I thought I was weird and weak

[Gacats]

hi, newbie here....
I've been feeling very embarrassed about my condition. When I go to the Rheum's office, I see patients who are so much worse than I. I feel guilty for taking up valuable time & space in the doc's day.
You can't see anything wrong with me, so surely I'm ok.
I have good energy. At diagnosis, my rheum said to me, and I quote, " You need to get off your dead #*+ and exercise if you want to stay healthy". So I spent years taking an extremely challenging step aerobics class, until my right knee blew up. Now all I have left is walking & hiking but the movement is such a joy to me. But I really miss the hard stuff.....
But things happen.
Pleurisy. Vertigo, days & days worth. Exhaustion. Depression. Sun sensitivity at times. ( I love heat & sunshine). Insomnia. Migraines.
Anyway, there. I vented. And I whined.
Thanks for listening. Because it embarrasses me to tell anyone how I feel. Even the rheum, and he gets paid to listen. I suspect I minimize. Also, he calls me his "shining star" because he feels I'm fighting so hard.
I asked him once if he'd consider putting me on disability & he laughed.
Sigh.

[Carolina]

Hi Gacats, and welcome.

You sound just like me!

But younger, of course since I'm 73.

However, one of the 'blessings' of Sjogren's (etc.) is learning to 'let go' of the need to accomplish 87 things per hour.

Mindfulness is the 'gift' that comes with my 'conditions' that was forced on me, and for which I'm grateful.

I recommend a book:  How to be Sick, by Toni Bernhard.  I had to 'hide' it from my husband at first since he thought I was taking lessons in being sick even more...and 'giving in' to being sick.

Well, hey!  'Sick won the battle a long time ago!  In fact, 'sick' won when I was born and I was lucky antibiotics became available about the same time or 'sick' would have won the war!

Welcome again,

Hugs, Elaine

[Joe S.]

Welcome. Do not be embarrassed. Sjogren's can effect us in so many ways. Welcome to this forum.

[A66eyroad]

First of all, welcome! We're glad you found us, but saddened that you had to look.

Second, GA is the home of the Bulldogs, not cats!  What's up with that?!?   

Carolina is exactly right -- the book by Toni Bernhard is a great one! I have it on my Kindle and I also have the book. It's a great read, but people can get the wrong idea -- I brought it to my office to share with another girl here, and one of the other employees saw it and made fun of me: "How to be sick? Ha! YOU sure don't need any help!"

Another great resource is a blog on the website ButYouDontLookSick.com. Be sure to look for The Spoon Theory.

But I get all my best information here on this forum. You can use the search box in the upper right-hand corner, or just post a question. It's also very satisfying to be able to write a post that might help someone else, too. So have at it!