In the chronic illness community there’s been a lot of talk about the every day symptoms of our conditions, what does, or doesn’t work, and how these often line up with the symptoms for other things. Like right now, Covid-19. And then, our brains play the “is it allergies? is it COVID? is it (fill in the known health condition here)?” game. For those of us with anxiety, that gets to be “fun”.

Fibromyalgia is one of these conditions. There’s some evidence that it causes inflammation. (Or as my doctor told me before she dumped me, all of the inflammatory things I experienced was related to my fibromyalgia.) Which means that it brings with it chostochronditis (chest wall inflammation), GI issues, and sometimes even fevers. I did a lot of work outside this weekend, which meant on Sunday, I realized I was hot. Face flushed hot. Took my temperature and it was slightly elevated. Panic time? Well, my allergies were acting up, which often bring with them sinus infections and inflammations, which also occur naturally. And in the end, I stretched out in front of the fan, watched TV for a while, and when I cooled off, realized no silly, I just overtaxed myself. But these types of thought processes are very common for those of us in the chronic illness community right now.

It’s important that we are gentle with ourselves, now more than ever. And be gentle with each other. If you know someone with a chronic illness, ask how they are doing. Check on them. See if you can get them something so they don’t have to go out. And remember, for those of us with chronic illnesses, symptoms could be from a variety of things. So stay careful. Stay in tune with your body. And stay in touch with others.

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