Question on Fibro

[rwb200]

Can anyone give ma any simple information on Fibro from your experience ?
I supervise a guy at work that was just recently diagnosed after several years of problems.
His dr thought he may have Lupus and sent him to a Rheumy the Rheumy seen him and did a few tests and told him he had Fibro.

I have read a little about this but know very little. I need to know what I he is facing and what I can do as his Supervisor to try and help him out?
He does a hard days work and is one of my brighter people. I don't want to push him and don't want him to do stuff that may hurt him and cause him problems.

[sadieone]

Hi Rwb200,

I commend you for trying to find out about the illness your employee has.
I have fibro and it is a dibilitaing illness.
Generally, it is an illness that affects all the muscles and joints of the body. Making the joint stiff and painful when you move them and the muscles feel very fatigued all of the time.
I take pain meds to help eleviate the pain but there is always some pain on movement.
Staying still aways from florescent lights helps. If he has a lot of walking or going up and down stairs that will fatique him quickly and might put him in a flare.
A flare is major fatigue and body pain that may require him to rest for 24hrs or more.
Personally, since i have lupus and fibromyaglia i'm not able to work. Even with being on 10 different meds i still get fatiqued and need bed rest 2 to 3 times a week.
For a lot of people fibro alone is reason enough not to work.
The symptoms can also increase during time and i have never heard of anyone being cured of fibro.
One thing that has helped my fibro tremedously is hydrotherapy or aquactherapy. It helps my pain and endurance a great deal. I hope your employee has good insurance to be able to take this therapy.
Here is a website that might give you more info about this disease.
http://www.fmnetnews.com/pages/basics.html
Good luck
Vonda

[Lily]

Hi Vonda,


Staying still aways from florescent lights helps

?????????

love
Lily

[seven]

Hi RWB,

I have had fibro for 13 years and the most troublesome symptoms for me are always fatigue and pain. They are the constant present ones. In an intense flare there is a weird state called "fibro fog" and it makes thinking difficult. So, in a work setting it can be a problem if working with machinery. I have lot's of clumsy accidents and spills when I feel like that. Driving is also hard for me. I guess there is just so much information and it affects people differently so it is hard to explain. I find that it is a tricky illness in that I can feel pretty good today and horrible tomorrow. Making plans and committments and then having to cancel is frustrating for all. I cannot work full-time because of it. It is nice to know that you care about your employee enough to investigate. Take care, Yvette

[LupusCat50]

I, too, commend you for being concerned about your employee. You do not say what this individual's job is, so, it's hard to say how fibro will affect them. Stress is a big issue with me. I have to be very careful about stress because it will exacerbate my pain every time. Overdoing it, no matter what it is, will bring on that debilitating fatigue and fibro fog, forget trying to think or make decisions when that's going on.

Still, I manage to work 40 hours per week as a Human Resources Director in a hospital of 300 plus employees. He will have a learning period on how to manage his condition.

[sweetrhythm]

I think it's wonderful that you are seeking information about fibromyalgia so that you can make his working environment better for him & his health.

I happened across this article--which also addresses MS but you can disregard that--that gives a short overview of what fibro is and briefly compares it to lupus. I thought it might give you a quick reference (with a few links) to get an idea of how fibromyalgia compares to lupus so you can get an idea of how exactly it affects him. As you probably know, fibro, like lupus, can vary substantially from one person to another so you might consider sitting down and discussing his concerns with him directly.

http://www.msakc.org/Articles/MSFibroLupus.htm

[rwb200]

My wife has had Lupus for almost 20 years so I'm very familar with it.
Basicly it sounds as if he will have some of the same symtoms she has with pain and fatique from her Lupus.
This is basicly what I thought as I knew it had some of the same connections but was not real sure on what all.
From reading what you say I can tell that if his become more advanced he is going to have alot of problems at work. We work under florecent lights all day long.
He climbs a ladder and does hard heavy work working with cable rolls that are frequently 500 pounds or more.
He does not have to carry them but he does have to get them on a stand and he has to pull cable from them. The day is either spent on a ladder or on your knees depending on where you put the cable.
So far he says he feels fine so long as he remebers to take his lodiene each morning.
Right now he is rather confused and I can see why. He was told last week it was Fibro, this week another doctor told him no it isn't it is gout.
At this point he is not sure but gets by with the use of the meds the doctors gave him.
I worry about him seeing two doctors who each have an opinion and each are treating him for diferent conditions that would both cause many of the symtoms he says he has.

I understand it after years of seeing stuff with doctors and my wife but still do not like seeing what he is going through and the turmoil it is causing him.
At this point he will not let me help him as he wants to just do his job and go on. He likes what he is doing and does not want to let up.
If he gets worse I figure he will need to back off so till I see a problem or he tells me of one I just wait and watch.
I have been trying to get my bosses to look at him for a desk job for sometime and have been trying to get him assigned to it. I have got them to try it some but at this point have not been able to get him on it full time.
I have to be careful how I do it so I do not get told well if he can't do his job he needs to go on disability.
I know at this point that is the last thing he wants.

I have just been talking to him about what is wrong and working with him to help insure he does not have to push it to much.
At this point I can work with him on his time when he needs to go see a doctor and help get him time or flex his schedule to do it.

[sadieone]

Hi Lily,
Stay still and away from florescent lights helps.

[Lily]

:) Thanks for clarifying that Vonda. I didnt realise that fluro lights had any effect on Fibro, what happens?

love
Lily

[andi04]

:) Thanks for clarifying that Vonda. I didnt realise that fluro lights had any effect on Fibro, what happens?

love
Lily

Flourescent lights;
It messes with my vision, and I also get migraines from it, another wonderful fibro side effect. staying still helps with keeping the level of pain down. At least for me, I am not sure what she meant :shrugs:

Just another point of view if you wanted it

[Lily]

Thanks andi :)

love
Lily