New here: I have "flare ups" once a month...

[GrandpaPatrick]

Diamond, Tipnatee N is exactly right regarding commercials. Doctors are proactive in recommending medication
but they are also reactive because should the patient try to sue the doctor the doctor can claim that the patient
requested the medication I presume. You are not thick, it is just different.

There are many commercials recommending medications with them often saying, "Ask your doctor if "this drug" is
right for you." That is why they advertise. They sell more meds, but also they do a service because if you had fibromyalgia
and had never heard of Lyrica they are definitely helping you. They are required by law to list every side effect and it does
get funny because the side effects are often much worse than the original problem.

Diamond, yes our symptoms seem very similar. But I am very glad I have my medications. if I accidently miss taking
my meds, my body is sure to remind me soon after. There is a marked difference between being on my meds and
when I have missed them.

For those who haven't found it yet I HIGHLY recommend the MedCenter Talking Alarm Clock and Pill Organizer. It is
available from Amazon under "MedCenter." She is a pest but you learn to love her because she saves you pain from
missed meds.

Thanks for everyone who has responded. I really appreciate positive comments. I, for some reason, often get bullied
when I post on forums. I guess the pain makes us all empathetic. I really appreciate it. A kind word is a soothing as a balm.
That sounds like a bible verse. Anyway...I tend to rant.

Regarding the formula: Pressure + Time = Pain... My butt (can I say that here) muscles- "glutes" hurt if I sit upright for too long.
This of course limits the amount of time I have to type- Even in my soft recliner. So typing this I have to stop and lean back about
every paragraph. Standing hurts me a lot too in my feet, ankles and calves. I hobble like an old man.

Oh, one good idea! When I first got fibromyalgia my wife got really tired of hearing my moaning and groaning all the time. She said, "Do
you have to do that?" And I replied, "Yes. Do you prefer a moan our words like ouch." She said, "ouch." but I realized that her problem
was that she wanted to show empathy, but feeling empathy in your heart takes energy and when she was tired she just couldn't feel
empathy despite her great love for me. So I gave her an "out." Our "love name" for each other is "Boo boo bear" like the "Yogi the Bear
cartoons and his side kick Boo Boo from so long ago. (you young people will have to look it up. They even have the cartoons on YouTube.
Anyway the "out" is "Oh, poor boo boo."

When I am in a lot of pain I appreciate some recognition or else it can seem that she does not care which is not true. So she says "Oh, poor boo boo."
and I know she cares but she does not have to use a lot of energy. She can use tonal inflection to indicate how much she cares, especially when
I am in a flare up or having very sharp pains. By the way I have had reflex actions where my leg jerks back as if someone had stabbed me in the
bottom of my foot with a needle. This sometimes scares my wife because we will be watching TV together and suddenly I will jump and yell. Poor
thing. She is a real sweetheart, she stocks my med tray, makes me meals, well, warms up meals, she does not cook, but she brings me stuff all the
time rather than my going through the pain of getting up. But I express my love for everything she does for me a lot, especially while she is doing it.
Caregiving is not easy.

I have really missed for the past 8 years not having a job. There are a lot of benefits to work. I have a lot of nightmares regarding my pain and lack
of work. Don't get me started....

 

[diamond]

I understand why side affects are included but yes it is different way of viewing things to have Tv adverts so patients go in and ask...i guess there are benefits like you say as i have researched the internet to inform myself....lol but it still seems rather weird to me.

Yes my bottom hurts when i am sitting even in my comfy soft arm chair....in fact you are the first person on the forum who has explained this in my exact same way and i have been posting on here for ages.

Im guessing there are many others its just we all explain or use our own wording.

I think the emotional impact of fibro is huge and for me has become worse the worse my physical pain and level of disability.

Activity is such an amazing thing for mood and self esteem...possibly only fully understood when its stolen.

I often think outsider think being cared for is the same as doing things for ourselves but in fact while we appreciate the help very much i longgggg to do everything for myself.

I feel like a second hand citizen needing help and try as far as possible to still do things even if it half kills me but i keep my routine simple..including meals and everything else only gets done if i can manage it.

 

[Sagey]

Hi Granpa Patrick,

I too get flare ups,and they usually occur after I've been walking too much or cleaning too much.As long as I'm careful with my energy conservation, I do much better.Yesterday I was walking with my daughter checking out a wedding venue,and it was beautiful but covered a large area.We walked for about an 1 1/2 hrs.Although we stopped and continued, I found myself short of breath and weak at times.

Today I woke up with pain in my muscles,stiff and no energy.But like u said sometimes the smallest things can bring on a flare ,and we may not notice what caused it.It can happen in a short period of time.So u just have to rest and take your medication until it passes.
Moving is the best medicine, because if we sit too long it makes things worse.If I lie in bed too long, it makes it harder to get up.It's just my mind that says "I just can't get up with this pain and stiffness"and sometimes I can psyche myself out to not getting up.Which is not good, but is hard to prevent.




Sagey

 

[Tipnatee N]

GrandpaPatrick,

I hope and pray that I didn't made you feel like I was bulling you in anyway.
Cause I knew sometime I can say things in the wrong way or came out like a shorten sounding manners possibly impolite , do to my brain is constantly have to deal with my sleep disorder call the non-24 .

Unlike fibromyalgia brain fog or depression brain fog, which I do often get.
The non-24 jet lag brain do tend to sizing things in clumsy faster speed like unfiltered info, chopping or clumping words together, compressing phrases, with odd and strange way of expression at time it might sounding like I'm arguing with you but I was actually agreeing with you.

Confusing even me.
I know I am a pain in my own butt, beside my fibro auto butt beater.
I often seeking people who could understand what I'm talking about, yet I am incapable of understanding my own words, the story of my life. . I hope you find it somewhere I your heart to forgive me if I sounded rude to you in anyway.