shopping

I get dizzy often, too. Didn't connect it to the fibro until now!

I understand your frustration about forgetting things and buying things you don't need. I never go shopping without a list anymore. That way I am pretty sure that I will at least get the things I need ;-)

If walking becomes very difficult for you, try using one of the motorized carts that some stores have. I know Wal-Mart has them.

Do you wear sunglasses in the sunlight? I know that I need to wear sunglasses year-round. The polarized ones work the best for me.

I am a big fan of on-line shopping I even do my food shopping on-line when I get really busy and can't findthe time to go to the store myself.

I hope I've helped a little bit.

Hi Anne...I think shopping is one of the most difficult tasks fibromites have to contend with.  I live in the snow belt and pushing carts though ice and slush to the car is impossible for me now.  Unless my husband goes with me, I shop at this little IGA store that is at the end of my street.  Actually, they always have sales and I don't worry about the ten cents I might save at a big chain.  Lights bother me too.  I wear glasses that get dark when they hit the sunlight(the name of them escapes me...THE FOG!) and clip on sunglasses on top of them when I am outside.  Store lights make me dizzy.

Like Patsie said, you are not losing yourself respect...you are just trying to deal with a condition in the best way you can.

Huggies

Donna

I wear my sunglasses in walmart, not my dark ones but the slightly tinted ones. I also always have a list or it isn't pretty. Typically my mother comes as my helper and it works. I gave up my issues with needing help because of also being bipolar and having panic disorder. A few grocery stores here have benches in the store, I have no issue with going to one and sitting for a few moments if needed. I hate shopping of any kind now. I only buy clothes at thrift stores, to avoid huge department stores and malls. I also ask for assistance to get the cart to the car, most stores have no issue with doing this. I am a total loss afterwards though. I can do nothing else for two days or so.

I too have used the carts at Wal-Mart. I had my 13 year old with me, and she said, 'mom just get one of those carts'. I said, 'you won't feel embarassed?' Shesaid no, I did it and I was glad I did. My doctor gave me a handicap card for my car and I use it on bad days as well. I have had a lot of bad days lately. Jules

I wear my sunglasses everywhere, even in my classroom. It helps a bit with the florescent lights. I read somewhere that blue tinted glasses are supposed to help but I haven't tried it yet.

When I was really bad, I'd forget my list or forget to look at it, or it wouldn't register anyway. For some reason, I always thought we needed tuna and toilet paper so I'd buy more. I had a roomful of toilet paper, my daughter would build castles and forts with it and have tea parties inside the walls. It wouldn't register in my brain that we had TOO much, so I'd think of it and buy more. I had to stop putting groceries in the trunk because I'd forget about them for days. Not so bad in the winter but really, really bad in the summer.

One time, after trying on pants, I forgot to put mine back on and started to leave the dressing room. Fortunately, a woman pointed it out to me before I went out into public.

The motorized carts help a lot. Look at it as a helpful tool that allows you to do more. Use the things that can help you, it doesn't make you less of a person, it shows that you are a smart person. Anything that helps you do what you want or need to do is a positive thing - it's only negative if you allow yourself to think that way. Don't worry about what others think, most people don't even notice other people.

Losing self respect is a choice. You can choose to lose your respect for yourself or you can choose not to. You and only you are in control of this. This is where positive thinking helps. I'm not saying don't get mad or frustrated or embarrassed. Feel it then move on. Don't dwell on what fibro is taking away. With the ups and downs of fibro, today's challenge may soon be a distant memory (or quickly forgotten when fibrofog flares).

It isn't easy, it may take a lot of work to change your thought patterns. Start slowly with thing that bothers you the most and change the way you think about it. Eventually, it gets easier.

But sometimes, life still stinks.