I’ve spent most of this week in fibromyalgia flare denial. But the tell-tale roaming muscle aches and spasms, the stabbing take my breath away jabs, the unable to form sentences or the inability to find the words I want to say attacks, and the overwhelming fatigue can’t be denied.
Today, I’m on the downward slope of a five day flare.
I’ve managed to keep my fibro under control for two years, and I’m fairly successful containing it with exercise and diet.
However, I’ve had right foot ailments, sesamoiditis and bursitis, since February, and I’m three weeks out of an orthopedic walking boot. My body is a wreck from walking misaligned for two months. My back is so stiff that a surfer could ride a gnarly wave with it. My left hip, a rusted shut nut and bolt, feels like Tim the Toolman Taylor is ratchet socket wrenching it unsuccessfully and brutally every time I take a step. My foot is mending, thank God, but my altered gait and the accompanying out-of-whack pain is definitely a flare-up offender.
The second offender is the hit to my mobility. Normally, I can walk to keep the fibro pain at bay, but that’s impossible with a swollen big toe and an inflamed bone and fluid sac in the bottom of my foot. I normally average about 11,000 steps a day, but I rarely topped 5,000 during my boot stint–sometimes only hitting the 2,000 step mark. It seems counterintuitive, but the less fibromyalgia sufferers move, the more they hurt. And my body has declared anarchy because its walking rights have been violated. I’m hitting my average again, but the struggle and the pain sidecar has me feeling like I’m taking two steps forward and three steps back literally and figuratively.
Thirdly, my stomach is a disaster because of two rounds of prednisone and sundry anti-inflammatory drugs. Both are hard on tummies anyway, and often fibromyalgia sufferers don’t tolerate medicines well, experiencing side effects from them more strongly than other people do. I am no exception. My body abhorred every single prescription NSAID I swallowed and a couple locked my gut up tighter than Fort Knox. Ultimately, too many meds scalped my digestive track raw. When my stomach gets pissed for longer than a week, I know a fibromyalgia flare is in the future. The medicine has aggravated my IBS, too. As a matter of fact, about 70 percent of fibromyalgia sufferers also have IBS (citation here). A parasitic symbiotic relationship, the two chronic illnesses are inextricable in my case.
To finish, the previous three factors make sleeping challenging, and with fibro, lack of sleep makes everything: So. Much. Worse.
I haven’t had to take a fibro day off from work in years. But twice this week, I didn’t know if I could physically make it to work, but I did. I only sucked it up because we’re in the middle of state testing.
I am feeling more myself today, and eventually all flares end.
Like I’ve said previously, I’m not writing to complain. I’m just writing to vent.
And as always, it only remains invisible if we don’t discuss its existence.
11 thoughts on “Fibromyalgia Flare Friday”
stoner on a rollercoaster
O My God. I have autoimmune too and been on steroids for 2.5 years..i know..
Hope you get well soon.
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Mrs. Ram Jam
2.5 years! So long! Which autoimmune disease do you suffer from? Thank you.
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stoner on a rollercoaster
I have a pseudo tumor.
Yes so long with immuran and cellcept. Immunosupressant therapy
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Mrs. Ram Jam
I didn’t know pseudo tumors were a thing! That’s terrible. Hopefully your meds do offer you some relief/
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stoner on a rollercoaster
I have been on meds.
given radio therapy
had a biopsy (it was pretty much a small surgery)
now going for a big surgery..
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Invisibly Me
Eugh, what a crappy time, I’m so sorry you’re having it so rough.
I know I can’t make things any better physically, but I just wanted you to know I wish I could! Sending love and hugs your way – really do hope things pick up to your ‘norm’ again soon. xx
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Mrs. Ram Jam
Thank you!
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Kellie
What are you doing diet/exercise wise? My doc thinks I heat have an autoimmune dis see with all of the pain, fatigue, and other issues I’ve had the past 2 years. She suggested an autoimmune diet recently, but with 3 kids at home, I haven’t had the energy to start.
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Mrs. Ram Jam
I’m wheat free and low salt all the time. The only dairy I eat is cheese (infrequently), and I should really cut it out too. Exercise has been a struggle recently because I’m getting over a foot injury, but I am walking almost 10,000 steps again daily. I’ve heard great things about keto, paleo, and wheat belly, and I’ve attempted all three at some point, but it’s really hard to maintain living in south Louisiana. You almost have to cook from scratch every single time you eat with any autoimmune diet. It’s. So. Hard. To. Keep. Up.
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Beverly
I feel your pain sister! I’ve had fibromyalgia for about twenty years now, even though it took quite a few years to be diagnosed. I am feeling terrible right now (summer in the South) and I now have plantar faciitis and arthritis in my right foot. I’ve tried everything under the sun, but no relief.
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Mrs. Ram Jam
Oh no! I feel so much worse in the Summer too! The sun, heat, and the humidity really do a number on my fibromyalgia. I try really hard to avoid outdoor activities and soak up the AC during the summer months in the South. Hopefully the fall gives us both a little relief!
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