Helping a Friend or Family Member Cope With Fibromyalgia:
If someone you care about has fibromyalgia, lend a hand with these simple strategies to show your support.
If someone close to you has fibromyalgia, you already know that living with this painful chronic condition isn't easy. Coping with muscle aches, poor sleep, fatigue, brain fog, and a host of other symptoms can be debilitating, physically and emotionally. And a sudden fibromyalgia flare-up can temporarily put life on hold.
A network of understanding people who can help out on difficult days can make all the difference in the way someone with fibromyalgia manages on a day-to-day basis. Here's how you can most effectively lend a hand: Get educated. "If a person has a chronic condition, it's going to affect the people who care about him or her as well," says Phyllis Talarico, former patient services coordinator of the National Fibromyalgia Association and founder of the North Orange County Fibromyalgia Support Group in Yorba Linda, Calif. "Education is vital for you to understand the symptoms and help them find the right treatment."
Communicate openly. If the person in your life who has fibromyalgia is your spouse, the lifestyle you created together is probably going to change — and it's important to talk about what this means. For example, you may need to take over more responsibility for the household, and the kids may need to pitch in more as well. Remember, even though fibromyalgia is not always visible to the naked eye, the pain your loved one is feeling is very real. "I often hear, 'I don't look sick, so my husband doesn't understand why I can't do the things I used to do,'" says Talarico.
Be flexible. One of the challenges of living with fibromyalgia is that symptoms can intensify unpredictably. Your spouse or friend with fibromyalgia may feel fine in the morning, do too much, and be in pain by the afternoon. If you've made plans to do something together, it will help if you're understanding and willing to reschedule.
If you want to know more ways to help your loved one with Fibromyalgia you can access the rest of this article at:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/fibromyalgia/fibromyalgia-emotional-support/helping-a-friend-with-fibromyalgia.aspx
Until next time God bless,
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