Tag: academia

The frustrations and hopes of new medication

~ fibro-academic ~ 2 Comments

First off, I am annoyed. I am unable to function well enough today to focus on anything, and so the pile of books I need to for my pre-dissertation work remains untouched. I also have many articles logged away in my citation manager, and it feels awful to KNOW I need to work but my mind just feels frayed, like there is a lack of connection between my two brain hemisphere. The most I could do today was finish up and submit an assignment for an online class.

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What today looks like for me: my outstanding reading pile, trying to understand fibromyalgia, and keeping track of my medications and all their interactions.

It’s been almost a year since my diagnosis, and while medication and my own supplementing coupled with lifestyle changes have helped some, my doctor thinks I should be able to make better progress (and I agree! Being debilitatingly tired most of the time is not fun, especially when going through a rigorous academic program).

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One thing a day: an interview and then nothing

~ fibro-academic ~ Leave a comment

On the morning of Wednesday October 24th, I had a meeting for an internship at a museum. I had contacted the person responsible, exchanged some emails as to what sort of internship I wanted, and was told that they were excited to meet with me to talk about a mutually beneficial arrangement.

So far so good, except this week has been particularly difficult in terms of fibro fog *.

The previous night, I had to cancel a date with Marc because I was so overwhelmingly fatigued that I could barely form sentences. I had gone to sleep early, had a fitful night, woke up with a splitting headache, and faced the prospect of an interview for a position I was genuinely excited about.

That’s one of the (many) frustrating things about fibromyalgia. It robs you of the ability to fully get excited about something, to deeply delve in what you are passionate about. 

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Of blurry beginnings

~ fibro-academic ~ Leave a comment

Today, I can’t wear my glasses.

The pressure of the frames on my ears and my skull is too much, and so they are sitting on the desk in front of me. I am squinting hard at the computer screen to make out the words I am typing, as my eyesight is… not good. I need those glasses. Yet putting them on causes me so much pain that any tenuous thought I could otherwise grab on to just escapes me.
Hello, my name is Rachel and I have fibromyalgia. On good days it just feels like I didn’t sleep enough and maybe overdid it slightly at the gym. On bad days I can’t even think and the pain makes it impossible to move. Despite all this, I am determined to finish my Ph.D. in anthropology at Arizona State University while still maintaining a good life balance with my friends and significant other, Marc.
I will be using this blog to chronicle what it’s like as an academic with fibromyalgia. While academia is the primary focus of my life currently, fibromyalgia of course affects all aspects of my life, so this will be mirrored here as well.