Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia – it sucks. Just in case you don’t know what that is, I’ll explain it to you the best I can.

Fibromyalgia is described as a disorder of “chronic widespread pain” that, while sometimes secondary to some other disorder, it most often cannot be attributed to any other disorder or illness.

What does fibromyalgia feel like? Well, your bones and muscles ache all the time. Have you ever had body aches associated with a fever? That’s what it feels like. You can’t alleviate it. You’re just stuck with it and you learn to cope.

I’ve had days when the pain was so bad I didn’t feel like I could get out of bed in the morning. Prior to finding treatment to help me manage the symptoms I would sometimes sleep for days at a time and never feel rested.

Fibromyalgia is known to disrupt sleep patterns. Most people who suffer from fibromyalgia never get that important REM sleep. We wake up in the morning feeling just as tired as we did when we went to bed. The focus of the entire day is just looking forward to the end of the day where much coveted sleep awaits. The morning always comes too soon.

Sleep is very important to successful management of fibromyalgia. The lack of sleep flares the symptoms. The flared symptoms make it difficult to sleep. What you end up with is a vicious cycle of poor sleep and pain. The sleep and pain feed off one another and each causes the opposing symptom to worsen. So, you’re in pain and you’re unbelievably tired and there’s no end in sight.

Today is what I call a “Fibromyalgia Day”. I’m tired. I’m irritable. I hurt. It’s one of those days when I don’t want to be touched. Even a hug hurts. What I want more than anything is to be home where I can take a muscle relaxer, climb into bed and cuddle with my dog.  Oh well.