Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone else gets totally overwhelmed with Fibro? The last couple of years have sent my fibromyalgia off the scale with symptoms and its becoming very overwhelming. I have worked right through this pandemic in a job thats stressful at the best if times but the last couple of years its been a different kind of stress which has got on top of me and made my fibro pains go through the roof. My body just can't deal with stress and as we know stress is our biggest enemy. I feel like I have all this stress trapped in my body which has made the pain so much more than usual which is overwhelming me. Pain, my job and life is overwhelming me just now so I've been prescribed an antidepressant to see if it helps??? Just wondering if anyone feels like this also?? If so how to you cope?? Thanks for reading, its great to offload to people who get it 😊.
Just too much sometimes : Hi, I'm just... - Fibromyalgia Acti...
Just too much sometimes
Hi Elle247 😊🌿🌸🦋
So sorry you’re going through this.
For a full body stress reducer try soaking up to your neck in a Epsom salts bath. It relaxes tensed muscles/connective tissues is used by athletes (once the best therapy back in the day).
Also diffusers with lavender essential oil fills the air with calming effects.
Listening to CDs with calming sounds for you (my choice birds singing) for as much time as you have to devote to it. Do this while laying down if possible; most comfortable position is best.
Try to remember that all you have control over is the minute hour day at hand. Try not to let the future be your focus as it isn’t here at the moment.
If possible have some time devoted with someone close that will not be a stressor…a phone call they visit you and make the time low key ; Order take out or talk sharing a feel good movie whatever makes you feel good try it.
Remember you are a wonderful beautiful special person love yourself and do what’s best for you.
Don’t be negative to yourself if you can’t do all you’ve intended remember that you do have limitations because of your diagnosis.
We all are affected differently but still able to do things. Concentrate on the attainable.
Coming on this site and explaining your needs will result in comfort and guidance with compassion and love which is needed and so appreciated.
Best wishes for feeling better soon sweetie.
Big hugs comforting thoughts sent your way hun.
Love and prayers.
EJ 🤗♥️🥰🙏🕊🎄🌟✝️❄️☃️❄️🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🎅🎁🤶🤝❄️❤️🩹❄️❤️🩹❄️❤️🩹❄️❤️🩹❄️❤️🩹🦋
Hi Honeybug 😊. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and reply to my post, you have given me a great list of things to try.
I'm so grateful for your kind words, it mean alot.
I wish you a merry Christmas 🎄🎅 and a happy New year 🎉✨.
Take care 🙂
Hi Elle, this is a good place to vent your feelings. I do get quite overwhelmed at times especially as the fibro can have a negative impact on my T1 diabetes. I find a weighted blanket helpful and reading is good for me too. I do get out for a walk with our dog is good for mind and body. Stay strong and sending hugs 💜
Hi fabpup01 😊 thank you for replying to my post, that was a bad day. I've toyed with getting a weighted blanket but I'm not sure what they do?? Will have to look up the benefits. I do love walking my dogs too, I don't know what I would do without them they bring me alot if joy. I've been meaning to start reading so I will make time for that as I do love a good book.
I will add your suggestion to my list.
Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 and happy new year 🎉✨
Hello Elle, yes indeed stress is something to be avoided at all costs!I find a short walk in the fresh air helps me. Take regular short breaks at work, even a few deep breaths concentrating on the rising and falling of my chest, every half an hour or so.
I completed a mindfulness course online which teaches you to concentrate and live in the moment and not to dwell on the past or to worry about the future, basically 'living in the moment '.
Ask for help when you need it, so that you are not getting overwhelmed.
You might also find it helpful to do some kind of "talking therapy" where you can vent and air all your stresses and so they are not being bottled up inside you .
Take care and merry Christmas x
Hi phlebo123 😊
Thank you for replying to my post. I think if I could get my stress under control I would greatly benefit its just really difficult to do. I bought a mindful course but I haven't done it yet as I've been struggling to concentrate may be I need to try it again. Talking therapy is a good idea, I think I would really benefit from it. I'm going to look into that.
More helpful suggestions to add to my list so thanks again.
Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 and happy new year 🎉✨ to you too.
Take care 🙂 x
Hey Elle247 I’ve been there and sometimes I’m still there but it does get better. You’ve got great suggestions already like warm baths, what has really worked for me is a complementary therapy of reiki. Once I started to study and practice this I have more energy and hardly any painkillers at all. I do have a low antidepressant but that’s to help me have a better nights sleep which does help. At the moment just take it day by day and get to know your limits. Take care of yourself.
Hi Chunkiedog 🙂
Thanks for replying to my post. I know I'm so grateful for all the suggestions. I have looked into reiki before but never acted. Is reiki to do with energy? Thanks for replying to my post. Can I ask (if not too intrusive) what antidepressants you take and dosage? I was prescribed fluoxetine but I'm struggling with it as it gives me migraines and anxiety and restlessness not sure if I can continue. I know we are all different but I find value in other people's experiences with medication. I understand if you don't want to share that info.
I will just take it a day at a time.
Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 and happy new year 🎉✨.
Hi Elle247 no problem I don’t mind, I’m on a low dosage of amitriptyline 1 or 2 tablets a night. Hope this helps. And yes reiki is energy healing, it’s a way to relax properly which helps your body to assist in its own healing and I meditate daily too as part of my daily practice, all of this has helped me. Hope you find what works best for you very soon. Happy holidays and wishing you a great 2022 🎉
Hi 👋 thank you. See the amitriptyline. How long did it take for the sleepiness to wear off?? Sorry for asking questions about your medication just I've tried it before but I found it made me really tired the next day, did you find this and did it let up abit?? I like the sound of reiki, may be try find a therapist near by to try it. I'm determined to have a better year next year so gonna be trying alot of new ways to handle having fibro. Thanks for the info, really appreciate it 🙏😊👍🎅🎄
Hello, I can understand having to work with fibro can be a tall order and many have had to give up working because of it. I hope starting the antidepressant will help you, some nice reply’s from members who try different things to help them relax . I hope you have some time out over the Christmas period as that would help re charge your batteries and just do things that make you happy. For me I bake sometimes, listen to music , have tried the mindful music, watching a Xmas film or a series you enjoy . Take care .
Hi Yassytina 😊,
Thanks for replying to my post. I know I'm grateful for the reply its so very appreciated. Work is very stressful which does not help but I feel stuck as I'm not in a great place physically or mentally to move on. I am really gonna put the work in to feel better so I can move on.
Thanks for your great suggestions, more to add to my list.
Merry Christmas 🎅🎄 and Happy New year 🎉✨.
Hi again , I’m glad to chat it’s horrid having to struggle, I was put on duloxtene one tablet 60mg at night. I have been on this over 4 years now it’s been a life saver and worked for me personally, it stopped any anxiety/depression. I empathise I get dryness through wearing a mask for sleep apnea so heady in the mornings 😔but I use headache balms with lavender in (one company called herbs on the hill) are amazing I shop online as they are based in Somerset, they even use products now with the NHS, have a look online. I think you are really trying to find ways to move forward, not easy when working. I do hope you have sometime put over Xmas. My meds started to work by 2 weeks , if you feel this partially med is not working talk again to your doctor or even practioner nurse . They normally take alittle while to settle in , I was on Citalopram for years but really didn’t do anything like this tablet has, trial and error error they say. Take care xx
Hey 👋. Thank you, for your reply. The fluoxetine that I was prescribed have kept me away at night and increased my anxiety. I've been more tearful and felt down so I'm wondering if I will have better luck with something else. I. Gonna talk to the doctor after Christmas. I have heard of that head balm I will look them up and get some. I'm off work until new year so gonna try and relax. Thanks for your help and advice, really appreciated 👍. You take care too 😊🙏 xx
Glad you are off now, I differently would book (can you book online our surgery has changed the system for appointment s) and ask for a follow up appointment so doc /practioner nurse can follow up if you change meds. I am slowly getting there after I think a virus and left me with a flare , no Covid we are testing every so often although I’ve spent many more days in the last couple weeks at home. But I do love being at home and the grandboys popped in yesterday nearly 5 and 7 . Take care xx
Yes, I know that feeling. Had stress in the workplace myself. I'm glad to be retired now, far fewer stress triggers.
I moved house 2 years ago now; that was a major stress event, but life is far quieter now, much better without stairs to negotiate, and although I would love to get around the area and explore, I haven't been able to because of Covid, along with the fact I can no longer drive (failing sight) and my walking is poor. We are about to go back into restrictions again immediately after Christmas.
I've gotten a handle on my Fibro now,I know how to handle it after being diagnosed around 2004 (I think). I manage my own pain now without too much problem, and am no longer on prescription drugs, I just take OTC Ibuprofen, which seems to work for me.
Something I found invaluable is The Spoon Theory (on the Net). Helps you explain both to yourself and others how it affects you over the course of a day, and also why you sometimes are too exhausted to go out socialising in the evenings. Yes, you can 'borrow' energy from tomorrow, but it is like a bank overdraft in that it needs paying back and the interest rate is high! You can find yourself in a flare if you do it often!
Overall, I find it is the stress that is the worst part of the Fibro.
Cheers , Midori
Hi Midori 👋 thanks for replying to my comment. Yes, stress is the biggest problem for me. Sometimes I feel that my body has so much tension it cannot relax, them I end up totally overwhelming with everything and have a meltdown 😢. It the one think I really believe if I could get on top of i would feel so much better. I'm glad your life is quieter and less stressful. I've saw the spoon theory, its a good way to explain it. I think that's amazing that you have a handle on your fibro and you can manage yourself. I struggle with pharmaceutical as I always get rubbish side effects. I have tried treat it naturally but thats not cutting it just now. I wish I could find something to dial down the pain a bit, but I think I need to take a whole body/holistic approach to healing. I don't there is a quick fix. Gonna put alot of effort into feeling better. I would love to be like you in how you handle it.
Thanks for your reply. Hope you have a lovely Christmas and the lockdown doesnt last too long 🙏😊🎅🎄
Hi, I’ve had fibromyalgia for about seven years and was eventually diagnosed in October 2021. This is my first reply on this site. I’m in so much pain today, I think that’s why I’ve come on here today. I’m responsible for looking after an adult autistic son ( he can do most things) and an ailing mother. I feel guilty so often as they don’t really understand why I can’t do things. Your post about the spoon therapy, sounds like something I need to look at, I’ve never heard of that site before. Thankyou for sharing that 🙂
You are welcome. Can I ask; Are you in Britain?
If you are, I think you would be well to chat with Social Services, or get a referral to them from your GP. I know they have a poor reputation, but the stress of having Fibro and at the same time having two adults totally dependent on you will not help you cope at all. You need to get your ducks lined up Now.
It is important that You keep yourself as fit as possible in order to look after your Mother and son. If you should become seriously unwell, you will be unable to care for them and yourself, so you need to seek help ASAP, knowing there are long waiting lists.
Do you get out at all? It is important to get daylight to your skin, in order to get the benefit of the Vitamin D this produces. You may also need to supplement Vit D for bone health, Also you need to supplement Vitamin C in the Winter especially.
Cheers, Midori
Hi, I have an occupational therapy visit soon and I am going to speak to adult services. Yes, I live in Devon. Last year I was hospitalised twice with double pneumonia and even with 24 hour oxygen etc in hospital I was still trying to sort my tribe out. It is really exhausting. Two years ago, although my aches were mild I was literally climbing mountains, Wales Lake District and Scotland but since the first lockdown and bouts of pneumonia I can barely get out of bed, I’m in so much pain, so exhausted and so dissapointed. I want to climb mountains again but with each passing day, this seems more and more unlikely. I try to stay positive, I’ve done research but at the moment I don’t know what to do, I can’t see a positive future with this condition. I’ve had it for about six years but only got the official diagnoses in October after many many tests for everything else. I’m sorry, I’m just having a particularly bad day, I know we are all in the same boat. Happy new year to you all 😊
In my teens I used to climb too, in Wales, and cliff scramble in Cornwall. ( I'm talking 50+ years ago,though.) Last climbing I did was about 25 years ago on an Army Climbing wall. Don't have the leg or arm strength any more though.
I was a very active and sporty person, a dancer, Archer, Fencer, martial artist (aikido), Rider. Lost so much condition especially during Covid restrictions that I doubt I could manage any of them now!
I've been diagnosed for about 15 years, and boy, did I have to fight for it. I'd been having symptoms for at least 20 years before that, but always got fobbed off. I have accepted that I will not be climbing or riding any more, but it is hard.
I've had to learn than my limitations are permanent, and find other channels for enjoyment!
I'm not young, I'm 73, but it's still a tough realisation. It could always be worse though. I count myself lucky.
Cheers, Midori
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