"Accepting a diagnosis is not the same as accepting a lifetime of suffering." - Tami Stackelhouse

Hearing the words "you have fibromyalgia" can bring up so many emotions. Maybe you're relieved to finally have an answer, but also scared about what that answer means for your future. Will you always feel the way you feel right now? Will you be able to work, spend time with the people you love, and enjoy the things that make you happy? When you're struggling with pain, fatigue, and all the uncertainty that comes with fibro, it's easy to imagine that the way you feel today is how you're going to feel for the rest of your life.

But having a chronic illness doesn't mean you're destined to spend your life suffering. It's okay to grieve the future you thought you would have, to be angry, or to feel overwhelmed by everything that's changing. You don't have to pretend that any of this is easy. At the same time, you don't have to give up on the possibility of feeling better. A diagnosis gives you information about what's happening in your body, not a prediction of what the rest of your life will look like. Your future might be different from what you originally imagined, but different doesn't automatically mean worse. There's still room for hope, improvement, and a life you love.

In this Ask the Coach episode, Tami answers a question from Sophie, a listener in the UK who's struggling with the possibility of being diagnosed with a chronic illness. Tami shares her journey from filing for disability to being told her fibromyalgia was in remission, the emotional impact of a chronic illness diagnosis, why accepting a fibromyalgia diagnosis does not mean accepting a lifetime of suffering, separating what you actually know from assumptions about what the future might hold, why current symptoms do not necessarily predict your long-term quality of life, viewing your diagnosis as providing direction for treatment, understanding liminality, the uncomfortable space between the life you knew and a future you cannot yet see, how unexpected changes can open the door to new possibilities, why reclaiming your life is about more than managing symptoms, why a fibromyalgia diagnosis does not define your future, the importance of remaining open to what is possible, and more.

Note: This episode is not meant to be medical advice. Every person and every situation is unique. The information you learn in this episode should be shared and discussed with your own healthcare providers.

To learn more about the resources mentioned in this episode, visit the show notes.

For daily doses of hope, inspiration, and practical advice, join Tami on Facebook or Instagram.

Need a good book to read? Download Tami's books for free.

Ready to take back control of your life and health? Schedule a complimentary consultation with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach®.

"Instead of asking what else you can try, try asking where else you should look." - Tami Stackelhouse

It's incredibly frustrating to feel like you're doing all the things and still not getting your life back. You found a good doctor. You're taking the medications and supplements. You're working on your sleep, watching what you eat, trying not to overdo it, and somehow you're still stuck. Maybe you're not getting worse, but you're not really getting better either. If you've been there, you know how discouraging that treading-water feeling can be.

For many of us, the solution is probably not adding another item to your already-too-long list. Fibromyalgia needs to be supported from several directions at once: what's physically happening in your body, how you're living in that body every day, and the relationship you have with it. Sometimes the next step isn't doing more at all. It's stepping back, looking at the whole picture, and noticing where you might need a different kind of support.

In this episode, Tami explains her "three-legged stool" approach to fibromyalgia and getting your life back. She discusses her experience spending two years in treatment without improving, why she eventually looked for a different approach, how addressing physical health, lifestyle, and mindset together became a turning point in her journey, why it's important to address other health conditions that may exist alongside fibromyalgia, the importance of sleep, nutrition, movement, and adapting life to your current capacity, improving your relationship with your body, how weakness in any one of the three areas can make it harder to move forward, why different professionals may be needed to support different pieces of your wellness, how to assess your own three-legged stool and identify where additional support could make the biggest difference, and more. If you feel like you've tried everything and you're still stuck, Tami offers a different question to help you figure out where to look next.

Note: This episode is not meant to be medical advice. Every person and every situation is unique. The information you learn in this episode should be shared and discussed with your own healthcare providers.

To learn more about the resources mentioned in this episode, visit the show notes.

For daily doses of hope, inspiration, and practical advice, join Tami on Facebook or Instagram.

Need a good book to read? Download Tami's books for free.

Ready to take back control of your life and health? Schedule a complimentary consultation with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach®.

"You're always ignoring something. Are you going to ignore yourself or the dust bunny in the corner?" - Tami Stackelhouse

When you're used to getting things done no matter what, slowing down can feel almost impossible. There's always another task that needs your attention, someone who needs something from you, or that little voice reminding you what you "should" be doing. Add perfectionism into the mix, and taking care of yourself can easily end up at the bottom of the list. You keep pushing because that's what you've always done, even when your fibro body is asking you to stop.

The good part is that feeling better doesn't mean you have to become a completely different person. You can still be ambitious, successful, and someone who likes things done well. It's about learning that not everything needs 150% of you, and that sometimes reading a book, taking a break, saying no, or leaving the windows for another day is exactly what your body needs. When you start working with your body instead of constantly pushing past your limits, life can feel a whole lot better.

Today, Tami is joined by Certified Fibromyalgia Coach® Jeannette Rechsteiner, who knows this struggle firsthand. A high achiever and Fibromyalgia Wellness Style℠ Perfectionist, Jeannette went from a severe flare that left her unable to walk and living with pain at an eight or nine out of ten to saying, "I love my life." She and Tami talk about her life before fibromyalgia, her lowest point that ultimately led to her fibromyalgia diagnosis, how Jeannette finally found hope, why she decided to become a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach® and fill a gap in specialized support in Switzerland, how coaching unexpectedly changed her own health and helped her recognize the connection between self care, perfectionism, and her flares, the three major turning points in Jeannette's journey, why having a coach and community makes such a difference in managing your fibromyalgia, building her business and becoming the kind of role model she wants to be for her children, why Jeannette focuses on helping perfectionists and high achievers, the practical ways she supports clients, why perfectionism became such an important piece of understanding her own fibromyalgia, Jeannette's advice for getting the right support, and more.

Note: This episode is not meant to be medical advice. Every person and every situation is unique. The information you learn in this episode should be shared and discussed with your own healthcare providers.

To learn more about the resources mentioned in this episode, visit the show notes.

For daily doses of hope, inspiration, and practical advice, join Tami on Facebook or Instagram.

Need a good book to read? Download Tami's books for free.

Ready to take back control of your life and health? Schedule a complimentary consultation with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach®.