Fibro Headaches

I've been very fortunate since the first of the year to actually feel good. With an additional diagnosis of Bipolar comes an additional medication (Seroquel) for the depression, which has had the effect of making me feel better physically. I love it when that happens. I've felt so good that I joined the local Y and have been working out at least twice a week, which probably has affected my physical well-being as well.

However, yesterday I did the grocery run and ran errands most of the day and by the end of the day I had a roaring fibro headache. It starts in the middle of my back, between my shoulder blades, works its way up into my neck and makes it feel as if those muscles are pulling back on every muscle in my head and face. It hurts to comb my hair, brush my teeth or yawn. Nothing touches it, since they took Darvocet off the market, so I am pretty powerless against it. I have some oxycodone that my doctor gave me, but it gives me a headache, so it's pretty silly to take something for a headache that gives you a headache. I do stretches and some yoga and get plenty of rest and make sure my neck stays warm--if a cold breeze hits my neck it feels like a dentist hitting a nerve, and I find that not an acceptable level of pain!

Rather than feel sorry for myself, I try to do things that make me feel good. This afternoon I'm going to work on a scrapbook for one of my granddaughter's birthdays. She'll be four next week, and although my daughter has cut off any contact between me and her three daughters, I have faith that someday the kids will be old enough to make up their own mind about seeing me. It's a very long story, but she's mad at me because I didn't include her when my brothers and I made the decision to put my mother in a nursing home. She has Alzheimers and we were getting very scared she was going to hurt herself, so we told her that the dirt basement in her home was causing her respiratory problems and she couldn't live there anymore. Turns out we weren't far off, as she hasn't needed her inhalers since she left! Anyway, my daughter is convinced that I'm so evil I shouldn't see her children. It's taken a long time but I have made peace with it. The Seroquel and a lot of prayer helped. I also have three other grandchildren that I do get to see, so all is not lost.

My afternoon will also include a nap under my electric blanket and quilt. I love warmth and weight when I sleep and I dearly love napping. I'm thinking about listing it on my resume because I do it so well. Thankfully I've cooked enough this week that we can have leftovers for dinner, so no cooking tonight! A hot shower and a therma-heat pad on my neck while I sleep will give me a good shot at not having as bad of a headache tomorrow.

Reviving a Blog

One of the first blogs I started was Living in a Fibrofog. Anyone who has fibromyalgia knows all about Fibrofog. It's an Alzheimer-type-emptiness-of-the-mind for anywhere from a moment to a day where you simply can not rely on what you thought you know, because right now, you can put a word or phrase to that thing you know. You can get lost on the road home; you can forget the way to the bathroom, and you can forget your dog's name. Yet, to others, I look just fine! I get in my car and drive off to do some shopping, but I may come home from a visit to the gym because that's where, when I got confused, I thought I ought to go, since my gym bag was in the car.

Fibromyalgia affects different people in different ways. Thanks to having insurance that pays for the meds I MUST take, good support and that I won my disability case years ago, I have little stress. Not everyone is so lucky. Take my friend, Emma Riley Sutton for example. She's suffering horribly because of her disabilities that keep her from doing so many things, but that she has not been able to win her disability case. PLEASE read her story at http://socialsecurityfight.blogspot.com/ and contribute if you can. She is a genuine, Christian mom who is desperate need.

I've avoided writing about Fibro because I have been trying to distance myself from it. My best buddy, through the past 8 years has been Darvocet and it's been taken off the market. I was so scared at the thought of having to let go of those big pink pills. What would I do to control my pain without access to Darvocet? Initially I decided I would just go with trading off Advil and Extra-strength Tylenol along with a heating pad. I tried Ocycontin but it gave me a horrible headache.  It was time to learn what I could do to help myself.

Part of my mindset of getting off 8 years of painpills was that I needed to take control of my life. I needed to stop thinking of what I couldn't do and what I could do. If I was going to hurt anyway, I would join a Y and use some of my muscles. I need to let go of "can't" and jump on things that say "I can". Two weeks in a gym have shown me that I can do a lot more than I thought I could.

I do feel better, although I haven't lost an ounce yet. My clothes fit looser and I can see my belly doesn't have as many rolls. I sleep better when I've gone to the gym. I wake up in the morning and my hips hurt. Normally I would go through my day walking funny and trying to work with hips that hurt. I go to the gym because I'm gonna have some amount of pain with or without the gym--why not burn off a few calories?''

If nothing else, walk slowly on the treadmill for as long as you can. Can you do a mile? Maybe the eliptical is more comfortable--can you do ten minutes? Does the gym have a pool? Go to a senior's water exercise class. Do what you can at first and don't push yourself, but give it a try.

I am feeling so much better since I started getting some exercise. Ask a gym if you can visit their gym a couple times free just to see what you can do. My outlook on everything is better and I know it's because I'm getting out among people and getting some good exercise.

Don't start on a day when you hurt so bad you can't stand to brush your hair because it hurts. Pick a day when you feel pretty good, don't carry a lot of high expectations and go give it a try!