Morning pain, stiffness and recovery time

[carol sands]

Like many of you, I feel certain, I wake up every single morning stiff, with a lot of pain all over my body, and it takes me at minimum 2 hours before I can really accomplish anything.

The first thing I always do when I wake up, after steadying myself and making sure my balance is okay, is get myself a tall cold glass of water and a mug of coffee. I take these and my morning meds to the dining table, with my phone, turn on the heating pad I have attached to the back of my dining chair, and basically sit, sip water, drink coffee, and work on my phone for about 2 hours before my pain and stiffness subsides and I can get about my day.

I do get up every 15 to 20 minutes and walk around the house, do some stretches, but then come back to the dining table again. This is how my every morning is.

I'm wondering how many of you reading this also can't do much of anything upon Awakening for hours. I would love to hear the experiences of others in our forum. I'm sure I'm not alone, but I'm curious as to how common this is. It is frustrating. It is typically the worst time of my day, and despite doing everything I can to treat myself during this time, it seems like it will be the norm forever. What is your morning like?

Hi Jamie, First off welcome. I hope you'll find comfort in knowing youbste not alone. This is not an easy illness to have, but it is as you said good to know that you have people that you can lean on that understand completely.
As for me, I would have to say the last couple years have been almost identical to yours. I absolutely can’t get going until around 9:30 in the morning. I usually fall asleep around 10 1030 and wake up around 2:30. Can’t go back to sleep till 5 and then fall back asleep till 630 7 o’clock in the morning when my husband comes in to wake me up and bring the dog in. Paxton and I fall back asleep usually until about 8 o’clock I lay in bed using my phone to read the Bible, do groceries orders, etc. I never get out of the house before 2 o’clock most days if at all. . I try to stay as active as possible, but by 6:30- 7 o’clock in the evening, I am just spent. Every muscle in my body hurts, especially my knees. I have scoliosis which aggravates the situation. My pain is contained either in my mid back to the right my shoulders and neck. up until this year. I actually had worse chronic fatigue than I did bodyaches, but I just turned 68 this last month and the older I’ve gotten the harder it is to manage. I recently purchased an under desk treadmill for $246 on Amazon. It’s made by a company called Toputure and gets 4.8 stars by 287 people. I love it. I put on Family Feud and haven’t missed a day of walking on it in 12 days since I got it. I use to try walking outside, but my little dog has to stop and smell every blade of grass so that’s frustrating and I feel too guilty going for a walk without taking him. Plus now that he’s seven, he doesn’t want to walk very far. Not to mention I’m highly sensitive to whether be hot or cold or windy.I would try walking outside, but my little dog has to stop and smell every blade of grass so that’s frustrating and I feel too guilty going for a walk without taking him. Not to mention I’m highly sensitive to weather be it hot or cold or windy. I’m up to almost 2 1/2 miles at 3.5 miles an hour. I don’t feel out of breath.. I love it. I haven’t missed a day of walking on it in 12 days since I got it. I had more pain at first but that is getting better too. (I can say after 33 years of having fibro/CFS I tolerate the pain a lot better than I can the fatigue). The treadmill is helping me fall sleep quickly and I definitely have more energy. I hope you find some relief and comfort. I will be praying for you/all.

 

[Grace3]

Like many of you, I feel certain, I wake up every single morning stiff, with a lot of pain all over my body, and it takes me at minimum 2 hours before I can really accomplish anything.

The first thing I always do when I wake up, after steadying myself and making sure my balance is okay, is get myself a tall cold glass of water and a mug of coffee. I take these and my morning meds to the dining table, with my phone, turn on the heating pad I have attached to the back of my dining chair, and basically sit, sip water, drink coffee, and work on my phone for about 2 hours before my pain and stiffness subsides and I can get about my day.

I do get up every 15 to 20 minutes and walk around the house, do some stretches, but then come back to the dining table again. This is how my every morning is.

I'm wondering how many of you reading this also can't do much of anything upon Awakening for hours. I would love to hear the experiences of others in our forum. I'm sure I'm not alone, but I'm curious as to how common this is. It is frustrating. It is typically the worst time of my day, and despite doing everything I can to treat myself during this time, it seems like it will be the norm forever. What is your morning like?

When I wake up I feel totally depressed, Iv not found a medication that works at the moment I’m reducing from Amitriptyline and have tramadol which I don’t think does that much to help,I get up and bring my breakfast back to my bed with a cup of tea.after a few hours I get up and the worst part for me is that when I walk or try to walk I can barely put my foot on the ground. So I’m limping around and after limping around I can put more weight on my foot and walk properly. I just wish I could find the right medication for me. I was worrying about getting fat but I had a discussion with myself last night . I’m 74.6 and if a medication makes me fat I will take it. Better to be fat and less pain than slim and in agony.

 

[Geraldine]

What is your morning like?

Yeh, me too. Takes me awhile for my engine to warm up. I have found that taking a pretty warm Epsome Salts bath is really helpful to get me loosened up. Makes me feel good.

 

[30 plus years]

Lots of you say you aren't morning people, but you wake up at 6 or 7 a.m.
That is SO early for me!! If I get to sleep anywhere from 10:30 pm to midnight, I'll sleep till 9 or 10 AM and usually stay in bed for another couple of hours. I'm extremely stiff all over, usually have a headache and gradually crawl through the day not doing all that much. For some reason, in the evening is when I feel the most alert. Think I've always been a "night person" though. Try to discipline myself to stick to a solid sleep routine?
Anyway, the stiffness and aches and pains for me sometimes can be helped by my meds (Lyrica, Meloxicam, thyroid, Zoloft), heating pad, magnesium oil, BioFreeze spray, my hot tub! and light stretching. I highly recommend a hot tub for those that can afford it. It literally makes you forget how bad you feel by blissfully relaxing everything with no gravity. Can't say enough. THE BEST THERAPY

 

[sunkacola]

I'd be so glad if I could sleep until 6 or 7 AM!

 

[Grace3]

I feel pretty much like you, im scared to move incase my knees are painful i only just found out i had fibro, all year i was falling all over the place. At night i would fall out of bed and couldnt get up again,thankfully my daughter was staying with me for the first time and she had to get me up again,it was very hard on her. She got the doctor to visit was taken to hospital they tested me for covid its actually a lot longer time ago, i loose track of time. Im 73 and the tablets i got from one doctor another one would not prescribe them eventually i ended up on amitriptyline i was sleeping round the clock, i was changed to to tramadol while cutting down but i did it all wrong as i was so desperate to get of those amitriptyline. I had a talk to my doctor today and she is keeping me on the tramadol. I cant put any weight on my foot when i get up my knees can be so stiff its painful to get out the bed and walk. Iv got a cat i have to get up no matter how painful it is
I did start doing exercise sitting on a chair it has help i will be doing them again soon. One good thing that has happened is i have stopped falling over and my balance is much better. I put that down to the exercise. I wish everyone well its a painful thing to have.

 

[Sueb24]

eventually i ended up on amitriptyline i was sleeping round the clock, i was changed to to tramadol while cutting down but i did it all wrong as i was so desperate to get of those amitriptyline.

I tried amytriptyline last week. When I woke up the next morning my vision was extremely blurred & I felt really nauseous. Trying to change the dosage of duloxetine down from 90mg to 60mg also caused the fibro to flare. My doctor said to stop the amytripyline and put the duloxetine back up to 90mg and to allow everything to settle for a couple of weeks. It’s so frustrating trying to get the meds right. Hope you get something sorted soon Grace3.

 

[BijouMom]

Since my general body pain has lessened greatly with Lyrica, I've blamed my morning pain and stiffness to arthritis, poor sleep and aging. You remind me that Fibro affects the body in many ways, and I want to talk to my doc about my morning issues. I'm glad you have found a morning routine that helps for now, and hope you can successfully find other things that can shorten the length.

 

[Grace3]

I tried amytriptyline last week. When I woke up the next morning my vision was extremely blurred & I felt really nauseous. Trying to change the dosage of duloxetine down from 90mg to 60mg also caused the fibro to flare. My doctor said to stop the amytripyline and put the duloxetine back up to 90mg and to allow everything to settle for a couple of weeks. It’s so frustrating trying to get the meds right. Hope you get something sorted soon Grace3.

Thanks sue im being more successful this time. My 2nd try. I had such bad pains in my feet one foot was worse than the other i had to wear socks and have to slide myfeet along my floors. Which are laminate which makes it easier to slide. The pain has eased so much its such a relief. Im 73 and on one of my appts at the hospital a chinese doctor told me i ought to get of those amitriptyline they did help the pain but i was sleeping round the clock, my appetite changes. I was eating bags of sweets boxes of chocolates family size ice cream tubs and piling on the weight. I was 8 stone wgen i started went up to 12 st 4pounds. Im now a size 18. And they are getting to tight. I was on 35mg. Im cutting down now on 15mg i can feel the withdrawels as after i take my next dose i feel at rest again. Im on tramadol but for 2 days i havent needed any now getting hardly any sleep i know it will all turn out much better when i finally get off the amitriptyline. Wishing you well sue and thankyou for replying to me. Its all pretty scary and its good to feel someone has listened to me and repliied.

 

[sunkacola]

@Grace3 .......it is possible for sugar to exacerbate fibromyalgia symptoms. I have gone almost completely off sugar except for whole fruit, and it has made a difference, and I know others have had the same experience. Now when I eat something with sugar i do so in strict moderation, but I can still sometimes feel it the next day. It's almost like poison. And there are many studies that show how damaging eating sugar is. You may find now that you are cutting back on that, that you feel a bit better. If you can manage to cut it out completely for a couple of months you might find out that it makes a big difference. Not easy to do but might be worth a try. Best of luck to you.

 

[Sueb24]

Wishing you well sue and thankyou for replying to me. It’s all pretty scary and it’s good to feel someone has listened to me and repliied.

Good morning Grace3. Always happy to listen and reply. Yes, these symptoms can be very scary & doctors brush them off far too easily.

What are you taking for your feet if not the amytriptyline? Have you had your B12 checked recently? Lack of B12 is one of the biggest causes of the burning, painful feet unless you are also diabetic. I’m due to have my bloods and Vit B12 tests done again this week. I’m almost wishing the B12 to be low so I can have a jab of it to relieve some of my symptoms! Taking it by mouth doesn’t help me.

Funny thing yesterday. My grandson looked at my array of meds and supplements and asked me if I’d be able to eat a Sunday roast as well!! The answer …’Oh yes’!

 

[Grace3]

Hi there sue. My feet are not burning, its just one foot at the moment. I cant put any weight on it as i get a terrible pain, im wearing socks and im sliding both feet to get around. Around a week or so ago i had the pain in both my feet and legs they were both burning so im glad that pain when i wasnt even moving has gone. Im cutting down the amitriptyline from 35mg im now on 15mg. But it has been hard. I have been very bad tempered and falling out with a couple of people. I know its the amitriptyline reduction as i take some of my amitryptyline and i calm down. I only take 1 mil. As its liquid and im just gone down from 3ans a half mil to 3 mil. Thats all i can manage. Im taking 2 tramadol a day for other pains. But im not taking them every day. They dont help the pain in my foot. I think i need crutches. As long as im not walking around my pain is very quiet. I saw one of my posts where i said i was 74. Im not im 73. I cant get the words that i want to say out i just cant remember them. Its so annoying. I hope you enjoyed your sunday roast

 

[JamieMarc]

@Geraldine I miss having a bathtub for that very reason. I had to have a walk-in shower installed with all the accessibility amenities to be able to bathe. But I would so love to soak in a bath with some Epsom salts. Maybe someday I'll get me one of those big old fashioned outdoor wooden or metal tubs, fill it with warm water somehow and soak outside. LOL.

 

[Badger]

I wonder what a hydrotherapy tub would feel like? I also have a walk in shower, it's been a long time since I could soak in a bath. An outdoor soak in the summer would be relaxing

 

[30 plus years]

It's great!!