Hi! How do you know if you’re having Fibro pain or Fibro flare? Almost every day I have severe pain somewhere in my body. Was diagnosed three weeks ago. Am I still having a flare? Yesterday the only place I had pain was my left knee, calf, ankle and foot. And it throbbed and hurt a lot! Today my whole body is in pain. I can barely drive a car,walk and do basic tasks. I saw my rheumatologist today, but forgot to ask him about this question. I’m trying to figure out what is normal for fibromyalgia or not. What is it like for you to have a flare or “normal” fibromyalgia pain? Thank you!
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Hi everyone is different it took me a while to figure out what my normal day was going to be like. There are days I have aches that tylenol will help and days the pain is horrible. I have found yoga and exercise will help
Your dr can prescribe physical therapy and they can show you things to do at home that will help. If you ever think something isn’t right see your de.
doctor sometimes my phone types what it wants to
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Hi, ya purplebutterfly is right. Everyone is different. You will come to realize what your “normal” pain is and then what your flare will be like. And also your flare may last a week and mine a month. You might have a flare that lasts a week one time and longer with your next flare. I was diagnosed a few months ago and I’m still realizing what is regular fibro and when im having a flare.
When im having a flare every symptom is magnified 1000% thenflare i had in May I was miserable. I would drag myself out of bed, i would have to take breaks when i was straightening my hair and putting on my makeup. And i hated to shower i would get out so exhausted. At work i would have to rest after writing my notes on patients, i would get home and inwould shower and go to sleep without dinner and wake up the next morning. I wouldnt text or call anyone bc it was just too tiring. My hands spasm, my feet hurt and are swollen as well as my hands. I could go on amd on…to me a flare is the most miserable, lonely, painful time of my life. Good luck on this journey of chronic illness. This support group will be very helpful to you i know bc it has helped me alot. You are in my prayers
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Hi Freedom, I agree a lot with AndreaV. Yes, everybody is different, evn it seems with the just symptoms alone. It took me a little while to understand the difference between my typical Fibro pain and flare-ups. I just thought it was all the same, even though as AV said, flair-ups are a LOT more painful. They drain me so much so that you can’t and don’t want to do anything. And it takes days or more to get back to your normal level of pain and discomfort. Even though the “normal” flair-up pain is tough to live and deal with, the flair-ups take it to a different place, at least for me.
Thank you for all your responses. I now have a better understanding of this disease. As I write this I am lying on my couch. My left knee down to my left foot are tingling, kind of burning and very much throbbing. It hurts to walk and nothing is taking away the pain. I don’t think this is a flare. I experience this and more every day. Almost two months ago I injured my left knee. ( small torn meniscus and ACL, sprained ACL, femoral condyle fracture). I think the Fibro is more severe there because of the injury. I’m not totally sure. Most days now I am able to do small tasks and drive my car. The fatigue is somewhat better. Oh, and my left lower leg is having sharp periodic pains today. Seems like every day the aches show up in different parts of my body. Throughout the day the locations even change. Tomorrow I see a neurologist just to make sure I’ve covered all my bases. To confirm it is really fibromyalgia like the rheumatologists have said it is. I’ve been a little sad yesterday and today. I guess the reality of all this is starting to sink in. I try to stay positive. I had a really tough year. Things were getting better. Life seemed to be moving forward and I could, for the first time in years, see hope and a future. Then about four weeks ago my life changed again. This time with physical pain. I hope I don’t sound like I’m feeling sorry for myself. I do have a lot to be grateful for. I’m going to go now and get some sleep? 
Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow!!!
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I also have Osteoarthritis, Osteoperosis, Diabetes and Breast Cancer. So most days I am in constant pain and I usually don’t know what causes it. I just pop anti inflamatories or pain meds or Gabapentin and try to move on in pain.
I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia two years ago and I thought I was constantly flaring, because of the non-stop pain. The past 4 days have been the worst. So I’m assuming I’m in a flare. I’ve had to drag my feet to move around and I’m not doing that much, because of the intense pain.
Everyone is right… You’ll eventually learn what your normal pain is like then a flare is when your symptoms get much worse for a period of time (a day or a few months!). My flares had been lasting a few days to a week… With my “9” on the scale flares being my worse and they have typically lasted less than 12 hours. But after getting a severe virus on Aug I’ve been in a constant pain flare for the last two months. The longest one over had in the ten years I’ve had fibro. I think at the beginning, when I was first diagnosed (I had it a year or so before I was diagnosed) I had high pain all the time… Don’t think I take noticed any flaring. Whether that has changed over time or I’ve just gotten more use to my pain and it’s not as horrible to me now…I can’t say.
I’m constantly in pain, the severity ranges from bearable to excruciating. The nights are the worst as I get stabbing pains in my hip and shoulders, the right side of my body’s pain is more intense. I was diagnosed by my rheumatologist about a year ago, but I think I’ve had it much longer. I also have osteoporosis and osteoarthritis and thought that my pains were caused by the arthritis. I could not tolerate the physical therapy, because my skin actually hurts, so I’m doing the water therapy, just started. Hopefully this will relieve some of the pains. I’m also always exhausted with no energy whatsoever.