Peggy Keijsers lives with widespread, chronic pain and profound fatigue caused by fibromyalgia, a condition she describes as een overactief alarmsysteem
in the body. In a personal testimony published by Gezondheid.be, Keijsers details the daily realities of managing an invisible chronic illness characterized by stiffness, sleep problems, and cognitive hurdles. She can wake up following a full night of sleep yet feel as though she spent the interim moving houses, dealing with aching muscles, a stiff body, and a head that still needs time to start up before the day has even begun. She adds that her concentration and memory sometimes fail her, noting that while everyone occasionally walks to the kitchen and forgets the purpose, it becomes less amusing when her head regularly seems to operate using an internet connection from 1998.
Alongside her public testimony, Keijsers has written a book titled Terug naar fabrieksinstellingen, (over)leven met fibromyalgie
. The publication, which brings together personal experiences, recognition, and humor, is currently available exclusively online before receiving a wider release in 2027.
De zoektocht naar een diagnose
Keijsers’ symptoms began gradually, starting with painful hands, tingling sensations, and neck and shoulder complaints before broader pain and exhaustion developed. For a long time, her symptoms remained isolated puzzle pieces despite medical examinations. The turning point arrived in 2018 when she consulted a rheumatologist who evaluated her symptoms as a whole and provided a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
While the diagnosis brought relief by finally giving a name to her condition, it did not provide a cure or medication to resolve the symptoms. Instead, it raised new questions regarding how to manage daily life, understand her limits, and explain the condition to others.
Omgaan met een onzichtbare aandoening
Living with fibromyalgia involves managing fluctuating energy levels where outward appearances do not reflect internal strain. Keijsers notes that her enthusiasm often leads her to overcommit, resulting in her body reacting retroactively to exertion. She describes this dynamic humorously yet candidly, noting that her head says yes enthusiastically before her body later objects in drievoud en met terugwerkende kracht
. She notes that the difficulty is that observing her working, laughing, or traveling somewhere does not tell the full story of how much energy that expenditure costs or how her body responds afterward. She shares that on a good day she wants to do things, as her plans and enthusiasm did not disappear when she contracted fibromyalgia, though recognizing limits is one thing while acting accordingly when feeling motivated is an entirely different skill.
She appreciates when people remember that her carrying capacity varies—what she could do yesterday does not automatically dictate what is possible today—and clarifies that when she states she is tired, she sometimes means something that a night of sleep will not resolve. Beyond her health, Keijsers emphasizes her multifaceted roles as a mother, grandmother, village director, theater maker, and writer, noting there is plenty else to discuss even though accommodating her ailments helps.
