The Healing and Wellness That Surrounds Lynne Said

Dear purple butterflies, 
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February has officially arrived! It’s beyond chilly outside today because we had a bit of inclement weather yesterday. I certainly felt it with my arthritis acting up. Valentine’s Day will be coming around very soon. My blog this week is an interview with my sweet, very talented and compassionate friend, Lynne Said. I hope you will enjoy reading the interview as much as I did coming up the questions for her to answer. Once again, I want to thank Lynne for her precious time that she took to do this interview.  

1. What incident occurred that started your Fibro? How long did it take you to discover this pain was not going away?   
I think that the onset of fibro for me was a build up over years. I suffered emotional trauma, and very poor nutrition as a child living in a dysfunctional family. I then went on to have a marriage that certainly wasn’t made in heaven, divorced, and remarried a few years later to a man that did make my first marriage look as if it had been made in heaven.  It was an abusive, violent marriage that I was terrified to leave. When I did pluck up the courage to get a divorce it was when I moved, and life was calmer to a degree that I noticed random symptoms especially fatigue. This would have been around 2010. 
 
2. Were you diagnosed with Fibro right away? Did you get a second opinion? No definitely not straight away, it took four years to be diagnosed but the last of the four years was the worst. The symptoms had become continuous and debilitating and I was terrified the doctors were missing something serious.  I am sure my fear and anxiety were fueling the symptoms I was experiencing.  It was my G.P. that first suggested it and did one more blood test to see if there was anything they had missed.  The test came back showing I was suffering with Hypothyroidism the symptoms of which overlap with fibro and so my diagnosis was put on hold until I had started taking levothyroxine to balance my thyroid. I had hoped that this would solve the problem but unfortunately it didn’t, and I was referred to Guys Hospital in London to be diagnosed. I didn’t question the diagnosis as by this time I had done enough research to understand that I did had fibromyalgia. 
 
3. Upon your diagnoses, were you relieved? Was your family supportive?  I was relieved to know I wasn’t going crazy, and the doctors weren’t missing something more serious. However, that being said, it wasn’t long before devastation replaced relief.  It suddenly hit home that there were no real answers and no cure to fibromyalgia so I might be feeling this unwell forever, and that was a terrifying thought. 

4. Have you ever suffered from depression? If so, how did you deal with it? Yes, I did suffer from depression and severe anxiety, mainly down to my second marriage. It did get so bad that I was unable to leave my home which was unimaginable for me. I’d always been very sociable and enjoyed spending time outside. I was referred to counselling for anxiety but when I arrived, I realized it was group counselling and my anxiety went through the roof. I managed to find my way home, climb in to bed, and cry under the covers. It was a terrifying experience. I was also prescribed sleeping tablets and did take a few because unbeknown to me, I was suffering with PTSD and having the worst, vivid nightmares imaginable, the sleeping tablets prevented this and actually allowed me to sleep without fear for a short time.  It wasn’t very long before I was trialing my own strategies for anxiety, depression, and PTSD.    

5. What made you want to start a blog? What gets you motivated? My main reason for starting my blog was because the one thing that I had pushed away for a few years was how much lifestyle changes could help me to feel better with fibro.  I used to feel angry if anyone suggested it because it felt like blame, and that the way I felt was all my fault.  This couldn’t have been further from the truth. There is no blame just learning. When I got my quality of life back through ’whole’ lifestyle changes, I trained to become an NLP Master Practitioner and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach so that I could share my experience and hope for a better life with fibro with others. 

6. When did you start getting your Coaching certifications? What made you decide to do the coaching? Helping yourself to recover is one thing, but helping others is something totally different.  I wanted to make sure that I was trained in order to know how to help others in the best possible way.  I started my NLP training in 2018 and my Coach training in 2019.  

7. If you could write a book about your experiences, (life, with Fibro, working with your blog and the certifications) what would you call it? Why?  I am writing a book at the moment and it’s so ironic you ask me these questions because the one thing I have no idea on yet is the title. If I were to give a quote about living with fibromyalgia it would have to be, ‘Be curious not judgmental’ because I suffered for more than I needed to, just because I pushed something aside that was the one thing that helped me the most. You never know what will help you so curiosity is so important.   
 
Please continue to stay safe purple butterflies! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today! If you’re enjoying my blogs, why not subscribe to my website? My blogs will go straight to your email. It’s free to sign up! Tell your friends! Tell your friends to tell their friends!
 
Till next time! 
Rachel