HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

How long does your typical flare up last...my longest was 5 weeks

Support Forums
>
Fibromyalgia
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 1/18/2015 6:36 PM (GMT 0)
I recently had a 3 week flare up....was better for 12 days...now I'm 21 days into another flare up. How long does your typical flare up last?
Posted 1/18/2015 7:15 PM (GMT 0)
I really don't have typical flares. They do what they want to do. I don't get many now that I have learned not only what helps me be in control of my pain but also how to pace myself so I don't start a flare. And, if I do get a flare I know it will pass and that helps tremendously.

My worst time is in the winter and usually I have twice as much pain in the winter than in the summer and that is totally out of my control. It's the cold that does it for me. I know it's coming so I know what to do to keep moving. I take half the medication in the summer than what I take in the winter...usually. And I also know that it will pass! That helps a lot. This isn't a "forever" pain. It's just a pain. turn

If you haven't already, go into Fibro 101 and check out the thread about how to maintain a positive attitude when you have chronic pain. I know you said you don't want to hear it but I've lived with fibro for 27 years and have learned things that I try to pass on to help others and counting your blessings instead of focusing on the negative things in life really helps a lot, helps with pain, etc.

I know what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another but I will share with you what I use. I take ibuprofen with food, Tylenol, magnesium malate, vitamin D3, and I do get a prescription muscle relaxer called Robaxin that has made a significant difference in my pain. I only take half of what the doctor prescribed so I don't have the side effects from it but it sure takes the edge off the pain and it helps me sleep because I'm not in as much pain. There are links about the vitamin and supplement in Fibro 101 and how it works in the body by the way.

I walk daily, do daily stretching exercises and pace myself. Once a month I get a gentle massage from a massage therapist who has studied on how to massage fibro and myofacial pain clients. All of the above helps me to be in control of the pain and I have had a full and enjoyable life in spite of the pain. You will too when you find what works for you. It's a trial and error process.

I hope you are feeling better today. You have a lot of good times ahead of you. I've done so many things I never thought I could do with fibro but I tried and surprised myself 99% of the time. I've done a lot of traveling, even overseas, snorkling many times in the Caribbean, parasailing, etc. I don't let fibro run my life. Thinking I "can" do something helps me a lot. If I think I "can't" do much I wouldn't try anything and just sit and let life pass me by. You really don't want to do that. You want to keep moving. Life is totally amazing and there is beauty all around you. Feel better!

Sherrine
Posted 1/18/2015 7:33 PM (GMT 0)
I had one that lasted 8 months. There were days that I mottled through, even managed to get through my daughters wedding - shopping, decorating and even made the cake - but afterwords I went down hard. Finally figured out that I had developed sensitivities to certain foods and they were now acting like poison to me. Quit eating them and am doing much better.
Posted 1/18/2015 8:49 PM (GMT 0)
I had a flare that lasted several months, but I think that was more my Lupus than my Fibro. I get chronic tendonitis in my shoulders and elbows that last for several months.
Posted 1/19/2015 12:44 AM (GMT 0)
Winter us bad for me. My longest flare was 12 weeks (the end of last winter). The last few have run 3-4 weeks each, but I'm into week 5 of this latest one. It's been a bit more mild than usual, other than the headaches, which are killer and completely take away my ability to do anything other than take pain medication and lay in my recliner switching between ice packs and a heating pad. I still do my stretches in between the worst of them.

Like Sherrine said, I try to stay positive, not wallow in the pain, and know that it will pass. Hang in there, take good care of yourself and know that it does get better.
Posted 1/26/2015 12:57 AM (GMT 0)

jkn913 said...
I had one that lasted 8 months. There were days that I mottled through, even managed to get through my daughters wedding - shopping, decorating and even made the cake - but afterwords I went down hard. Finally figured out that I had developed sensitivities to certain foods and they were now acting like poison to me. Quit eating them and am doing much better.

What foods are you sensitive to?
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply