The Fibromyalgia Experiment

Where Do You Draw Your Inspiration?

Sarakastic — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:48:33 +0000

Many of the fibromites I know also suffer from depression and anxiety At the very least the constant pain and drastic life changes can lead to discouragement. Granted, Youtube can’t treat depression, you need a doctor for that. I’m talking more about the days that just seem a little bit off. Sometimes, I window shop for items I’m working towards like a Hansgrohe faucet or spend time outside. On those kind of days I watch this video. “I can do anything good”. The really great thing about this is that it was taken in the early 90’s before Youtube was ever around, it was just a home video. Where do you get inspiration?

Today Fibro feels like…

Sarakastic — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:04:00 +0000

Today fibromyalgia reminds me of one of those emergency broadcast tests on TV. It seems to say “This was a test. This was only a test of your pain system. If you would have actually been on fire you would have smelled smoke and then it would have stopped eventually. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming”.

Recovery Time

Sarakastic — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:03:31 +0000

July was a crazy month for me which had me traveling all around the state to different family functions while still doing all of my work everyday. Granted, my business didn’t get as much attention as it usually does. That was the thing that had to go, but as far as all of the jobs that actually pay the bills, those ones still got done.

I knew that eventually I would have to pay for this. Healthy people say to just rest. However, with fibromyalgia, it takes awhile to get back to normal. Hopefully this is something that people with jobs in healthcare can understand. In this case, it’s been a month and my health still isn’t back to it’s usual pattern. If I break my routine for a day it will take me 2 or 3 days to get better. If I go for several days in a row running at a super human pace then that time really increases exponentially. What is your recovery time for fibromyalgia like?

Holding Pattern

Sarakastic — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:57:11 +0000

I would say that my current mood for both yesterday and today is waiting. Sure, waiting doesn’t sound like a mood but if you have fibromyalgia then you probably know what I’m talking about. I’m in pain, a lot more pain then usual. It makes me wish I had spa covers with ya know a spa underneath it to really help me out. I have tried all of my tricks and tips and all I can do is just wait for the pain to go away. Of course with fibromyalgia I never know when that will be, but hopefully soon. I’m not the most patient person in the world but it’s one of the life lessons I’ve learned from this disease, sometimes you can’t do anything except just wait.

Take That

Sarakastic — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:23:46 +0000

This month my residual income, at least so far, was about half of what it was the month before. This is discouraging. However, I recently found out that August is one of the slowest months for websites and internet usage.

It’s a really good thing that I had an aha moment about my business earlier this year. I just decided that I’m going to make it work. It doesn’t matter how hard I have to work or how long it takes me. I am going to beat this thing and get my life to a state that I’m happy with. So, even though my residuals were lower this month, that’s ok. I am going to keep writing and working until I get my residual level to the place that I want it to be.

Fibro and Diet

Sarakastic — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:22:08 +0000

I’ve read and tried all different kinds of diets for fibromyalgia. I’ve gone without refined sugar and gluten for extended periods of time. My main problem with these diets is that the fatigue almost always seems to pick up when I eat like this. My body just seems to love carbohydrates. Granted, it could also help me fit in petite clothing. I always keep trying this out more for health then weight loss. However, I like everyone else on the planet like getting in a smaller dress size. I have almost no energy without sugar or bread. Lately I’ve been adding in more fresh fruits and vegetables but I just really can’t cut the carbs and maintain any kind of active life. Does anyone else experience this?

How Do You Think About So Many Things to Write About?

Sarakastic — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:21:43 +0000

This is probably the question I get most when I tell people what my job is. I remember when I first started creating online content I was amazed that people could write up to one four hundred word article every single day. Now I can write several an hour. Here is how I come up with ideas. Feel free to add anything else to a list.

1. Lookup keywords. This is the approach that I take for my own websites. I’m all about SEO. Of course this just gives me one word and I have to figure out why people are looking up that word and how I can create the best content possible around it. It also helps if I look up words that I like such as diamond engagement rings or decorating to get new ideas.

2. I let the company do the work for me. This applies to my writing for work. One of my favorite things about it is that most companies except for the residuals ones already have the titles available.

3. Start writing. I think I learned this from like middle school. You just make yourself start writing and then see what happens. This is great for those days when writer’s block is prevalent or I just don’t want to write.

The Perils of Freelancing

Sarakastic — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:11:06 +0000

One of the dangers of freelancing as well as being single is that everyone seems to think that I have mounds of free time in which to help them with projects, entertain them, or take care of their problems. Sometimes I wish I had a regular job just so I could get some rest or other people had spy gadgets so they could see how hard I work. However, my life has to be set up this way because of fibromyalgia. Instead of saying that I’m a freelancer I’m just going to start reminding people that I have deadlines, even when the deadlines are that I need to pay my rent this month. Any other freelancers have this problem?

Dear Fibro

Sarakastic — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:58:00 +0000

I’ve been doing well so lately. I just assume that you have some kind of timer that goes off that says “Now is the worst possible time for a flare, ready, set, go”. I even haven’t let myself become stressed out about the upcoming family member’s wedding just because I knew you would do this and ruin everything. I did my part but you still messed it up anyways. This is one of the many reasons why you suck.

Sincerely,

Sarakastic

One Day

Sarakastic — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:58:06 +0000

By nature I’m not a procrastinator, never have been. I love to get things done; in fact it’s one of my favorite things in the whole world. I always love to be ahead of schedule, on time, or early. Then fibro comes in and I have to constantly push things back. If I felt good or had a clear brain I can clear literally thousands of words every day for my websites with very little effort. So then I get all excited and figure out what I could do in a year.

Then the next day or two or four I end up feeling guilty because I can’t work at that pace. Instead I end up wishing there was roadside assistance for everyday life. I just need to accept that I can do this much on my worst day and then use that number for my calculations even though it’s really hard for me to admit and the number is much less impressive.