Greetings,
Disguising and understating pain is something which I seem to have a true talent for. I mentioned on Facebook at one point in time that I was not feeling well and had a bit of a "twinge" of pain to deal with. Now, while it was somewhat the truth, the actual situation is something a little different. In essence, this is something like a "bad day" for me.
Where to start? Well I suppose at the beginning would be the most obvious. I woke up with some constriction across my chest. The muscles were aching quite a bit. I thought it was nothing so decided that I just needed to do a bit of deep breathing and it would all be good. I breathed deeply and instantly got sharp stabbing pains on both sides of my sternum, not a good start. Things with regard to my chest would only get worse for a while.
Along with the breathing issues associated with my chest, I also noticed a distinct lack of movement without pain. Anything that involved rapid or large amounts of movement of my arms was not good and caused me pain. This was not good and was actually the longest lasting aspect of the chest pain. The breathing eventually got easier and the pain lessened eventually taking deep breaths, but rapid movement was still a problem.
The next on the list was my left shoulder. This actually stiffened up quite a bit not long after the limiting aspect movement across the chest had lessened, which is about right for me. This was mainly stiffness on my left side a limited movement again. The chest area around the left shoulder was a little sore but nothing like my chest before.
Just to add a little more on to this situation, my left leg around the hip decided it would play up as well. This happened at the same time as my chest and continued with the shoulder issue. This was a sharp stabbing pain into the hip joint, but was more toward the spine, sound familiar? Yes, you guessed it sciatic pain. So at least I could nail it down to one nerve cluster. This would result in movement issues due to pain mainly, and as with any nerve issue it spread down the leg to my ankle. This of course made things rather difficult for quite a period of time.
So the question that comes to mind is how I dealt with this particular situation. Well medication is always helpful to a degree. In my case it was three different types of pain-killers all at once, but as anyone who knows me at all, this only came after I could not ignore the situation anymore. I tend to only resort to pain-killers once every other avenue has been exhausted. I don't tend to like to take pain-killers for several reasons, the two big ones being not wanting a dependence on them and the other being the amount required to actually do any good.
Pure ignorance and denial of the pain is one of the most basic, but tends to be the least effective of all of them. Distraction therapy is always much more successful. Getting involved in doing something to take my mind off the pain works much better. I altered what I was doing during the day somewhat, but not all that much. Stubbornness seems to be one of the key aspects which keeps me going during times like this. In many ways it is the stubbornness and distraction therapy which does the prime job and the painkillers are more of an assistance.
Well, that's about it. This is what one of my "bad days" is like. On a scale this situation, while it lasted for a couple of days actually rates pretty average to below average for one of my real "bad days". The get worse than this and sometimes, much worse than this. I don't tend to like to focus on this sort of thing as it depresses me, but it is just the way it is. I always look forward to what tomorrow will bring, no point in letting the issues and pain beat you, that takes all the fun away.
Cheers,
Henry.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
7/12/2009 - Energy Levels
Greetings,
Well, today we are going to talk about energy levels. This is a subject which is a little bit funny, especially as while I am writing it, I am really not feeling the best. One of the associated symptoms of FM is having a lack of energy. This makes it difficult to achieve things.
The lack of energy experienced may have some relation to other things that might have happened over the previous couple of days. Then the energy level might actually not. In my case, at the moment, it is attributable to a problem with a complete lot of sleep over the past couple of days and the fact I had a big weekend. On the other end of the scale, I have been fine in the morning once I got past the usual waking up issues, and then suddenly got really tired during the day.
The real problem with energy levels is where you are so tired that all you can really think to do for the day is sit in front of the TV and watch movies all day. This tends to be really annoying for me as it makes me feel that I have managed to get nothing done for the day. Of course this can lead to depression a bit, which can make things even worse. So, instead I try to look at it as a period of enforced rest, therefore resting is useful so I can be productive for the next day.
In the case of those days where there is something to do later in the day, this can be a bit tricky. This is actually the case as I am writing this. I have training to do this evening and I am hoping that if I conserve my energy during the day that it should not be too much of a problem for me. In most cases this conservation means doing only a little bit today so I get my achievement feeling, but not so much that I use to much for me to be useful this evening. I will just have to see how it goes I suppose. This pattern actually works for me for the most part.
Energy levels are something which most people can feel fluctuating as they do. The changes in energy levels for a person with FM can change quite drastically and in a short period of time. In this way it is important that this energy is managed so that the greatest benefit can be achieved from its use.
Cheers,
Henry.
Well, today we are going to talk about energy levels. This is a subject which is a little bit funny, especially as while I am writing it, I am really not feeling the best. One of the associated symptoms of FM is having a lack of energy. This makes it difficult to achieve things.
The lack of energy experienced may have some relation to other things that might have happened over the previous couple of days. Then the energy level might actually not. In my case, at the moment, it is attributable to a problem with a complete lot of sleep over the past couple of days and the fact I had a big weekend. On the other end of the scale, I have been fine in the morning once I got past the usual waking up issues, and then suddenly got really tired during the day.
The real problem with energy levels is where you are so tired that all you can really think to do for the day is sit in front of the TV and watch movies all day. This tends to be really annoying for me as it makes me feel that I have managed to get nothing done for the day. Of course this can lead to depression a bit, which can make things even worse. So, instead I try to look at it as a period of enforced rest, therefore resting is useful so I can be productive for the next day.
In the case of those days where there is something to do later in the day, this can be a bit tricky. This is actually the case as I am writing this. I have training to do this evening and I am hoping that if I conserve my energy during the day that it should not be too much of a problem for me. In most cases this conservation means doing only a little bit today so I get my achievement feeling, but not so much that I use to much for me to be useful this evening. I will just have to see how it goes I suppose. This pattern actually works for me for the most part.
Energy levels are something which most people can feel fluctuating as they do. The changes in energy levels for a person with FM can change quite drastically and in a short period of time. In this way it is important that this energy is managed so that the greatest benefit can be achieved from its use.
Cheers,
Henry.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
3/12/09 - Randomness
Greetings,
This is actually amusing writing about this particular subject as most of the times when I am having a "bad day" I don't have the energy to write about it. One of the most annoying things about the condition is the randomness of it. I just don't know how I will be tomorrow, for the most part I can work through things but there are times....
Perfect example, last night, nice and comfortable, then I get this sharp stabbing pain through my knee. I rub it, it goes away. I continue doing what I am doing and then a about an hour later, same again. Of course, less that 12 hours later, the pain is gone from my knee. No explanation why at all. This is one of those things which drives me nuts about this condition.
FM is one of the most random set of symptoms and irritations I have ever experienced. The pain can be utterly random and for no reason.
One day I woke up with a stiff left shoulder, happens sometimes. Then I get a sharp stabbing pain through my chest. This pain persists for a couple of hours to the degree that I am thinking that there may be something wrong. I call for an ambulance as I am suffering from loss of breath as well. I tell them the symptoms and they get around here quick-smart.
I am bunged off to hospital. They give me an ECG and other stuff and then look at the results. It is at this time that I figure that they think that I am having a heart attack. The doctor comes in to talk to me and he is looking excessively confused about the whole thing. He asks about smoking habits and all of that sort of stuff. He finally asks about pre-existing conditions, I say "FM" he looks at me, rolls his eyes. "Right." he says "This was an attack of pain caused by FM." I am discharged from the emergency and go on my merry way.
This of course begs the question what happens next time? Do I think it is just an FM thing or do I call the ambulance possibly for a false alarm? This is one of the things that makes FM so annoying the standard sorts of pain from FM can mask underlying other problems. I have had pneumonia more than once and put the chest pain off as FM.
While FM is not directly life-threatening, some of the symptoms can mask things that are. This can be a real annoyance and can lead to all sorts of problems. Needless to say I am being a little more careful about my symptoms and trying to decipher which is FM and which is not. I am making some progress with this, but some days are really trying.
Cheers,
Henry
This is actually amusing writing about this particular subject as most of the times when I am having a "bad day" I don't have the energy to write about it. One of the most annoying things about the condition is the randomness of it. I just don't know how I will be tomorrow, for the most part I can work through things but there are times....
Perfect example, last night, nice and comfortable, then I get this sharp stabbing pain through my knee. I rub it, it goes away. I continue doing what I am doing and then a about an hour later, same again. Of course, less that 12 hours later, the pain is gone from my knee. No explanation why at all. This is one of those things which drives me nuts about this condition.
FM is one of the most random set of symptoms and irritations I have ever experienced. The pain can be utterly random and for no reason.
One day I woke up with a stiff left shoulder, happens sometimes. Then I get a sharp stabbing pain through my chest. This pain persists for a couple of hours to the degree that I am thinking that there may be something wrong. I call for an ambulance as I am suffering from loss of breath as well. I tell them the symptoms and they get around here quick-smart.
I am bunged off to hospital. They give me an ECG and other stuff and then look at the results. It is at this time that I figure that they think that I am having a heart attack. The doctor comes in to talk to me and he is looking excessively confused about the whole thing. He asks about smoking habits and all of that sort of stuff. He finally asks about pre-existing conditions, I say "FM" he looks at me, rolls his eyes. "Right." he says "This was an attack of pain caused by FM." I am discharged from the emergency and go on my merry way.
This of course begs the question what happens next time? Do I think it is just an FM thing or do I call the ambulance possibly for a false alarm? This is one of the things that makes FM so annoying the standard sorts of pain from FM can mask underlying other problems. I have had pneumonia more than once and put the chest pain off as FM.
While FM is not directly life-threatening, some of the symptoms can mask things that are. This can be a real annoyance and can lead to all sorts of problems. Needless to say I am being a little more careful about my symptoms and trying to decipher which is FM and which is not. I am making some progress with this, but some days are really trying.
Cheers,
Henry
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