A Sane Approach

            Chronic illness has a way of making you feel crazy.  It disappears at times, and you get used to feeling good.  It reappears, sometimes with a vengeance, and you wonder what you did wrong this time. 

            That’s probably how quack cures are made.  Associate most anything with symptom relief, and you assume a cause and effect relationship.  Come to think about it, that’s probably how superstitions are made, too.

            Educating yourself about your chronic illness can help you feel less crazy.  I still remember a doctor appointment close to fifteen years ago.  I had my litany of complaints—a crazy array of bothersome symptoms that seemed unrelated.  My doctor excused himself from the examination room briefly and came back with a big medical book, probably the Physician’s Desk Reference.  He looked up “Sjogren’s Syndrome” (my initial diagnosis before fibromyalgia was suspected) and read off another list:  everything I had mentioned, except in medical jargon.  It was oddly reassuring.  Perhaps I was not a hypochondriac after all. 

            Yesterday I finished reading my quarterly copy of Fibromyalgia Network.  It was reassuring to find that my current symptoms have a genuine physical basis.  I don’t understand everything about neurotransmitters or toxins or brain waves or hormonal imbalances, but I do understand that there are real reasons for my discomfort.  Much research is being done and, hopefully, new ways of treatment will eventually emerge.  In the meantime, I’ve learned a few more techniques for pain management and am encouraged that I’m already doing a pretty good job of managing what can be managed.

            That, by the way, is one of the unsung benefits of having a chronic illness:  it forces me to recognize that some things are outside my control and encourages me to make good choices.  Pacing and prioritizing are very important.  So are diet and gentle exercise and sleep.  I’ve learned to spend my energy on the things I love and live within my limitations.   It’s a sane approach to life that works even when things get crazy.