On a daily basis, your Fibro is a consistent pain that you've either adjusted to with meds, or simply choose to deal with on your own somehow because meds don't work or have side effects which you simply cannot tolerate. That daily pain can be described as burning, aching, throbbing, dull, sharp, hot, crampy, and on and on. We all have our own type and location of that pain. For some of us, it's that all over flu-like ache that slowly wears you down and sucks the life out of you with ever passing moment. We all can describe it differently and it's still Fibro. The tender points (11 our of 18) that were originally thought to "diagnose" our illness, are under scrutiny now because not everyone has the "appropriate" number, but they still present with Fibro, the fatigue, pain, IBS, weakness, headaches, etc.
That type of pain we deal with every single day. We all know it well. Sometimes people will even tell you that "You look fine!?" in spite of it. How maddening that phrase has become for me. If the world could walk a day in our shoes, huh? Hmm, what would they have to say then? I do wonder..but then, I know I need to let go of those thoughts. Not everyone is going to understand. For now, most people don't. I can only worry about those of you that do, the people who suffer from this invisible, yet life altering illness....my dear Fibro friends. :)
But what about that type of pain that is really ....well, intolerable to the point where sitting down, laying down or literally collapsing is the only reaction you seem have, aside from possibly crying or even sobbing in agony and frustration. As we all know, getting emotional really doesn't help much either.
For me, this type of pain comes mainly from overexertion, stress or well, sometimes I just don't know the cause. But it brings me back to the days when every single day was that bad. Now, I take very strong medication to deal with it that daily ache that gnaws away at your attitude, your well-being and life in general.
But there are times, when the strongest of meds don't cover our pain. What then? Have you often thought what you'd do when something like that happened? Have you ever worried about it? Have you had it happen? Those "flares" are what we fear the most. For me, flares can last hours, a day or weeks. For those moments when the pain seems unbearable, I've come up with some "solutions" that I've tried and used over the years.
Here are some of ideas.
- Lay down somewhere very comfortable and preferably not too soft. Use progressive relaxation focusing on relaxing the most painful part of your body first while breathing slowly and steadily. I have used this and I often will play relaxing music to "distract" me even more.
- Sit in the most comfortable chair possible. Focus on your breathing, make sure you're not holding your breath as we have a tendency to do when we're in pain. If you can read a book or watch TV for a distraction that is an added bonus, but continue to make sure that you're breathing deeply and slowly.
- One night, when I was working a small part-time job, I came home with a burning pain between my shoulder blades, along with a headache that wouldn't quit. As it turns out I was supposed to go to a yoga class. I didn't want to, but I forced myself to go. It was less than 2 minutes from my home. It was a struggle to get there and be there, until I started the class. During and after that yoga class, the burning in my shoulder blades and that searing headache totally disappeared. I am not exaggerating, not one bit. It was all gone.
I was cleaerer headed and more relaxed than I had been all day. Hatha Yoga was the answer that time.
- I have friends who insist that a shower or bath helps them. I find that a shower is better for me. But the bath usually makes me feel worse. Also, if you're on opiod medications, please be careful about the temperature of the bath water. If it's too hot, you can cause a spike in the delivery of the medication and that can be very dangerous. (If you are on these meds, NEVER spend time in a hot tub).
- Call a friend and let them have the "floor". In other words, let them tell you about their day, life or whatever. This will make you forget yourself and your pain for a while and can break the tension of those muscles and the cycle of pain in the process.
- When all else fails, there are medications to deal with the unbearable. One that comes to mind for me is Oxy-IR. Now, this is another opiate. The Oxy stands for that aspect of the drug, but the IR stands for "Immediate Release". I had been prescribed these many years ago to take at work...if you can imagine. They usually rendered me useless for the balance of the day, which wasn't a great thing for my job. But they worked within 10-20 minutes of taking them. It's an option. If nothing else seems to work for you, this might be the answer. I am not pushing anyone to take opiates. I hate taking them, but I have made my choice. You must do what works for you, dear friend.
Finally, in summary, if you go above the last entry about Oxy-IR, do you notice a "trend" or two in the solutions for your pain. The first one is remembering to breath. So often, when pain has us in a tangled mess, we don't remember to breath and part of it is to relax, but part of the chemical process of pain is alleviated by more oxygen into our body. By holding your breath you're going to be tense and starved for air. Not a good place to me. So DO remember to breath.
Next, I often mention "distraction" as an answer. This can be huge. If you are distracted, if you can be distracted...it should help considerably. But for some, if the pain is bad enough, this is difficult. This will help if you can get relaxed a bit and then try and focus on something like a book or TV show.
What do you do when you have a flare or time when the pain is just unbearable?
Tonight, I hope you aren't experiencing one of those really painful nights...or days (depending on where you are in the world). I'll pray for you, my friend.
I was in pretty deep pain myself tonight after trying to clean my home. I'm feeling better now. I did the sit down, focused on my breathing, had a warm drink and watched TV. It wasn't easy but the breathing and relaxation worked after a while. Now, I'm very very tired.
Until tomorrow...
Blessings.........
Mo M.
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