Category: Fibromyalgia Pain

Today was a tough one. After all the cooking that was done by me the past few days, what with Valentine’s Day and a son’s birthday (which yielded 14 people) this Fibro body was struggling.

Add a previously scheduled photo shoot this afternoon for our family’s 5th Bluegrass music CD cover (taken by your friendly neighborhood photographer…moi’) on rather a blustery winter day, and you have the makings of Fibro-body-disaster!

The pictures came out great, by the way! The models (six kiddos from age 9-22) all worked together! (yippee!! and not much stress…)

However, when I came inside, my body locked up immediately and I literally could not move from the kitchen chair I had sat down on. I felt like I was covered in plaster-of-paris or buried in wet sand from the neck down for over 15 minutes. Was it from the past day’s activities, holding the camera up for an hour and a half, or the chilly temps? Maybe it was the fact that my son had to help me up from a squatting position almost every time while photographing instruments? Perhaps all of the above?

Regardless of the whys, there I sat.

I eventually began to slowly move my neck and hands. My daughter helped move my legs and after another minute or so, I sat rubbing my hips and knees all the while hoping my hands would hold out from my rubbing.

It was the worst I’ve ever been as it was my entire body all at once. Normally it is this and that pain today and some other pain tomorrow.

Every Fibro sufferer knows that they never know when or where the pain will strike.

It’s true.

Pains come and go with nary a warning. Such is the life of a Fibromyalgia sufferer.

The good news is I’m back to feeling my normal Fibro-self. That flare lasted about an hour, but it was a doozy!

Definition of “Normal Fibro-self”= relatively high pain throughout various areas in the body, difficulty sitting and standing and extremely hard to climb stairs, burning pain the joints and must-have Crocs for the tootsies. You know, NORMAL.

I am still stiff and sore and my hips burn something fierce! But I am thankful we got the pictures done! Now I can focus on something else. Like a new week. Tomorrow is Monday and a great way to begin anew!

Mondays offer a chance for a new start. A chance for the slate to be wiped clean and to make new goals for the week. Perhaps this week I will achieve some of my goals! So, make a list, check it twice, and do something on it. When you see that list grow smaller it will make you feel like you’ve done something! And you have! Good luck!

Happy Monday and gentle hugs!

When I am hurting and in need of rest, oddly, I’ll get a vision of me outside, running very fast. In that vision, I have a desire to run non-stop; to run with all my might as if someone or something is chasing me…Maybe even over-exert my physical form like I am trying to prove something to myself-As if running non-stop, fast and hard I could somehow out-run the pain…

Or maybe run so fast that I leave the pain behind me.

Yes… like running super fast I would somehow break free from the bondage that Fibromyalgia has me in.

The mental vision of me running may be a metaphor of me trying to outrun the pain before it catches me.

I feel this way more often in the winter, probably because I am mostly house bound due to in-climate weather.

Sometimes I want to move really fast like I used to. Sometimes I want to jump rope when I see my girls doing it (and I have…and I can’t). Sometimes I want to ride my Air-dyne bike with all my might and take all my frustrations out on the exercise itself; to try to release all my anxieties and stresses of this dread condition with vigorous exercise. Unfortunately, I am lucky to go two minutes a day without serious joint flares.

Would strenuous exercise make the Fibromyalgia just disappear?

Would it?

Would it be worth trying?

Ah, but I have tried many of these things…many times…and the outcome is always less than favorable, causing excruciating pain as I did it, or soon after, with agonizing and debilitating physical issues for days and days. Sometimes just walking is painful enough.

Trying to prove to myself what I can no longer do is like pouring salt in an open wound.

I walk as often as I can when the weather is pleasant, but those walks cause me pain, not just as I walk, but many times, pain for days.

But I must walk for my overall health.

Yes, I wish I could somehow out-run the pain.

Golly, I just wish I could out-walk the pain. How about out-stand the pain. Now that, my friend, is a pun.

As for my vision, I guess it is more of a yearning to be free from this awful condition.

This is where positive thinking is vital.

So here’s to positive thinking when you feel anything but positive! Knowing I am not alone in this daily fight of chronic pain can be helpful. If you are reading this, you must battle the same thing…

I may not be able to walk well, let alone run, but I am a saved child of God and “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.”

Have a good day, gentle hugs  and God bless.

Last month I began Physical Therapy. (I am doing everything I can to try to ease the pains of this dreaded disease). Because of the Fibromyalgia, water therapy was recommended. So, down into the water I went, doing walking laps and other various leg exercises. It felt pretty decent while I was doing it. Once out, I managed to get dressed and head home. I was quite stiff upon getting out of the car… I had lunch waiting for me by my sweet blessings and then proceeded to collapse on my bed in a rather fatigued way… only to awake two hours later in intervals of painful movements. Yes! I think the PT is… working??? (sarcasm)

That first morning after, I could barely walk due to the toe and foot exercises in the pool the day before and my hands would not participate in the normal movements of the morning either, all from holding onto the rails in the pool for the “step” exercises. Was I giving up? Well, I wanted to. I wanted to say “NOT ANYMORE!” However, I decided to give this a six week chance. I have read that you have to get through more pain to help control THIS pain. (I am thinking that the person who wrote that does NOT suffer with these conditions!) 

I continued on two times a week for the entire six weeks. Some weeks I had to cancel a session due to the pain, some weeks I made it to both. Some days I took Motrin just to get through it, some days I took Motrin after I got home. All in all, I feel that the Pool Therapy was more of a hindrance to my body than a benefit. It made it harder for me to get through my daily life instead of help. 

But that is how it affected me. You may be different. Ask your doctor if Pool Therapy is right for you. If your doctor is like mine he will let you try in the hopes it’ll bring you relief, but until you do try, you will never know!

Gentle Hugs!