Fibromyalgia Research UK
Making sure no one has to manage Fibromyalgia alone
Life skills
If you have Fibromyalgia, you will have good days and bad days. Coping with the bad days is very important and can range from yoga, to a walk in the park or watching your favourite film.
On the painful days when your fibromyalgia flares up, everything you try to do can seem more difficult and It is easy to become discouraged.
One of the hardest things is to accept you have fibromyalgia and there may not be a cure.
Plan your days in advance
Memory loss or otherwise known as ‘Fibro Fog’ or cognitive dysfunction is one of the most common complaints of people with fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). For many, it can be severe and can have just as big an impact on their lives as pain or fatigue. In fact, some people say brain fog is more of a disability than their physical symptoms.
Use reminders on your phone, or make lists to remind you of things you have to do, people you need to see or telephone calls you need to make. Keep notes where you will easily find them and not have to remember where you put them. Always remember to pace yourself.
Preparing for a bad day can be one of the most effective things you do and it could be the difference between making your day worse or manageable
Do I need to prepare a list in advance?
When fibromyalgia pain or fatigue is severe, you might not think clearly. Having a plan to follow gives you control over your symptoms.
Write down your options for coping. Different strategies work for some people but not for others. Try to keep a variety of options to choose from, in case one doesn’t work for you on that particular day.
Try to avoid negative talk
Studies have shown that what we say to ourselves inside our heads can affect our perception of pain.
Turn negative thoughts into positive ones. It may take practice, but it is worth the effort, remember you can do anything you put your heart to, but if you have Fibromyalgia you may need to pace yourself.
Join a book club
Richard and Judy have an amazing established online book club where readers can offer their reviews, read comments from authors and fellow readers:
Accept help
Accepting help is very difficult for some people. If you have always been independent, active and strong, you may have believed you would probably never need to accept help from other people and you would probably be the one helping, but the fact is everyone needs help from time to time, but the sad thing is not accepting it when you need it.
Good days
On good days it is essential to plan for the inevitable bad days that come all too often, but if you are feeling good, make the most of it and enjoy it, here are some ideas to do whilst you have having a good day:
Eating well
Sleeping well
Gentle exercise
Cleaning the house
Doing the washing and ironing
Weekly shop
Batch cooking, to be able to have a healthy meal prepared for bad days.
Meet friends and family
Check your finances like bills, bank statements, and any other outstanding issues
And be happy you are having a good day
Bad days
Bad days can feel like you are alone, but you are not alone, unfortunately bad days is a symptom of Fibromyalgia and most of us suffer our fair share of them, if you have recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, you may have been experiencing some of the other symptoms for a while but here are some ideas to make bad days easier, you may find them helpful even if you have been living with Fibromyalgia for a long time:
Catch up on correspondence like emails (i.e if you are bed bound – catching up with emails and communicating with people is a great way to tick things off your to do list)
