My Blog is one year old today - time to talk about Fibromyalgia, CFS, ME and other invisible illnesses.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2014 and my first "Blogoversary." I am determined to make the next year even better than the last in blogging terms and am looking forward to writing more random observations about life parenting 7 children, meeting even more lovely people AND NEW
FOR 2014 -doing my bit to raise awareness about Chronic Fatigue/Pain conditions.

I realised this week chatting to other bloggers on Twitter just how many people I know have invisible illnesses - Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, SPD, ME..... but don't really talk about it. They just grit their teeth and do the best they can to cope.

Blogging in PJ's during a Fibromyalgia flare-up

Most of them look fine most of the time but this actually makes life harder.  I have Fibromyalgia myself and know that very few people without the conditions have heard of them, or know anything about them. This can be frustrating and embarrassing - people have heard of Yuppy Flu and think you are exaggerating, imagining or making up your symptoms.

So I am hoping to launch  a regular spot for people to share their stories, coping strategies and help educate people about how hard it can be to have a syndrome that even some Doctors don't believe in.

I have launched a closed Facebook group for bloggers afflicted with any invisible condition - please email me or leave a comment if you would like to join or if you'd like to send me a guest post about your situation.

I will start with a post about my experience of Fibromyalgia next week - not looking for sympathy but hoping to educate and hopefully realisation that sufferers are not malingering attention seekers!