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This will show our fight with Fibromyalgia, so others can learn that it's real. |
This blog will chronicle my battle with Fibromyalgia, sometimes comparing it to the battle my wife, Kenzie  has with the same illness. Many don't believe it's an actual illness, though its existence is recognized more and more in the medical community. I'm hoping that by shedding some light on what it can do to a person we can make others aware that it is indeed real, and that it can hit anyone of any age at any time. It's not deadly, by any means, but it can drastically change your life. It can be a real and aggravating pain in more ways than one (pun intended). MANY more ways.
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| Well, these six days since my last entry definitely served to prove the truth in one area of our Fibro situation. A few months back, when Kenzie and I attended our first Fibromyalgia Support Group meeting, I remembered to ask those in attendance one thing I'd been wondering for a short time prior to that: "When you're tired, do your symptoms increase?" The answer was a unanimous "Yes", and these last six days have proven that to me a number of times. There wasn't a single night that I didn't feel all those muscles in my lower legs tightened up, creating a constant (rather than throbbing) pain from below my knees to just above my ankles. I'm feeling it again now, as I type this just before bed (it's 11:52 PM). I took the relaxer pills about 45 minutes ago, but it looks like I'll have to get off my feet and lay down before I'll get enough relief to let me get to sleep. When the medicine kicks in, it'll be BIG relief. Kenzie has had her share the last few days, too. Most notable would have to be late this afternoon, though. Her car wouldn't start when she left the grocery store. I drove there, hooked up the jumper cables, and we went to work. No luck. When we finally decided to wait till tomorrow to take the battery out and get it tested, she was already hurting. By the time we got home, her neck and shoulders were stiff, her back hurt more than usual, and her bad knee was giving her a noticeable limp. When her knees get into this, I'm always relieved by the fact that our basement staircase has handrails on BOTH sides. I've used them in both directions myself. Like crutches to lessen the load on my knees going down, and as a means of helping pull myself back UP, when I'm not sure the legs will handle that job without being painful, especially the knees. And with her limp tonight, I was glad she had both rails to use for safety in case that knee gave out as she went down the stairs. I'm going to bed after I post this, but she'll likely wait another hour or so, tired as she is. Because she's hoping some of her pain will diminish before she comes to bed because she knows it will grow in intensity again once she lays down. So for her, the only way to minimize the pain for sleeping is to get it as low as possible before laying down. Swell. Now my arms are feeling tight, too, and my back hurts. I better get to bed before it decides to show me another new place where I can hurt. I'll push up with the arms of this chair to minimize the load and the pain on my legs, and head for the bed. See you all soon! |
| The last few days have been a major Fibro problem for both Kenzie and I, though hers worse than mine. Unfortunately, that's the way it usually is. I was diagnosed with it first (about 15-20 years ago before they really knew what it was - my doctor said it's like a muscle getting a cold. He was right, but that's only one way it expresses itself) but Kenzie's symptoms, most of the time, are noticeably worse than mine. These last few days will begin our chronicle. This past Thursday and Friday, my most consistent pain has been in my legs. Sometimes it felt like all the muscles in both legs, above and below the knee, were tightening up at the same time. Like a circular vice closing in on my legs. Each step would accent the pain in that leg. That made simple walking any reasonable distance very painful. But I had no choice since I had to work both of those days. And when that "squeezing" muscle pain took a break, my joints, usually my knees, would ache steadily. A number of deep knee bends would take that pain away, but only temporarily. Then it, too returned. Alongside this fight, Kenzie was fighting a major case of the chronic fatigue problem as well as miscellaneous pains. She slept most of Friday and Saturday, even apologizing to me (which I assured her was totally unnecessary). Because the weekend before, I was the one taking the afternoon nap. Sometimes when I'd step up to embrace her or put my arm around her, she'd jump because even her skin was hurting and any contact was painful. And in recent weeks, including these last few days, her stomach has been having spasms, which, it appears, means no matter how bland the food she eats, the stomach is going to rebel against it and hurt for hours, often making it hard to get to sleep. So. Today? Her energy level is obviously better, though not top notch, but the other pains are still bothering her. She hasn't said specifically where yet. And me? My legs are at it, but mildly so far. And I can't sit in one place for more than an hour or so without getting up and stretching my legs to break the cycle of that knee pain. But today is a lot better so far than Thursday and Friday were for either of us. We'll see what tonight and tomorrow brings. |
| Fibromyalgia is an illness that has only in recent years been recognized fully by the medical community, and much more needs to be learned. Often, right now, the patient may have learned more about it than the doctor. We know what hurts, where, how long it can last, and other details that tests don't show. So it's important for those of us who have it to find a doctor that believes it is as real as our body is telling us it is. Fibromyalgia can cause pain in many ways. Sometimes throbbing, sometimes constant, sometimes in places you never thought could BE painful. In this blog you will see the variety of pains that happen, and what they can do to the patient at the time. "Fibro" as it's often referred to, also includes the problem of chronic fatigue. It, and the pains, come and go as they please, and the patient, with the help of doctors, has to 'roll with the punches'. Both the fatigue and the pain hit each patient differently, at different times. Sometimes some patients, like Kenzie have something that tells them when the fatigue is about to grab them, but there's nothing universal about that either. Each case is different. Hence the reason for this blog. So others can learn what it does, how varied its strikes on your body can be, and how it can change your life. All questions and comments are welcome. Those only give us the chance to enlighten others and improve our chances of being understood by others. |
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And I still say it goes back to sometthing we agreed on from the start. Going through all of those pains, and the others, and the fatigue, together, knowing the other understands and things require no explanation, beats the heck out of both of us going through it alone.