i need to sit more at work. standing all day pushes my pain from baseline 5 to a 7 by the time i leave. asked if i could alternate between sitting and standing, or at least get a chair that doesn’t destroy my back. his response?
“but you look fine. you get around okay.” i tried explaining that fibromyalgia doesn’t work that way - invisible doesn’t mean i’m not limping through the day - but the message came through loud and clear: i’m exaggerating. now when i mention pain at work, i hear that disbelief in my own head. the mental part is almost worse than the physical part right now.
at least i know the pain is real. the disbelief makes me question myself. has anyone else asked for accommodations and gotten pushed back like this? how did you actually handle it?