I remember when 9/11 happened in NYC. I was 38 and my daughter was in grade school. I was trying to do a walk on a treadmill at a local gym, during the days that I used a cane. I remember getting looks when I walked up to the treadmill and I held on to the bar but it felt good to walk a little faster and feel that I might be burning off some calories. I watched the whole thing happen on the huge TVs in the cardio room.
Since I live in NJ, across the river from NYC, this whole story was a little to "close to home" no pun intended. During the days that followed I remember a panic that set in. The skies around the NY metro area were frighteningly quiet (airports were closed). Normally the skies where we live are very busy AND noisy, so the lack of sound, was almost eerie.
The day immediately after the tragedy, there was an awful smell that seemed to be in the air in the and it was a windy day. We didn't venture to guess what it might be, travelling over the Hudson on the wind.
The sadness and fear as well as the feeling of insecurity that surrounded us in those days gave way to my own deep and unsettling depression.
I found myself asking my pain doctor for more break through meds and walking around in a "fog" of sorts that just wouldn't lift. It was more than "Fibro fog". It was that low feeling that just wouldn't lift.
When I told the doctor that my symptoms seemed to have gotten worse after 9/11 he said that most, if not all of his fibro patients were in the same boat. The devastation and emotional upset were stressing our systems and causing the Fibro symptoms to get much much worse.
He suggested that I stop watching the news reports and any shows that had to do with the situation. He said "What's done is done and I don't mean to be cruel, but you need to protect yourself from additional stress that will continue to stress your mind, body and increase your pain." He was right, I avoided the horror of the "replays" of that day as much as possible. It helped and over time I began to, much to my own disbelief, feel better again.
Feeling better with Fibro is always a relative "phrase" as you know. It's not perfect, but you can deal with it. Whenever depression, or severe depression is joined with pain, it becomes a vicious and very difficult hole from which to extricate yourself.
So, that said, I feel very strongly that you may not want to keep revisiting the horrible events that occurred in Colorado, early this morning(late last night), over and over again as they play on the news channels. Change the channel, read a book, or walk away. Try not to focus on it too to much.
It seems that the media really likes to beat things to death. Don't buy into that program and take your own breaks when you need to....actually take them before you need to. You are not sticking your head in the sand, you are protecting yourself from a flare and feeling worse than you do normally.
Please enjoy your Friday (evening) folks and the balance of your weekend, if you don't find your way on to visit.
Blessings....
Mo M.
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