How Bad Do You Get?

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This discussion is really for Fibromyalgia sufferers. I have had Fibro since my daughter was born 16 years ago. I thought it was bad when I was first diagnosed but it has gotten steadily worse over the years. Since my diagnosis, I have found others who have claimed to have the same diagnosis, yet they are able to do so much more than I am which leads me to think that there are variations in severity. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with Fibromyalgia, imagine arthritis in the muscles rather than the joints. When I have a flairup, I am totally crippled. I hurt, not matter what I do or what I take. I take Excedrin and hydrocodone and I am still in pain. It's the kind of pain that has a lot of heat in it...my whole body literally throbs and burns. My hands feel swollen, even if they aren't, my head aches, my back aches, my legs and arms ache and my hands feel like two lumps of hot coal. Do NOT ask me to do anything but moan and bawl all day when I get like this. What I am wondering, though, since I have found many others with Fibro on mylot, is this: How many of you are disabled due to your Fibro? How severe and how often are your flairups? How does it effect your lifestyle? And what do you do to cope? Have you found anything that helps? How would you feel about forming a support group? Any suggestions? Those of you who may not have Fibro but know someone who does, do you have problems understanding? Can we help you better understand the difficulties your friend or family member is having? This is such a hard thing to handle because most of us who develop Fibromyalgia have been active, vital individuals and suddenly we are wimps. The reason I got onto this today is because I have been writhing all day today. I am in the middle of a major flairup and have found no relief in any of my pain killers. I am actually in tears as I type this. I usually go swimming on Fridays but today I could not bring myself to get out of bed or put my swimsuit on much less actually go to the pool. I really look forward to my swims because the only time I am ever pain free thanks to my arthritis (of the actual joints) is when I am in the water. To top it off, my daughter hurt my feelings this morning by refusing to go with me to the pool. Normally that would not hurt me so much but due to my physical pain, I was emotionally hyper-sensitive so I broke into tears when she refused me. I think if she had been willing to go, I might have found the strength to pull myself out of bed despite my pain. OMG!!! I am really wallowing in self-pity now. I apologize. I really don't like to get this down and normally don't but today has been an exception. Anyway, so give me some feedback. Share your own experiences and suggestions. I really am needing to know that someone out there understands.