Working with fibromyalgia

Hi, I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia (I have been experiencing symptoms for about 6 months) and my job requires a lot of repetative work which causes me a lot of pain. I have been working at my job location for 10 years and have been experiencing repetative strain injury for almost 4 years. I only work part-time and I have already accommodated my duties the best I can. For many reasons I'm not able to leave my job. Do you think it's possible I can recover from fibromyalgia and RSI from my job using pain reprocessing therapy while continuing to keep my job. I'm worried I can't recover unless I quit my job which causes so much stress because I can't leave my job.

 

How familiar are you with TMS concepts? Have you read any books by Sarno for foundation or done any TMS programs. I think PRT is absolutely valid but I do think it’s worthwhile to examine the emotional side of things. The structured educational program on this site is a good place to start.

I mean this as no insult, but fibromyalgia doesn’t mean much. It’s just a description of symptoms (widespread soft tissue pain), try and detach from that label. That said, you’re likely manifesting various symptoms and have likely been living in a state of dysfunction for a while, which is why I bring up the emotional side of things. I’m not so gung ho that this is just about repressed rage or whatever, I’ve never found it to be true in my case (multiple severe symptoms simultaneously), but repressed emotions absolutely play a role in nervous system dysfunction which generates chronic symptoms. For some it’s rage, for some it’s poor treatment of themselves, for some it’s obsessing about pain after an injury or surgery. But if you’re dealing with multiple symptoms at once there’s usually quite a bit of ‘turmoil’ going on beneath the surface.

I think almost anything is possible with the correct mindset. You’ve made it this far. But you absolutely need to find a way to lower the stakes (lessening the thoughts of I can’t lose this job etc and managing the subsequent stress around those thoughts). We do have a bit of a metaphorical gun to our heads to work or starve or whatever. I’m not sure where you’re from but you could explore temporary disability, which may be feasible especially if the doctor who diagnosed you is willing to write some sort of letter. That said, if you can stick with the job, do it. When I first started manifesting severe chronic symptoms I left my job and moved away from a city I liked with my tail between my legs, and it was a huge regret, I wish I had stuck it out. But alas I wasn’t TMS aware and lacked inner resolve! All the free time being unemployed was ruinous for my mental and physical health.

I’m glad you’re here and I believe you’re in the right place. Take it easy on yourself.

 

Thank you for your reply, I'm new to TMS. I've been reading The Way Out and watching videos on YouTube.
No offense taken, I actually liked what you said. I was so messed up in the head after my doctor told me I had fibromyalgia and unfortunately read some horror stories online, I thought I was broken. I felt so relieved when I discovered TMS.
Definitely been in a state of dysfunction for a long time but was holding it all together up until 6 months ago when I started not feeling well. Lots of trauma and chronic stress for many years, working, looking after my 2 young children and sick parents and helping everyone but myself.
I'm still learning and trying to figure this all out and trying to find a balance between being a working parent and trying to look after myself.
I want to do this while keeping my job because like I said I can't leave, just feeling really defeated sometimes.

 

I had fibromyalgia for 20 years and recovered by using TMS recovery techniques. You can read my Success Story by clicking on my profile. It includes everything I did to recover.

You're in the right place. You can recover.

 

Thank you!

 

Sorry for what you’re going through, truly. I honestly cannot fathom the pressure you’re feeling. I do think a Sarno book is wise, because I can imagine there is quite a bit of anger and rage beneath the surface. But beyond that is learning how to start treating yourself better, learning to be your own friend and advocate. I think lots of can pick up the nasty habit of talking to ourselves and treating ourselves like absolute shit. I cannot adequately put into words how much changing how I treat myself has led to massive improvements. Going from thoughts of “I’m a horrible person and I deserve all this and worse” to actually being my own friend and savior. You are absolutely going to have to find ways to prioritize yourself. And I get that’s tough with your situation. But you cannot adequately take care of others if you’re neglecting yourself. And this prioritizing shouldnt be out of pressure “if I don’t do x I’ll never get better” it should come from unquestionable belief that you deserve better than your current lot. Most of tmsers are good people, often to a fault, the problem is we need to start treating ourselves like we treat others. How can you be a better person to yourself?

 

Thank you, I will look into one of his books, lots of resentment for sure.
It's mostly been baby steps, trying to find small ways to prioritize myself since that seems like all I can do right now, definitely a work in progress. However, I feel like as soon as I take a step forward I take a step back. I think that's why I've been stressed about my job because as soon as I feel better I come home from work in pain.

 

I'll take it a step further on this basis to say that whilst all your pain is real, both fibromyalgia and RSI (99% of the time) are just labels given when those who gave them to you have no idea about TMS.

Like @Rabscuttle said - fibromyalgia isn't really a diagnosis (as a diagnosis explains why something is happening, or at the very least the process which is causing the symptom) it's just a description of symptoms. Fibro means fibrous tissues (such as tendons and ligaments), myo means muscle, and algia means pain. So essentially what has happened is you've gone into the doctor's office and said "I've got widespread muscle pain" and then the doctor has gone away and said "Eureka, after lots of thought and all the tests you have, ready, widespread muscle pain!". He's repeated your symptoms back to you, but because it's in Greek/Latin it sounds super scary. If he did that in English (just repeated it back to you - which is what he did but in a different language), you would be like "well yes, obviously I know that as I'm the one experiencing it, but I want to know why?". It would mean nothing to you and it wouldn't help. Fibromyalgia means nothing as a diagnosis and as such doesn't really exist beyond simply explaining the symptoms (when auto-immune disorders, hormonal disorders and peripheral nerve disease have been ruled out that is - but if they weren't then you'd have another diagnosis anyway).

With RSI, in the absence of something more serious structurally (such as a tear), it's a similar story. I like to think of RSI in the same way as I think of the foot pain epidemic. We have the best footwear we've ever had and walk on better surfaces than any of our ancestors in history (they were walking on dirt trails and on jagged rocks), yet we are the ones suffering from chronic foot pain. It makes no sense. Likewise, there's an RSI epidemic from typing on computers, whereas people (not very long ago) used to literally spend the whole day (hours and hours, far more than most office jobs demand) typing on typewriters without break (which is far more onerous), and yet we are the ones with repetitive strain injuries. Food for thought.

I want to say also, we need to differentiate between TMS as a diagnosis and TMS as a treatment method. TMS is a diagnosis (albeit it comes with its own treatment method), it is not a standalone treatment method to treat structurally caused pain. It's not the case of I tried acupuncture, I tried physiotherapy, let me try TMS for my torn hamstring. TMS is the diagnosis, so you either have fibromyalgia (as I said above, no one really has fibromyalgia as it isn't a proper diagnosis) or you have TMS, it can't be both (a caveat - there can be mixed cases where pain is part structurally caused and part TMS, often in auto-immune conditions as an example, but this is rare and I highly doubt it applies in your case). Once you know you have TMS, then the treatment is unique. I say this because when you asked whether you can recover from Fibro and RSI using pain reprocessing therapy - if you meant can you recover from the symptoms themselves then yes - if they are TMS you can. If they are TMS, then that's what you have and the Fibro and RSI labels can be dropped

Hopefully that makes sense. let me know if not

 

Hi @Sam06,

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome and RSI. And my symptoms actually got worse even after I left my very stressful job that I had grown to hate. You'd have thought that merely getting away from that stress would have stopped or at least reduced the symptoms, but not so. Why? Because I was already spiralling on a mind-body/TMS trajectory; my job wasn't the problem. As @Rabscuttle has described about himself, the way I generally treated myself was the major issue.

Baby steps is how I have gone from being housebound and at times bedridden to functioning pretty normally by comparison. Even though it feels like you're not making progress, consistently doing that works on your brain in the background.

 

Thank you for your response, I think it makes sense. I guess I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this and confused what's happened to me and need help better understanding it. I was felt fine up until 6 months ago other then the pain I get from work which I had already been dealing with for a few years (I'm a lab tech).

All of a sudden late November last year I just started not feeling well, I just didn't feel right. I started getting weird sensations in my legs, and this odd weakness, I started having anxiety attacks and everything all of a sudden just seemed overwhelming.

In March my doctor did blood work to rule out other conditions and did a physical and paperwork assessment and said I have fibromyalgia and offered me medication which I said no to. He didn't explain anything so I went on a deep dive on the internet of fibromyalgia. I didn't realize how bad some people suffer and everything got worse, my symptoms got worse, I developed symptoms I've never had before.

Before I thought I just had pain from my job like many other people at my work. I had an EMG a couple of years ago and they said everything was fine and that I had myofascial pain which with my new symptoms they then said I had fibromyalgia.

I came across one of Tanner Murtagh's videos on YouTube and he said he recovered from fibromyalgia. That's when I got introduced to this new world of pain reprocessing therapy, mind body syndrome, neuroplastic pain, tms, central sensitization.

It's all been really overwhelming.

 

Thanks for that, my job can be really stressful but sometimes I feel better when I'm there because it takes my mind off of things. It's just the pain I get, I was worried I couldn't get better unless I stopped doing what has been causing most of my pain.

 

Been there! As almost everyone who has been through the journey has been. The power of suggestion is at play here and the internet, full of stories of those who never recover, is a terrible place to ramp up that fear (this forum being a rare exception as it is fully TMS focused). I was the exact same with Pudendal Neuralgia - you only need to be online for 5 minutes before you start thinking you'll have it for life.

Tanner's great! I appreciate that it can be quite overwhelming - take it slow as BloodMoon suggests and hopefully the forum can be of comfort

 

Funny how your mind can play tricks on you! Thank you for all the support

 

I just wanted to say thank you for explaining the breakdown of the word fibromyalgia to me. I knew that before but I was thinking about it today and it never really occurred to me that you're right it's not a diagnoses, it's just a word that means muscle pain essentially. I knew there is nothing wrong with my body but I couldn't detach from my doctor diagnosing me with fibromyalgia, I kept thinking this is happening to me because I have fibromyalgia. But now I feel like I have detached from the label which I think is a huge step in beginning recovery because now I'm thinking what has caused me to have all this muscle pain opposed to I have all this muscle pain because of fibromyalgia. I feel like I can properly begin my journey now.

 

Music to my ears! Love it and this is crucial (so many people get stuck with this, especially the fibro label, it is so common).

You're welcome