinks has made a real difference. It was tough to begin with but I'n gradually bigging to adapt. I now drink loads of milk and have breakfast each day. Most of all, I've found that walking Belle each day and taking regular exercise has been the most helpful. It's taken a good few weeks of determination but I am seeing the benefits. I hope this helps someone else. xx
Well done THG123!
Check with www,GOV.uk if you could get Return to Work Credit,I understand it's about to stop but is still there now.
check with your local jobcentre if it looks like you could claim as there is a time limit
Well done, and congratulations on your job. I really would love to get more exercise but I am really struggling to walk for more than 5 minutes before being in absolute agony through the pain in my back and knees. It's so catch 22
Congratulations! I too am so much better by having changed my job and diet. I now do the same as you working for a private agency (not the council) with a lady aged 90. I do her personal care, give her her medication and generally keep her company. Its boring in comparison to working on the wards as a HCA but on balance my pain is so much less,I have more energy for the rest of my life and I'm not stressed out by silly work politics and bitchy colleagues who just didn't understand my issues.I am very mindful of cutting down on wheat and cows milk products and try to eat a low carb diet (which is easier in summer tbh when its not cold and snowy) I too have lost weight and even managed to come off medication having opted for supplements. You must check with a GP before doing that mind.The thing with Fibro is that you have to listen to your body and manage the condition. There isn't a one fits all approach otherwise this condition wouldn't be so hard to take. NWG x
Well done Hun so good to hear a positive post. I'm going to the job centre on Wednesday to go onto the work choice programme as I really want to get back to work but it has to be the right work and I really don't know what that is. Another problem I have is anxiety andi don't cope with other people very well as I've had a rotten time before with being picked on by people ive worked with. I'm a sensitive soul and other people sense it and take advantage. I'm not sure i could do a care job either as I did it when I was healthy and I run myself into the ground,I'm pretty sure I couldn't look after another person with the fibro. I'm a florist by trade but I don't think I could do that either. There must be something I can do!
Good luck with your work search. Like NWG above, I don't do well in stressful situations either and I have been bullied in the owrkplace in the past and like you I'm a sensitivre soul too which is why my new job means so much. Hope all goes well for you x
I think we sensitive folk are more prone to having fibro. If I'm emotionally upset or out of sorts I feel worse so the answer seems to be to be kind to myself and steer clear of stressful,upsetting situations and especially people who rub me up the wrong way. A big problem for me is that I read people and perceive what I think is ill feeling or disapproval. I can be quite paranoid which sends me into a downward spiral. Anyway, thats me and I just have to learn to cope with who I am. Maybe one day I will find emotional freedom but I won't hold my breath! x
Thanks chicme, i'm working on the concept of 'one day at a time'.
Good luck to you too - hope you keep improvong xxx
Well done, go girl. I'm in the same frame of mind... I'm not going to claim DLA now, I think there's too much emphasis on claiming benefits. I do appreciate a small percentage do have no choice but to claim, but so many do when they could work. Even if its a typing Job up to 16hrs a week...
I will probably get shot down BIG TIME for this post but I have done what you have done, I have pushed myself to take walk my dog, "short walks" 10 mins, changed my diet. Stopped smoking, and cut out some meds that I was convinced was making me worse and hey presto!!! feeling much better.
I am still in pain, back and shoulders but its not as painful as fighting for benefits.
Positive thinking goes a long way, more people should try to change things first and don't just accept that fibro means a lifetime of benefits entitlement.
That's just my opinion, so now everyone can shout at me.
How nice it must be to be in the position that you don't need to claim benefits. How nice it would be to be in the position to go back to my job of 15 years, that I lost through fibro. How nice it would be to walk my Dog and actually enjoy the experience pain free. how nice it would be to change my diet, stop smoking, stop taking meds. How nice it would be to change my thinking, and not have to except the degrading fact that, I may have to be on benefits for the rest of my life, even though I have paid into the system for over 35 years. "I am sorry" !! I think maybe we have had enough public school boy politicians already air the same views as yourself, and quite frankly, I don't need to hear any derogatory comments from friends. SOFT WARM HUGS to you. PS Well done THG123. I am so pleased for you, and what you have achieved, I hope you enjoy every single minute of it. SOFT WARM HUGS.
Ellie, I'm not pain free, far from it. So when I walk my dog I walk with him off the lead and he goes at my pace "slow", I still take Co-Codamol and Diclofenac, and I've ditched the 1200mg of Gabapentin a day that Dr's prescribed and I've felt much better with a clearer mind. Everyone can change their diet "if they choose to" everyone could TRY to stop smoking "if they choose to" and the meds I've stopped taking were making me feel like a zombie. And my positive thinking came after feeling suicidal for months, I hit rock bottom, then decided Fibro was not going to win... Ive also paid into the system for 25 years, I'm 44 now, I am a strong willed person, don't put me down for having a strong will, I am not a politician, I hate them all... they are thieves and liars, born with a silver spoon up their bottoms!!! I just think a percentage of people could, with some strong will and determination could improve their lives by changing a few things, if it doesn't work then fine but you shouldnt just accept that your life is over because of fibro.
And my comments certainly are not derogatory. Sorry you don't have the strong will yet to fight, I'm sure you will one day. Everyone has to hit rock bottom b4 they can come back up. What works for one wont work for everyone.
I worked all my life until i got pneumonia 6years ago and the aftermath of that is the Arthritis
just got so bad while in hospital and I had a phisio. who was very good and realised what I was going through just walking around the ward. when I left hospital they came round and tried to get me moving better but they gave up and said that i was the only one who might make a difference and since then i have walked the dogs and some days it could be quite a way but I had a tree that I decided was far enough and that became my objective to walk round that tree and back, sone days it was a nightmare to get there but 90% of the time I mad it and although it hurt me it was worth it.
What one need is a target in life to give one a objective to reach. it has to be achievable or it will be a wast of time.
That has mostly worked for me and walking is fair exercise, if we all tried something olong these lines but it can cause flare ups if you try it for to long (baby steps) so good luck as the weather is going to get warmer soon and it will be nice our in the nice warm air.
That's all I was trying to say terry, I think we are all capable of more than we think if we try. I knew I would get taken the wrong way saying what I said but hey its true, sometimes truth hurts. I wont let fibro take my life away from me, and its that state of mind that's pulled me out of this feeling of "my life is over" I wont ever work again... "rubbish" Fibro is very painful and debilitating but its not life threatening...
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Got a job :)
I've been placed in the ESA wrag and don't know what to expect.
Got letter from my GP
The job centre grrr
Can you believe this
