Thank you all for the replys. I feel pretty good this morning. I got off work Sunday morning and slept till sometime around 4pm, and got up ate. We went to a friends house to pick up a matress for 10 years old bed. Had to have the 13 year old to help me down the steps at our house because i was so stiff. But after I got moving some it was better. I have alot of errans today, but the 13 year old is already out of school for the summer, so she will be my helper today. We stayed up till 1130 last night getting everything ready. and right now she is washing a load of clothes. I told her that i wanted at least 2 loads done before we leave. It seemed that this week was really rough at work, not my work but my self. I think i worried my partner at work some. He takes care of me most of the time bring me coffee, heating up my lunch. (I can't leave my office in dispatch except to go to the restroom legal reasons) I'm going to have to work as long as i can. There is no way hubby can make anymore than he is making now. And im working on makeing our bills smaller. Also right now I have ins and hubby has me on his so my medical bills are low except the meds. Well we have to get ready now to go do our errans, it gets so hot during the day so were trying to go early.
I have been taking Dietary supplements that help with the immune system I started hem after reading an article about a lady in australia that wrote a book on her struggle with Fybromyelgia she was able to go back to go back to work after 9 years off due to fybro. she also was treating two underling conditions that I do not have. I have been working on better and steady walking for exercise and stretching stiff muscles "gently", and treating my IBS AND IMMUNE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS
I have miss placed the link to her book/ blog try to find the underling problems and treat them, use moderation asign work and do only what you can
IE WHEN MY HANDS GET swollen I do hand exercise for arthritis
oh if i told them that my 10 year old would have it the next day!!
Oh boy! Today was not so good. Had more errans today, did them which took 3 hrs, got back home told dd13 that i really needed to rest. She asked if she could lay with me till i fell asleep. So sweet. Really nothing has gotten done this week at home. I layed down around 130 i was asleep by 2 I felt dd13 get up and go into the living room. I try to not take ambien or my zanaflex to take naps. DH got home around 3 (he took off early to do some of his errans) took dd13 with him. They got back around 5 i guess he came in and turned on the light and woke me up!! Well when i woke up I had the pain were you could not touch anypart of my body :(( everything hurt and i started sweating. I got up and went into the living room to my chair but that only lasted about 5 mins. I walked around the house but ended up back in bed quick. Dh was on me about being in bed all the time, I tryed to expain that today and yesterday were really hard on me. I told him i was this close (....) to loosing it and being a crying babling idiot because i was in so much pain. I took my lyrica and two ultrams about 8 i noticed the pain was lighter. It seems that just a few months ago if i took anything stronger than an aleve it would knock me out for a few hours. But now nothing seems to work. I try not to take too much of anything because i don't want to be hooked on any meds. I'm sorry im just rambling. Thanks everyone for the replys!!
Hi Sandikay,
You are just exhausted, your body is trying to tell you that you just can't keep up with all of this! Others around you are just going to have to adjust to the fact that you are not well, have to rest! I know that is a tough one.
I understand your concern about getting hooked on meds, but I also understand that some meds are meant as 'maintence drugs', that means you take them every 8 hours (or as directed) to maintain that nerve pain. I am assuming that is what you take the Lyrica for, as that is what I take it for. As time goes by that will need to be increased a bit so that you can continue to maintain.
You are so young to deal with this, and children do not understand that someone can become ill and not be better in a few days. Even though there are a few men on this sight, I am going to say that they are the worst ones sometimes to try to get any sympathy or help from. They are used to us catering to them!!
I feel your pain, have you been tested on your blood work for any Autoimmune diseases?
I hope that things really turn around for you, I send my compassion to you in hopes that you will be well and happy.
SK
Thinking of you - I can understand what you must be going through. When it seems like the pain won’t stop even with the medication I don’t know what to do -
Take care of yourself! I hope you are feeling better today. 
Sandiekay,
You should look into disability. It is worth a try. You have the option to work partime (limited hours). I was reluctant for years because I did not know you have the option to work but that maybe a new thing. Being on disabilty has been a blessing for me. When you work there is the stress of not being able to pay bills or anticipate bad days. Before I was on disability I got a job where I had three day weekends. I worked 12 hour days like you. It helped a lot to have a schedule like that. I am still busy. I have a seven year old son and he is very understanding. I don't ask him to do laundry often or help with it but I realized today he needs to help. I plopped a pile in his arm to put away. He only put it on the bed. This will take time.
I agree with Dozer about looking into disability. I am currently on partial long term disability which means I work 30 hours a week (or how many hours the doc says I can work). The rest of my pay is partially covered by the insurance company. I have thought I was ready to go full time but then I have a flare up and I realize my limitations. It really is something for folks to look into and ask me questions if you have any regarding short and long term disability.
I agree, start the disability process because it takes a long time for a response. I applied in Nov. and I'm still waiting, so time is of the essence. They say it takes about 6 months in most cases. It is Very Important to have all your doctor reports and tests you have had, confirming your disability. It also helps if you have support letters from doctors, your boss, co-workers and friends who can support your claim. Yes, you can still work part-time, but as you know, you never know when you will feel up to working; it is hard to make a commitment. For me, after I take my medication in the morning, I feel like I can work a couple of hours in the morning, but by 2-3PM, that's it. You know your body, so you can only do what your body tells you, but you also need to rest. That is important. I know it's hard, but sometimes we have to force ourselves even if we have pain. Good luck to you.
Aloha,
I also can work until 2/3pm when I start feeling bad. It’s hard to get over the guilt of coming home and napping when my husband will come home hours later and he is ready for collapse. Also, my coworkers don’t understand why I leave early and there is resentment in the workplace. However, given these negatives I still think it is worth pursuing disability.
Sunflower: Please don't feel guilty. I can't believe your co-workers are resentful of you leaving early. When you are in pain, that's it, can't they see you are hurting, don't they have any sympathy? Luckily, my co-workers were very supportive and when they saw I was in such pain, they actually told me to go home and rest. My husband also is very sympathetic. He works 2 jobs and never complains if the housework is not done. I do what I can, when I can, and he understands. You have to try to explain your pain to them, although it is hard for people to sympathize with something they don't understand. Anyway, communicate your feelings, eventually they will get it.
Sunflower72 - I am sorry about the resentment in the workplace. You need to educate your coworkers. Perhaps you should let them see how much pain you are in - try not to pretend you are fine (I think we all tend to do that out of fear of rejection, ridicule, blame, etc.) Healthy people have NO IDEA how it's like having FM. I think even people with other illnesses do not understand FM and judge us. People with other illness may not have the relentless fatigue and other debilitating symptoms.
People 'brag"(the tone of their voice)about their back or knee pain to me and then tell me that we all have pain when we get older, but we just tough it out and keep going, implying that my pain can be toughed it out like theirs, without knowing how much pain I am in.
A lot of people pop strong pain killers and ignore the pain. FM people cannot do that sometimes. Meds don't always work and it's not just the pain we have to deal with. We need to raise more awareness of this dreadful condition, so we won't have to apologize and explain when we are not capable of doing things.
Aloha - I can't believe how long it takes to get disability. How are we supposed to do meanwhile? It makes me mad when I hear about healthy people scamming the system while people who really need it have to wait for a long time or worse, being denied. I don't know what it takes to change the system but it shouldn't be this way.
It is hard to to explain to people how it feels. I agree that people don't understand how painful we are. They probably think-if we are at work then it can't be that bad. Well if I don't go to work-I won't have a house to live in. My office manager has fibro (and lupus, raynauds) so she understands. She sometimes tell me to sit down in her office (I have to be on my feet all day) We find it funny when people call in sick with a headache or a cold. She even says that they wouldn't even begin to understand how bad we feel but still function.
I know- those people (who think we are exaggerating our symptoms)would whine loud about their cold/flu or a simple headache! I think everyone should call in sick if they are contagious, though. I tell everyone to stay away from me because I cannot physically afford to have a cold/flu with FM.
I am glad that you have an understanding manager!
Yes, it does take a long time because they are backed up with people scamming the system, but they have to investigate each case. That is why it is so important for you to continue going to your doctor and having all these medical reports and tests to submit to disability. I collected TDI for 26 weeks, then my husband had to get another job, that is how we survived. It's tough out there and you have to be strong to fight for your rights. Even if they deny you the first time, try again.
Hi,
I was expecting disability to take a long time and I do not know why but it only took me three months. It may depend on where you live and the social worker you have. I think it helped that I had documented my condition through the years and kept the names of all the doctors I went to. My boss was willing to go to bat for me as well. Just supply them with as much as information you can. Remember your bad days and list what you cannot do on those days. Good Luck.
Carol Ann,
I have no patience with people who want to say they have those problems too. I look them straight in the eye, list all of my ailments for the last few months and 10 years and ask them if they have had problems with those. That usually shuts them up. My brother pulled this on me once and I said, "you too had 3 herniated discs, pain in 18 points of your body daily, IBS, been confined to bed rest for a year ... should I stop there or provide the cat scans and xrays?" He was very embarrassed in front of his new girl friend. I thought she needed some insight into his character. I had a tough time convincing family and close friends for 6 years... I must have lost my patience.
Yes, dozer, you must have! And they all wonder why we are so emotional, why we have outbursts or 'flip-outs'!! Putting them in their place is the only way to deal with them if they are still in your life.
Did that straighten him out or is he still obnoxious toward you?
SK
Ever since I told the new girl at work that I was only able to work part time due to illness, this little clique has formed. My office mates are quite obvious in their snide remarks about my being out sick a lot. I’ve been excluded from lunch activities on a daily basis. It feels like grade school.
On my previous work assignment, I had to leave because the client called me at home when I was sick one day and I didn’t answer the phone. She became annoyed by my periodic sick days even though I got my work done. There is not much I can do except take care of myself when I’m having a fibro flare.
Overall I think people don’t kow how to act when they are working with someone with a chronic illness.