Janet's Blog

It was at least ten years ago when I first received a rheumatologist's diagnosis of fibromyalgia. After several years of fatigue, and too many aches and pains, it was a relief to have a name for my malady. At my doctor's suggestion, I started a couple of prescriptions and some supplements, and found that my symptoms improved quite a bit. I've been able to work and care for my family, and lead a fairly normal life most of the time. Autoimmune diseases are the pits. The symptoms are often vague, but unrelenting. The fatigue can be debilitating. Without a firm diagnosis, people are often thought to be hopeless hypochondriacs. Even doctors sometimes discount symptoms when various tests show nothing conclusive. For me, a diagnosis of fibromyalgia was better than no diagnosis at all. However, fibromyalgia seems to have become the disease du jour--a popular diagnosis when doctors have ruled everything else out. Many people with fibromyalgia experience most of the forty-some of...

The fog is finally receding again.  It lasted longer than I like, and little wisps remain around my horizon, but sunny skies are returning at last. I've been sick for far too long this time.  Weeks of annoying asthma issues collided with a nasty virus to produce a sinus infection that just wouldn't quit, and then bronchitis and walking pneumonia.  I'm no longer taking the gift of breath for granted.  Restful sleep is still a precious commodity.  I don't yet have enough breath or stamina to work a full day--maybe next week. I've spent too much of my adult life in the fog of fibromyalgia.  Gradually, I've come up with a rather tenuous mixture of medications and lifestyle that have sustained me in a state of near-remission for the past few years.  Unfortunately, an illness like this most recent one can trigger those old fibromyalgia symptoms to resurface.  I know one thing--I don't ever want to go there again! I'll admit that I felt more...

I've vowed that I will write mostly positive things in my blog, so I don't often dwell on health concerns--either my own or others'.  It's been said that "everybody has something," and I suppose I'd just as soon be stuck with some relatively annoying ailments rather than more serious, life-threatening diseases like heart disease or cancer.  I guess I should be glad that my pharmacists (and their assistants) know me by name.  At least, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and asthma don't require chemotherapy. One of the reasons I enjoy teaching preschoolers is that young children really don't care if my symptoms are showing.  When half the class is coughing because of colds, my occasional shortness of breath and cough fit right in.  On those days when I long for a nap, I can usually find someone to commiserate with me.  If I can't get the lid off a marker, an eager child is always ready to show me how strong he is.  And when I drop a crayon or spill my ...