Symptoms question

Haven't had a lot of time or energy to blog lately - I've been laid low with flu/tonsilitis just to make life even more difficult & painful.
One of the reasons I set up this blog was to raise awareness & the other was for people to share experiences & advice about Fibromyalgia & associated conditions (chronic fatigue, MS, etc). That being the case I have one tip & one question:
1. The Thamesdown Hydrotherapy Pool is a brilliant resource, I've found that it really does help with relaxing muscles & reducing pain. I would suggest asking your GP/Consultant if it's possible to get a prescription, if not you can sign on as a member of the public
2. Does anyone else suffer from strange unexplained bruises, particularly around joints, & if so do you know what causes them? I've asked various medical professionals over the years & received noncommittal shrugs & no real answers.
CJ Crennell

Bad Day

I've been suffering through a bit of a bad patch for the past couple
of days, I even had to take time off work yesterday because I was just
too exhausted & in too much pain. The worst parts are first thing in
the morning, when I sometimes think I could quite cheerfully saw my
limbs off with a rusty hacksaw because it couldn't hurt any less, &
dealing with the connected symptoms like IBS or extreme nausea. I was
wondering if anyone out there has tips for dealing with this? I also
keep trying to make it to the local foggys meetings, which in theory
is a great place to share experiences & tips, trouble is by the time
the meeting comes round I'm usually too tired &/or following the pain
management rules of prioritise, plan & pace & am having to save my
energy for some prioritised task.
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Sent from my mobile device

The Little Things

I have been working really hard lately trying to get things done for work, at home, trying to fit in physio, & so much more & I looked around the other day & realised that I hadn't really accomplished many of the 'Big things' on my to do list. This really got me down & then I realised that part of the problem is I spend so much of my time battling over 'little things', things that other people take for granted, that this was sapping my energy & time so that I couldn't focus on the big things. For instance, I find it really depressing when something as 'simple' (?) as going to make myself a cup of coffee has to become such a big deal - I have to break it down in to parts, plan how to do each little bit (1. stand up, 2. pick up cup, 3. walk into kitchen, etc) including building in rest breaks, plan my route to avoid even the smallest obstacles or so that I have things to hold on to & on & on. By the time I've actually planned & completed the task I'm tired, depressed, & not looking forward to trying to do anything else. As you can imagine I was in a very depressed state of mind but then I read an article that was sent round our local Foggy's group about the Spoon Theory http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/navigation/BYDLS-TheSpoonTheory.pdf & I started to think about things slightly differently.
Instead of thinking about how difficult I find things I'm trying to think more about how achieving even the smallest of 'little things' is a good thing & I should give myself a pat on the back when I male it through a task. It would be so easy to just give up, not bother, collapse in a heap & get someone else to do everything for me (believe me at times this is very tempting). But if I did that then the fibro has won & I REFUSE to let that happen so I have decided that each time I complete a task or part of a task I'm going to take a minute to focus on the fact that I can still do stuff for myself & I can still enjoy & take part in things - I can get myself a cup of coffee, I can listen to music or read a book, I can do my own shopping online, & so many other little things - & this will give me the motivation to do the next thing, & the next one step at a time.

Links, etc

Links for local/national fibromyalgia groups:

http://www.swindon-support.co.uk/
http://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/company/swindon-foggy's-~-the-swindon-fibromyalgia-support-group-14322684.html

Design update

I will updating the design of my blog tomorrow & adding links to some
fibro/cfs sites. If anyone has any link suggestions let me know.

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Sent from my mobile device

Welcome to the blog

This is my first ever blog & as you can see it is still under construction. I'm hoping to have all the gadgets, pictures, etc set up within a couple of days but as anyone who suffers from fibromyalgia or CFS knows that is sometimes easier said than done.

I will be posting in the next couple of days to explain more about what Fibro & CFS are & how they can affect the lives of people who have the condition, & the lives of the people around them but for now I'll just include a brief description.

Both Fibromyalgia & CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) fall into the category of "invisible" illnesses this means you can't tell that we have it as soon as you see us, & even after you've known us for a while you might not recognise that we have the condition unless we tell you. Both CFS & Fibromyalgia have several elements in common which can have a debillitating effect on our lives. We spend much of our day in pain & exhausted, & at times we can suffer from something known as Fibro-fog it can cause us to forget things or to feel like some kind of zombie. Having Fibro or CFS means we have to pace ourselves more & prioritise what we have to do, which often means we end up not being able to do very much - & it's not because we don't want to take part it's simply that we can't. We may look like normal, young, healthy people & therefore have to suffer the odd looks when we have to ask for help getting out of a chair or the tutting from fellow bus passengers when we don't give up our seats  but the fact is while our condition may be hidden it is still very much real.
I'm hoping that this blog will encourage more people to talk about Fibro & CFS & other conditions/disabilities so that we can raise awareness & help non-sufferers to understand.