The losses brought by CFS and fibromyalgia can be great. They include loss of control over one’s body, loss of friends, loss of a job, loss of status and the loss of one’s dreams for the future. 

In sum, the impact of CFS and FM may be the loss of both the person you were and the person you had hoped to become.

But your new life can be positive. We have often heard people with CFS and FM describe their life with either condition as a good life, though different from their life before CFS or FM and different from the life they had planned.

Some say that they have a better life today than before they were ill. They say they are more focused on what is important and have more time for relationships. Some even say that they like the changes they see in themselves and prefer the person they are today to the one before their illness.

So how do you move from loss to a new life? The challenge can be met through a two-step process: grieving losses and creating a new life.

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