Monday, December 7, 2009

The Fibro Dilemmas

As I've mentioned before, I have fibromyalgia. One of the joys (not) of fibromylagia is the pain. And because my body hates pain, all the muscles in my body tighten in response to it. When the pain and tension reach a certain level, nausea and vomitting kick in too. Luckily I'm not there today, yet.

One of the best things to help the pain is exercise. Exercise releases endorphins which help kill the pain. Exercise also increases blood flow which helps to relax the muscles. However, there are some times when exercise is just too much and I end up feeling worse. Tonight I really want to go to the gym, but my leg is already bothering me and was hurting just walking. Do I go to the gym and fight through the first 30-40 minutes in pain? Yes, sometimes it takes that long for the good stuff to kick in. Or do I take a day off and rest?

Which brings me to the next dilemma--I need lots of rest and sleep, but if I stay in the same position too long, when I do move, there is a lot of stiffness and pain. Will going to bed early help me feel better tomorrow, or will too many hours in bed make me feel worse?

The hard part is that there isn't a formula for figuring out the right answers. Two situations that seem exactly the same could yield completely opposite results. That's the fun part of Fibromyalgia. Throw in the fact that with Fibro fog it is hard to think clearly, and it really becomes fun.

OK, enough complaining. Time for meds.

1 comment:

  1. I used to really hurt when I worked at the computer for more than 30 to 45 minutes. Then I learned to set an alarm. When it went off, it would remind me to move around. That increased blood flow, oxygen to the muscles & generally made me feel better. It's hard for each of us to find the right balance between resting, inactivity and moving around to stay healthy. Sending you good thoughts, Cinda Crawford

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