Brent Knoll mum to hold event to help those with Fibromyalgia and other invisible illnesses

Lizzy Oakley was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia back in 2011, after waiting for more than seven years to get a proper diagnosis from the doctor.

Since then, the mum-of-three has been helping people across Somerset with the condition and other conditions and diseases such as arthritic diseases, Lyme disease, and others.

The group meet every week at the Moorland Hall in Highbridge and Lizzy has set up a Crowdfunding page to raise money to help keep the weeklysessions going.

Lizzy, who also works for the Somerset Drug and Alcohol Service, said: “I had struggled with pain and fatigue for some time which led to me feeling frustrated, isolated and misunderstood.

“People with Fibromyalgia and similar conditions may look fine on the outside, but inside we’re not.

“We’ve recently introduced other pain and fatigue related conditions to the group to help even more people and so now we’re also the Invisible Me Wellbeing Group.”

Lizzy originally launchedthe group back in 2012, but had to stop it when her illness got worse.

She re-started the group last April and said she has been overwhelmed with the support and turn out.

She added: “There’s around 12 of us so far but I would love to set more groups up and train other people to run groups elsewhere in Somerset.

“We’ve supported people through their diagnoses, communicating with health professions, we’ve even been to court.

“I’m a trained councillor and I’ve taken a lot of courses and done a lot of research so I can help others, we try and use a more holistic approach.

“We’re holding an invisible illness event on May 9 to raise awareness and funds so that we can keep this group going.

“I’m so proud of my team as they call them, because they’re all going through their own battles but everyone has played a really important role in organising this day.”

The Wellness Day will take place on May 9 at the The Wellness Centre in the Moorland Hall from 10am until 3pm.