Good Morning World!

Monday, October 1, 2007
Taking it as it comes-Fibro Flares
I'm well into my fourth day with no central air/heat/FAN and it's not the best time I can think of. The ac unit shuddered it's last on Thursday, and I can't say as I blame it after seventy-plus years in service. Before you scream "she's never changed that unit???" out loud, here's the thing: I'M A RENTER!!! It took a day to get Jose out to look at it, and andther two to discuss it, take pictures, etc. I maintained throughout, and prayed that the cold front was still coming. It did, and we were fine through the weekend, except for the hideous allergy related migraine I got from sleeping with the windows open. Friday brought more I'm An Adult Now bliss with my monitor blowing up, never to restart again. Happily my neighbor loaned my an extra he had, and I paid up one more week on the rental CPU.

What does all of this have to do with fibromyalgia? Fibro Flares, that's what! Stress can precipitate a nasty melange of symptoms that range from mildly annoying to incapacitating. Muscles ache and tighten up, fatigue makes every step seem like a mile, and a thick veil of "fibro fog" settles on the brain, making the simplest tasks and errands herculean in the ammount of effort taken to complete them. Depression may worsen, old surgery sites may become inflamed and damage nerves irratable. Fibro flares will get your full attention(what's left of it anyway)and demand that you deal with it PDQ!

If you are lucky anough to have a spouse and family, they can cushion the blow a great deal by simply understanding that you aren't functioning at 100 percent. Your kids will still come up with heinous forgotten homework assignments at 10pm. Hubby will still bitch and moan about having to put a load in the washer. You will still have to do most of the things you do to keep them going, but a little communication and planning ahead will go a long way in helping you get to the other side of a fibro flare. Posting a chart on the fridge of chores to be delegated when mom isn't feeling well will take some of the load off. Again, in concert with the theme of this blog--we aren't looking to cure Fibromyalgia, just trying to learn how to get through the day, so sitting down with your family before you have a flare will go a long way in helping you and yours survive and thrive.

If you live alone and have no family support, you need to be that much more prepared than our friends with families. How the heck am I supposed to do THAT? If you're reading this now while in the middle of a bangin' fibroflare, you can't imagine preparing for anything at all--but you can. I have a little notebook that I carry around with me and I make lists in it. Grocery and household lists, passwords, errands, people I see, their names and details about them to prompt my memory. At the top of each page I put down: Grocery, Dog Park People, Bills Due, so when I'm out, I flip thru before I get out of the car and it remindes me of what I need to pick up, etc. Finish your rounds by checking your pharmacy page, and seeing that you have ALL of your scrips. I picked up all of my meds today. I can't afford them, so it will be scrappy eating this month, but better that than scrappy eating and constant pain. Make sure you have comfortable clothes to change into that are attractive enough that you don't feel like a total schlep. I never feel good when I feel unattractive. Drag your butt in the kitchen, make the coffee for the morning, and have your meds ready. Mornings are 99% hell, especially when you are going it alone, so do what you can to ease the pain. I remember asking my rheumatologist what I was supposed to do, when "they" had officially deemed me disabled and I have never forgotten her response: "when you feel bad, rest and try to take care of yourself, when you feel good, enjoy the day and get ready for when you will feel bad again".

I'm sure this sounds a little more than remedial, but when you are completely on your own you can't wait for someone to save you because it just ain't gonna happen.

You have to save yourself.
You can save yourself.

I do it every day.
Labels: chronic pain, fibro flares, fibromyalgia, living with chronic pain

posted by Francis Miranda, LLC @ 18:49 2 comments

Monday, September 24, 2007
Good Morning World!



If the mere thought of a morning person sets your teeth on edge, don't feel bad, you are not alone. The only reason I am ever up in the wee hours is because I couldn't sleep and never went to bed in the first place. That was the case this morning and instead of dragging around worrying about how many consecutive hours I have been awake and whether or not it will bring on a fibromyalgia flare--I got my shorts on and headed out for my walk. It was dark and that did give me pause, but I had my cellular and my big ole' "cop-light". It's one of those big, scary things that you often see the boys in blue lugging around. It takes eight d-cell batteries and is guaranteed to make any would-be assailant think twice. It also comes in handy helping me navigate potholes in the dark.(I just had a horrible mental image of me falling into a pothole or something and having to lay there until it was light and someone came along to help me out. Ewwwww)

Getting back to my original thought, I've been walking for over a month now and have lost almost 20lbs. In the beginning I was in so much pain I could barely manage more than a sad little shuffle of sorts, and those of you who have attempted exercise regimes in public before will know of the embarrassment that occurs when the little packs of super-blonde, super-skinny little women hit the roads with their friends and personal trainers (*gag), and you are there shuffling along like Tim Conway's little old man character on the Carole Burnett Show! It's just SAD, I tell you! I will spare you the discussion on blisters and the subsequent liberal application of duct tape.

I am here to tell you that there IS hope! I've persevered and every day it has became a little less painful as my screaming joints became reaccustomed to the jolting and repetetive movement. Actually that is one of several central themes around which this blog will revolve: Fibromyalgia sufferers generally have a very difficult time planning on participating in any regular event, especially exercise! IT HURTS, and you never know if the pain and fatigue will be such that leaving the house is impossible. In my case, I began to see where I was decompensating at a fairly rapid clip after my sixth back surgery last year, and it had really gotten so bad that it was very hard for me to even take my dogs out! It was the very real possiblilty of a wheelchair looming large in my future that forced me back into walking every day. Bearing that in mind--I'm not planning on being restored to my former good health, or that I will join the ranks of those fit little women who fly around the neighborhood in their Nike Airs every single day. I have Fibromyalgia, and I can't plan that far ahead. What I CAN do is go for a walk TODAY. I did just that, and I feel a good deal better for it.

If I let my mind run away with me, I'll be planning an intricate super-duper healthy diet, looking into adding weight-bearing exercises to strengthen myu core muscles, and signing up fo my first 5k as a remissing Fibro patient! Of course there would be film cameras there to capture my victorious crossing of the finish line! Now I do say all that in a facetious manner, but there IS some truth behind the humor: I ALWAYS jumped in with both feet, to everything I took on--and the very real truth is that now, I just can't do it. So where does that put me--somewhere between total immobility and depression because "I can't do anything!" and totally overdoing it and quickly becoming overwhelmed and overcome with various Fibro Nastiness--which will also land me right back in my chair, going nowhere.

What to do??? JUST GET THROUGH TODAY! That is the bedrock upon which this blog was conceptualized. Perhaps you can't walk any further than to the mailbox out in the hallway--so walk to the mailbox at the end of the hallway and feel good that you got moving! Take the dogs ten steps further out into the yard when they're being take out to potty, and then actually let yourself feel good about the fact that today you did one thing to help yourself live a little better with chronic pain and fibromyalgia.

*Remember, all you have to do is get through today--and you can stand just about anything for that short little time period, and like my Dad said "Tomorrow's a new day--but it's not here yet"! So do something about today, and the rest will take care of itself.
Labels: chronic pain, exercise, fibromyalgia, walking with fibromyalgia