Ruthie

[Guest guest]

I forgot to answer a couple of your other questions. First of all, as far as

sharing your sad story that led to FM, that is totally your decision. If you

need to vent, and it will help you, then do so, and don't worry about it

bringing the rest of us down.

Now, in regards to being anxious and tense, I've probably had some symptoms

of that since my childhood. I was also depressed a lot, but in the 70's, no one

recognized these mental conditions, much less expected to see them in a child.

So I learned to try and hide my feelings around my parents. I started getting

treatment for depression the first time in 1990. I went through counseling and

used a really old-fashioned anti-d because we had no insurance coverage and the

medicine was cheap. Between 1990 and 1997, I did have months where I seemed

better, didn't need any anti-d's or counseling. But inevitably the depression

would come back. The anxiety disorder kicked in full-time with the FM diagnosis

and my inability to work anymore. So it can be difficult saying which came

first for some people. For me, I believe the depression and anxiety just grew

and reached a point where I became physically ill, as in FM, so the mental

issues were my trigger. In the new year, I'm going to treat myself to a couple

of new guided imagery tapes to work on being less anxious in my everyday life.

And I'm going to try to work in regular massages, too. Merry Christmas, Ruthie.

Jeanne in WI