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5/30/12 1:03 A

I had migraine medicine at one time, but I finally got better and have not had to do that in a long time. Its mostly stress and it makes my lupus worse. I'm really tight and making bad choices and desicions lately. Once things settle down I will start over and rework my long term and short term goals.
Thanks again for the suggestions.
Sadie

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5/30/12 12:59 A

Thanks so much for the input. I've used the ice in the past and if was effective after exercise. Especially when I was going to physical therapy. The relaxation has helped some but I'm really tense right now. A great friend just died last Wednesday and I'm processing it, but its still difficult to acknowledged that she is gone.
I'll write more when i get things back into order again,
Sadie

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5/26/12 9:23 P

I find ice to be effective for some things--but found out from my PT not to do it if I plan on stretching. It's apparently easier to damage a cold muscle... so it's heat first, exercise/stretch, then cold.

Since I had therapy for my neck, I have only had one migraine in the last several years--and as it turns out, THAT particular migraine was diagnosed as an allergic reaction to pork jerky! Go figure... LOL

I like water exercise, it does take off the strain on joints--but it's easier to overdo too because I don't notice the resistance so much and when I climb out of the water, whoa... like 10 gees, y'know?

I think the tendency to bruxism may have something to do with the general pain issues--a lot of folks I know grit their teeth when they're in pain when they're awake... and they AREN'T "fibromites!"... so it totally makes sense to me..

Have you checked out the Reading Rooms yet? There are all kinds of symptoms linked to fibro listed there. One I have problems with is costochondritis. I have a variation on that: the muscles in between my ribs tighten up when I walk or exercise. Makes breathing a real challenge--and the faster I'm moving, the tighter the muscles get. Ugh.

The other thing you may have noticed is that it picks on one particular area of your body for a while--and then moves somewhere else. Frustrating, eh?

At least we have someplace to compare notes... lol

Kathy

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5/26/12 4:32 P

I have the same issues. Do you know if you grind or clench your teeth at night or catch yourself clenching your jaw during the day? Bruxism is common among people who have fibro. I know that when I wake up with a sore jaw or my face feels tired, that the shoulder pain, neck pain, and headaches will be with me until I'm able to get my jaw to fully relax through stretches and applying pressure to certain places inside my mouth and have my husband massage my shoulders and neck. I also do cold therapy for my headaches and migraines which helps. I'd like to get the dentist and have a guard made for my teeth which is also supposed to help with the residual pain, but I haven't had the funds for it yet.

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5/25/12 8:55 P

You are not alone in this I have headaches practically daily, and at times they are full blown migraines. My worse fibro spots are my sciatic, lower back, shoulders and neck, and lately my knees, so I feel your pain. I agree massages do help alot, I have found the deeper the better, it may hurt but to me it is a good hurt when I have a massage cause I end up feeling so much better afterwards and it takes a deep massage to really get into those muscle knots and stuff we all have. Daily stretching as well as exercises like yoga, water exercises, do help. You have to kinda learn what you can handle, how much and when to stop, each day it can be different. As well as learning what everyday things or tasks that aggravate it to learn to minimize the pain and stiffness.

Getting into doing daily meditations can also be a great help for taking your mind off the pain and letting your body relax. I also like you stated tend to stay up late always been a nightowl, but am trying to change that, but have other sleep issues which are also common with fibro. Lately for the past couple weeks or so been going through a lovely period (said sarcasticly) where I am having more dream sleep then other sleep, leaving me feeling more tired then I should be in the morning, besides the waking up a few times through out the course of the night.

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5/25/12 8:42 P

It sounds like you may also be experiencing myofascial pain as well as the fibro... massage helps with that, but it can sometimes leave fibromyalgia patients worse off--especially if they get a massage practitioner who isn't familiar with fibro... It's not uncommon for FM folks to have both. I do, actually, and whether or not massage helps depends a great deal not only on the type of pain I'm having but on who is doing the massage! I was lucky enough for a while to have a friend studying for her license, and she was amazing! She has a kind of sixth sense about what a body needs. I asked her about it, once, and she said she just kind of feels the trapped energy and tries to release it, using the techniques they were teaching her. No three weeks of relief, that never happened--but for the first time in my life, I actually fell asleep on the massage table instead of crying--and I felt great for a whole day and part of the next...! For me that was a miracle. Sadly, she moved to Alaska and then to Iowa...

Its only recently that I've begun to be able to differentiate between the two types of pain... wait, make that three. I have neuropathy too now! LOL

Mostly I just live with it. If you check out some out the discussions you will discover that we all have different ways of dealing with it. I worked with the Mind/Body Institute, learning a few meditation techniques and something called PACING, that have been the most useful... LOL

As for sleep...

Sadie, have you ever been tested for a sleep disorder? Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can induce fibro-like symptoms in college athletes... just imagine what that can do to folks who actually HAVE fibro! Yikes!

These disorders can take all kinds of forms, so why not ask your doctor the next time you're there?...

I need to go fix dinner right now, but you know that if you have any questions, just keep asking... there's always someone around, and if we don't know, we often know how to find out! LOL

Kathy

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5/25/12 4:41 P

I have constant headaches for days on end. The muscles in my neck and shoulders are always tight. I've recently begun getting massages from students at the local massage therapy school and it helps tremendously. I get a professional massage every two months and it leaves me pain free all over for at least three weeks. i do my stretches and get plenty of water and rest/ I read an article recently when they mentioned that this is a side effect of fibro. I had never seen nor heard that. So it makes sense and I try to relax and just imagine I'm somewhere else but I always have to return to my hectic life.
Any suggestions as to what you do when this happens? i take warm baths also. Its so relaxing but its rare that I get to bed before 1am. I'm working on that also. I'm just not sleepy most of the time.
I've talked enough , i just wondered if anyone else has this issue.
Sadie

current weight: 253.0

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