What causes a Fibromyalgia flare up? That is something I have been trying to figure out for over 3 years now.
So, tonight at 8:30 p.m. my body decided to completely give out on me.
No advanced warning…no preview of coming attractions… just flat-out locked up and said “I’m done!”
I probably should have expected a flare to rear its ugly head about this time. I am learning how my body works and how it responds to different things that I do…and the past three days have been non-stop.
What does one do when “life” does not allow a person with Fibromyalgia to rest or take it slow as every article that a Fibro reads tells them to do?
Now, that is a daunting question.
This past weekend was very busy as our family plays bluegrass music and we had to travel over an hour and a half to play a music engagement. The playing part is fun! The drive, however, is not fun for this Fibro body. As I could have guessed, I crashed as soon as we all returned home and I tried to take it easy on Monday, but homeschooling has its demands!
Tuesday would have been fine except I had to drive over an hour and a half into the city to take my son to have a procedure done at the hospital. The procedure itself took only 15 minutes. However, the hour and a half prior to the appointment check-in, the hour delay that we sat waiting, and the extra hour after post-procedure was taxing on my body.
Of course, on the way back home I decided to make a couple of stops as I live out in the country and some stores were rather conveniently located to me at that time, so we stopped in for a few holiday odds and ends for the Thanksgiving meal table.
(This was probably not the best choice, but none-the-less, it is what I chose to do. I have found that it is these little spontaneous choices that wreak the most havoc on my body!)
It was rather fitting, when I woke Wednesday morning to find it raining. That alone can send a Fibro into a flare, and that certainly did not help what was about to take place in my body hours later. That “24-48 hour delayed reaction” thing that drives us Fibros out of our minds!
In our home-school, we are finishing up a Civil War unit study that will end with a puppet play of what the kiddos have learned as well as a home-cooked southern meal like they would have served during that time era. (The kiddos are cooking it themselves with me as overseer.) The play is to take place tomorrow so we had many fine-tunings that needed to be done today, including setting the beans to soak for the meal tomorrow.
Lots of fun! But, very busy!
As I was finishing up some of those odds and ends, my hips began to ache something fierce. Then they felt bruised. Then incredibly sensitive and my clothes actually hurt to wear. My gums and teeth began to hurt. I now have a sore in my nose that won’t stop bothering me. Since I began to type this, my joints are locking up and typing is becoming cumbersome.
Yes, this is the beginning of a flare. A flare from my weekend, my trip to the city, shopping and well, just living life!
How long will this flare last? Hopefully not too long. My last flare of this magnitude lasted 4 or 5 days. In one week it’ll be the day before Thanksgiving. I will need all my strength to make the meal as lovely as my old self used to do. I admit I set that bar pretty high for myself. I love the holidays! I am the type who has their menu list, a list of all the items that need to be purchased to make the menu happen, the list of what I need to do on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week. I have it all broken down to help me to remember what to do and how to do it.
Now, I have always been this way, but I have found that these lists currently help me to remember what to do. In my past life- meaning pre Fibromyalgia- that list was more of a guideline to help my children know what I was planning that day so we could all work together!
My children still get in there and help me, and I try to keep things light and cheerful. (We even play Christmas music while we do our Thanksgiving baking!) But, I am not that same person that I used to be as I have to stop and rest, or stop and sit, or just take a little break.
The homemade dinner rolls that I used to make from scratch and work and twist with my hands to make elaborately beautiful rosebud rolls would absolutely hurt me to the point that I couldn’t even brush my teeth that night if I went back to making those!
Little things like that I’ve had to simplify. So now I buy the orange bag of Frozen bread rolls that I set out on Thanksgiving morning and let rise all day and bake to a wonderful golden brown and serve! Most people don’t realize I didn’t bake them, but I know. I should be thankful that they’re available to me, right?
Of course, right!
So now I pray that the kiddos puppet play goes well tomorrow. The meal too, which (will) consist of ham and beans, cornbread and molasses cookies all served on tin plates by candlelight in a (as close as possible) true Civil War-like way and that this Momma will not be recliner bound!
Homeschooling at its finest!
From one Fibro to another-Gentle Hugs and may all your holiday baking be easy on your body!
