Do People Really Live this Early in the Morning?

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Troy Wagstaff

Do People Really Live this Early in the Morning?

Insomnia is a big problem for many of us who have chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia or chronic pain. For many different reasons we have trouble sleeping. I don’t know about you champions, but before Fibro was officially diagnosed I was an early to bed early to rise kind of guy. Now that I have insomnia, I go to bed late and get up late, most of the time.

When life demands that I wake up early, about fifty percent of the time I can take my MEDs and I can get to bed in time to accommodate an early rise. This morning was one of those days when I got decent sleep in spite four or five interruptions.

how_fibro_changed_me_1I woke up at 8:15 a.m. to take my daughter to work at 9:00 a.m. I had enough time to take my pain MEDs and to rest my back on my heating pad for at least a half hour.

We left at 8:48 a.m. We saw a perky thirty-something woman jogging and wondered how someone could be out so early and be so perky and be jogging all at the same time. My daughter has developed bad sleeping habits along with me and my wife as she grew up. So this is early for her.

We live in a small town and on main street, the main thorough-fare, there were tons of cars on both sides of the road. That’s awfully early for this many people to be out and driving around on a Saturday. It was now 8:52 a.m.

As Kate and I were talking, on the way to the salon, I was reminiscing about the days when I used to go to work as someone else’s employee. I would be at my desk and working by eight in the morning. I realized I would wake up about an hour early to be ready for work. When I started a longer commute I woke up another hour and a half earlier to get ready to get to the bus or train. The last time I did that was about February 2002. I worked for myself for several years before my official diagnosis of fibromyalgia and then later becoming disabled.

As I reflected on that memory on my way home, by now it was 9:04 a.m., I realized how much fibromyalgia has affected my life. All these years later, eight in the morning is sleeping time. When millions of people are hard at work, I am sleeping or just waking up. Sadly, this is just another example of how fibro has, without my consent, changed the way I am forced to live my life.

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Inspirational Quotes To Validate Those With Fibromyalgia

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Troy Wagstaff

Inspirational Quotes To Validate Those With Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue.

 

These memes that promote fibro awareness and support for Chronic pain and chronic fatigue are just some of the countless memes on that subject located on a FaceBook group called FibroChampionsBlog at https://www.facebook.com/groups/FibroChampionsBlog

 

These memes are designed to validate those who suffer from the chronic nature of fibromyalgia, chronic pain, chronic fatigue and any other chronic illnesses the have pain or fatigue as a major symptom.

 

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FibroChampions means anyone with chronic fatigue, chronic pain or any other chronic illness where chronic fatigue or pain is part of the symptomology. NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER!

 

 

 

fibro_champ_miss_your_own_self

 

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Three Good Days Is All You Get

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Troy Wagstaff

Three Good Days Is All You Get

 

This week, three decent days of pain management is all I got. My average pain is around a six to seven. The last three days have been around a four or five. Mostly a four. Of course nothing ever goes completely right. I have had huge bouts of chronic fatigue but the pain has been manageable.

I am frustrated. On the rare chance I get to a point where the pain is tolerable, I get greedy and I want several more days pain-free.

fibrochampionsblog_frustration_no_morethan3good_daysI am also frustrated because when I am having one of those rare episodes of good pain management I get nervous for fear that the pain will blow up, out of no where and it makes me leery as to what I try to do. I’ll take the pain-free days even though they wont last and even though I don’t always takes advantage of a pain free day.

They never include frustration as a symptom of fibromyalgia. But the frustration is as real as the pain itself.

Having said all that, I am grateful for three decently managed semi pain-0free days this past week.

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Fibromyalgia – Critical Thinking

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Troy Wagstaff

Fibromyalgia And Critical Thinking

There is never any shortage of articles or advertisements claiming to help treat fibromyalgia or cure fibromyalgia. Every one of them leads directly or indirectly to money. No one wants to give that information or product away for free.

When you are in chronic pain all the time, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, you make for easy prey for some husker that will sell you something or teach you something for a modest fee, of course.

fibro_critical_thinkingIt can become expensive and costly to believe every claim or advertisement you hear about fibromyalgia.

There are people who aren’t selling anything, just passing on information. I do that all the time. I am not selling anything from my blog posts. I do pass along helpful information. Regardless if it is me or someone wanting to sell you something, it is important that even though it sounds like a wonderful thing you need to think it through. Use critical thinking.

For example, whenever I think of anyone either sharing information on nutrition to cure fibromyalgia or selling a book about nutrition that will stop fibromyalgia in its tracks I consider the fact that the latest information over that last three or four years is that fibromyalgia is not an autoimmune illness, it is a neurological illness. If there are certain types of food with certain types of herbs or trace elements, chances are, you can get them in a supplement form and not have to buy a big expensive book to see if it works. Chances are it will never work. If those elements or herbs really cure fibromyalgia, chances are the pharmaceuticals would synthesize it and make it available to everyone.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for eating as healthy as you can afford. Good nutrition is the secret to overall wellness. If you are disabled and on a strict limited income, you have probably noticed that produce and other healthy food are expensive.

When you are involved in critical thinking you never take anything at face value. You look into it and compare the assertions to your own research. You don’t accept what’s being presented to you without thinking and researching the idea. Don’t read one article an assume it is right for you. Dig in a little and see if after your research and critical thinking, is this right for me?

Troy Wagstaff

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Gone But Not Forgotten

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Troy Wagstaff

Gone But Hopefully Not Forgotten

A Resurgent FibroChampion

blog_meme_gone_not_forgottenI have maintained a low profile for the last month and a half. I have been working on finishing my first novel. I first started writing my Blog, FibroChampionsBlog at CallahanWriter.com to promote the cause of fibro awareness. I then realized that, having fibromyalgia myself, for more than thirty years, one of the things we need besides a cure is validation and inspiration. I’ve been working on adding posts related to that way of thinking. I have a set of memes or graphics that I will be adding to my Blog shortly, which came from my rough draft of the novel I am working on. I think most fibro patients or fibro champions, as I like to call us, will appreciate them.
After writing off and on for a while, mostly for my Blog, I learned from my neuropsychologist that fibro fog affects the body much the same ways that brain damage or traumatic brain injuries affect the brain. Just because you may have brain damage or TMI doesn’t always mean the damage is permanent. Some or all of the memory portion can be reclaimed by physical therapy.
fibrochampionsblog_9Yes, physical therapy. I’m not talking about exercises that work the muscles and joints, but exercises to physically work your brain. I heard an ad on the TV or radio about seniors learning a foreign language to help them keep their memory sharp. I ask my doc about that and she said it is true. She went on to say that any language-art affects the brain the same way.
I asked about writing, would writing have the same effect as learning a foreign language? The answer was yes. She went on to say that any activity that works the brain actively, like reading, computer games that need strategy, writing, learning languages, puzzles, crosswords, sudoku etc., they all have the same effect. Unlike the muscles in our body that need time to rest and recover between workouts, the brain can and should be worked out every single day for best results.
I like reading and writing. In the past two years I have read about a hundred books. I have written a lot. Somehow, I got the idea to write a novel where the protagonist, the main character has fibromyalgia and has to deal with it through out the story. I wanted the story to have fibromyalgia as a conflict against the main character.
I have spent six months writing the book and completely thrown away one story line and finally found the characters I wanted and then threw out two plot lines until I finally settled on a plot that could go the distance.
You all know how fibro fog does more than affect the memory, I finally had what I wanted, I just needed to complete the rough draft. I had serious doubts I could finish it and so I finally put everything aside and forced myself to do nothing else but wallow in pain and work on completing the novel to the first draft level. I needed a story laid out from start to finish. I needed it as much for a sense of completion. Big projects can be difficult for us fibrochampions. Now that I have finally completed the rough draft, I have a sense of major accomplishment and I feel like I can take the story all the way to publication. That won’t be for a few months, but I feel like I can actually do it.
AND I can say that after about eighteen months of physical therapy for my brain I am remembering things a little better. I still have serious memory issues, but over the last couple of weeks I have noticed a small difference in my memory.
What I want to say to you all is that physical therapy for the brain works and most of us are disabled and have the time to work the brain every day via computer brain games, reading books, especially creatively written books. Writing is good. Languages are good. Eighteen months will pass where you try it or not. Two years, three years, five years, or ten years will pass by, whether you try or not. Everything that counts as physical therapy can be done in bed, on a couch or recliner. Good luck.

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A Day In The Life Of Fibromyalgia

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Another Day In The Life Of Fibromyalgia

For almost two months I have only posted a few times. I’ve been in the throes of a fibro flare. When I have been blessed with a few good days, I have been working on my first novel. It’s a mystery with the main character that among other things has to deal with a mysterious chronic pain problem. Later on he finds a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. In spite of his illness, he is the only one who can solve the mysterious disappearance of countless young people who have gone missing on Lake Shaft.

I’ve spent a few years working on my Blog and I don’t want it do let it die. So I am trying to institute a regular column called A Day In The Life Of

Fibromyalgia, to keep my posts more regular. It will be a type of journal of the details of various days of how I am fighting fibromyalgia or how it’s fighting me. I will still, as health permits, write articles about this vile disease, we so hatefully call fibromyalgia.

Lately I have been having some serious pain from the top of my ankles, both, up the outside of the leg about eight inches. It hurts when I walk. I’ve been trying to do yoga, which includes, among other things balancing poses. At first I thought that might be causing the pain, then I realized when I sit in my favorite recliner, I cross my feet. Then I felt the ligament pull from my ankles up to the side of my leg. I realized that was where my pain was coming from.

little_ouch_big_pain

Why is that important? For most people it is probably not very important. However, for those of us who have fibromyalgia we are extra sensitive to the slightest normal pain. Now that I have identified the pain, I can stop crossing my legs at my ankles, it will heal and then that little molehill will stop feeling like a mountain.

For us fibro champions, we have to take care of the slightest aches and pain to prevent the minor pain so it won’t feel like a major pain.

Troy, A fibro champion.

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Inspirational Memes For Fibromyalgia

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Inspirational Memes For Fibromyalgia

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How Fibromyalgia Affects My Daily Life – Stress

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

How Fibromyalgia Affects My Daily Life – Stress

It’s no secret to anyone who has had a chronic illness for a long time that stress aggravates your condition, especially when that chronic illness is pain centered like chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia or other chronic pain disorders.

Yesterday, I had a very vivid experience that illustrates this point.

Without boring you with the details, I’ll summarize the event. My daughter is finishing up her cosmetology education. She had one last project. When my daughter handed in that last project, Darlene failed it with spurious claims on not following directions. She followed the instructions to the letter and so I called up the head instructor Darlene, and she told me what she told my daughter. What the instructor told me and what my daughter told me about the guidelines of the project was almost word for word the same instructions, yet she had the nerve to fail her.

I tried to explain how wrong it was, using her own words against her, in failing my daughter. She was stubborn and wouldn’t budge. A while later the Vice President of academics called us and asked that we bring in the project as part of her investigation. We did. During the conversation, it became readily apparent that she was taking the side of the teacher. The facts were not disputed, but she took the side of her friend. Although, to her credit, she provided two compromises to resolve the issue.

how_fibromyalgia_affects_my_daily_life_stress1My daughter choose an option and then I let myself dive into to her for the sake of justice. Since there would be no consequences for Darlene I decided I needed to make my case and educate this Vice President on the concept of consequences and justice. Granted, I did this from the standpoint of anger, but my points were valid. Finally, after I said what I wanted to say twice or more I stopped, thanked her for her time and found my daughter and left. Looking back on it, while I had valid points, I acted out of anger. I will write more on that in a later post as a way to manage stress.

This is where the story really begins.

This is where the story begins in dramatic fashion. Within four, maybe five minutes, we were still driving in the complex, I felt my lower back muscles move and twist and spasm. The pain wasn’t too bad because I had recently taken a pain pill and muscle relaxer. But when I started to feel those muscles move and squeeze I was amazed at how soon after that ordeal stress kicked into my body and physically manifested itself.

This story is just one more of a million ways about how fibromyalgia affects my daily life when stress is involved. This epiphany opens up room for me to consider in the future how to control my anger, that will be a topic for the future.

Troy Wagstaff ©

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84 Possible Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

84 Possible Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Of those who respect fibromyalgia as a legitimate medical condition, most of them associate chronic wide spread pain as the primary symptom. Some also recognized chronic fatigue and fibro fog as additional symptoms. But what many do not realize or appreciate about fibromyalgia is that there are more than 82 symptoms that go along with fibromyalgia, either as a primary symptom or overlapping secondary symptom.

Also consider that many of these symptoms can be unrelated to fibromyalgia and could easily be symptomatic to other types of illnesses or diseases. This list is presented as something to think about and as information you may want to talk to your doctor about.

This list of fibromyalgia symptoms are alphabetically ordered.

  1. Abdominal cramps
  2. Abdominal & Digestive Symptoms
  3. Awkwardness
  4. Bloating & nausea
  5. Bruising or scarring easily
  6. Chronic wide spread pain
  7. Clumsiness
  8. Confusion
  9. Coughing
  10. Cravings for carbohydrate and chocolate
  11. Delayed reactions to physical exertion or stressful events
  12. Depression
  13. Difficulty speaking known words, other language impairments (dysphasia)
  14. Diffuse Swelling
  15. Directional disorientation
  16. Earaches & itchy ears
  17. Fatigue
  18. Fibro Fog
  19. Fibrocystic (lumpy, tender) breasts (as an overlapping condition)
  20. Foot Stiffness
  21. Foot Pain
  22. Free-floating anxiety
  23. Frequent Chronic Sciatica nerve pain
  24. Hair loss (temporary)
  25. Headaches
  26. Hemorrhoids
  27. Hip Pain
  28. Impotence
  29. Inability to recognize familiar surroundings
  30. Insomnia
  31. Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome)
  32. Irritable Bladder
  33. Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  34. Light and/or broken sleep pattern with unrefreshing sleep
  35. Loss of libido
  36. Loss of ability to distinguish some shades of colors
  37. Migraine Headaches
  38. Mitral valve prolapse
  39. Mold & yeast sensitivity
  40. Mood swings
  41. Morning stiffness

fibro_symptoms2

  1. Muscle Spasms
  2. Muscle Twitches
  3. Nails that curve under
  4. Night driving difficulty
  5. Nose bleeds
  6. Other family members with fibromyalgia
  7. Pain that mimics heart attack, frequently from costochondritis
  8. Painsomnia – Insomnia directly related to pain disturbances
  9. Panic attacks
  10. Paresthesias in the upper limbs (tingling or burning sensations)
  11. Pelvic pain
  12. Pelvic Pain
  13. PMS (as an overlapping condition)
  14. Poor balance and coordination
  15. Post nasal drip
  16. Pronounced nail ridges
  17. Ringing ears (tinitis)
  18. Runny nose
  19. Sensitivity to pressure changes, temperature & humidity
  20. Sensitivity to noise
  21. Sensitivity to light
  22. Sensitivity to odors
  23. Sensory overload
  24. Sensory Symptoms
  25. Short-term memory impairment
  26. Shortness of breath
  27. Sleep starts (falling sensations)
  28. Specific tissue pain
  29. Specific muscle pain
  30. Staring into space before brain “kicks in”
  31. Stiffness caused by sitting in the same position for a prolonged period of time
  32. Sweats, usually night time
  33. Swollen Hands
  34. Teeth grinding (bruxism)
  35. Tendency to cry easily
  36. Tension Headaches
  37. Tingling Hands
  38. Tissue overgrowth (non-cancerous tumors. lipomas, ingrown hairs, cuticles, adhesions)
  39. Trouble concentrating
  40. Unaccountable irritability
  41. Unexplained weight gain
  42. Unexplained weight loss
  43. Urinary frequency
  44. Vision changes (including rapidly worsening vision)This list is for informational purposes and is not a diagnostic aid. Always consult your health care provider for any diagnosis or treatment of any of the symptoms.

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Not All Fibromyalgia Symptoms Are Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Not All Fibromyalgia Symptoms Are Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Most people discover that they have fibromyalgia after a long bout of chronic pain. Then it usually takes a year or more to get it correctly diagnosed. In the meantime and for the next several years they discover additional symptoms of fibromyalgia like chronic fatigue, fibro fog, IBS, chemical sensitivities, dizziness, impaired motor skills and the list really goes on and on.

I’ve heard that there are more than sixty symptoms related to fibromyalgia. I haven’t researched that statement yet but here are a lot of additional fibro symptoms to consider such as Chronic muscle spasms, or tightness, chronic fatigue and decreased energy, Insomnia, waking up feeling just as tired, as when you went to sleep, stiffness upon waking or after staying in one position for too long, difficulty remembering, concentrating, and performing simple mental tasks (“fibro fog”), abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and constipation alternating with diarrhea (irritable bowel syndrome), tension or migraine headaches, jaw and facial tenderness, sensitivity to one or more of the following: odors, noise, bright lights, medications, certain foods, and cold.

Even more fibro symptoms are feeling anxious or depressed, numbness or tingling in the face, arms, hands, legs, or feet, increase in urinary urgency or frequency (irritable bladder), reduced tolerance for exercise and muscle pain after exercise, a feeling of swelling (without actual swelling) in the hands and feet.

not_all_fibro_symptoms_are sympRemember, there are countless more symptoms of fibromyalgia. But here is the point, when you notice a new symptom don’t just assume that it is a fibro symptom, at least get it checked out before assuming anything.

My first example from my decades long experiences that illustrates this concept: I have been having problems recently being way more fatigued than usual. I went the doctor to check it out. It felt a little more than traditional chronic fatigue symptoms. To make a long story short, I found out that my heart rate was hovering in the mid 40’s. Sometimes and low as 40. That can make a person very sleeping. I am currently being monitored by a Cardiologist.

The second example is related to dizziness. Dizziness can be a symptom of fibromyalgia but it, like most of the symptoms of fibromyalgia can by symptoms related t other things. Occasionally I have dizziness with fibromyalgia. In the past I have had a few inner ear infections. I started getting much more dizzy than usual. Went to the doctor to finds out I have an inner ear infection and fluid build up behind both ear drums. I was able to get some Meclizine to help with the dizziness. I was told to take Mucinex to help get rid of the fluid.

Ten days later I went to my doctor again and the fluid was gone behind one ear and the other ear was infected. Got an antibiotic and after three days I am seeing improvement.

If I had not gone to the doctor then I would have got really dizzy and sick and suffered longer than needed.

My third example is that I take medicine for IBS, irritable bladder, anxiety, muscle spasms, to manage fibro symptoms. Always treat the symptoms if they are a part of fibro or not. Chronic pain is more than enough to deal with, manage your other symptoms the best you can.

Troy Wagstaff ©

This is not medical advice. This is for informational purposes and should not be considered medical advice. Consult your doctor for any questions about your health.

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