What Does Fibromyalgia Feel Like To You?

I'm trying to understand why I'm feeling the way that I do. I do not have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia but it's something that I feel is a possibility. I would really really like to hear what fibromyaligia feels like to you. I would really appreciate as many people as possible to just sum up in a paragraph or so what it's like for you to have this.

Thanks in advance.

To me fibro is very painful at times when I have flare ups I dont want to be hugged or touched I just want to curl up and relax. I get the brain fog and forget easily my hands ache and my legs ache sometime i get a headache i go to the hot tub and that sometimes helps

To me Fibro is a confusing, painful, and debilitating thing. It makes me feel like I am to as human or as life like as I want to be. It is like a physical schizophrenia almost. One minute I can be okay and the next in pain. The sad thing is it could "switch" like a flash and it is very bad when that switch is in the middle of doing something around others, where they look at you like you are "faking" when you are not. I wish there would be physical signs or features, ones that could identify us, so that people could understand. Invisible illness like Fibro are horrible because no one can see the suffering.

Yeah, that steam roller description does say it all

Flare pain, I usually describe as bone crushing pain

The everyday stuff has gotten tolerable, if it didn't...I'd be a basket case. In the beginning, if somebody told me I'd get used to it..I'd tell them they are crazy.

Hugs, Robin

I have some good days and some very tiring painful days. I want to do more activities but when I do it cost me. My muscles feel like I have been 20 yrs older then I should. Lol I have to take one minite at a time these days.

I agree with all of you..but what I'd like to know is, How long have you had fibro? When does one get to the point that it feels like background noise and you just deal with it?

I met a wonderful lady on this forum. Turns out she lives just a couple of hours from me. She came down to meet me and spend the night. Oh, what a great time we had.. Even though I slept most the time. She's been dx since 1994, I thnk that's what she said..Barb if you're on here correct me...anyway..I was saying that I was researching this and wanting to try that...and she said, she did the same thing and here it is all these years later..and she still has fibro along with some other conditions.

My point is, heck wht was my point? sorry, I am silly...

my point is, when do you embrace this...I guess that is the word....accept this..

Jerrie

Some of us never do.

Like I said earlier, fibro is something you learn to live with. I went through all the stages of grief...was very angry about losing my ability to do some things...and at times that anger can still creep back into my life, but it is now short lived.

You do learn to accept your "new normal" after you decide for yourself that life goes on and you can't just focus on pain. Staying active as I can helps and getting out with friends and having fun works for me.

Tonight my hubby is playing tennis. He plays on leagues... mixed doubles and also plays singles. I can no longer play..but I would never deny him the pleasure, Same with golf. Finding new interests to take the place of things you can't do is necessary.

The pain does become background noise after you decide it is not the focus of your life...yes the pain is there, but thinking about it does not make it hurt less...it only hurts more :) I've had many enjoyable days with fibro and that's a good thing because there isn't a cure for it yet!

Wishing everyone an enjoyable evening!

Hugs, Robin

What Sherri said.....even the shower fells like thousands of needles on my skin.

After all these years it still feels like a weird nightmare. I know if I woke up pain free one morning, it would be like these last 17 yrs never happened and I would resume life without looking back.

It's hard to describe, for me....I'd say a constant dull, throbbing pain allover, with sharper jabs thrown in here or there to add spice. Then there's the agonizing tight pain on my whole left side if I overdo it at all, and I do mean at all!

The weak, heavy feeling in my limbs is always there, too. The feeling that I never have the energy I should, that others obviously do - kind of like having a bad flu. Knowing that I'm forgetting half of what I want to remember because of my fuzzy, fuzzy brain.

What do you feel like, jr991?

Debbie

I get a lot of fatigue, even though I slept.  I get muscle weakness (feels like all the energy in your body has drained out your feet and you are carrying 100 lbs weights on your limbs).  I get fibro fog.  I get some shooting pains that stab me randomly around my body.  I have hypersensitivity to noise, odors, and my skin is hypersensitive (have to wear very soft things and tuck in shirts, nothing rough, etc.).  If I get poked by my dog the pain lingers longer than it should for a normal person.

I have to pace myself or I'll put myself in a bad way.

Stress negatively affects me and causes flare ups.

First of all I want to thank everyone so far who has participated in this thread. It's good to gets others real life examples of how they feel instead of looking at a symptom list trying to see if they fit.

I have not been diagnosed with fibromyaligia, however I can definitely say that I seem to be experiencing a lot of the symptoms. Also, in the back of my mind I am always questioning... well what if it's not this and I live the rest of my life with something that could have been treated if we just knew what it was.

Anyways... what do I feel like? Well for years I have always had kind of a "foggy" head or an "always drunk" feeling, also always exhausted... low energy, excessive yawning. Things got really strange a little over a year ago now with my muscles. Everything I did seemed to take days to recover from. I started having problems with my vision. Lots of floaters, seeing after images, eye pain. (this is the part that doesn't sound typical of fibromyalgia). My muscles aches and pains have taken on a completely new level of intensity more recently. Most of the muscles in my body feel sore. They feel bruised and hurt to touch. They feel like I've run a marathon, but I haven't done anything more than simple little household chores. I wake up in the mornings and everything is really sore... especially my hands and thighs. I would rate my energy at about 20% of what it should be for someone my age. I'm only 29 years old... healthy on paper but my body says otherwise.

One last point is I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea. I have been using the CPAP for about a month now with no improvement but I'm not giving up on it yet.

It's impossible for me to put everything into a "short" paragraph, as I have just way too much going on. And I want to give you a clear snapshot of what my life is really like...

It's hard to tell what's FM and what's not, especially since FM exacerbates any independent issues one may have. Ex: my bulged and torn disks shouldn't be causing an issue, but the FM makes it almost debilitating.

Without medication I can't get out of bed, never mind work or even walk. With medication I can walk, with a cane. Work, to some extent. Do house- and yardwork, with a mobility walker ( www.medicalequipmentwichita.com/ for those that don't know). I often get confused, and have that "brain fog", which to me feels like I'm stoned (or drunk). I often have trouble remembering or concentrating, I sometimes feel like an Alzheimer's patient in that regard. Without medication I can't eat, I have trouble urinating, I have severe bowel cramps. Every morning I wake up, I feel as though I have barely slept, even if I do manage a full night (6 hours, for me, is a full night). Every moment of every day my muscles and other soft tissues feel as though I just spent 3 hours at the gym. Exercise increases this. Laying down to sleep is excruciating, as every single pressure point is screaming at me. Without medication, I do not sleep. Literally. Imagine sleeping only 2-4 hours for every 32 hours awake. I must get adequate sleep, adhere to a strict diet, strictly adhere to my med schedule, and be as active as possible, or my symptoms worsen.

Today is a good day: I'm tired, I'm sore, I'm slightly foggy, my stomach hurts, I can't eat. But I got out of bed, took the dogs for a walk, and shopped. I even put my name in to go to work today. I may even go out and do yardwork.

Unlike others, I will never accept this. Adapt, deal, but never accept. I will continuously keep up to date on every single research paper and clinical trial that comes out. I will continually try every single new method, device, or drug that might make me feel human again. Some deal through acceptance, which is fine. I deal through fighting, which is fine also. Although, I think, I'm a slightly unique case around here. The FM is "attacking" my entire digestive tract, making it impossible to eat or drink a thing without drugs (3 days with neither food nor fluids is seriously pushing one's luck ). In the beginning, I only had two options: lay down and die, or fight and find a way. I guess the fight just stuck with me.

As has been already said: stay as active as possible, eat healthy, keep positive thoughts, when the pain is at it's worse do something to distract yourself. Do not allow it to take over your life. Find something to live for, and focus on that instead of the pain. Find a support group (real time, not internet). My family is useless, so I use my in-laws as my support group... and my dogs, and of course my partner