Fibromyalgia and Anxiety

Hi everyone, I hope you had a wonderful Forth of July weekend without a lot of pain from your Fibromyalgia. I had a good weekend, spending time with friends and family. I am actually having a hard time getting back into my daily grind again. As far as my Fibromyalgia goes, I have been dealing with a lot of anxiety. I know that anxiety may not be a direct symptom of Fibromyalgia, but I think that a lot of people who have Fibromyalgia also have anxiety. Throughout my Fourth of July weekend I have dealt with a persistent feeling of gloominess or dread that something bad is going to happen. Anxiety is a horrible thing to have to deal with and it most definitly causes Fibromyalgia pain to get worse. I have been treating my anxiety as best I can with diaphraghmatic  breathing, does anyone have any other ideas short of anxiety medications to deal with anxiety? Thanks everyone, have a great day!

Family and Fibromyalgia

Today I found myself in the position of once again talking about my Fibromyalgia to a couple of brick walls (my mom and sister). Okay, to their credit they ask about my fibromyalgia. But, heaven forbid I elaborate on the good or bad day answer. Sometimes I get the urge to talk about my illness. Sometimes I need to vent about what I am going through. Sometimes I want to expound upon the new sources of information that I have discovered about my illness. Fibromyalgia is an illness that has been kept silent for years, but I am not a silent person. I need my voice to be heard. I feel like its my responsibility and the responsibility of everyone who has Fibromyalgia to talk about what life with Fibromyalgia is like. If we suffer in silence, then we are letting Fibromyalgia remain somewhat of a mystery disorder.

Okay stepping down off of my soap box. In reality, I know my mom and sister care about my illness and they care about me. But, if you don't suffer from Fibromyalgia on a daily basis than their is no way that you can trully understand what Fibromyalgia is like. What we as Fibromyalgia suffers need to do, is to keep talking about our illnesses. We need to encourage our family members to ask questions about Fibromyalgia, to research Fibromyalgia on their own, and to try to cut us some slack when we are having a bad day. Don't get me wrong, my mom and sister are very supportive of me most times. My mom makes a lot of concessions for me, like riding in the back seat on car trips, because the front seat is taller and supports my back better. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that sometimes they act like hearing me talk about Fibromyalgia is a burden, which I know it really is. Even in writing this I feel guilty, like I am being selfish for needing to express myself and talk about Fibromyalgia. Has anyone else ever felt like this? I would really like to hear from you.