Hi, I was wondering if I am being a total wuss or does anyone else find this!
I bought some spray for relief when my back/shoulder muscles ache. I asked my son to spray it on for me and it felt so cold I was crying and it was unbearable.
I tested it on my leg or arm etc and it was obviously cold, but not painful like I'd had an electric shock. How can it be so intensely unbearable in one place but not another? Think I am going mad 😩
I like heating pad to smooth the pain for that reason. For topical aid, have you tried CBD gel or cream that you can first warm up in your palms before applying?
Thanks for the reply. I finally found something on the internet called Thermal Allodynia. It seems to explain the sensitivity in that area as even the shower can feel really cold on my back even when its not. I have got a heat pad now. I just thought a spray was quicker than getting my eldest son to rub in cream where i can't reach! Says he doesn't mind but he has autism and hates the feel of cream on his hands.
No, you’re not going mad. It’s another fibro thing.
I always thought everyone felt intense pain for hours if they burnt their finger on the iron/ oven/ hot saucepan. I’d run it under a cold tap but often the pain didn’t wain for hours. I can remember going to bed dangling my arm over the edge of the bed trying to keep my hand in a jug of iced water ( and fall asleep!) it took me years to realise I felt pain differently to others.
You might find heat more soothing, or rub on creams/gels rather than the shock of a spray.
I broke my foot and tore the tendons in the summer (lost my balance in garden) and it really hurt. But I dropped a full tin on my toe 2 months ago and the pain made me sick and I nearly passed out! My body is WEIRD!
Interesting! - But more normal and even 'logical' than it seems, you're definitely not going mad: When cold showering you start on your legs first, then arms, then front, and only if that's all OK and you've been getting used to it do you do your back, neck and face, because they are the most sensitive. I can't explain back as opposed to front, because the nerves are actually *less dense on your back, but that is how it works best. But torso and head are nearer to the *heart than limbs, that's easier to get. I'm not sure I wouldn't try it again, but starting with a very small spot, just one finger, that'd be a win:win for you and your son, too. 
That'd also be how you carefully wean yourself into all cold applications, from cooling wrists and arms when they ache right up to showering (except local cryotherapy, because nitrogen/air is easier on the body than substances like water, gel and pads). And seems to be a pattern for everything new I've tried out or do: Baby steps, starting with spots or 10-20''.
Altho I've become an avid cold showerer, day and it even helps me get to sleep again at night, I use warm pads not cold ones.
And btw - bathing my hands in 50°C hot or 8°C cold canola in the fibro-clinic made my whole system go berzerk if I did it longer than 5 mins, but it was quite helpful for my wrists and underarms at 3 mins. All other fibromites had no problem with 15 mins, they just had to decide whether hot or cold was better for them.
I've only had cold showers in the summer! I can't STAND summer and the humidity. Everything is much worse 😩. Its warm or hot showers that still feel like cold knives on my back.
My body is a weird mix of hyper or hypo sensitive. My hands are covered in burn scars from the oven where I haven't realised the heat. But my feet and lower legs ache from cold and I often feel like I've spilt water on them but there's nothing there!
And before anyone says to have a bath I haven't got one lol. Walk in shower that takes up half the small bathroom.
What an interesting post with some great replies. I have Small Fibre Neuropathy of recent diagnosis but present for 21 years and have had Fibro symptoms since age 12 approx. although not diagnosed for years, also Raynauds. I get sharp pain from both cold and heat directly on skin, particularly in extremities most affected by numbness and burning etc from SFN (warm hot water bottle causes pain not warmth). I cannot bear the water from the shower directly on my back at any temperature. In the bath the other night the cold tap dripped once onto my left foot and the pain was extraordinary, thankfully brief, but not reproducible. Nerve pain is very strange. B12 and small amounts of methylfolate have eased some of my symptoms, along with magnesium, and I suspect that I have a mast cell dysfunction of some kind for which quercetin is useful (actually helps my joint pain etc.) Best wishes
My GP suggested neuropathy. I used to have type 2 diabetes but I beat it. Now he says Fibro. Who knows. Hopefully I will get to see the specialist one day! I have started magnesium which has helped RLS and sleep tremendously. I will try B12 too. I've not heard of Quercetin. Will read up on it. Best wishes
Glad the magnesium is helping you too. At some point my RLS seems to have resolved. Well done for sorting the diabetes - so many seem to say that even small pre-diabetes level blood sugar imbalances can contribute to neuropathy/dysautonomia/thyroid disorders/neuroinflammation etc. Would be a good idea to get B12 checked (properly!) if you aren't already supplementing, partly because it will skew the results and partly because it is a good idea to know your actual baseline before you begin. Our requirements vary considerably. You've probably already had it tested, so just need to get actual figures from GP. Does sound a bit like dysautonomia/Sjogrens. Some very good posts on You Tube from Dysautonomia International and you could look at Dr Oaklander's 'Small Fibers, Big Pain' (Radcliffe). Good luck x
Thanks very much. Excellent advice. Yes pre-diabetes often lurks or is close. Constant battle. I will check out YouTube x
My pleasure - and I'll be on You Tube topping up on DD!! x
You know it makes sense! 🤣 x
Just a thought, on reading your profile, that it might be worth considering a family COMT issue. COMT is an enzyme that controls how you break down neurotransmitters and oestrogen (and is a methyl process so has a knock on effect on methylation capability). Some, by no means all, consider that Fibro is a symptom of COMT dysregulation and there are also connections to ADHD, Autism and anxiety. Ideally you want a genetic +/- as too slow (+/+) means you may have too high neurotransmitters and too fast (-/-) means you get rid of them too quickly. Magnesium helps to speed up your slow COMT (that is what I've got). It is easier to slow down than speed up. You may need to be wary about taking too much methyfolate etc. Bear in mind (sorry if you know already) that having a genetic SNP doesn't mean that it is actually causing a health problem or ever will, and you should never look at a SNP in isolation (as they affect each other) or treat a SNP without knowing whether it is actually contributing to your health issues. But it might give you all some idea of another avenue to look at x
I cannot tolerate anything that is cold on my skin. X
Its so weird. I hate summer and humidity. But I can't bear anything icy cold on my skin!
I much prefer heat, and do better in the summer months ... As long as it's not too hot (not that that happens too often in Scotland 😁😁😁)
Allodynia is one of the most of annoying parts of my fibro! Can’t handle rain drops on my arms, the breeze of a fan in the heat, the cold air right now means wrapping in layers so I can’t feel the pain or even to protect myself from it! The shower has got to be just right and I’ve learnt to get showered as quick as possible! 😫
Thanks for the reply. I'd never even heard of Allodynia before! I've spent a long time thinking I'm crackers.
gabapentin cold turkey.
cold right hand
cold weather/fibro.
Hot to Cold!
Just been told I have fibro and doc said it's just an ANNOYANCE like a common cold. HELP!!
