Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, including details on myalgic encephalomyelitis (me), diagnosis, gradual and sudden onset.

'A constant struggle': successful strategies of women in work despite fibromyalgia.

Löfgren M, Ekholm J, Ohman A

Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. monika.lofgren@ki.se

PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore, and obtain increased knowledge of, the strategies used by working women with fibromyalgia regarding control of pain, fatigue and other symptoms. METHOD: Qualitative methods with an emergent design were used. The informants were women with fibromyalgia who had participated in rehabilitation 6-8 years earlier, and were still in work. Diaries, focus groups and individual interviews were used for data collection. Content analysis and grounded theory were used for the analyses. RESULTS: A model with three categories emerged. The core category 'constant struggle' contains eight sub-categories: enjoying life, taking care of oneself, positive thinking, setting limits, using pain as a guide, creative solutions, learning/being knowledgeable and 'walking a tightrope'. The category 'grieving process' was a prerequisite for managing the struggle and the category 'social support' contained what facilitated the struggle. CONCLUSION: The informants fought a constant struggle against the symptoms and the consequences of their fibromyalgia. Their strategies were action-oriented and evinced a positive spirit. To have grieved and accepted their situation was a prerequisite for managing, and support from the family was a help in the struggle.

Published 1 March 2006 in Disabil Rehabil, 28(7): 447-55.
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