When you say Flare ups.....

Kaymac, I don't know what "normal" is anymore.  I always have pain, but, when in a flare, I have PAIN!  It is more pronounced, more painful, and makes things far more difficult.  That's why I try as hard as  I can not to get in a flare.  Sometimes it can't be helped.  I'm in a flare right now.  It is caused by the summer weather in Florida.  We get a lot of rain and humidity.  This happens every year.  But, I know that soon I will be better.

 

I pace myself...especially when in a flare.  You don't want to cause more problems by trying to carry on as usual.  I just slow down.  I do house work but pace myself.  For example, I'm having a friend over for dinner on Monday.  I did the grocery shopping today.  I'm making the main course on Sunday and will cook it on Monday.  That way I'm not trying to do too much in one day.  That's how you have to plan things in a flare.

 

I hope this explains it a little.

 

Sherrine

No.  I always pace myself with fibro.  I can get more done when I'm not in a flare, though.  I've had fibro for over 20 years and I now know how much I can do without causing a flare from overdoing.

 

Sherrine

This confuses me too. I don't have a dx, but everything seems to point so much at fibro... except that I'm not always in pain or fatigued. Most mornings, I get up with a bit of stiffness that works itself off after I move. Most mornings I ask myself why all the doctor's appointments, why am I making all this fuss? Then by lunchtime the fatigue hits and I feel like I am carrying a backpack full of bricks around. My face hurts pretty much every day, and my legs arer usually sore at some point, to a greater or lesser degree. But I can work, although on bad days I drag myself around. I waitress 3 days/week, I work 6-9 hours without a break, constantly walking, even working up a sweat during the peak rush. So maybe my fibro (if that's what it is) is mild? But then I remember the flare I did have a couple months ago when I first joined. I can't remember what the pain felt like, but I do remember thinking that I would never survive this, so it must have hurt a lot.

hi kaymac. when I was first dx'd, I didn't understand "flare". I felt so bad, all the time. a few yrs after I was dx'd, I began very intensive therapy for post traumatic stress. a side benefit of working on my emotional help was I experienced a HUGE improvement in my health. I began to have good days for the first time in yrs. now I understand what flares mean. I have good days. I have flares. sometimes the flares last a few days, and sometimes but not often they can last a month or more. that is what has been going on lately, a month long flare.

here is how I describe it for me: a good day is a day that I have flu like feelings, achy all over. I can get very tired if I over do it, but in general I usually have strength to work a full time job. never have much more energy then that. a flare day is I am in so much pain I can barely move. and I am so tired, so completely exhausted that I have fallen asleep at my desk at work. ha! it's like the volume gets turned up full blast. all my symptoms which are just kinda troublesome while not flaring, become so intensified that it is really hard to even get out of bed. I have stairs in my house and when I am flaring, the stairs are hard for me.

my life has pain every single day whether I am flaring or not. it's just unbearable to me when I am flaring.

kellie in alaska

Normal for me is PAIN. Every moment of every day.

I have learned to "live" with the pain and function despite it. I just do things differently than a "normal" person might do them (pace myself *sometimes*, go slower, etc...)

When I am in a flare (these last for months with me), I have so much pain that it is hard to concentrate on ANYTHING besides the pain for the majority of the day. I become even more forgetful (if thats possible!) and I tend to slow WAY down and don't do any socializing. I work and come home. Any additional activity other than normal every day life/work tends to become nearly impossible. I almost hibernate!

 

I think it is different for everyone, which is one of the reasons that this is such a difficult condition to pin down.  I pretty much hurt all of the time.  If I over-do it (and what constitutes over-doing it for me fluctuates greatly), I know I will pay for it that night or the next day (or week).  But then sometimes, I will just be in excruciating pain for no discernible reason. 

 

I think a "flare" for me (and I would say I've been in one for the past couple of months) is when it takes very little to send my pain skyrocketing.  I've had a hard time lately just doing the everyday things that need to be done (like just getting out of bed). 

 

I actually went to Disney World a couple of years ago, and did really well.  I couldn't imagine doing that today.  I'm hoping my "flare" dies down and I can get back again to where I was even a few months ago. 

 

One of the things that makes Fibro so hard to deal with is that it is so unpredictable.  You get used to one set of symptoms and limitations, and then it changes (sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse).  You constantly have to re-evaluate and adjust.