What It’s Like to Have Fibro

The other day I didn’t really feel that sick but I knew I wasn’t having a great day. I decided to walk around the block. When I started walking I realized I was having a pretty bad day because this walk felt like a marathon. My neighbors probably assumed that I had been hiking up a mountain all day the way I was slowly dragging myself home. Anyone else have bad fibro days just sneak up on them?

The Best Trip Ever

One thing that I’ve missed out on a lot since I have fibromyalgia is travel. It easily makes me sicker than anything else. I recently went on a road trip for a week and it was more successful than any trip I’ve ever been on. Here is a list of what I did.
It was such a big deal to me that I wanted a plaque or to go to coinsforanything.com for challenge coins to have a memento that said “I did it!”

1. I usually take a memory foam pad whenever I travel. This time I took that and a feather bed and an extra mattress pad. I could basically build a bed on top of any bed I had to sleep on. It wasn’t as comfortable as my bed at home but it prevented a lot of pain in the morning.

2. I stuck to my usual diet of lots of fruits and vegetables. I had these for snacks in the car but I also had green smoothies already made up that I could just unfreeze and stir.

3. I didn’t push myself that hard. Traveling in the car is something that causes me a lot of pain so instead of trying to do all of the driving in one or two days there was a nice leisurely pace of just a few hours of driving a day.

Another Traveling Tip for Fibromyalgia

This is my only traveling tip that I didn’t really want to do. I took a day to just rest. I didn’t go sightseeing. I was a little bit grumpy at the time and felt like I was missing out. However, this one day gave both my body and mind time to regroup. It’s what made the rest of the trip so successful. Otherwise I probably would’ve been in pain for the next day or the day after. It just would’ve take up even more time not to rest. Do you sometimes feel left out when traveling because of your chronic pain?

Loving What You Do

Every career counselor I talked to in high school and college seems to say the same thing. “Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life”. I didn’t realize that I had accomplished this until last night. Working from home had always been a necessity because of fibromyalgia.

Then someone asked me last night if it was hard to make myself go to work every day. I never really think about having to go to work. I’m always so focused on money and income that I forget how much I love making websites and blogs. I would give it a mens wedding band from jewelryvortex.com if I could. It’s something I love to do so even though I work long hours for not that much money it doesn’t feel like work. Just another reason to be grateful for the path life has taken me.

Finally, Someone Else Gets It

This was something that was on What Not to Wear. The woman kept defending wearing pajama pants or “loungewear” to the grocery store. Either Stacy or Clinton said something like “That’s not lounging. That’s going”.

If you have fibromyalgia you probably understand that point. (No I don’t wear pajama pants to the grocery store even though I wish I could). I notice when people say they are going to rest or let me rest they don’t understand that there’s a difference between resting and going somewhere. Anyone else feel this way?

Whenever I’m not feeling well I try to focus on at least one thing that makes me happy. The other day I was in a lot of pain and my neighbor started playing guitar. I could’ve been annoyed by this but then realized that it was one of my favorite songs. I wish I could’ve mixed it on an exciting traktor pro 2 at guitar center and saved it. I don’t know what kind of instrument he has but it was beautiful and it did get my mind off of the pain for a few minutes.

My New Full Time Job

Now that winter has officially arrived I feel like I have a new full time job on top of my regular full time job. That job is staying warm. The fatigue and pain just gets so much worse when I am cold. It just exhausts me.

My first tip is to wear a scarf, even in the house. I can’t do this long just because it hurts my neck but when nothing else is working it’s really useful.

My second tip is to either get a space heater or an electric fireplace. I would prefer a built in one with a fireplace mantel shelf here. However, since I live in an apartment I was looking for a portable one. Instead, at Wal-Mart I found a little space heater from Lasko that looks more like a piece of pottery. Even when the regular heat is turned up high radiant heating from a space heater seems to help more.

Fibro Feels Like…

I love Thanksgiving but it’s very hard on my physically. This year I got quite sick and I said “I’ve been driving, standing up, and sleeping in a different bed. It’s like going to the Olympics for a sport that I’m not very good at”.

Modify Your Dreams

We all know that depression and fibromyalgia go together. This should definitely be treated by a doctor. However, sometimes you just get sick and tired of being sick and tired. You miss the person you used to be before you got sick. You may dream about how your life could’ve been.

There are still ways to accomplish almost any dream. Sure, you may need to have the band come over to your house to practice. You may look at an exciting stratocaster guitar at musicians friend from the comfort of your home. You might record in your jammies, but most of your dreams are still possible if you’re willing to modify them.

What Is That Weird Feeling?

I woke up on Saturday morning and felt weird. I am smart enough to know that it wasn’t a bad feeling. It wasn’t fatigue or pain. It was just different. My muscles felt somewhat softer. It took me until 3 o’clock in the afternoon to realize that for whatever reason that day, I was relaxed. I hadn’t felt that way in years. Even my muscles were relaxed. Does anyone else with fibromyalgia ever get to feel this way?

Just Add it To the List

With fibromyalgia there is a list of things that I can do and things that I can do but will cause me a lot of pain. Most of the items on this list are pretty big and pretty discouraging. I can’t live in cold weather and if I wasn’t from this country would probably need immigration lawyers in los angeles. However, there are a few things that are just plain funny.

I can’t wear scarves. I think they are cute and I’m cold all the time. Even if it’s the lightest weight chiffon scarf it really seems to pull down my neck and be uncomfortable or painful. Since it’s such a minor annoyance I keep trying but I just haven’t been able to make it work. At least I have some funny things on my list.

More Tips for Staying Comfortable With Fibromyalgia

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that sitting in chairs is extremely painful for me. I do have one chair that works pretty well but I usually lay on the couch.
A few months ago I got an ottoman and I wasn’t expecting it to change my life so much but it did. It is at the exact height of the chair but a little bit firmer. It’s even more comfortable than a recliner and now I can sit in it and work on the computer for 2-3 hours at a time instead of just one. What is the most comfortable piece of furniture in your home?