Holy hell I feel like Death! Winter sucks!

General
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Holy smokes, I woke up this morning with an unbelievable cough that escalated to a dry chest cough, all over body pain added to my already horrible flare up, a headache, stomach pain and shivers all over like I have to scratch myself all over. . . .I admit I went out over the weekend and may have left my coat in the car while we went into the club. . but us Minnesotans do not like to wear coats even in 11 degree weather plus I never have to wait in lines at a club so I assume I will be fine but boy was I wrong. I feel like death. . .times three hundred!

I have been going through a horrible flare up over the past few weeks that has kept me in a lot of pain, more than I am used to being in. I have even reduced to taking meds and I do not like to take meds but these muscle relaxers that I am getting from a friend because I have no damn doctor to prescribe me any has been doing somewhat of a good job.

I have a doc appt with the hand specialist as both of my wrists has progressed for the worse and I can't even apply simple pressure to pick myself up from the bathtub. I have to go back into PT which was very helpful for those twelve weeks that I went.

I feel like death though and it's my mother's birthday on the 5th so I do not want to be in pain as I endure emotional pain and grieving on that day. I just wanted to vent before I attempt to go to sleep to which I have not been able to do in about 2 weeks now. I have been up to about 6am sleeping til about 1 or 5pm in the afternoon. I have gotten off my pattern and need tp get back on it before classes start on the 14th.

*SCREAMS. . . so much effing pain*

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Awwww, Mo, so sorry that you are going through this. I don’t know if it is related to not wearing a coat. Have you been doing too much with the holiday season and all? I have and it kicks my butt some days. And my symptoms have been worse despite the pain meds cuz I am doing way too much and pushing my body to its limits. I hope you feel better soon. Take it easy for a while! That’s doctors orders. LOL

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You are so right. . .I should have worn my coat but I thought my blazer and scarf were enough now all 5 of my friends and I are ill. . .stupid us!!

I've been sad and missing my mom very much as 11/11/11 marked one year already which was hard to believe, then christmas and thanksgiving. . .now her birthday!!

Thanks for the support!!

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my flare up has been happening over the past month. I have been going out with my friends who keep me out til about 5am and I know damn well I need to sleep so now my sleep pattern is all off and the pain is surging. . .I tried to hang in there and spend time with the girls before classes started but I told them that I just can't do it. . .half understand and the other half are too self absorbed to care.

I will not be pushing myself to the limit anymore this year. . .I must focus for school.

Thanks for the support!

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Hello Mo, I think the others have stressed the wear your coat angle so I won't say anymore on that. Have you tried hot baths? It sounds like you were chilled to the bone. Warm moist heat of the bath tub usually will do the best to warm you inside and out. I think the stress of trying to keep up with your friends adds to your flare that and your sleep cycle being disrupted. Wonder how your diet has been lately? I know I have had pet sitting jobs since November where I stay in the peoples home and the pets sleep with me just as they would with their owners. Talk about disrupted sleep! But anyway I have been doing that pretty regularly Nov.-Dec. I got worn out and stressed also with Christmas so I am in a pretty bad flare, the worst I have had for a very long time and still not over it.

I am so happy for your plans to take classes. That is a goal I could never set for myself

I haven't lost either of my parents yet, but I can imagine how hard this will be for you, and right around the holidays too. You will be in my thoughts and prayers as you go through this time. May God comfort you and give you peace during this time.

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Yes it do! December and most of January are the worst for me too! I usually end up in bed for a month in a half!

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Mo, you sound like you've caught on h#ll of a cold, in addition to having a flare. Please, please go to a doctor if it doesn't get better, because you could wind up with pneumonia. I'm so sorry that you're feeling so poorly, what with your mom's birthday coming up and the holidays just past. It's gotta be h#ll to go through your mom's birthday without her. I can't help but wonder if your big time flare isn't due to your stress and those bottled up emotions inside. Emotions can be incredible bears. You think you're working through them or are even past them and then BOOM they hit you like a ton of bricks again. Are you able to talk to your sister about your mom and your feelings about her passing? I would think it would help you a lot if the two of you could talk about it. Not talking about stuff tends to make it fester and become worse, in my experience.

Wow, not wearing a coat in a Minnesota winter? I'm freezing just thinking of the idea, because I know your winters are FAR worse than ours in Massachusetts, and ours are bad enough. When I visited Chicago, I noticed that some folks even kept their coats open, despite the awful cold so I guess we're the wusses in Massachusetts, eh? But Mo, since you've got fibro, you do need to learn to care for yourself more now or else you'll not only end up sick as a dog from the weather but also flaring again. Now you need to be the mother of yourself. Be good to yourself, Mo. I'm sure that you're in so much pain from the loss of your mom, but you need to be good to yourself. Life will be so much worse and more miserable if your not, even without fibro.

Please take good care of yourself during your classes' lull. You need down time and probably a prescription for the illness. And some PT and to see a doctor for the wrists.

Take it easy, kiddo. You deserve it.

Concerned,

Petunia

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Hi Mo - I really feel for you! I went on Christmas day to spend time with friends. Several hours before, a flare-up was

starting to hurt me. My trigger points were just 'screaming' for me to settle down and take it easy, About two hours into

the party - I was so tired and achy, I started to withdraw from all the activities that were going on around me. I couldn't

stay at the party anymore and I left to go home. I didn't even thank the hostess for having a party, and this isn't like me

at all. By the time I got home, forearms, shoulder blades, the chest area and hips were really flared up. I was just a mess!

A lot of anger was there too, as I have to work 'around' the Fibro.. If I don't pay attention to what my body is going

through, I always pay the price. It think I have allowed the Fibro to take control of me. For this New Year, I plan to

be more aggressive with doctors and specialists in the hopes that I can eventually lead a fairly normal life. I have

lived with all this pain since I was in my 30's. I will be 63 soon, so that's a long time to be in chronic pain. I can't plan anything for the future as the Fibro is pretty unpredictable at times.. I have another flare - up coming on now. I get

so tired of this - but I have accepted it. What I don't have to accepted is living with this chronic pain every day.. My

doctor has tried different anti-inflammatories, but I don't seem to respond to then. I am in the process of doing a 'trial

and error' on on some new meds that have come out. Years ago, I responded to Celebrex very well, my insurance won't

pay for it anymore. So this made me very apprehensive. Of course, the Fibro fog is pretty bad too. The best I can do

at this point, is to be patient with myself and try so keep my stress level as low as possible which I am not too

good at, especially if I am in pain.During the day, the pain lightens up somewhat. It's bedtime that I dread, because

I really feel the pain. Night after night, no sleep. The worse is getting up in the morning. I am so stiff and totally

off balanced, I bump into anything and sometimes I have to put a hand against the wall, in order for me to walk

straight. When I go out in public - I am a little anxious, because I am thinking people must think I am drunk!

I am so happy to be on this website. I's great to know that I am getting support and advice. Thank you all! Laurie

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I hear ya 101% Mo! I wish I could move. This 8 months of suffering from cold and unable to get out, has destroyed my life.

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Thanks. . . .My diet has been horrible!! I barely eat some days and when i do I feel ill afterwards. I mean I literally feel like the worst shat ever!!! The bath did something as I woke up this morning feeling SOMEWHAT better, still have a migraine, still feel unbalanced, back hurt and fibro pain is intense but I don't feel like the death I did last night.

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Winter usually isn't this bad for me and it's not even as cold as it could be for us here but I am in so much pain, grrrrr. The summer is worse, all the hot and sticky weather drives me up the damn wall!! I just need to live in rainy weather all year round and I will be fine.

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Hey Petunia,

Yes this feels like a horrible cold. I am so angry for getting sick because I rarely do. Us Minnesotans are so used to the snow that wearing a coat doesn't even come to mind sometimes. especially if we are in the car or valeting. Not an excuse it's just what I am used to doing so sometimes I don't think about it and literally dress warm enough to be without a coat for about 10 mins outside max, we are crazzzzy! LOL

I've been crying a lot while missing my mother so I know that depressive funk has interfered with my sleep and my fibro and my diet. My sister and I talk sometimes but she annoys me so much with her irresponsible nature that we end of arguing as we used to do.

I will be okie doke once this week pass, I just wish I could clean my apartment! It looks like a tornado came thru here!!

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I know exactly how you feel laurie. The pain has been getting so worse for me but I have learned to deal with it and accept that I have to live my life around it.

We are glad you found this website too!!

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Yeah I have been searching and dreaming for moderate weather places to live. I found Cuenca Ecuador (there are more Americans and Canadians there than Ecuadorians, and it looks just like an American town with all the luxuries) and Hawaii, Aruba, and the West Coast of Canada,Washington and Oregon.Moderate weather year round, but it takes health and money to move, and I hate to leave my family.

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Hi Mo - I emailed you yesterday. On top of all you are going through, now you catch a cold! Do you know the old saying,

'If life were a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits??' This seems to by my motto when I am down and out with my Firbo. You need to take it really easy, Mo, when you have flare-ups I've learned NOT to push through my flare-ups. when

they occur. In between the flare-ups, I still have pain, but can still function. I've talked to a lot lot of people that have Fibro and Fibro fog. They are all poor sleepers. One of the reasons we sleep, is to get the body to restore itself so it can be ready the next day. Fibros don't have this opportunity. My heart goes out to you and everyone else on this site who are suffering. It's a horrible thing to live with. Mo, I hope you are feeling better and I am so happy to see that you are a member of this website. I joined just a few days ago, and mentally, I feel SO much better being able to talk to someone.

Everyone understands what I go through and best of all, I am not judged because I am disabled. I had to retire about

7 years ago because of my Fibromyalgia. I would come home in so much pain, I couldn't stand it. I posted a title here

on 'working around the Fibro'. In other words, every day is unpredictable as far as how I am going to feel. But good to

yourself, Mo.and......dress warmer when you go out!! (Smile), Hope you feel better! Laurie

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My sister lives in St. Croix where there temperatures average 77-87 all year. Their record low is 69! I have also been thinking of Belize and am trying to talk a friend into going with me. A girl can dream, no? Fantasies are positive thinking!

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Oh Mo, I am so very sorry for all that you are going through. Unending pain just wears us down and often drives me to tears. It destroys our defenses and leaves us feeling very miserable and helpless. I would suspect you learned your lesson about needing to wear your coat. But that doesn't undo what has already happened.

I am praying that you will be able to sleep and sleep and restore your body from the suffering from pain.

Love and gentle hugs

Rachel

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ohhh MBP-P if i could just win a lottery. SO JEALOUS!

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Hugs to you. I'm very sorry you're having so much trouble. I don't know why, but this flare up has been worse for me than any I've had in recent memory. I hope we both feel better soon.

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Laurie, I got tears in my eyes as I read what you had written. It was just a picture of me. I'm not happy that you are going through this same thing, it makes me sad really but when you wrote about having to work your schedule around the fibro. That has been the same thing I have had to do, and it makes me MAD. I make make commitments at church or for any of the holiday get togethers. I am beyond caring about what people think about my walking and bumping into things, but what I hate is that I can no longer carry on an intelligent conversation with out having to stammer around and stare blankly when I lose the words I was wanting to use and then forget entirely what I was talking about. Thank you for sharing.

Terri