re so much worse in Spring & Summer. Is this par for the course? I suffer after being in the sun, excercising or "overextending" myself. I also have terribly tight muscles in my calves almost all the time. Also par for the course? Migranes, all over muscle pain, joint pain, insomnia, etc...you know the drill. I've thought about medicine for it, but because of the side effects, I'm just not sure. Anyone use meds for Fibro and do ok with them?
Hi Amy, and welcome.
I'm exactly the same as you - the hotter weather seems to make me worse, rather than the other way around. I have a friend with fibro who is the exact opposite. It's so strange that we each have such a unique journey with this gremlin!
I was also the same as you on the incredibly tight and almost cramping muscles, and thankfully have gotten this particular symptom to a much better level. What seemed to work for me was working on my overall stress levels and self-care, and gradually introducing daily movement. When I say gradually - I mean at a snails pace! Before my illness got going, I was a really sporty, active person. As my fibro symptoms got more extreme, I found that one trip to the gym, one hike, one bike ride etc. completely slayed me and left me out of action for days. But, I kept reading how important exercise is for fibro management, so I decided to make a plan. I started out walking 10 gentle minutes a day, and built it up insanely slowly - over the course of about a year - to walking 45 minutes at a pretty good tempo most days. I know that some might find this simply impossible, but my gut has been that sudden changes are what really aggravates things. By evolving what I can do slowly, I seem to be able to make little improvements. Coming back to your question, the more consistently I walk, the less muscle tightness I seem to get. I still have muscle soreness - feels almost bruise-like - but that contraction feeling isn't around so much. I hope maybe that helps!
On medicines, for me conventional drugs just didn't agree. I've taken a roster of different antidepressants, and all eventually made me really sick. Painkillers don't seem to help, although I'm not comfortable to try opioids (keep in mind how addictive benzos can be too!) Once my doc finally gave me a solid diagnosis, I tried cymbalta, but that made me feel much worse. I was bed bound with violent nausea and heart palpitations, plus withdrawal was a nightmare when I stopped. It's a bit TMI (about to overshare...) but it also made the big O in the bedroom entirely impossible, which is not really something I'd love to sign up to for life! That said, some seem to genuinely find relief with medications. My friend, mentioned above, took amitriptyline for 15 years and sung its praises, beyond an ongoing battle with weight gain. I will once again agree with Sunkacola - there are a lot of other things you can try before diving into the medication cabinet. You'll find tons of info about supplements and lifestyle hacks here in the Forum.
Good luck!
