I got diagnosed with fibromyalgia 3 years ago but suffered the symptoms for 8 years, it’s gradually got worse and I’m now suffering my worst ever flare up, and I’m on week 8 of this flare up. Usually my flares only last around 5-7 days. This time I’ve ended up in hospital they wanted me to stay in as the muscles down my right side from neck to lower back had gone into complete spasm. Has anyone else suffered a severe flare, and if so how long did it last? And have the suffered more regulate flares after a severe one? I know everyone is different but it’s the not knowing what to expect that is driving me insane. I’m only 24 and have a 5 year old. I’d like to know what to expect for my future.
Hi Jodie I am sorry to hear of your flare. Flares certainly aren’t fun. I find the worse I feel, the more I clench muscles, then it makes it worse, a vicious cycle. Over the years, I have learned to try and relax as much as possible, which I know isn’t easy. I do a lot of deep breathing and visualization, it takes practice but I do find it helps. I have had Fibro about 20 years and I can honestly say that for me, I have not noticed a pattern of flares. I can have one and then go months without another one and then have 2 in a short time. My biggest triggers seem to be not enough sleep for a period of days and increased stress. So I try (don’t always succeed) to not worry about flares and live my life the best I can. I refuse to let Fibro rule my life and just try to focus on the present and future. I also have a child and I can relate to the fear of not being able to care for them due to Fibro. However my daughter has pretty much taken things in stride, I think our kids can handle more than we think. I just try hard not to make the Fibro a focus for her and when it does interfere she is getting better about understanding if mom can’t do something Hang in there and keep us updated on how you are doing. Hugs!
Hi Jodie. Sorry to hear about your recent flare. They do stink. I have been in flares for months or as little as a week. I find that if I try to keep active it helps. Unfortunately there is a fine line because as you probably know you can be to active. Sleep ( or lack of) plays an important role I think. I have a huge problem because my grandson who is 5 and autistic rarely sleeps all night. I am going on week 4 of my current flare. I guess most importantly is to keep a positive attitude ( which is hard). Keep smiling.
Cheryl
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Thank you both, I’m currently trying new meds, pregabalin in place of gabapentin. So far so good, I can at least now walk the stairs myself and hath myself again 
just feel very very sore now! Do any of you have any advice between the two meds?
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I personally take gabapentin. I tried it in the beginning, when I was first diagnosed in 2010. I hated the side effects along with I found no relief. I decided it was not worth it. About a year ago I had an MRI which found some lesions in my brain (ms ruled out) and was having horrible neuropathy which I was then put back on gabapentin and I have to say it helps with neuropathy which in turn helps with some of the pain. I tried many meds in the beginning but lyrica did not help either. I’m not sure if it was the short length of time my doctor had me try them or what. I hope lyrica gives you great relief!
Cheryl
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I have muscle spasms alot. I never knew they were related to the fibromylgia. I have been on gabapentin for a while and all I do is sleep. Not worth it for me. I take pain medication and valuim. Prednisone. I am still not sure what is best for it. I struggle with flare up’s alot still trying to figure out how to deal with this myself.
Hi @Jodiec93,
First welcome to Ben’s friends 
I’m sorry to hear your having such severe flare ups. They are nasty! I’ve had fibro for about 8 years and I’ve had a few flare ups. I’m 36 so I was diagnosed when I was 28. Yay I can do math! lol . It’s interesting that I developed my fibro 2 years after a kidney transplant and you 2 years after your son was born. I have found breathing and visualization also to help. If you can learn to do yoga, it is a wonderful thing. I haven’t done it in quite a bit but I know yoga will help me feel better. My motivation is completely off. Try not to worry because there are a lot of people on this site who have a lot of insight including myself. People have survived with fibromyalgia and we all have our good days and bad days. I know this sounds cliche but remaining as active as you can is the best thing. I am on a medication for muscle spams at night. It’s not a muscle relaxer because those just seem to put people to sleep. The medication is called Baclofen and my pain doctor prescribed it to me. It helps with them. I went to the dentist 3 months ago to have a small filling and the drill sound made me stretch out straight and tense up immensly. I’ve never had to be in that position before so I didn’t know what to expect. No matter how hard I tried to visualize and breathe I couldn’t relax the muscles. Needless to say I was in pain for about a week or so and it has seem to allow me to be worse 3 months later. I just started my 3rd Physical Therapy doctor as I’ve been to 2 different locations in the past. This will allow me to regain my body back for the most part, hopefully. My point is, there may be times when things happen you wouldn’t expect but it’s okay. There are people out there that can help for the mental (that’s us) and for the physical you have physical therapists, pain doctors, rheumatologists and so forth. You will learn ways that work and ways that don’t work for you. It’s quite a learning process. I’m still learning as is everyone on this site. I’m also on Lyrica aka pregabalin which helps my fibromyalgia. I hope this helps you and feel free to message anyone on here including myself.
David
Moderator