Surviving Toxic Relationships Podcast with The Matadoras · Elizabeth Jane and Deana Lynn

Episode #77: I Put My Fibromyalgia Into Remission!

·36 min·2 clips

Tammy says 45% of fibromyalgia patients may have sleep apnea and about three-quarters may have thyroid disease.

The episode opens by linking medical gaslighting to the same kind of confusion that can take hold inside a toxic relationship. Lizzie and Dina talk openly about feeling crazy, unseen, dismissed, and worn down by people in authority who were supposed to help. Tammy Stackelhaus joins them to talk about fibromyalgia and the work she does with people living with it. She is introduced as an award-winning author, the founder of the International Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute, the host of the Fibromyalgia podcast, and the executive producer of the feature documentary Invisible. The conversation keeps circling back to one central idea. People need help reclaiming both body and mind. Tammy describes fibromyalgia coaching as a blend of health coaching, life coaching, peer support, and sometimes a little lay counseling. She is careful to note that coaches are not therapists or doctors. She also stresses that lived experience matters. The hosts respond like people who know what it feels like to be dismissed and still expected to keep going. They ask for immediate first steps, not abstract encouragement. Tammy says the first thing she wants clients to do is take a deep look at thyroid function. She means more than a TSH test. Full thyroid numbers and antibodies matter. She says a large share of the people in her training program turn out to have undiagnosed thyroid disease. Some also discover autoimmune thyroid disease such as Hashimoto's. The second thing she recommends is a sleep study. She explains that sleep apnea is relatively uncommon in the general population, but much more common among people with fibromyalgia. That makes sleep testing feel less like an extra and more like a basic checkpoint. The conversation keeps its recovery-centered tone throughout. It does not rush the pain. It does not flatten the story into a diagnosis. Instead, it keeps coming back to validation, self-trust, and what to do next. The closing section returns to the same message with gratitude and reassurance. Being dismissed does not make a person crazy. The tone stays warm, practical, and steady from start to finish.

As heard by us

A grounded fibromyalgia conversation that pairs validation with practical next steps.

This episode frames fibromyalgia through medical gaslighting and body trust, with Tammy Stackelhaus cast as a coach helping people reclaim some control over mind and body.

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Why you'd press play

When your body feels off and nobody's listening.

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