Let’s Talk About Pain—How Do You Explain It?
Pain is something everyone experiences—even babies. But for those of us living with fibromyalgia or other chronic conditions, pain isn’t just a passing discomfort. It’s persistent, invisible, and often misunderstood.
This prompt invites you to explore how you talk about pain with others—especially family. Do they understand it? Do they believe you?
Do you find this image true? Have you ever felt this from a loved one? Did you verify the feeling with them? Many of us with fibromyalgia get looks of doubt or doubting comments from family and friends about our levels of pain. Some doctors even still question whether fibro pain is real! I think this is because they don't yet fully understand what causes fibro pain and what makes it continue and not go away. After all most people will just take a painkiller and their pain will go away and not come back so this is their expectation with pain.
Ideas to Blog About:
Have you ever felt doubted by someone close to you when you tried to explain your pain?
Did you talk to them about it, or did you keep it inside?
How do you show or describe your pain when words fall short?
Do you think it’s important to help others understand your pain—or do you protect yourself by staying silent?
Have you ever had a doctor question whether your pain is real? How did you respond?
Many of us with fibromyalgia receive skeptical looks or comments from people who mean well but don’t understand. Some doctors still question whether fibro pain is “real.” That disbelief can hurt more than the pain itself.
Why? Because most people expect pain to behave predictably: take a pill, feel better, move on. But chronic pain doesn’t follow that script. It lingers. It shapeshifts. And it asks for compassion, not quick fixes.
If You’re Using an Image:
Does the image you’ve chosen reflect your experience? Have you ever felt what it shows from someone you love? Did you ever ask them if that’s how they see you?
This prompt is here to spark reflection, storytelling, and connection. Whether you write a personal essay, a poem, or a list of things you wish people knew—your voice matters.
How do you convey your pain to others? Do you even think it is important to tell those around you or do you keep it to yourself?I hope you get some ideas here for creating a post around pain.
Writing a blog post on this at livingwithfibromyalgia.ca :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Shannon for letting us know and I am looking forward to reading it.
DeleteGreat idea thanks, I'm working on it now. P.J.
ReplyDeleteHey P.J. great to hear you are doing a blog post on what fibromyalgia pain feels like.
DeleteWith my superpower to Empizize, a mere touch and they mommentarily experience life as myself, pain, paralysis, or that of another if I touch the target person and the sufferer as a linking empizatic medium.
ReplyDeleteThat's a powerful and creative way to describe the experience of fibromyalgia! Your idea of an empathic superpower that lets others momentarily feel your pain and paralysis really captures the intensity and invisible nature of the condition. It’s like giving people a brief window into your world, which could foster so much understanding. Thanks for sharing such a vivid perspective—how did you come up with this concept?
DeleteI believe as our pain continues, becoming chronic and not acute, our loved ones get it less and less. They tire of the disease that is invisible. This is why it is so important to find your tribe. I have decided what boundaries needed to be placed as more and more of my inner circle crumbled. It is a grief of loss that comes as an an unexpected result of living with chronic pain.
ReplyDeleteYour comment really hits home—the invisible nature of fibromyalgia can erode understanding from even the closest loved ones over time. Chronic pain, like fibro’s relentless ache, fatigue, and fog, often becomes a silent burden others struggle to grasp, leading to that heartbreaking sense of isolation. Finding a tribe who gets it, who see you beyond the disease, is vital. Setting boundaries and grieving those lost connections is such a raw, real part of this journey. How did you go about finding your tribe, and what’s helped you cope with that grief?
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