Begin Again

[truepenny]

So.

After two years of wandering disconsolately from specialist to specialist like the bird with no feet, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

ON THE ONE HAND, this is a relief. It means I have a name for why I feel tired and achy and depressed all the time. (And, yes, it probably started cascading back in 2010, when I broke my ankle.)

ON THE OTHER HAND, I'm trapped in a good news/bad news joke. The good news is, I'm doing everything right. The bad news is . . . I'm doing everything right. Diet, exercise, sleep, biofeedback/mindfulness, etc. I already take the most commonly prescribed medications for fibromyalgia for the RLS. There wasn't very much the fibromyalgia specialist could recommend, and I appreciate that he was upfront about it.

(Additionally, because this is the internet, and I know how the internet works, please assume that I have already explored my options thoroughly. I am grateful for good wishes, but I do not need advice.)

So I find that I have to rethink a lot of things. This is not the person I wanted to be at 42, and I'm trying to figure out how to manage myself to get closer to that person, who writes stories and plays music and rides dressage and loves what she does. (And who answers email. Jesus Fucking Christ.) My principal focus is on my writing, because for most of my life if the writing goes well, everything else goes well, too, and hence this blog's new name (all the content from Notes from the Labyrinth is here; I deleted my LJ account, but I did not burn down my blog), because I am in fact experiencing more than a few technical difficulties. As I have the energy to spare, I'm going to try to blog about them, on the theory that other writers and creative persons may be experiencing some of those difficulties themselves, whether because of fibromyalgia or for some other reason.

(Book reviews will continue as they have been.)

We do the best we can with what we have, and this is what I have.

Comments

[lferion]

*Sends lots of good wishes*

Glad to see you here!

[oursin]

So sorry to hear this. Sending good wishes.

[larryhammer]

Sorry to hear this.

[arkessian]

Wishing you well.

[sovay]

We do the best we can with what we have, and this is what I have.

I'm glad you have the information.

[mrissa]

Well, hell. And yeah, that last line. Yeah. That.

[ckd]

No advice, just sympathy and support.

We do the best we can with what we have, and this is what I have.

That says it all, really.

[jcfiala]

God, yes, the relief of a name for what ails you...

Wishing you the best!

[ashnistrike]

I'm glad you have the thing named, and sorry there's so little they can offer to go with the name. *hugs*

[heresluck]

*waves weakly from the other end of the region*

It's been a fucker of a year, that's for sure.

[pameladean]

Well, aside from the informational goodness, that sucks. I had a similar experience when I was diagnosed with hypertension. I was Doing All the Things, but there were the readings just the same.

I hope the medical profession continue to get more knowledgeable about fibromyalgia and can suggest something you aren't doing.

P.

[paulakate]

Well, that's sucky. But a name for the thing is better than nothing. Hang in there.

[g33kgrrl]

I am glad to see you here. I am sad to hear about the fibromyalgia and am sending you many good wishes.

[lokifan]

I'm sorry to hear that, although I hope having a diagnosis helps, if only in knowing there's a reason you feel that way. Good luck.