Describing Fibromyalgia and CFS

Describing Fibromyalgia and CFS to those who haven’t experienced chronic pain and illness can be, at mildest, a challenge! Here are some example descriptions, from people who’ve tried to put it into their own words:

From Jenn Vesperman:

Think about how you feel when you get a flu, all sniffly and sneezy and with a headache but when you’re lying down you feel kind of ok, you know you could get up and straighten that picture that’s hanging crooked, and while you’re up you could wash all your hankies that you’ve used while you had the flu, and hell with it, you could go to work today. You’re not feeling that bad, really…. …. and then you stand up, and immediately reach for the arm of the couch to keep from falling over. You can’t even stand.

Now imagine having that sort of flu – every day for ten years.

From Carol:

Imagine how a privileged nineteenth-century lady would have felt after entertaining her peers all afternoon in her crinolines and curls. That what my worst pre-CFS fatigue could be compared to.

Now imagine a miner; a miner who has put in a 12 hour shift pounding on rock with a pickaxe. As he leaves the mineshaft for home, he is run down by a large piece of machinery. Before he comes to, he sucks in a few lungs full of the machine’s exhaust fumes.

How that miner is going feel when he regains consciousness could hardly be described as fatigued. I know. I often feel like that. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Give me a break.

Additions to this page are welcomed! If you have any descriptions that might fit on this page, please contact me or leave a comment so I can add them.