I didn’t Create it
But I can make good Choices
It can’t be Cured
But I can Celebrate the small victories
I didn’t Cause it
But I can Care for others
I can’t Control it
But I can Choose to think positive
I can Communicate to those who will listen
But I can Cope even though I don’t always want to
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: care, choices, communicate, control, cope, create, The Ten C's of Coping With Fibromyalgia | 2 Comments »
To promote fibro-awareness, you may use these and any other fibro-awareness graphics of memes to raise awareness of Fibromyalgia free of charge. They are copyrighted but this post give permission for free use of unaltered memes or graphics.
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: fibro, fibro-awareness memes, Fibromyalgia, free use, graphics | Leave a comment »
On June 22nd, I went to the dentist. You can read about that visit at How Fibromyalgia Affects My Daily Life: Dental Work. That was on a Monday. About seven to ten days later I noticed the symptoms of TMJ starting with my upper left jaw. That is where the dental work was done. Having had TMJ three or four times since fibro was officially diagnosed. I had prescription strength anti-inflammatories from a previous issue. I also had the pain reliever’s so I started treatment as soon as I realized the symptoms.
I can’t remember the exact day the symptoms started because I was dealing with some serious dizziness issues and then this week I was diagnosed with a middle ear infection. Since this Blog is written by a person who really has fibromyalgia, my posts are dependent upon my health.
The point of this follow-up to my post, A Day in the Life of Fibromyalgia: Dental Work, is to mention that even though I had a great experience with my visit to the dentist, about a week or so later I started to get the symptoms of TMJ which we, as fibromite are sensitive to.
My dentist is great and in spite of his sensitivity to my fibro symptoms, no one could control the need for my jaw to be wide open during the dental work. As a result of the pressure on my jaw, I got a case of TMJ. It wasn’t a terrible case of TMJ, I’ve had worse, I think treating the symptom’s quickly made have controlled the TMJ from getting worse, maybe.
Will you always get TMJ after every dental visit? Maybe not. My visit before the filling was a check up and cleaning and I didn’t get TMJ symptoms so I don’t know if TMJ will follow every dental visit but I would be on the look out for it. Perhaps consult your dentist at the time of your visit to get prescriptions for TMJ MEDs just in case the symptoms appear. I don’t know if your dentist would be willing but it doesn’t hurt to ask and it certainly helps to be prepared. I have been taking the TMJ therapy for about four or five days and the symptoms are almost gone.
So when going to the dentist it is, I think, a good idea to be prepared for the possibility of TMJ after your dental work is done.
What has been your experience with dental work and TMJ? What has been your experience in general with going to the dentist with fibromyalgia?
Troy Wagstaff ©
This is not medical advice and in no way assumes liability.
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: a day in the life of fibromyalgia, dental work, fibro awareness, fibromite, tmj | Leave a comment »
Hope is like the waves of the ocean crashing on the beach. At first your feet get wet, and over the time, the waves get bigger, bringing in more hope, making you more wet. Eventually the waves of hope completely engulf you leaving wet with hope.
Then the waves recede back into the tumultuous ocean to leave all but your feet dry again.
Pain is like the waves of the ocean crashing on the beach. At first your feet get wet, and over the time, the waves get bigger, bringing in more pain, making you more wet. Eventually the waves of pain completely engulf you, leaving you wet with pain.
Then the waves recede back into the chaotic ocean to leave all but your feet dry again.
Despair is like the waves of the ocean crashing on the beach. At first your feet get wet, and over the time, the waves get bigger, bringing in more despair, making you more wet. Eventually the waves of despair completely engulf you, leaving you wet with despair.
Then the waves recede back into the turbulent ocean to leave all but your feet dry again.
With the tides, the waves of hope, pain and despair come and go, engulfing you, but eventually leaving you dry and hopeless, with less pain and less despair. The contradictory waves of fibromyalgia are a fickle thing always at the beckoning of the tumultuous sea.
CallahanWriter ©
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: contradiction, despair, fibro awareness, Fibromyalgia, hope, wave | 1 Comment »
1. Believe us
2. Validate us
3. Do not put any unnecessary pressure on us
4. Encourage us to find things we do to feel good about ourselves
5. Understand, we did not ask for this disease
6. Understand that Fibromites would rather do what you want, than suffer from the inability to do what you want them to do.
7. Realize that we should not over do it on our good days.
8. Stress can be a trigger to flare ups.
9. Do not make us feel guilty for having fibromyalgia
10. Know that we can make contributions to our family and to society
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: believe, guilt, pressure, stress, support, Ten Tips In Dealing With Someone Who Has Fibromyalgia, validate | Leave a comment »
This is the third article on coping with fibromyalgia where I have asked the question “Is fibromyalgia the end of life as we know it?” The answer is yes, your old life is over. Click on Is Fibromyalgia The End Of Life As We Know it Part One for the first article in this series and click on Is Fibromyalgia The End Of Life As We Know It Part Two
The new life, the life with fibromyalgia can still have meaning, joy and hope. They key to this new life filled with fibromyalgia is to make adjustments and learn what is possible with an invisible chronic illness.
In the past two articles we learned the need to let go of the guilt we feel for not being able to do what we once did. We covered, letting go of the past and managing our expectations. We also discussed knowing our limitations and making allowances for what we can no longer do. This third installment is much more positive because we will dwell on improving our fibro ridden life.
Let’s look at three ways on how we can live a life of meaning, joy and hope.
1. Reinvent Yourself
For most people, the onset of fibromyalgia will turn your life into a chaotic mess dealing with all the symptoms that come with the disease. Generally, you cannot do the things you used to do before fibromyalgia became your chronic companion.
For me, I spent three or four years looking for a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Then I had to get used to it all. Even with a treatment plan, including pain management I realized I couldn’t go back to what I was doing prior to my illness. If I was going to have any sense of meaning in my life and any chance of joy or hope, I would need to reinvent myself.
It is hard to admit the life you once knew is gone for good. With the life sucking chronic pain, pulling the lifeblood out of me, I could no longer do what I used to, so making a long story short I got into writing. So now I am a blogger and a writer, which is very flexible and give my life meaning. Especially since most of what I blog about is fibromyalgia and Christian topics.
As luck would have it, I used to write in the distant past. I enjoyed it and even did some professional technical writing for a while. With my laptop, I can write while resting in my recliner. With the laptop resting on my lap, I can create an article for a blog post or I can work on my novel or create a new short story. This reinvented life is as flexible as my new life with fibro demands.
I don’t know what will work for you. That is something you will need to decide. If you’re lucky, you may still be able to do what you did before the onset of chronic pain, you may just need more flexibility.
With my reinvented self I do not have to worry about going to an office or punching a time card. I can write between naps. It gives me a purpose. I don’t know about you, but I cannot live a life without any sort of purpose and meaning.
I’ve had fibromyalgia for more than thirty years, although it wasn’t properly diagnosed for more than eleven years. I’ve had time to figure out this important step. There was a period of about four years where my time was occupied by doctor visits, sleeping, and watching TV because I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
I still have episodes like this. But when I am up to it, I have a meaningful activity that gives me a sense of purpose. What new or modified activities can you think of that would give your life meaning and a sense of purpose. Don’t worry if the answers don’t come right away. But if you keep at it, you will figure out a purpose driven activity for the new you.
2. Manage Expectations
We touched on it previously in this series of articles, but I feel it is of such importance that it is worth touching on again and that is managing your expectations of what you can or cannot do.
I don’t know why, but there is almost always guilt associated with saying to yourself or others that you cannot do something you once found common place. Since I touched on guilt previously, I’ll just suggest this little nugget of insight about dealing with the expectations of what you can no longer do.
Instead of saying “I can no longer do that” reply by saying “while I can no longer do that, I can do this . . .” It sounds more positive and positive self talk is very important.
When your constant companion is chronic pain, fatigue and the sensations of an achy flu all over your body, sucking the life out of you, it is important to avoid guilt whenever and however you can. I am not talking about the guilt of sinning. I am talking about the unnecessary guilt we give ourselves for failure to live up to our own and others expectations of ourselves. The third thing we can do to make our new life as a fibromite better, is to manage other peoples expectations of what we can do.
Because we don’t look sick, many of the people who knew us before we had fibromyalgia will ask us do things we used to do. They will expect it of us. So what we need to do is say something along the lines of, “I’m sorry, but I can no longer do that because of fibromyalgia, but I can do this . . . .”
It is difficult to manage your own expectations of yourself when you compare yourself now to the person you once were. It is even more difficult to manage other peoples expectations of you now your new set of clothes is made from the popular new brand of fibromyalgia. I speak from decades of experience of living with chronic pain and fatigue.
3. Pacing Yourself
I swear, if I hear one more person tell me to pace myself and learn what my limits are, I think I will puke. Having said that, I want to mention it to you because it is so important. It is always a good thing to keep in mind because pacing ourselves is not something we are accustomed to doing.
Trying to pace ourselves is like placating this evil illness, we call fibromyalgia. I don’t want to pace myself because I don’t want to give into this disease. But I know, deep down, if I don’t learn to pace myself, I will not win the race between me and that f-bomb, fibromyalgia. I want to win, or at least peacefully coexist with it.
If we don’t learn to pace ourselves, then we will overdo it and, as we all know, fibromyalgia shows no mercy, it has no grace, it demands consequences to our actions however unfair that may seem. So if we want to get anywhere outside of our bed of pain, we have to pace ourselves.
We need to understand that there are things we can do if we pace ourselves and there are thing we can’t do. What we might have accomplished in a day, back before fibro set in, may take a week to do now. But if we pace ourselves, in the long run, we are better off.
Life as we once knew it, is now gone for good, or at least until modern science can develop a cure or a better treatment plan. However, at least for me, these three items previously mentioned help to cope with fibro much better and allow me some sense of normalcy. They give me a sense of meaning, joy and hope for the future.
There will be at least one more article in this series and maybe two so click on the follow button so you’ll know when those posts arrive.
Troy Wagstaff ©
This is written for informational purposes only and not for medical advice. I assume no liability for the application of this information. Please see your health care provider for any medical advice.
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: fibro awareness, Fibromyalgia, hope, IS FIBROMYALGIA THE END OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT?, joy, manage expectation, meaning, pace yourself, part 3, reinvent yourself | 3 Comments »
I have always advocated a scientific pharmaceutical approach to treating chronic pain, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and other chronic invisible illnesses. Here’s why. . .
More than thirty years ago, late in 1984 I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a unique form of arthritis. The symptoms of fibromyalgia and AS are very similar to each other. So, for more than twenty years I had arthritis, or so I was told. I learned back then, through literature published by the National Arthritis Foundation to be leery of “snake oil” remedies. Unscrupulous characters are out there praying on the people who are desperate with pain and are willing to try anything to get out from under dire pain.
Unless people selling these remedies have scientific research to explain why their solution works, I ignore it. It cost too much money, effort, emotion and false hope trying everything that comes along. Heck, people can’t even afford legitimate medicine let alone unproven solutions.
Additionally, using the TENS machine is not, in my opinion, a replacement for pain MEDs. I use it to supplement what I am already doing to manage my pain.
TENS UNIT
I am writing about a TENS Unit for treating chronic pain. I would not mention it, if I didn’t have first had knowledge of its proven ability to manage pain. I don’t have the finances to try everything that comes along and I don’t have the emotional energy to pin my hopes on every little unproven hope for a cure.
The TENS Unit is a proven piece of medical equipment that helps manage pain. I have more than ten years of experience with the TENS Unit. Back in those days, you had to have a prescription to get one and most of the time, a pre approval from your insurance to get a TENS Unit.
Now days you can get one from the internet, medical supply stores, physical therapy and chiropractor offices. From my experience they work wonderfully.
“TENS” means “Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation.” The way it was explained to me about eleven years ago was the electrical signal scrambled the pain signals that are going to the brain. When these scrambled pain signals get to the brain, the brain doesn’t recognize the “ouch” signal and doesn’t know you’re in pain. They also said that the signal stimulates blood flow to the affected area which helps the body heal the affected area.
What they now say, eleven years later, about a TENS Unit is similar to what they said a decade ago with a few exceptions. “TENS machine works by sending stimulating pulses across the surface of the skin and along the nerve strands. The stimulating pulses help prevent pain signals from reaching the brain. The TENS device also helps stimulate your body to produce higher levels of its own natural painkillers, called Endorphin’s.”
They didn’t mention anything about endorphin’s eleven years ago in conjunction with the use of a TENS machine.
The electrode or pads as I call them send electricity into the body “Transcutaneously” which means under the skin but not very far. I wear a TENS Unit often and in public. Sometimes I can conceal the unit, itself in a pocket but not always. When people see, this machine clipped somewhere on my shirt they ask about it. When I explain that the machine relieves pain by sending electricity into my body, they are aghast at the thought of deliberately “electrocuting” myself.
It’s not that way at all. If you have ever been shocked by electricity, don’t worry, a TENS Unit is very different. It is electricity, but it’s not like getting shocked. It feels kind of prickly and sometimes warm and there is a pulse like feeling. It is weird, very weird, but very worth it. I highly recommend it along with your tried and true pharmaceuticals.
You no longer need a prescription to buy a TENS machine. They are affordable for most people. There are a few things to consider about the TENS Unit. The wires that connect the electrodes to the TENS machine are very fragile and can easily get damaged. You have to buy electrode pads frequently as they wear out. For me it is worth it. It is very helpful in minimizing local pain. You can always buy new wires when they wear out or get damaged.
I have learned how to maximize the effect of the TENS machine for me by placing them very near the major nerves that come out from the spinal cord. Strategically placing them covers a wider range of your nervous system. They also have different size and shapes of the electrode pads. The effect of the therapy radiates out from the pad covering a bigger area than what is covered by the pad. I have found that the bigger the pad isn’t always worth the increased price.
Personal Experience
I have not had the benefit of a TENS Unit for a few weeks because my wires got damaged. As a result, my neck slowly and steadily got more and more sore and very stiff. The last four or five days the portion of my spine that goes through my neck feels like it has turned into a 2″ x 4″ stud in place of my neck. It was so stiff and sore that it hurt to bend my neck up, down or sideways. Then I started to get very dizzy. The dizziness came in spurts. Some episodes of dizziness last several hours and forced me to sit being too dizzy to walk.
I know that dizziness is a symptom of fibromyalgia, but it is also a result of other symptoms and medicines. I had a feeling the dizziness might be associated with the pressure in my spine and the stiff pain in my neck.
I waited to write this article until my new wires came in and I could have a several hours with the TENS attached. I knew it would help my neck and tension headaches, but wondered if it would also help relieve the dizziness from the pain and pressure in my neck.
I got the wires yesterday in the mail. I wore the TENS machine for about six to eight hours on two places on my spine. Most of the time the patches were attached to the neck area and an hour or so attached to the t-spine area because of the pressure in that region.
Within a half hour the chronic headache went away and the neck relaxed and the 2″ x4″ went away. As I finish this article, right now my neck is stiff, but not at all sore. Since yesterdays TENS therapy I haven’t been dizzy.
Pros and Cons
In my opinion, the TENS machine is a miracle item for chronic fibro pain. I even use it on my thighs, forearms, wrists and calf’s. But there are some pros and cons I can think of, you may want to consider.
PROS:
It relieves pain, even strong pain.
With widespread pain, sometimes MEDs will only work on certain areas. The patches of the TENS Unit can be localized just about anywhere, but not directly on bone or near the eyes. (Always read the instructions that come with the Unit.)
With intelligent use the TENS machine can be used for more than localized pain, but not for widespread pain. It will help wide spread pain, but not as effectively as localized pain.
Even though it is an electrical machine, it is natural and doesn’t have any medication side effects. Our nerve signals are carried by electricity in our body.
CONS:
If you wear it like I do, for hours on end, the skin touched by the adhesive on the patch can get red and irritated, sometimes even itchy. Most people and most recommendations do not suggest wearing the TENS for that long.
The patches need to be replaced. They can be pricey, but they tend to be more affordable online.
The wires are the single most fragile part of the Unit. If they get shorted out, you’ll need to replace them
All the TENS machines I’ve owned (around five or six) take nine volt batteries. They wear out and need to be replaced.
There are four pros and four cons. However, in my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons. If I ever travel, even for a single day road trip, I always make sure I have spare batteries and patches. They really make a difference. They are a good investment to make in pain management.
Members of my family and a few friends have used my TENS when they have hurt themselves with sprains, kinked backs etc. To me it is a miracle machine.
Troy Wagstaff ©
This article is written from personal perspective and is not medical advise. I am not liable for any medical issues arising from the information in this post
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: chronic pain, fibro awareness, fibromyalgia, pain management, tens, tens unit | 1 Comment »
It has long since become a common practice to share recipes online via Facebook, Pinterest and other social media sites. I would like to share with all of you the recipe for fibromyalgia stew. The problem with the recipe for fibro stew is, no one knows what causes fibromyalgia. Researchers do know what the ingredients to fibro stew are. But they don’t know how to mix them, cook them or how high the temperature should be.
But knowing the ingredients of fibromyalgia stew will at least give you a good idea what it tastes like.
The primary ingredient to fibro stew is wide spread chronic muscle and tissue pain. The element of chronic pain can be as simple as carpel tunnel pain in your wrist to sciatica nerve pain in your lower back and legs. This chronic pain ingredient can pierce deep into the core of your spine and it can cause all kinds of muscle spasms. Chronic pain is the chief additive to fibro stew.
A liberal dose of chronic fatigue added to the stew is very important. This type of chronic fatigue is not the Swiss, French or Mexican type of fatigue, it’s the type of chronic fatigue you feel when you wake up after a good nights rest feeling unrefreshed and worn out. It’s the type of fatigue you feel when you are recuperating from major surgery and your body craves sleep and rest to heal. You can nap and sleep all day long and still feel tired and void of energy.
This common part of the recipe, fibro fog, is when you know what words to use, you even know the meaning of the word, but can’t think of the actual word. It’s going into another room to look for your reading glasses only to find them on your head or looking for the car keys while they are in your hand. The ingredient of fibro fog is where you know the answers, it just takes a longer time than usual to get them. With fibro fog you forget what you were concentrating on.
By glancing over this list of ingredients of fibro stew you can clearly see there are a lot of elements to the stew, Irritable bowl syndrome is just one of many elements to the stew. IBS is also served as entree for some people that don’t have fibro stew.
Don’t confuse chronic fibro pain with tension headaches. While they share a common element, which is pain, they are still different ingredients. When your muscle spasms get so tight they cause your head to ache, then you know you have the right ingredient in fibro stew.
Migraine headaches are another big part of fibro stew. It has similarities with chronic pain and tension headaches, which is, terrible pain, but it is a separate ingredient to the stew and a unique part of the stew.
Depression is a key element to the mix. Several of these ingredients can be served as an entree or be part of the fibro stew. Depression is just one of the many of elements of fibro stew. It is often served as its own entree.
Tremors in the extremities are a common additive to the Fibro stew. Sometimes your hands, legs or feet can have such violent tremors that you might loose the food from your fork or spoon. This item can be optional as it is not something that every fibro stew has.
It can seem strange that elements of the stew can be as diverse and yet related as chronic fatigue and insomnia, but this list of ingredients can appear to be contradictory at times and that is the nature of this recipe. Don’t question the chronic contradictions in these ingredients, but rather embrace them.
Sensitivities like a sensitivity to sunlight or UV rays are a common element in the recipe of fibro stew along with other categories of sensitivities like noise and chemical sensitivities. Like herbs and various seasonings, the sensitivities can vary according to taste and circumstances.
Any chef or health care provider knows that stress, through no fault of your own, is a major component to many medical conditions like high blood pressure, migraines, and fibromyalgia. Use the sensitivity, ingredients according to how your stew works.
Night sweats are also an optional ingredient, however, it is more common than you might think for a good recipe of fibro stew.
Some people thing that the coordination issue ingredients are related to other parts of the stew, but it is a surprisingly popular element to the stew.
Anxiety is another often overlooked, but a big part of fibro stew. It’s not for everyone, but it is a part of a fibro stew of many people. Use accordingly.
There are even more parts to a typical fibro stew. We have only scratched the surface of what goes into the fibromyalgia recipe. There are many factors and other parts to consider when listing all that goes into chronic fibro stew.
As we said at the beginning, we don’t know how long to cook this recipe or at what temperature or in what proportions, but knowing what goes into fibro stew can give you an approximate idea of the fibro stew flavor.
Just as fibro stew is real so are the ingredients. This fibro stew mentions fourteen ingredients. There are more than seventy symptoms. Add to the main ingredients the other ingredients (symptoms) according to what you suffer from and viola, you have a tasty painful fibro stew.
Do you have any other ingredients that are a part of to your fibro stew that you would like to share with us? I’ love to hear them.
Troy Wagstaff ©
This is for informational and entertainment purposes only. This is not medical advise. Consult your health care provider for medical advise.
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: chronic fatigue, chronic pain, depression, fibro awareness, fibro fog, fibro stew, Fibromyalgia, headaches, migraines, sensitivities, stress, tremors | 1 Comment »
I like to create memes as a way of coping with fibromyalgia. These are free to use for fibro awareness if you like.
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: fibro, fibro awareness, fibromyalgia, free memes, memes | Leave a comment »
There are so many symptoms of fibromyalgia that is seems impossible, during an episode of poor health, to fully figure out what triggered the episode. When it’s all said and done, sometimes fibromyalgia is like riding a roller coaster, there are up and downs, twists and turns, and in the end you don’t know why you’re having an episode except that you have fibromyalgia. I’m calling them episodes rather than flare ups because we refer to a flare up as a short term increase in pain. The issues I am talking about are just about everything but pain.
Case in point.
I went with my litter buddy, who is truly an astronomy buff and he’s not quite five years old, to a Star Party last night hosted by the Salt Lake Astronomical Society in Stansbury Park at the Observatory near the Great Salt Lake.
His mom and baby sister came along, as did my oldest daughter and her date. There were more than twenty telescopes trained on Jupiter and Saturn but not Venus. We meandered around the park looking at these planets and the rings and moons around these planets through many different telescopes. One kind telescope owner aimed his telescope so I could see Venus. It wasn’t spectacular, but at least I got to see it.
I noticed that as I looked through each eye piece of every telescope that my eye would physically hurt. Not the kind of hurt when you read too much or are on the computer too much. It was like muscles behind my eyes were getting sore.
This in turn made be dizzy and nauseated. To be fair, I was dizzy and nauseated on the hour long drive getting to the park, but between the crowd and the focusing on the eyepieces of the telescopes my symptoms got worse.
I was leery about the crowd, but because it was in a big park with a lot of space and open air, I was hopeful the crowd would not be over stimulating. I was wrong. The optic nerve muscles surprised me. It was clear that I was over stimulated and I was sick because of it.
After I got home, I was hoping a good night’s rest would solve everything. Nope. I woke up several times in the first three or four hours after finally getting to bed. Finally, I was able to relax enough to get four or five consistent hours of sleep. I’ve been sick all day today and in a lot of pain. My neck is seizing up and causing tension headaches. My tens machine wires are broken so I can use that to help. The pain MEDs and muscle relaxers help but not completely.
Just another example of how fibromyalgia affects my daily life. Sigh.
Troy Wagstaff
Filed under: Fibromyalgia - Fbro Awareness | Tagged: chronic pain, fibro, fibro pain, fibromylagia, How Fibromyalgia Affects My Daily Life - Star Gazing, stimulation | 1 Comment »
Troy C. Wagstaff aka CallahanWriter Blog: Topics of interest include Western Historical (1865-1899) Topics. Additionally inspirational Christian and Fibromyalgia interests. 