Fibro fatigue worse than usual in covid/lockdown times

[Tozzle]

Hey folks,

I was diagnosed with fibro in January, after about a year of testing, and for the most part am doing OK. This is my first post in this community.

One thing I'm really noticing at the moment is my fatigue is far greater than usual, and my need to sleep ridiculous. I'm working from home, where I live alone with my cat, am doing my best to get out and exercise, which is proving difficult given the shortened amount of time there is once I've done 12 hours sleeping, 7 hours work, done my chores and stuff, cooked and eaten etc.

Are others experiencing flares of fibro symptoms in these weird times of heightened anxiety and uncertainty? Is this just to be expected?

I've not experienced a flare going on for so long (the super tired has been affecting me for 5 days now I reckon).

Many thanks, Ali

[Hidden]

Yeah I'm aching more and I'm really stiff in my back shoulders and neck

I can't stop thinking about the situation and I'm so worried a d scared to go out,

Its making my sleep worse too, which makes my aches and stiffness worse

[bobbybobb]

Anxiety can make your symptoms worse. I should imagine many people are experiencing an increase in symptom and even flares. Its important to pace yourself especially if you are working from home. Take regular breaks and give yourself time to recharge. 🙂

[Lou1054]

We do need daylight, I have found sitting near a window helpful, l also, if not too cold, open the window if safe to do so x

[YASMINTINA FMA UK Volunteer]

Yes for some of us the anxiety can get the better of you as un certain times , we are not proberly switching off which is quite understandable at the moment. This is a great forum to read posts and in general have a chat, glad your cat is there for company proberly enjoying your company if you do not normally work from home. From friends I am talking too at the moment everybody seems to be sleeping more and resting as their usual routine broken, what work do you do from home ? Xx

[Fibroska]

Hi Ali, Firstly well done continuing to work.

Yeh I would agree that fatigue, aches and sensations have been heightened this past month or more, I am using pacing, breathing and guided meditation regularly and generally trying to stay stress free which I know is hard.

Unfortunately I have to say that yes it is more likely for you to experience a flare up due to the additional mental stress at this time, I find that I can just about cope with my daily pain(and I don't work), but the minute there is additional stress in my life; OOooft it's off the scale and I can't cope with anything.

I wonder if you are into aromatherapy, do you have any essential oils which can be put to use while working from home, I hope you feel some relief soon.

Stay safe & keep well.

[Hidden]

Yes, neck and head particularly bad. I’ve noticed how many more pain killers I’m taking each day after being really well for months and needing barely any.

[Tozzle]

Thanks, everyone. That's reassuring (sort of) to know. I'm hoping to be able to exercise today, and that will kick the fatigue into touch. I find it helps.

For work I'm a university lecturer, a 's these last couple of weeks have been really stressful as we've raced to get everything online, and as an empath I find it hard to shut out other people's stress on board as well. I think maybe I should find a meditation to try and work on that. I did one for pain management (a whole course) and found it useful.

[LisaSnow FMA UK Volunteer in reply to Tozzle]

What do you teach? I hated Zoom teaching at first but now I downsized my class and it is just perfect. I do find it easier to minimize senses to focus better though. Meaning, I turn off my camera so I focus only on what I hear and see on the screen.

[Spacereturn]

Hi yes I’ve noticed over the last few weeks my pain and stiffness is really bad I also have a headache that doesn’t go . I don’t go out normally so staying at home doesn’t bother me I’m still looking after my granddaughter as my daughter is a BMS at a hospital lab she does the testing of the dreaded bug so I worry about her a lot and I don’t think this is going to end anytime soon we just have to keep plodding along as best we can take care everybody 😷

[Bambi60]

Hi Tozzle, I have needed more sleep and so I understand where you're coming from there. My thoughts are that there are no distractions from the pain or putting a happy face on what we are facing every day when we meet others or try to function at work - so while it may be a totally new experience with self isolation, I just try to 'be' kind to myself and befriend myself. I admit my cats keep me sane - please be kind to yourself! Wishing you the best x

[achydunlin]

Hi yes I'm the same. I work in education and I think I kept going with adrenalin and actually felt fine - although anxious when I went into work (I work part-time) but when we closed two weeks ago now it must have hit me and I've ached all over and feel very very tired although I'm now working from home (although less than half the hours I did due to technical problems etc) but I've felt really awful the past week and a half. Not sleeping, stiff, tired, aching arms, legs - I convinced myself I had the virus even though I had no cough or fever! But I think it's just fibromyalgia coming out because of stress. Take care everyone. I think fibromyalgia flares are going to be more common at the moment because we are all stressed and anxious xx

[GrumpyTired]

Totally - I think there is so much ambient stress going around right now that it’s inevitable. Working remotely adds so many things that trigger my fibro too - hours of video calls for example, constant context switching etc