Dealing with Fibromyalgia Pain
On a scale of one to ten, fibromyalgia pain can swing from the low end to the high end of the chart. The pain is always changing in duration and strength. It can be light in the morning and excruciating by evening.
You might have pain free days and the turn around and have several days of pain in a row. People who have this condition have something that's been labeled as "trigger points".
These points are places on the body that cause pain when touched. In gathering information about this condition, those in the medical field discovered that most patients complained of pain in common areas: in the neck (both front and back), in the fold of the elbow, just below the knee, in the lower back and just above the top of the thigh. These common trigger points are instrumental in getting a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
There are some things that can make fibromyalgia pain increase in intensity and those things are insomnia or not getting enough sleep, mood changes, illness, stress and a lack of exercise to name a few.
Maintaining a time every day to unwind and sleep when your body needs it is essential to keeping the often overwhelming fatigue on the low end of the pain chart. When you get more fatigued than usual with fibromyalgia, it can make the pain get worse.
This fatigue is not an ordinary feeling of tiredness you get from overexertion but rather a deep state of not being able to rest the body. Eventually, this fatigue can greatly affect your health if it's not managed.
The treatment for your condition should treat you as a whole and not just focus on the times when your condition is worse. You will not find a cure for your condition in any treatment option known but you can effectively manage the pain so that you can continue to lead your life with modifications.
Medication can help to take the edge of the pain when it reaches the point it become unbearable and getting massages from those trained in understanding conditions like arthritis can give you some relief from the joint and muscle pain.
Accept that you have a condition that will at times limit your ability to handle things.
On the days when the fibromyalgia pain is worse, don't be ashamed to ask for someone to help you do the tasks around the house that you would ordinarily do.
Save the things that don't tax your strength for the days when the flare-ups are at their worst. You won't be able to predict the days when your symptoms will deplete your energy but you can plan ahead so that the impact of those days aren't as hard to deal with.