Anthea - Fibromyalgia
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I am officially back for season 3 with a new look and a new direction! This week’s guest is Anthea aka @antheapilates), who has been a long-time Yours Only customer. She suffers from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and depression, and used to have major dermatitis flare-ups, but Yours Only sorted that out. 

Fibromyalgia affects around 2% of the Australian population. (Well, the diagnosed). It’s a disorder characterised by widespread musculoskeletal pain with the main symptoms being bone pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Symptoms sometimes begin after a physical trauma, surgery, infection, or significant psychological stress. But, it’s soooo much more than that. It's a bit tricky because fibromyalgia overlaps with other functional somatic syndromes, such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and depression, meaning it's missed quite often. 

Anthea chats about her experience from working a 9-5 (which was actually a 24hour a day) job, being a full-time uni student, plus the rest, to now working a couple of hours a day as a Pilates instructor. Her body was trying to tell her to slow down, and  lockdown has been a blessing for her as now she’s flipped her life around and is managing her fibro like a champ. 

If you think you have fibro, book an appointment with a health care specialist before self-diagnosing.

For some informative links on fibromyalgia:

https://fmaware.net/fibromyalgia-symptoms/) 

https://fibroandpain.org/) 

https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/treatment-of-fibromyalgia)  

See you on Instagram at @yoursonlyco). Ash x