Pain

[Kymi2011]

I awoke middle of the morning with sever pain from fibromylgia.  Why is it so painful, nothing seems to work.  Lying in bed then shoulds and neck get stiff and painful during the night.  When I have relief try some exercise, but day later pain is worse.  

[KittyKat23_78]

HI,

I'm sorry you are having so much pain. I have fibro too and can totally relate. Bad days just plain suck!! The suggestions above have been great. I just want to let you know that you are not alone and have support here. I hope you can find some relief soon. *hugs*

Kat

[geminigirl1963]

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with your fibro right now.  I also have fibro (as well as other chronic pain issues) and it definitely can be horrible.

Are you on any medication for your pain/fibro?  Who do you see for your fibro - PCP or Rheumatologist or PMP?

As it is the weekend, whatever doctor you normally see for your fibro probably would be unreachable, so trying to manage your symptoms at home is probably what you're going to have to try to do.  Of course, if the pain gets unbearable - or is completely different from what you normally experience with your fibro - you may want to consider going to either an urgent care facility or an ER.  Obviously, these places are not good for (or should be used for) continuing care of your fibro pain, but they may be able to help you through this flare until the beginning of the week when you can contact your own doctor.

Some of the things that I try when I'm having a particular bad time with my fibro (other than my pain meds) -- warm showers or baths (not too hot because I've found that any extreme of temperature either way - hot or cold - makes the pain worse).  I have to use the shower as opposed to bath because of my arthritis - I simply cannot get up and down into a tub to soak, but soaking in a warm tub may help quite a bit.  The shower does give me some relief.  I also use a microwaveable flexible heating pad - again, making sure that I don't get it too hot.  Get as comfortable as possible - use extra pillws if you can/need to - either in bed or a chair or couch.  Be sure to get up every so often and move around a bit - sitting or laying for too long WILL cause you to stiffen up and make it harder to move around without a lot of pain - so even if you get up and walk to the bathroom every hour or so - you don't have to go far, just get the blood moving a bit.

I also sometimes just go into my room, turn on some very soothing, soft music, turn out all the lights or close the blinds, etc. and just do some deep breathing.  This in itself doesn't take the pain away, but it does help me to relax so that I don't tense up with the pain (that will make it feel worse), and therefore it does end up reducing the pain (sometimes anyway).

It's important to get some decent sleep.  It's very common for fibro patients to have difficulty sleeping and many need prescription sleep aids to help them.  It's a vicious cycle - we can't sleep because we are hurting and we hurt more becuase we aren't getting enough sleep.  If you're not already taking one, you may want to ask your doctor about a sleep aid.  I definitely have a lot more pain if I haven't slept well (well, ok, I NEVER sleep WELL, but I still have more pain on the days following a night when I've only gotten like 3-4 hours instead of my "normal" 5-6)

Your comment about the excercise making your pain worse the day after you've exercised is also quite common with fibro patients.  While "normal" people might feel pain from a workout the same day they do it, we as fibro patients quite often don't feel the effects immediately and it's a day later or even a couple of days later that we notice it.  Sometimes it leaves us scratching our heads wondering "Now what did I do today to make me feel so bad?" and then we remember we worked out a couple of days prior.

It's also very common for fibro patients to be able to do a specific activity one day with little or no increase in symptoms, but if we try to do that very same activity another time, it may send us to bed in horrible pain.  Dealing with fibro is definitely a matter of trial and error - both in medications and treatments - as well as figuring out what things in our lives tend to set us off in a flare.

I hope some of this information helps you to get through the weekend.  Like I said, if things get too bad, don't hesitate to go to an urgent care or ER - they may be able to help you with your pain until you can get in to see your own doctor.

I also wanted to mention that they do have a fibro/chronic fatigue forum here on medhelp if you wanted to check it out.  You can search through the archives of questions on there also and see if maybe someone else may have some more helpful tips or information than what I've given you here.  Of course, please don't hesitate to post questions, comments, etc. here on the pain mgmt forum as well.

I know dealing with fibro pain (and other symptoms) can be very frustrating and stressful - just know you are not alone.  I hope you also feel free to ask me any other questions you may have at any time.

I hope you feel better!

[flower12345]

Hi. We're not doctors here, were pain patients who try to help each other.

I'm sorry that you're having so much pain. Do you see a pain management doctor (like a physiatrist or anesthesiologist?

If not, then can you get your regular doc to recommend one? I don't have fibro, but I have read that the pain is terrible.

Can you try some heat and ice or maybe a warm bath in Epsom salt?