Fibro Myth #2: You're so lucky that you don't work / work part-time

Contrary to popular belief, Fibromyalgia sufferers are not lazy people who are looking for an easy way out.

None of us long to work part-time or to not work at all. In fact, if you speak to most sufferers, they long for the days when they used to be able to work full-time.

We have little choice except to work reduced hours or not at all because of the impact that fibromyalgia has on our lives. At the end of 2010, I lost my ability to walk/stand without pain. I started work in March 2011, eager to start my new career. By the middle of July 2011, I was exhausted. I gradually stopped sleeping. I needed to spend my whole weekend recovering from extreme pain levels. I had to be medicated constantly, even if all the medications did was take some of the edge away from the pain. By the time I was diagnosed in August 2011, I was nearing my wits end. I knew that if I didn't get a break soon, I was going to drop dead.

Thankfully, my work was willing to allow me to take three months off and return to work this year on a part-time basis. Working 3 days a week is still challenging. My two days off are spent corresponding with doctors and trying various things to reduce the pain and to be able to rest. By working three days a week instead of five, I actually have a weekend, not just two 'drop dead and sleep' days.

Day after day I am inundated with people telling me how I can't complain that I am tired or how I am "living the life" by not working full-time. I have colleagues question me about what I actually do on my days off and why I am not partying or shopping on those days. If you're a fibro sufferer, chances are you've been hurt by comments like these before. Let me be frank, I choose to work part-time because I am not ready to lose my career over health yet. I choose to work part-time because I can still achieve and do something, even if it is minimal compared to my full pre-illness capabilities. I choose to work part-time because I have to earn something. I choose to work part-time because at the moment, there is no chance of me getting the support I need from Centrelink to be unemployed. I choose to work part-time over full-time because I need it to survive.

Dear carers & friends of fibro sufferers, please be aware of the pain caused by comments such as these. Your friends with fibro are not lazy! They are doing what they need to survive. In an ideal world, we would be allowed to rest & our illness would have the respect it deserves. We would able to work the hours that our bodies can handle. But this isn't an ideal world, we are just doing the best we can to survive. That does not make us lazy; that makes us fighters!