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Fibromyalgia
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Posted 10/2/2013 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
I have posted on here one time before. Not sure how long ago. But reading everyone's posts makes me realize I am not the only one who can't remember anything! Which makes me feel somewhat better. I am not sure how long I have had fibro, but I can still remember a time when I didn't hurt so hurting badly now really makes me frustrated. I was first diagnosed as having shingles pain without the rash because my worst pain is in my side, it runs from just right of spine in my back along my right side just above my waist line to just to the right of my navel. The worst pain is in the area of my gallbladder, but I had that removed long ago. I take Lyrica for the pain and it helps almost all of the time, except the last week. I don't know if I just overdid it or what happened but for the last week I have had a recurrence of the "shingles" pain even while on 300mg of the Lyrica.

While Lyrica takes care of the pain, I have found nothing seems to help with the bone tired fatigue. My friends and family say they are tired a lot too, but I don't think they understand this kind of fatigue. I mean, my bones are tired, I feel it in every cell of my body. A fatigue that just can't be alleviated by a good nights sleep. Could I be doing too much? I work full-time as a paralegal. I have 3 daughters and two step-sons and all but two of them are grown, my 15 year old daughter is in volleyball so right now we are having volleyball on Tuesday and Thursday nights and I am also in graduate school on Monday nights. Wow. I am exhausted just typing that!

This recent, what you call a "flare up" (my doctor never told me about flare ups) started last week when I'm pretty sure I did too much. We had a volleyball tournament all day on Saturday (ugh, bleacher seats!), then Sunday I went all out and made my 24 year old daughter a huge birthday dinner and had all the kids there, including my 26 year old daughter and 3 year old twin grandchildren, then Monday I worked and had class until 9:30 pm., then Tuesday I worked and had a volleyball game right after work until 8:00 pm but waited up for my daughter to come home at 10:00 then made her grilled cheese. I was so wore out that I had to take both Thursday and Friday off work just to rest! Does this happen often? I used to be able to do these things and more but lately, like in the last year or so I just haven't been able to keep up. It is frustrating me, it is frustrating my family and if I keep taking days off work it will soon be frustrating my bosses.

What can I do?? If there were a surrender flag emoticon I would use it here.
Posted 10/2/2013 3:49 PM (GMT 0)
Deep sleep can sometimes be difficult for a person with FMS. The brain doesn't ever fully turnoff, and deep sleep accomplished. Even when I slept, I didn't feel rested.

A sleep medication (many take ambien, or they take natural supplements) can help this problem. Once I added a muscle relaxer to my sleep time med, I get good restorative sleep.

And, yes, the schedule does need to change for most of us. I have to plan things out, and learn to say no to some things. We can still have a great life, just it has to be less frenetic than it used to be.
Posted 10/2/2013 4:02 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for responding! I have tried Ambien and Lunesta. With the Lunesta I would do things in my sleep like sleep text gobbledy gook to my daughter. It was interesting. But those meds just leave me feeling groggy for too long in the mornings. I have tried everything for sleep, right now I am taking Melatonin. When I am not sleeping too little, I am sleeping too much. I can't seem to get it right. I never get up on time. I make wonderful plans to have a peaceful, non-hurried morning only to shut my alarm off and sleep for another hour. It greatly frustrates my daughter who is very punctual.

Some days, like today, the fatigue is just too much. I am so tired I just want to cry. I am not a very good planner. I try, but that is another thing I can't seem to do right. It is just so hard to stay on top of things when all I want to do is lay down and shut the world out. It all gets to be too busy for me. I can lay down and rest for a period of time and then get back up and do things, this is what I have been doing on the weekends, unfortunately my bosses would frown upon me laying on my office floor until I feel rested enough to finish a brief. Sigh.
Posted 10/2/2013 4:07 PM (GMT 0)
Well, grogginess is sometimes the price we have to pay, IMO. It is all about what we, each of us, wants to do in order to feel the best we can. When I was working (and when I get another job), I had to get up several hours before I had to be at work, so the grogginess would go away. I also had to make sure I was going to bed early enough.

I also find, with a half a tab of the muscle relaxer added, that I have less trouble going to sleep, and no trouble staying asleep. I do sleep eat on the ambien, but only if I stay up longer than I should.

Also, exercise can give you more energy, or at least I find that I feel better with regular exercise. I have worked myself up to my current workout level, but if I don't get exercise, I have far less energy and more pain.
Just something to think about.
Posted 10/2/2013 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks! I have dabbled with exercise, but I really, really, really hate it. I get very stiff in my low back and hips when I walk too far. I guess that is the key, to stop before I get to that point. I guess my mindset with exercise is that I need to do it to lose weight, I am about 50 lbs heavier than I would like to be, so walking slow and stopping before a full half hour just doesn't seem right to me. Especially when I used to be able to run for that long. I need to change my mindset to doing it for 10-15 minutes or so, at a pace that doesn't make me sore just for health's sake and work up to more, but I am not there yet.

How long did it take you to work up to your current level and, if I may ask, what is your current level? Thanks!
Posted 10/2/2013 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
Well, I started with low-impact water aerobics in warm water. I did an hour class at my local YMCA, with the old ladies. I am currently 44. This was in 2008. Four times a week for about 6 months.

I started doing deep water aerobics, with a swim belt. Four times a week. This was actually easier, because it is so low impact.

Water work continued, and still continues.

I bike and/or hike with BF. These are limited, because the impact hurts my back, legs, and feet. I cannot do a treadmill-hurts too much.

My favorite low impact is the elliptical. I can get a good sweat going, and it doesn't hurt my lower back, my legs, or my arms. I couldn't do the elliptical until I had built up my core with the water aerobics. Now, i could use it indefinitely. Low setting and very little resistance.

Currently, I do an hour on the elliptical and then either bike or water aerobics for another half an hour to an hour. I do this 3-4 times a week, and alter the routine periodically.

I never exercised before fibro. I should add that i avoid the weight machines. They hurt far too much.

I also am trying to lose weight, most of it added when taking meds. I eat a low-carb diet ( protocol for crohns disease) and even so the weight comes off so slowly. Lost 11 pounds in four months.
Posted 10/2/2013 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
I am currently 44 as well. I have been thinking about joining the Y and since I have been researching how to cope with fibro I have seen a lot of suggestions for doing water exercise. I think I will try it, with the old ladies. lol. I may as well, since I feel like one of them. Actually, most of them probably feel better than me! It really sucks when your 60 year old mother is more muscle help moving your daughter than you are! She is a dynamo. I wish I was more like her. Thank you for the suggestions!
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