Fibro/chronic pain/chronic fatigue

[Maudie]

Hello everyone,
I've had a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue since I had a complete hysterectomy 10 yrs ago! I believe now that I've had this since I went through puberty! My father suffered chronic pain & fatigue also & experienced many of the symptoms I have now developed! We didn't have a diagnosis for him but feel in retrospect he had fibromyalgia! I have now discovered I have a young cousin with Fibromyalgia & she is 17! I feel my fibro is getting worse re pain, fatigue & all that goes with fibro. I'm nearly 57 & feel like 107 at the moment! ! I don't like complaining & this is the 1st time I have joined a forum. I live in Melbourne, Australia & to find a Dr that deals with Fibromyalgia is extremely hard or their fees are beyond what I can afford! I'm limited in the no of hrs I can work & I try to live a healthy life with moderate exercise! I'm at my wits end at present!

 

[1sweed]

Hello and welcome to the forum. It is not hard to reach ones wits end with fibro. The pain and fatigue plus other symptoms can become unbearable and drive you crazy with worry or give you a fogged up brain. The best thing to do is sharing with others and learning how to manage the symptoms in ways that reduce the stress and show that relaxing more can improve your life.

Please ask questions and give other's answers and make yourself at home throughout the forum. I look forward to getting to know you through reading your posts. See you around...........

 

[Maudie]

Hi 1sweed, thank you for your warm welcome to this forum! I really appreciate it. On re reading my post I sound rather negative & that is not usually me. I have had a flare up of late & found it difficult to manage it however I'm managing by pacing myself & listening to my body!
I'm in the midst of applying for disability support pension as I can only work between 8-14 hours a week, most of the time it's 11hrs & I work at Curves Fitness for Women which I love! I want to work but have a limit before it affects my ability to think & perform well! I exercise but my capacity has diminished enormously & I've been at Curves for nearly 10 years! I lead a healthy lifestyle! I do have a husband who is ill with heart disease & he suffers from recurring cellulitis from a white tail spider bite he got about 15yrs ago. He's been hospitalised on 4 occasions this year so that doesn't help my stress levels! He is on the improve at the moment!
I hope you are well & managing,
Cheers,
Maudie xxx

 

[1sweed]

Your very welcome. It is not hard to have negative feelings in dealing with fibro and the ways it limits our lives. I am over doing at this time in trying to move, plus care for my mother at the same time. It is like a balancing act as the house we are moving into is filled with stuff of hers and so I am trying to clean out her house to make room for my stuff and my family is not as helpful as I need them to be. My mind shifts from chores here and there, and I feel like I am going in circles.

So I guess in a way we are all in the same boat just doing what we can the best we can, and hoping we live through it. My shoulders ache and my legs are weary from fatigue, but somehow must find strength tomarrow to keep going. There I go on a rant but I have a feeling you understand. Hope you had a good day.

 

[Maudie]

Hi 1sweed, how right you are about the negative feelings however as you have said it's a juggling act to get everything done! Moving & all that entails & caring for your Mum (that's how we spell Mom in Aus!) is very stressfull under any circumstances. Going in circles is often the feeling I have when trying to get a task accomplished & meet deadlines! I wish you all the best with your move & caring for your Mum.

We are all in the same boat doing the best we can & I get it when we start to rant about how we feel. I have a good friend who has fibro from having lupus & when we get together it's rather funny as I'm sure if others heard us they would think we were competing for the one who can name as many & varied issues with our bodies!

I'm off to the football tomorrow at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne which is about an hour by train from where I live, (Australian rules football) asmy team that I follow (North Melbourne, Kangaroos) is playing! I'm going with a friend I haven't seen for nearly a year so am looking forward to this! Just hope I manage to sleep a little tonight, there you go the start of a rant! I'm actually taking it easy today. Look forward to hearing from you again & you have a good day when you wake. Xxx

 

[1sweed]

Thanks for sharing and i am glad your getting an outing to watch football. I am not much into sports but my younger brother is a big sport fan. I had a really bad day, which had started out very nice until a relative made me feel worthless because I am not working. In her eyes taking care of my mother 24 hours a day is not work. I was stunned by her hateful talk and it ruined my day. So I am kind of down in the dumps tonight and then I read your friendly post and felt a lot better.

Hope to continue talking with you.

 

[Maudie]

Oh 1sweed, I'm sorry you have copped that from a relative, they clearly don't know what work really means nor do they know what it entails to go to work & keep up with all household duets & then look after your Mum, if they also had fibro on top of that they wouldn't cope! Just so frustrating to get a decent level of acceptance by people who should know better!
Unfortunately I woke up with a migraine & couldn't go out to the footy, I feel a little better now & am just resting! I was going to catch up with a friend that I haven't seen for 12mths so hopefully can reschedule soon!
Look forward to continuing corresponding with you, keep your chin up! Xxx :smile:

 

[1sweed]

Maudie,
I am sorry you could not go and I hope you feel better soon. I took a day off and mum and I took stuff to recycle and then I got a idea to go for a country ride. But where to go? I remember one very good friend who lives about six miles out in the country and called her. Luckly she was home and invited us out for the afternoon. We talked and laughed at her husbands jokes and then we talked privately and prayed together for the way to deal with relatives and strength to go on. It was a good day and I feel better but also tired out.

I need to make some pickles and get them canned and hope I can do it tomarrow. Before when I moved I was all organized and this time I am a mess and not even packed up. I just haul things up a dish or two at a time and feel like I will never get it done. Life is dragging me down these days and I hope that I can get my friends to help me more in the coming days. Thank you for listening. It is so nice to make new friends that understand how much fibro hurts.

Look forward to your reply.

 

[Maudie]

Hi 1sweed,
Thanks for your reply! That must have been a much needed outing in the country with your Mum, I'm glad that you were able to talk & pray about the situation with your relative. Having faith is immeasurable & certainly helps with having fibro!

It has taken till late this evening for my migraine to lift, thank God! Do hope you are feeling more comfortable with all you are dealing with at the moment. Doesn't matter that you're not organised at present, cut yourself some slack & you will get there by pacing yourself!

On a completely different note, I have been meaning to tell you that we have travelled to the USA on two different occasions & loved your country! I would love to come back at some point & spend more time on the East coast! We flew from London after a wonderful European tour (2006) to NEW YORK & after spending a fabulous week there we flew to San Jose & spent time there & in San Francisco before driving to Los Angeles & back to Australia! In 2010 we travelled with our two daughters (then aged 20 & 18) & drove from LA to Las Vegas over the Rocky Mountains to Denver then onto New York down to Washington DC & through Memphis (yes, went to the home of Elvis, was fab) onto Nashville down to Dallas on our way to Waco in Texas (this is where Curves International is!), we then drove onto the Grand Canyon & back to LA & home to Australia again! It was an amazing trip all done in 35 days!

Now that I've ranted I had better go & get some shut eye! Cheers for now! Maudie xxx

 

[1sweed]

Hi again. You have certainly visited more states, then I have in the US. I have been out west once and spent a lot of years in Florida, before coming home to Pennsylvania. I love the weather up here even with the snow and cold. I was going to ask you what the weather is like in your country? Does it ever get cold or is the weather mostly warm?

This week and next is time for me to move out completely and I hope I get it done. Glad your feeling much better headache wise. Migraines are the worse type of head pain. UGH!

 

[Maudie]

Hi again. You have certainly visited more states, then I have in the US. I have been out west once and spent a lot of years in Florida, before coming home to Pennsylvania. I love the weather up here even with the snow and cold. I was going to ask you what the weather is like in your country? Does it ever get cold or is the weather mostly warm?

This week and next is time for me to move out completely and I hope I get it done. Glad your feeling much better headache wise. Migraines are the worse type of head pain. UGH!

Hi there, I'm off to work in the morning to open Curves by 6am so need to get up at 4:15 so I have plenty of time! It's hard to relax enough to sleep the night before however I only do this once a week as I don't think I could manage any more!

The weather here can get extremely cold in winter but little snow except on the Alps & they are in a couple of different places on our east coast! The furtherest away would be 3 1/2hrs away! I have been in America when it snowed & it was messy but very beautiful! We also get extremely hot summers with the threat of bush fires!

Well the time has come for me to go to bed!
Cheers,
Maudie

 

[1sweed]

Maudie,
I am sorry to not have answered you back sooner. I am finally moved lock-stock, and barrel, as they say into my mothers house. I just crammed my stuff in as the house was terribly full of stuff, but my dead line to get out of the rental was Sept 1. I made a living room into the bedroom and a dining room into a living room, and the kitchen remained as it was. My rental had lots of cupboard space but this house had hardly nothing. It has been a real nightmare trying to get organized.

Plus the move mixed up my mom who is mixed up anyways. So I have been racing in circles until today. Today we both slept late and watched a movie, then had lunch together, and then I blanched a bunch of corn and tomatoes, and bagged them up for the freezer. I also made one jar of dill pickles for fun. I had lots of stuff for my compost pile.

But I have not forgot you and would enjoy chatting some more with you. Till then I hope your having good days.