Hi Elana, Hi AussieMom, thanks for the warm welcome!
I’ll start on your personal note, cos I like being “personal” too, and then give you a bit of an intro and an update on me. You could then decide if starting new threads on topics I bring up may be more helpful than keeping it here.
To tell the truth I was waiting for something practical to react to here, which is what I usually do on forums, but it didn’t really happen, so I haven’t really found what I was looking for up to now, but maybe you can take someone who really writes a lot if demand & reactions are there.
I do like your friendly atmosphere and the structure / navigation, old and improved.
But AussieMom now your 2nd welcome after your early reaction comes parallel to the urge I just had waking up after a good night to at least answer your welcome Elana and see where we go from there. 
I like that!
I have so many ideas already for my various pains and the Big Ache, that answering and by doing so developing my ideas further seems more helpful to me than starting a new post, but perhaps maybe I should do that. But I’ll try your update-suggestion AussieMom first.
OK, let’s keep personal first: I’ve always been interested in all arts, but music, paintings & drawings & modern art, sculpture, architecture is what I’ve kept up, although I do still theoretically like literature, poetry, theatre and the occasional film, there’s just no time in my life for it, as with more in a wide range of interests. Now I’ve been in a full flare of fibro for a year I have had to wean it down even more, despite not being able to work, but I’m glad to say I’m managing to make music again with keyboad, singing, using my mac and always enjoy the 20 amateur paintings I’ve bought and keep changing around. Most of my music is very complex, mixing electronic, progressive and partly classical. I’m on soundcloud as jayceason and one of my more easy to digest pieces, Weather Turns, a 20 min. improvisation, is now being used with a nice pic or video on youtube as relaxing music by 4 youtubers. Two of my newest pieces describe this strange new condition & life too… “PainStaking - 20 Facets” and (not finished yet, but up): “Sky-Diving (dedicated to: Fibromyalgia)”
OK: My fibro-update. The 50+ treatments that have and haven’t worked for me are all listed in my profile. I’ve just been in a rheum. clinic, which didn’t help at all, and (half-)wanted to go into a pain clinic, just in case, which the insurance didn’t want to cover, they said 2 days before it was due, to which I’ve entered in an objection.
After 10 months my employer is understandably subtly putting the pressure on to go back to work or early retirement. So I’m going to try slowly in one month and have been getting in contact to try to make the conditions as helpful as possible. One of two major problems will be to not get carried away, because I do enjoy working, but my body isn’t really up to it, except when I can organize things for my colleagues for 2 hours a day via mail from home, which I’ve been doing for fun despite sick leave the last month; I’m trying to train this, having realized it’s making me crash already. Having said that, maybe I should go there for only one hour tomorrow and try to cope with that.
The other is the coldness everywhere, due to there being a lot of people, meaning a lot of CoV-airing, and the temperature here going down to 10-15°C outside. My ideas: heating pads (probably electric not hot water bottle), long johns, 2 thick jackets, 2-3 scarves, keeping moving as much as possible, perhaps exercises, cold showers (I’ve asked for a shower-key…), if necessary warm before. My CoV-ideas: wearing a medical mask as much as possible, which I don’t really mind. I was thinking of using sneeze guards, big/wide and mobile, but I don’t think they’re effective enough, even though I would get them paid. But how do I talk to a lot of people? I can write things to do on the computer/beamer and shout thru the mask 
…
OK and on the physical level: These new developments plus the cold that’s come up is making my whole body cryotherapy less effective, although my cold showers thankfully are still helping and especially helping me sleep, as I’m testing more and more. I’ve had quite a few really tough days & nights, because of new challenges, including a meridian treatment by my acupressurist which my body unfortunately didn’t agree with at all. I’m hoping to get the cold showering and the breathing exercise down to a fine art, feeling when best to use them, but at the moment I just realize that I should do them more, maybe 3x a day at least, for the Big Ache, Quick Exhaustion and Tiredness. And for sleep I’ve started 10% CBD oil, because the application for THC isn’t coming thru and I’m wary of it anyway. CBD seems not to be detrimental as yet, but I am very tired all day after getting a lot of sleep. Plus I’ve discovered the old tricks of arnica cream and hot water bottle for all the remaining pains in my back and joints at day and especially night, which has been working a treat for a week now, so I’m hopeful. My acupressurist has only managed to get my neck and lower back pains down for a few hours up to a day, but this is working better now. For my thoracic back I this morning just placed my small hard spelt cushion directly under it, and got it down. Now I’ll do my morning back exercises, some ‘yoga’, and the 7 min. scientific workout, then later table tennis, which is only possible because of 5-10 minute breaks between the 4 games and my mate picking up every ball… O.o (oh yeah: that plus cycling, gym machine workouts, and if I could: lively dancing (mainly to electronic music) also belong to my passions).
I’ve had a doc break now because of the pain clinic not happening, but Friday to Wednesday my blood vessels, lip biopsy pre-talk, teeth and kidneys need to get further looking into.
Any questions?
My first one would be: I’m taking 3x3mg drops of CBD oil in the evenings, which seems OK for a start - where should I try going from there? But maybe that’s something a new thread?
