Fibromyalgia and other chronic illness also consider as “invisible.” Because one day we look healthy and other day we have total opposite condition. Sometime we win in hiding our condition and sometime we lost. For strangers it is hard to guess what is really going on in our life and inside our bodies. But in reality, if you take a deeper look all these inVISIBLE illness are VISIBLE.
We asked to members of our community “Living with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Illness” to share visible effects of their illness. They have participated in the discussion and share these photos with us. Note: All these images are copyrighted to our website “FibromyalgiaResources.com” and cannot be copied without our permission.
Here are few photos that people with Invisible illness shares:
1. Sometimes, it feels like this; a silent enemy that is a part of my own body, seeking out to destroy me and my medicine is the only thing keeping it at bay. My body feels mechanical and stiff like rusted parts. A experiment subject for doctors. — Lindsay Medeiros
2. Packing meds for a weekend away. This is just the daytime ones! Night meds are separate as well as any “as needed” meds. Lyme and tick borne diseases are not a joke. Watching people’s reaction when seeing a 27 year old pop a handful of meds in their mouth is quite powerful. My invisible illness is suddenly not so invisible to them. When my life revolves around a med schedule, Lyme definitely feels anything but invisible to me! — Elizabeth Levy
3. When the pain just got to be too much. It was all consuming uncontrollable pain. My every day pain level is probably between 8-10. That day it was at a 15-16. When I snapped this picture I had no intentions of using it. I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t okay. Sometimes you cannot always be perky and positive. It’s okay to break down. Its okay to cry. And that is exactly what I did. I cried myself to sleep that night. And when I woke up the next morning (still with a ton of pain) I picked up my broken pieces and started to fight again. It is an ongoing battle. There is no shame in breaking down or crying as long as you get back up and fight again ❤ — Blak Walters
4. In the hospital for a week for seizure monitoring and induce. This was pre-diagnosis of my TBI/PNES from my car crash which causes my seizures which are a daily part of my life. This is after being hooked up to the monitor and being intentionally sleep deprived for more than 48 hours to try and induce an episode and capture via video eeg. Luckily my service dog was there through the entire ordeal.— Sydney Going
5. What may be visible is my feeding tube, central line, gastric drainage or wheelchair etc that aid my invisible illness. But no body sees the pain, exhaustion, nausea or messed up genes.. —Renèe Eastwood
6. I battle with ehlers danlos syndrome. A connective tissue diease. I suffer from dislocations, subluxes and more. I also have several sub illnesses due to this. A few years ago I had to have surgery on my nose for a devated syptum and my sinuses were blocked off on one side. This was before the EDS diagnosis. Sadly after the doctor took the splints out my nose popped right back into place. On May 12th I went back into surgery so they could open my airway and I could breathe better. Surgeries have become necessary in my life now. I’m 24 and on surgery number 14 –Shelby A. Jaggers
7. I prick my finger and test my sugar 4 times a day on average. I’ve been doing it for 19 years, rotating over all ten fingers. Just recently it has started to bruise badly, no reason why except I suppose something has changed. — Bailey Sonday
8. I have to see a doctor halfway across the country to help me, because no one local has any idea what to do with me. My mom joins me on these trips. These IVs make a big difference for me, as do all his other therapies that I can’t get done locally. –Sarah Langer
9. Had a decompression surgery 10 months ago for my Chiari 1 Malformation. Missing part of my skull and part of the C1 vertebrae. Had a vomiting bug while still in hospital, was discharged and then back in 2 days later in an ambulance with staphylococcal meningitis. On strong antibiotics for 2 weeks, 10 days with a PICC line in. I’m often seen with strapping on my knees and have ongoing physio for most of my joints. — Erin Rosser
10. My EDS caused me to have craniocervical instability that was so severe my vertebrae and occipital bone were subluxing and compressing my brainstem and causing CSF to not flow. I had Chiari decompression and cervical fusion as a result. It’s been a very rough road physically, emotionally and financially as I’ve had to travel out of state for my care, because there just aren’t enough doctors who treat and understand EDS.— Valerie Pitbullmama Wilson
11. This was probably a few hours after my open heart surgery, a septal myectomy. i had this surgery because i have a heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. this is one of the only times my illness is visable. usually i am balled up on the couch, because my body is so extremely tired. along with this, i have polycistic ovarian syndrome, scoliosis, chronic pain, a metabolic syndrome, and severe mental illness. every day is a battle between me and my body. —Sara Vinyard
12. My cane and a bag of all of these that are pictured, plus blood pressure cuff, blood sugar monitor, braces, and wraps. Spina bifida occulta may not be progressive condition, it still causes huge issues each day. Plus all the other back issues that come along. — Cara Ana
13. Day in day out. Unrelenting. Unforgiving. No one hears my cries. No one cares. They look at me and think it’s all in my head. They tell me to be strong. To get over it. To move on. To stop feeling sorry for myself. I’d love for them to live one hour in my life. You don’t think I want to get better?To have my old life back? I just want to wake up from this nightmare. My reality is a nightmare. –Lori Vick
14. Life with CRPS: ketamine infusion with stellate ganglion block, having some fun after my trial spinal chord stimulator and goofing around with my little one while draped in my favorite heating pad and charging my SCS– Stephanie Toffey-Kotarba
15. I was diagnosed with Crohns when I was 8 years old in 2000. On the left was the day after my second operation this March to have some of my intensines removed. On the right was taken 2 months after with my NG tube which I use most nights. Just because you have surgery doesn’t mean your cured I will always need some kind of treatment. –– Bex Hodgkiss
16. I am very reactive to synthetics due to chemical sensitivities, so I can only wear organic cotton, hemp, linen, and wool. I bought this organic hemp sleeping bag for when I have to travel to see my doctor in another state. This will be my barrier between the synthetic bed and my skin, and I’ll wear my mask for my lungs. — Sarah Langer
17. I believe in still having a laugh and finding positives in the worst moments, if you can’t laugh about it- it’ll tear you apart. This was me recovering from surgery and unable to sleep from the snoring in the bed next to me. Just gotta laugh ? — Zoë Aldridge
18. I’m 38 & feel like my hands look as if they belong to a woman in her 50’s or 60’s. I have psoriatic arthritis & I’ve just begun noticing recently that my fingers are beginning to turn. Also have ankylosing spondylitis & the worst that can be seen is when I have difficulty walking at times & also if I get up from sitting too long or try to stand up straight from bending over. It hurts like f’n hell in my sacroiliac joints. — Jen Watker
19 . My heart is under my skin my illness is not. Cardiomyopathy :Hearing your heart pounding or seeing your heartbeat all over your body. Fatigue, shortness of breath, unexplained anxiety, loss of consciousness. I smile to let my illness know I will continue to be happy no matter what. I will live with this forever I might as well be a happy sick person. –– Sarah Candance McElroy
20. I have something called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It causes constant pain all over my body because my joints are constantly dislocating. I now have to wear these finger braces 24/7 to keep my fingers from dislocating. — Stephanie Bolton Smith
What are the visible aspects of your “invisible” illness? Feel free to Share with us in the comments below!
Note: All Images are Copyright to “FibromyalgiaResources.com“ and Cannot be republished anywhere without the site permission
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