A great explanation

I heard from a good friend an excellent explanation of what it feels like to have Fibro. She said it feels like you have been beaten all over with a hammer-everyday-over and over. That would explain the surface pain and muscle pain but still doesn't adequately describe the deep joint pain. I guess it depends on the force behind the "hammer beatings".
I have been accused of being a drug addict and laying around in a drugged stupor. This person only says this because they would prefer I do illegal drugs like Marijuana. I like to think of a saying I had posted in my room growing up. It said to "never judge a person till you have walked a mile in their moccasins". This saying is so true! You never know what a person is going through till you have been there, so dont even try. I thought about this persons accusations and I realized that the times I get sleepy are not from being overly medicated. It's the days I don't take some of my meds. The pain is so intense I become very tired just from trying to deal with it. Today I did not take my noon meds. I do struggle with fatigue from Fibro (or maybe I have Chronic fatigue) and I mistakenly think if I skip a dose of meds I might have a bit more energy. Today I wanted to get to some sewing after work. Well instead of more energy I was in so much pain I came home and fell asleep. When I woke up the pain was so bad it was difficult to get more than a shallow breath. It was like today's "hammer beating" took place while I was getting my much needed nap. My pain level even with meds is a 5 to 6. I would like a lower pain level but I am too afraid of the fatigue that may accompany it. Even though I have about one day a week that I fall asleep after work, I manage to make it to work 5 days a week and to church 1 day. I have managed with the help of my kids and roommate to keep our house clean. I have cleaned out the entire garage and the spare bedroom. I have since then cleaned out a storage building and filled the garage again but since I have unpacked an entire garage just before this I have faith I will get this one done as well. I had my entire Christmas decor put away by Jan 14th. This is a record for me. It used to take me till February even with help. I even had my friends come for the weekend last weekend. I have been exercising twice a day, and organizing every cupboard and drawer in my house. So in my opinion, I am doing fine, despite the hammer beatings, despite my pain meds that keep me out of ER, despite the cruelty of people who have not walked a mile in my moccasins.

What a difference the right meds can make

I have gone from mostly bedridden to an almost normal person. My pain had been increasing over the last 6 months and I had been telling my doc but I wanted to wait to increase meds because I was so exhausted all the time and I felt I would be even more tired. So I waited till it was starting to affect me at work. 2 months ago my doc and I decided to go ahead and increase my meds. It was rough for the first few days as any change in meds throws me for a loop, but by the third or fourth day I was making dinner and throwing a load of laundry in before going to sit on the couch. I wasnt even interested in bed till night time! I then realized the med that is supposed to last 12 hours was only lasting 8 so I started taking my breakthrough med after 8 hours. Now i was even better and this last appointment we added in another breakthrough med 4 hours after the first one, I am currently functioning the way I was in 2005. Which is able to be up doing light chores with some breaks on the couch till bedtime. I still have my days where I crash and take a nap on the couch but my pain for the most part stays in the 1 to 2 range. My fatigue did not increase it actually decreased. Depressing thing is there was an article in the American Journal of Medicine that pain meds do not work for Fibromyalgia and that most people on pain meds were low income, jobless, women that were addicted! I am none of these and pain meds have given me most of my life back, Being able to still do things with my husband and almost grown kids....PRICELESS.

Just imagine

Imagine pain that makes your entire legs, from the hips down through your calves, into the bottom of your feet that continues to worsen till you have to lay down.

Imagine pain in your back that feels like you have been shot, and the pain radiates through to the front of your chest as if the bullet broke into millions of fragments and came busting through. 

Imagine it hurts so bad you breath shallow and have to remind yourself to take a deep breath.

Imagine pain that the lightest touch feels like the hardest punch. And a friendly slap in the arm feels like you need a doctor.

Imagine a headache that is like a migraine, and the only thing that helps is a big bag of ice directly on it and an ice mask.

Imagine the pain is so bad you cant think and forget things, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. 

Just imagine......................Fibromyalgia Hurts!

Pre Diagnosis

My plantar fasciitis lasted for about 2 years and was healed through prayer but that's another story. The pain in my legs and hips increased every time I was up walking around. I would sit down and the pain would continue to worsen for about 2 hours then slowly get better. Then I noticed that my upper arms were painful to the lightest touch. Then my entire back was achy and eventually my upper chest would hurt. I would make it to end of work and then go home and crawl in bed. As time went on, the amount of time I could last shortened till I couldn't think after 2 hours at work. I started telling my doctor my symptoms and we tried aniti-depressants, muscle relaxants, sleep meds (because sometimes I couldn't sleep because of the pain) and a few pain meds as needed. Finally one day I took the pain meds every 4 hours and it was amazing. I actually was functioning at about 70 percent of normal. So I made an appointment with my doctor and showed her what I found out. She ordered scheduled pain meds for me, and amazingly I found I could work for 6 hours straight. Some days I would go straight to bed but other days I could even cook dinner, do dishes and laundry, before I ended up in bed. It was like getting a major piece of my life back.

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