Fibro Friday: Christmas with FM

Ok, I know it's not Friday, but here we go...  Christmas with FM...what else is there to say???  It sucks!!!  (excuse my french)  For that matter, any Holiday, birthday, fun events, etc. can be thrown in there too.

I will be completely honest and say that the month of December was really hard on me.  I am taking note to see if it is the weather change (boy, I could never survive somewhere that snows).  Or maybe it just was a bad month.  There was a lot of pain, little/no energy, and a lot of depression.  I know people are hesitant or scared to talk about the depression, but I am going to venture out and talk about it.

Depression is a big side effect of FM.  It's a huge cycle.  You get depressed because you don't feel good and can't do anything, then because you are depressed you don't feel like doing anything, then you get more depressed because you don't feel good, and it goes on and on.  A lot of FM patients are on anti-depressants and you should not feel ashamed at all. 

It probably was a culmination of not feeling good, our financial situation, life, etc.  But I feel like I am out of it now, which is soooo good!  It helps that I have a husband and family that is there to help me and that I can be honest with and say "hey, I am not doing good, I need a little extra support."

If you are suffering from any depression, please don't be afraid to seek out help.  Whether it be family, a friend, or a professional, get some type of help.  You do not need to be suffering or dealing with this on your own.

Here's to Depression Free Days!

Merry Christmas

Ok, ok, so this is totally late, but I wanted to get it in.  I do love Christmas, (but not as much as Thanksgiving.)  I had enough energy to get up all my decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving which was awesome.  If the decorating goes into December I get depressed and wonder what's the point of finishing.

We had a very nice December, full of family time and great quality time with our girls.  We were completely blessed this Christmas from family and strangers to help give our girls a great Christmas.  I am sad that we didn't celebrate Jesus' birthday more this year.  At least my girls know it was Jesus' birthday and that it is the reason for Christmas.  We always have next year, and all year long too.

I will do a separate post about Christmas with FM.  But I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior!

No Santa Here!

This may come as a huge shock and surprise, but we don't celebrate Santa Claus.  Growing up, my parents always told us the truth and we knew Santa was fake.  With ML's family, they completely celebrated Santa.  ML remembers when a cousin told him at age 8 that there was no Santa and he was completely crushed and devastated.

As we started dating and were engaged, I was quite clear that my children would not believe in Santa.  And thankfully, ML agreed.  We didn't want our kids to grow up with the "lie" of Santa.  We heard of a little girl who one day asked her mom "Mommy are you going to tell me that Jesus isn't real just like Santa?" That just really hit home for us and we are happy with our decision to not celebrate Santa with our girls.

Now this belief has really shocked people over the years.  We are absolutely fine if others do it with their children.  And usually when someone asks my girls "what do you want from Santa this year?", they just smile (they are too shy anyway to talk to others, which kinda helps).  It has made us do some extra talking to the girls when they hit school to not ruin it for other kids, but for the most part it has gone smoothly.  We thankfully have several friends who believe the same, which has made it so much easier with their support. 

What is your family tradition?  Santa or no Santa?

Fibro Friday: Oops I Did It Again!

One of the hardest things with FM for me is to pace myself.  You feel bad for so many days or weeks, that as soon as you get feeling good you over do it.  You say to yourself "well while I have the energy, I mindswell get enough done as I can."  And then before you know it, you are back in a flare-up. 

Most of the time I am pretty good about pacing myself.  However, ML has been home for over a month with a medical condition and I am just in this mode of I need to get it all done.  Which, of course, now I am paying for.  So I am retraining my brain and making myself pace myself.  I have been turning down friends and family for activities so that I can make myself rest.  I am barely doing anything during the day so that I can build up the strength again.  Especially with the holidays coming, I really need to do this now or I will be SOL when they arrive.

So your goal for the day or week or month is to pace yourself.  It doesn't all need to be done NOW.  Things can wait, save your energy for your kids and your hubby!  Good luck!!!