Good morning, all. I'm new to this site, but not new to fibromyalgia. I was diagnosed when I was 21, I'm now 25. Both my parents were diagnosed with it when I was in my teens, as well.
I had been keeping okay up until a few weeks ago when I started getting very, very lackadaisical about my self-care. Kind of reached a point where I was thinking, "It still hurts no matter what I do, so why bother?"
Well, this week, that "why" has hit me with the worst flare I've had in ages. Being now stuck in my house until I get some energy back, I've had plenty of time to think about which of my triggers I've been engaging with, and well:
sugar? check. excessive caffeine? check. total lack of physical activity? check. followed by excessive activity? check. junk food binges? check. alcohol? check.
It's weird, it's as if I've suddenly gone into denial about having fibro at all over the last few weeks and been living as if I can do whatever I want and get off scot-free. Well, I can't, and I haven't, and now I've got a lot of bad habits to break (again) to get back on top of things.
I'm frustrated as always that I can't just live my life however I want, and that I constantly have to make allowances for the fibro. But this has made me determined to get back on top of things again and live the best life I possibly can, despite the fibro. I know that if I consistently avoid all of my triggers I can feel so much better than I do now. Nothing will make it go away completely, but if I exercise proper self-care, at least I can make it tolerable.
I've never been part of a support group before, so this is new territory for me, but I think it's important for me now that I do connect with other people with this condition. I think I started pushing it out of my mind in the first place because I was fed up of reminding people I have it! As unpleasant as it is, this has taught me that I can't afford not to put my self-care first.
So! How are you today? What has been working for you lately? :)