One thing fibromyalgia quickly taught me was that there were definite limits as to what I could do. I couldn’t clean the house on Saturday morning, then go visit one of my sisters in the afternoon, go out for supper, and then come home and watch a movie with my husband. I’d be lucky if I could get the vacuuming done! Or, if it was someone’s birthday and we wanted to go out for supper, I’d have to take it easy all day so I’d have enough energy to go out that evening. It was impossible for me to get to do everything I wanted, and sometimes I told my husband to please just go out without me, that there was no point in the two of us sitting home and missing out on whatever I didn’t feel up to doing. It was hard and I cried more times than I care to admit because I was so frustrated that I could only do one or two of the things that were going on that day. I wanted to do all the things! I wanted to eat out, I wanted to visit my friends and family, I wanted a clean house, I wanted to take my dog for a walk on a nice day. I felt less than normal. I felt broken.
I learned I had to say no sometimes. If I pushed and tried to do too much, I’d end up sick, in bed, with headaches, widespread and severe pain throughout the rest of my body, and thoroughly exhausted. Sometimes I’d be physically ill. My stomach would be upset, my digestive system would also be upset, and food just would not stay in my stomach. So, it just wasn’t worth it to try to push myself.
I’m happy to say that that has since changed, but it was gradual and took time. Don’t expect to start taking iodine one day and for everything to go right back to normal the next day. It took time to get as sick as you are and it will take time for you to heal. I’ve been taking iodine since March of 2018 and I can now get up on a Saturday morning and make pancakes for breakfast, do the dishes, do some laundry, vacuum, do a bit of baking, make a big meal for supper (or go out for supper if I don’t feel like cooking), maybe go out and run some errands in the afternoon, pop some popcorn that evening, and watch a movie with my husband. To say my life has drastically improved would be an understatement. I still get tired, and I still have some pain from time to time, but it isn’t like it used to be – not by a long shot.
I now have hope that things will continue to improve and that I’ll continue to be able to do more and more, and that I’ll continue to have decreasing amounts of pain and fatigue. Having said that, there are still times when I find myself having to say no to something I’d like to do. I have always had a tendency to do too much, and that hasn’t gone away, so even though I’m doing much better, I can still overdo it, and sometimes I have to say no because I just don’t want the setback. No one else knows what we go through when we don’t feel well, so it’s up to us to set the limits and do what’s best for us – even when it’s hard.