Hey :)

[Cheryl Ann]

Hey All
This is the first time I've ever been part of a forum. This is the first time I have ever reached out for support for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue. I was diagnosed in April 2012. I have a niece with a slew of autoimmune diseases and 3 cousins with MS, each with different levels of severity. I guess that points to a genetic disposition to having some sort of autoimmune disease.
I decided to join this forum today because frankly, I am depressed and I had nothing but laundry to do today. lol Seriously, I do need friends who understand. I have people in my life who love me and its clear to me that they want to understand and be supportive but cannot handle my need to talk about my pain. It's called "whining" or "complaining".
Its so hard not to complain about what hurts now and I mean from moment to moment. I can hurt myself by lifting my arm to brush my hair. Geez! What's with that? I bend a knuckle and all of a sudden I have extreme pain. I sit for 20 minutes and when I stand up I walk as if I were 20 years older. Different pains come and go and come back again. I have good days but they seem to be getting farther and fewer in between.
After 10 1/2 hours of fitful sleep and 2 naps, today is a better day physically. Yeah for small victories!

 

[cmetryme]

welcome,
you will have the support you need here.

you have fatigue. the pains will only continue if you dont do what you need to get the healing sleep.

i want you to be aware about how the healing sleep works.

first it takes 2 hours of constant sleep to just begin working. if you awake after that, the process starts over. yes i mean 2 hours more and the healing will start again. so because you napped or say you slept for 10 hours. you didnt really get the healing sleep.

Fatigue causes pain.

you have a caring family and thats a really good thing. we all go through the family getting tired of the talking about your pains because they dont understand you have it all the time.

i want you to start by viewing my post called what is fibromyalgia. under general discussions.
this will tell you about the clothes pin technique for your family.

then i want you to see my post.
a family member has fibromyalgia what do i do.
this will help with the fatigue.
then the post called starting a daily log book and why it helps. this will help with the doctors, meds, pain levels and logging helps.

talk about your pains and issues here. start a new thread and say venting. you will find that helps a lot and will keep the family happy.

my family tells me about my moaning all the time. i have no idea that im doing it.

understand that your suffering is very hard on your family as they want you to get better and be the person you used to be.

well thats not going to happen. its a whole new you. you have to make the best of what you have now.

telling them all the time about your pain is making them feel bad. you think its what you said in your post. its not that really.
they cant help you. that hurts them. telling them about your pains just tells them they cant help you.

kinda like watching a burning house and you know a dog is inside and you cant do anything to help.
you want to.. you tell the fireman. but then it over.

i hope you understand.

we deal with this stuff all the time. we can help you get through your bad days. we want to hear about your good days.

befriend me and forgetmenot. we are here if you just need to talk in private message.

depression comes with the fatigue and fibromyalgia.
think of the good times you had with the family when this happens. get your mind off the pain.
keep moving as much as you can.

do as my three post say and you will have a better quality of life.

 

[Forgetmenot]

Welcome.were here for u ,we try our best to reach out to anyone that needs us. We get every word you say.we live your life lol.
So tell us more . What meds do u have .what have u found helps .
We're no experts so the more ppl talk the more we all learn x

 

[Cheryl Ann]

cmetryme, Thank you so much for your response. I don't know why it made me cry, perhaps just bc you responded or perhaps I can tell you understand. I will read the things you suggested. I tried keeping a journal of my pain each day but its so danged depressing that I quit. I have an appointment coming up with my rheumy in a week so I did list all the things I could think of that have been ailing me.
Thank you so much for your support. It means so much!
God bless.
Cheryl Ann

 

[Cheryl Ann]

forgetmenot,
Thank you so much for reaching out to me. I appreciate your kind support.
I am taking quite a few meds (let me get my list... lol)
Celexa (depression & anxiety),
Clobetasol Propianate Foam (diyshidrotic eczema - which I developed after I got FM),
Klonipin (RLS- which is also an autoimmune disease),
Cymbalta (FM),
Desonide Lotion (inverse psoriasis - which I developed after I got FM),
Estradiaol/Norethindrone Acetate (Hot Flashes - ugh! I think the FM was triggered by entering into menopause),
Gralise (FM),
Lialda (Ulcerative Colitis - for yrs I had not realized this was also a autoimmune disease),
Melatonin (Insomnia - which I developed after I got FM),
Mobic (FM),
Mirapex (RLS),
Propanolol (with hopes that it will help keep the tendons in my palm from thickening- which began happening after I got FM),
Voltaren Gel (inflammation),
Zafirlukast (with hopes that it will help with the angioedema - which I developed after I got FM).
plus 6 supplements

I would never want to go a day without the following FM meds: Gralise, Mobic, Cymbalta. I just know that I feel much worse if I don't take them.
Do you know of others that take these too?

There is also a heated pool (92 degrees) 20 minutes across town. I tried land physical therapy and I ended up hurting myself, so I tried water therapy and wow! what a relief! Its difficult for me to get there though right now since we're down a vehicle for awhile.

A friend keeps telling me I need to try yoga but I don't know how and I am afraid to teach myself something in which I may accidentally hurt myself. I already hurt enough, ya know?

Anyway, I want to say again that I appreciate your kindness and willingness to be a part of this forum.
God bless.
Cheryl Ann

 

[cmetryme]

Cheryl Ann

your friend is right. you see the water working.

its working your muscles. the thing that sends the messages to the brain to send pain.

i use a body blade(under $100)
one minute work outs. it works every muscle in the body slowly.

walking helps. dancing helps.
anything to work the muscles.

keep the log book. it will help you.
you cant treat some of it like venting.. if you tell it in the book, you dont need to tell it to the family.

keep coming here.. we will help and support you anyway we can.