Feeling better since I've been off work. Has anyone tried...

[mommyandwife]

I have been off work now for about a month and a half and my symptoms have improved dramatically.  Of course, I have new different symptoms to take the place of some others.  
Well my fatigue has mostly improved since about one month off.  
The pain has dramatically improved.  I still have pain on a daily basis but nothing compared to what it was before.  
I still have to watch it though.  If I overdo it then I can hardly move the next day.
Instead, I have more problems with diarrhea and lack of appetite.  I used to have a great appetite.  Since all of this started, I have lost 25 lbs and gone down two pant sizes.
While I do like that I have lost weight, another part of me is worried that I may develop some kind of eating disorder.  It hasn't helped that Savella makes me so nauseous it reminds me of morning sickness from pregnancy.

So I am wondering if all of the horrific pain and fatigue will come back when I go back to work January 1st.  I am also wondering if it is typical for pain to reduce when I am not stressing my body so much, or if with fibromyalgia the pain would be constant all the time.
I am also wondering if anyone out there has tried marijuana for symptoms?  I know quite a few people with medical recommendation and prescriptions for marijuana.  One of them gave me some to try.  I was very leery about it but I was quite amazed that it helped with my nausea and anxiety.  It also seemed to give me more energy, which is the complete opposite of what I expected.  I was able to clean up the house a bit and even do a few extras for my husband like make his lunch and coffee the night before he had to go to work.  
I am seriously considering that I should go get a prescription.  Anyone else out there?

[droopy56]

I stopped smoking marijuana more than 25 years ago because there are to many problems in my immediate family with substance abuse and addiction, and that's one family tradition I don't want to keep going. In the past month I've probably smoked the equivalent of two joints (when I can't sleep I just take a couple of puffs and then put it out). I need to find out how to use it in vaporizer form because my lungs just can't take it. After 35 years of 2 packs of cigarettes a day, I finally managed to quit by developing a severe allergy to cigarette smoke (Apr 12, 2010 will make 5 years). My lungs are super sensitive to smoke of any kind.

The problem with FMS is that it carries a sleep disorder along with it; I have trouble falling asleep (I get a "falling" sensation and then I jerk myself awake. It feels like I'm having several mini-panic attacks), plus I don't stay in REM sleep long enough to get good quality rest. And let's don't mention the muscle cramps in the middle of the night, or the difficulty in just finding a comfortable position in which to sleep.

I'm fortunate in that my job allows me to sit or stand as I need to (I run a trophy shop) and it's not physically demanding. I just have to make sure I have comfortable shoes and a lot of padding on my desk chair.

[Cascarb]

Hey I know what you mean about switching to a desk job,  I used to manage a Starbucks and ran around like a headless chicken all day everyday but I couldn't cope any more.  I moved back in with my parents for a while and went to work for a friend so it wouldn't be so stressful but eventually I gave up and now work in a office.  It has help a bit but I just have new problems now (like you said it hurts to sit in the same place for to long) and my new job still has stress and my mind is now starting to suffer.

Iv always had a dim few of illegal drugs and have never taken marijuana however I think if my dr was to offer it to me I think I would give it a go based on everything  I have heard about it.

xx

[mommyandwife]

I wish I could take it easier at work, but it is very fast paced physical work.  I do housekeeping at a hospital.  Most times we have to clean discharged patient rooms ASAP so another patient can go into that room.  Then they're telling you which rooms they need first for which patient so you're running all over the hospital.  I thought about switching to a desk job but I can't even sit for longer than 20 minutes without hurting.

As for the marijuana I never thought in a million years I would go back to it. But in moderation, it is nothing like it was when I was in high school.  I couldn't believe how well I could function on it.

[droopy56]

Maybe I'm just stubborn, but I refuse to let my condition dictate what I can do. I have been forced to slow down and not push myself as much, but I still work 40 hours.

I was active in community theater and local stage shows, but that's been put on hold indefinitely. I was a soloist in most of the productions I was in, but I can't sing anymore because of the pain, and I just don't have the breathe control I used to have. Also, due to the cognitive symptoms, I can't remember lines like I used to.

I stopped running about 9 years ago because my legs feel as though they weigh a ton. I even have difficulty walking to stay in shape, because it seems as though I can't build up from something easy to something more difficult: if I walk a mile a day for three weeks, it still takes the same effort after the initial three weeks. I'm told that that's common.

I still ride a motorcycle, though my doctor says that should I ever have an accident, I won't recover as quickly as someone who doesn't have FMS. I don't care - I've had to give up so much, I'm not giving up everything I like to do. My older brother died at 57 because he gave in to his health problems (emphysema and liver disease) and let them tell him what he couldn't do. On the other hand, my father lived for 30 years longer than the medical community estimated (he had a heart condition which required a quadruple bypass). I think I inherited my father's stubbornness.

Regarding the medical marijuana, I use it on those nights when I can't sleep due to nausea and anxiety. MM isn't legal here in Ohio, but I use it anyway.

[mommyandwife]

Yes, they already do have it in a pill form.  From what I've heard, I guess some of the new shops around where I live have all kinds of things: tea, balm, drops (tincture), and many food items like cookies and cake.  I think there is even a vaporizer machine you could smoke out of that eliminates the smoke.

[dustybrown]

Hello!
A part of me is very envious of you right now! I mean that in a very positive manner of course. I wish I could take a solid block of time off for my Fibro. Unfortunately, my husband lost his job due to the economy, so I am the main breadwinner and we can't afford it. I was able to get an intermittent FMLA leave, which means I am able to take a few days off of work per month when I have a bad flare, but I am sure having a nice month or two off of work would really be helpful.

Unfortunately, taking off work is not a long term solution for dealing with the pain and fatigue of Fibro/CFS and the real world, at least for me. My husband is trying to start a new business, so I am hopeful at some point I can work from home and be a part of that somehow. That is a way I can see me integrating my illness and my skills into the real world and somehow contributing, but not having the stress of a 9-5 schedule. But anyhow, I am rambling...

Medical marijuana- personally, I do not use this medication. It is also illegal at this time in my state. I live in Wisconsin. However, I am from Washington state where it is legal and a close family member of mine does have a prescription. I have severe asthma, so even if it were legal I probably wouldn't try it until they came out with it in pill form, but I am not opposed to the notion. In many ways it makes sense, but that's just my opinion.