“It suddenly becomes..crystal clear to me that there’s nothing more impt than my #health, and I won’t let anything jeopardize it. And as soon as that #realization becomes “crystal” to me again, the absolute top #priority that my health.": buff.ly/4qlNWUd by @soisfibroreal.bsky.social #fibromyalgia

“It suddenly becomes..crystal clear to me that there’s nothing more impt than my #health, and I won’t let anything jeopardize it. And as soon as that #realization becomes “crystal” to me again, the absolute top #priority that my health.": buff.ly/uAwUyK9 by @soisfibroreal.bsky.social #fibromyalgia

"I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be to be dealing with multiple debilitating chronic illnesses at once...what I would say to them is my blog could present an especially useful opportunity to them in a way maybe they hadn’t considered."

"...when I started out on this path, like everyone with #fibromyalgia I would imagine, I was just trying to be able to function in my every day busy life, to keep my head above water when I felt like I was drowning in the vicious circles of fibromyalgia."

"Seems to be an optimal amount of sleep…such that going under OR OVER(!) the amount is not necessarily desirable.” #Fibromyalgia #WhatIKnowIsReal

"What I know is real is I think there would be a whole lot less people trapped in the vicious circles that can take us further & further down the rabbit hole of more & more messed up sleep & the resulting health issues, if they only truly understood sleep"

"...when you have #fibromyalgia, it’s a monthly, weekly, sometimes daily kind of thing, getting knocked down‎! Not a life stage. I mean, I have been continually KNOCKED BACK DOWN to BASIC SURVIVAL MODE. Working on the most basic of needs."

#Fibromyalgia ..."But something I’ve learned to consider and to be careful of, is that my temporary fix is not setting my overall fight back…that I am not winning a battle at the expense of losing the war…at the expense of the journey." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"When aches start to set in and my body gets stiff…I move more. The achier and stiffer I get, the more I move. Yes, experience (of living with #fibromyalgia for over seventeen years now) has taught me to be very conscious of moving in my everyday life."

"I would increase my overall healthiness to try to tip the scales in favor of increasing my feeling of well-being & hopefully that would help minimize the effects of my #fibromyalgia on my life…trying to make the good outweigh the bad as much as possible."

"It’s ALL mind over matter(!!) to me…it’s ALL using my willpower to overcome my physical problems…my INCREDIBLY STRONG willpower over my EXCRUCIATINGLY DIFFICULT fibromyalgia physical problems." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"Whether my messed-up sleep actually was a factor in causing my #fibromyalgia or not, regardless I wonder if my good (restorative) sleep is HEALING IT." #WhatIKnowIsReal

#Fibromyalgia ..."We fight for our health, and we fight for our life. We fight to keep the life we have, and we fight to have a chance at the future we want." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"So, definitely, as I’ve learned to work on ways to keep my stress level in check, of course it’s helped my #fibrofog improve as well. (If I remember correctly (ha ha), even “regular” people get a little scatter brained when stressed!)" #WhatIKnowIsReal

"...alongside every memory for the last 20 years...there is a #fibromyalgia memory for me. A quiet memory that I mostly keep to myself, almost like a dual life I lead I guess. Always there, an intricate part of my life, intertwined with everything I do."

#Fibromyalgia "I had this debilitating health condition, which overruled everything in my life, every day, and my doctor never even mentioned it when assessing my overall health for over 10 years." #WhatIKnowIsReal

#Exercise and #Fibromyalgia …“It feels like it’s slowly, steadily, pushing back against my fibromyalgia and succeeding in building me and my resistance back up over time.” #WhatIKnowIsReal

"How can you feel positive when you’re in constant pain? Positive when you’re completely and immovably exhausted? Positive when you can’t sleep properly (or at all) night after night?" #Fibromyalgia #WhatIKnowIsReal

"I don’t need anyone but myself to battle my #fibromyalgia… not my doctor…nor any specialists…I haven’t needed to try endless medications. No, I haven’t needed anyone else…it’s cost me relatively little to nothing, and it can’t be taken away from me!"

"I’m wondering smaller picture now…as in, managing our day-to-day #fibromyalgia symptoms…DO different things work for different people? Or are these different things that work for us really, in essence, THE SAME THING?" #WhatIKnowIsReal

#Fibromyalgia #Flares "Yes, there was a time...I would have given my right arm for a month to just lie down somewhere and sleep, but after seeing how this works now for over fifteen years, I’m not so sure that would be wise anymore." #WhatIKnowIsReal

#Fibromyalgia …"It’s like my “automatic mode switch” got broken so I have to ”manually reset” it every day. And I have to do all these things to reset it.” #WhatIKnowIsReal

"Each of us with #fibromyalgia has to make our own choice…to be whatever it is that helps us survive." #WhatIKnowIsReal

“Everything #fibromyalgia revolves around #sleep…got a bit…not enough…need more…need too much…can’t sleep…can’t stay awake…can’t wait to sleep…it’s never enough…” #WhatIKnowIsReal

This is absolutely crucial for me with my fibro. I have to do some not too over the top exercise every day to get a really good night's sleep. It makes all the difference in having fewer symptoms.

“Studies show that your pain tolerance will increase, your need for medications will decrease, and your ability to heal will be accelerated.” #WhatIKnowIsReal

"...honestly, at this point with no known cause of #fibromyalgia to specifically work on, I wonder if there IS only one approach that puts us on the path of consistent functionality and enduring overall improvement." #WhatIKnowIsReal

#FibroFog and having to work hard at being focused… "I mean, I can be so easily distracted…if I let my guard down (which I work against, continually!). For someone who has always been so wired to be productive, this may be the most frustrating of all!"

"I need to be skilled & knowledgeable to make the call of when to seek medical aid, then I need to have the ability to convey my health situation in a way that I am taken seriously by the health practitioners whom I depend on (for I have #fibromyalgia)."

"Confronted with little help, was forced to find my own way, now that I’ve found it I’m continuing full steam ahead.” #Fibromyalgia #WhatIKnowIsReal

“If I could go back and tell my early #fibromyalgia self to work on just one thing...work on getting restorative sleep." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"On top of battling the physical…we’re battling the mental side of it as well….and oh, are we ever! Because we’re battling the invisible." #Fibromyalgia #InvisibleIllness #Covid_19 #WhatIKnowIsReal

"For a time, it was like my traumatic event happened, and in the back of my mind, almost but not quite unnoticeable to me, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop…for years." #PTSD #Fibromyalgia #WhatIKnowIsReal

#Fibromyalgia "...quick fix…it’s just that I never expected one. And seventeen years later, with still no quick fix in sight, I’m pretty thankful I didn’t count on one." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"I pace myself…& I do listen to my body & heed the signals it is sending me…but I push it too. & I PUSH IT A LOT. After 15 years of trial & error living with fibromyalgia, I’ve found my fibromyalgia has some “give” to it & I take full advantage of it."

"Symptoms feel out of control; serious symptoms, downright seriously scary symptoms at times; ghastly “walking corpse” feeling, extra crushing chronic fatigue, everything’s misfiring, it’s gone awry, it feels dark; any or all of these…overdone it." #Flare

"So I try to heed the warning messages that I feel my #fibromyalgia symptoms are sending me." #ManagingWithoutMeds #WhatIKnowIsReal

“I turn them down and they dump on me (yes, even when I’ve explained my #fibromyalgia situation) and the #stress from that tips me over my #limit and I still crash. It’s always a no win.": buff.ly/ZWeElTF by @soisfibroreal.bsky.social #ChronicPain #ChronicFatigue

"It’s ALL mind over matter(!!) to me…it’s ALL using my willpower to overcome my physical problems…my INCREDIBLY STRONG willpower over my EXCRUCIATINGLY DIFFICULT fibromyalgia physical problems." #WhatIKnowIsReal www.soisfibromyalgiareal.com/its-an-incre...

#Stress… "It’s the very first thing I learned about my #fibromyalgia...I certainly didn’t know then that I had already probably pinpointed the most important thing I may ever need to know about my fibromyalgia." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"Well, I’ve not only been functioning throughout the last fifteen years (22 now!) with #fibromyalgia…I’m gradually improving…slowly, steadily, but unmistakably…improving." #WhatIKnowIsReal

#Fibromyalgia and staying positive..."Because if I’m being honest, truly honest with myself…isn’t it, more often than not, really more about just trying to NOT be depressed?” #Depression #WhatIKnowIsReal

#Fibromyalgia ..."But something I’ve learned to consider and to be careful of, is that my temporary fix is not setting my overall fight back…that I am not winning a battle at the expense of losing the war…at the expense of the journey." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"For now, I guess I realize that there is much I can do to live and function with fibro fog, lots by simply adapting, often instinctively, but with some strategic compensating as well." #WhatIKnowIsReal

“Everything #fibromyalgia revolves around #sleep…got a bit…not enough…need more…need too much…can’t sleep…can’t stay awake…can’t wait to sleep…it’s never enough…” #WhatIKnowIsReal

"So I’m thinking, possibly my trial & error experiences over the last decade and a half might shed some light for someone else if they are pondering the question of #medication, whether they’re already taking medications to combat #fibromyalgia or not."

#Fibromyalgia and #MyBrain …"I saw a BIGGER PICTURE…what SEEMED to be happening in my body and why I SEEMED to need to do these "good things".” #WhatIKnowIsReal

“Yes, #fibromyalgia has been the mother(!) of all quarterbacking my own health for me." #WhatIKnowIsReal

"I just couldn’t do what I used to do with such limited available “good” time and energy each day…remember, a certain amount of time when you have #fibromyalgia is just “survival”, trying to feel okay enough to function at the most basic level."

"…have I overdone it…lost control…pushed too far…can I “get back”? This is my #fibromyalgia…at it’s worst…the “flare up” that everyone dreads…a really bad flare up." #WhatIKnowIsReal