Content note: This episode discusses chronic illness, chronic pain, depression, and anxiety.

If you're struggling, call or text 988 (US) for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Fibromyalgia is invisible on the outside and relentless on the inside - and still too often met with "it's all in your head."

In our first-ever guest episode, occupational therapist and fibromyalgia coach Linda Fraas explains what fibromyalgia actually is, why it's so hard to diagnose, and how people build a livable life around it. Part science, part 25 years of lived experience, all heart.

In this episode:

• What fibromyalgia is - and why it's a condition, not an imagined one

• The car-alarm metaphor for a hypersensitive nervous system

• Fibro fog, fatigue, and the sleep trap

• The push-crash cycle and how pacing breaks it

• Being dismissed - and why being believed is medicine

• Movement, nutrition, tracking, and self-advocacy that actually help

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction & meet Linda Fraas

(01:01) Linda's background and her diagnosis

(04:06) The long road to a diagnosis

(08:05) What fibromyalgia took away

(13:23) What fibromyalgia actually is (the car-alarm metaphor)

(17:29) Beyond pain: fibro fog, fatigue, and sleep

(21:29) The push-crash cycle

(26:37) "It's all in your head": being dismissed

(41:01) Daily life: pacing, movement, and nutrition

(55:30) Self-advocacy and finding hope

(1:21:44) This week's challenge

Featuring Greg with Rich, Liam, and Sarah, plus special guest Linda Fraas (torchlightvitality.com).

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