Intervention

So I caught one of my nosier sisters going through my cabinets last time she visited.  She found the big box that I keep all my meds and supplements in.  Her eyes were huge.

The otherday I got a call from another sister, the one who used to be a hospital corpsman in the Navy.  She asked me a few questions about my fibromyalgia, then started in on the drugs I take for it.

I told her what I take which isn't that much really...Cymbalta, gabapentin, klonopin, meloxicam, a blood pressure med & claritan.  I DO take a ton of supplements, 5 or 6 at last count. 

So the sister on the phone asked me what I was taking and why so I told her....she had no idea what half of them are...so much for her "knowledge".  She said that I must be diabetic if they have me on gabapentin and I told her no, I'm taking it for fibromyalgia.  "Why are you on klonopin?"  Because I'm pretty anxious for a lot of reasons"...."well just be careful, you don't have to take every pill they give you..."  Well, duh!!!

Then she started in on the lectures about exercise.  "You should be swimming or doing water aerobics"  "No, I can't, I'm allergic to chlorine."  "Well where Mom swims they don't use chlorine"...am I supposed to drive 20 miles every day to swim with my stepmother????  I don't think so.  As she continued to lecture me about swimming I finally told her "I haven't worn a swimsuit in over 20 years and I'm not going to start now!" 

I told her I do stretches and when it stops pouring everyday, I'll go back to walking. 

This really pissed me off.  None of my sisters has even acknowledged my fibromyalgia until now and now they're accusing me of being a drug addict!  And then to treat me like I don't know the first thing about fibromyalgia when she doesn't even know that gabapentin is used off label for fibro pain! 

Then she started questioning me about PTSD and tried to tell me that mine shouldn't be still bothering me, 24 years after my trauma...oh, her bf & my ex-bf both are still having nightmares about Vietnam..."but that's different".......  GRRRRRRRR

Apparently I'm taking up valuable shrink time that ought to be going to a wounded warrior..."And is your BF doing therapy?"  No answer---"How about you?  You told me that you were still having nightmares about Somalia"  no answer to that either. 

I told her that whenever I see a car wreck in real life or even in a movie or on TV, it triggers my PTSD.  Whenever it snows, it triggers my PTSD.  Whenever the temperature drops below freezing, it triggers my PTSD.   I start getting very depressed and anxious as soon as I see the Halloween candy come out and it continues until December 26.  When friends or family die, it triggers my PTSD...and this year has been the worst EVER for death, and it's only May. 

I know she did it out of love but it still pisses me off to accuse me of being a drug addict and to insinuate that my PTSD isn't treatment worthy...NO ONE can understand another person's PTSD.  

 Rant over.