Posted by IsoM on December 12, 2002, at 0:48:03
In reply to Re: Fibromyalgia and anxiety: Janet » IsoM, posted by kamikazi_ladybug on December 11, 2002, at 19:17:36
Ladybug, I don’t know how to describe my fibro. Because I have old injuries, I’m not always certain what the cause of any particular pain I may be having is. I can’t say that any area hasn’t hurt some but my knees and elbows get off the lightest. My shoulders, neck, hands, feet, and hips are the worse in descending order.
Inactivity is a real killer for me. I used to try to ‘rest’ more when pain was severe but it only prolonged the period of pain and made it worse. So even if I’m hurting, I need to stay active. I use heat a lot. Pain causes me to tense up my muscles, leading to more soreness as other muscles overcompensate. Heat relaxes the muscles and increases blood flow to muscles that have their blood supply lessened from constant tightness. I try to figure out what any new pain may be coming from. It’s a bit of detective work but sometimes I can guess what may be triggering it – what sort of recent activities or mental stresses have been happening. Then if it seems sensible, I do what I can to adjust what I need to.
I’ve found that certain positions feel better than others. I can’t sit for long in a normal sitting down in a chair position. I have to pull up my feet and sit with my knees up or cross-legged, Still, I fidget and shift positions frequently. Lots of stretching of my upper body helps too.
To quiet and relax my mind and body enough for sleep, I take 2 Gravol every night. It’s an over-the-counter med for travel nausea and has sedating effects. Even after years of taking it, it still helps me fall asleep at night. I have a heated floatation water bed set to max heat. Also have the thickest down comforter available. I’m warm when active but I need warmth to sleep at night. The warmth seems to help muscles that would otherwise stiffen from the night’s inactivity. Still, I wake a few times every night and shift position often. When pain is worse (like recently), I take a hot water bottle and a heating pad to bed every night for the more painful spots.
I would never be able to sleep in a normal, hard bed. My warm water bed is a life-saver!
poster:IsoM
thread:33171
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20021206/msgs/33252.html