Take the Hint

I knew something was wrong because my fibromyalgia was acting up. Randomly a touch became torture because of the pain that bloomed insistent upon gaining my attention. When everything hurts and then hurts again, there is no question but that something is going on.

My body is in a fibromyalgia flare. Honestly, I expect it, it’s Christmas. With the hectic family members and the frantic arrangements for time, money and efforts, Christmas can be miserable for the chronically ill crowd.

Yes, this is Christmas

I often think of the beautiful song “and so this is Christmas…”.. For all the nurturers in the world it can be a difficult time. Add to that, this idea of chronic illness and its tendency to flare during stressful times and bingo you have a winner.

What happens in a flare, or does the flare happen second? Did the illness come first and push you into the flare, or did the flare make you sick? If you have any slight other illness, it becomes monstrous which is why I am in bed when what I really want is to be putting things away, and cleaning. I know! I’m daft. But what else do you do after Christmas?

Well, the other thing to do is to keep spending time with the family and do the necessary traveling to continue to be with family. After all everything doesn’t stop the day after Christmas.

You Can’t Negotiate with the Illness

For fibromyalgia sufferers it’s like watching the sand in an hourglass and knowing that when the sand is gone, it is the irrevocable end of energy and time. We can’t take an energy drink and “get back to it”. Nor can we afford the wear and tear on our bodies.

Our immune system becomes suppressed, and every little thing becomes life threatening. For me it’s constant urinary tract infections due to a congenital anomaly. Each of us in the Fibromyalgia world have some story to tell about our bodies and what they can do and what they can handle.

It all adds up to the Fibro Flare.

While the stories are individual, the one thing in common is Fibromyalgia, and the tendency of the world to be too much for the fibromyalgia inflicted body. The body responds with overwhelm. That overwhelm is strong, all systems are stop.

My flare is illness and exhaustion. There are days when I simply cannot get out of bed. I am an easily bored and buoyant personality type, if I’m in bed, it’s bad.

The hardest part about being in bed is that my whole world turns into a very small and selfish circle. I can’t do and be with other people. I can’t fulfill my social obligations, or my personal desires. Ugh.

I am going to stay here in bed until my body allows me to get up. I’m sure that my energy will return, it’s only a matter of time. Like anything in life, wait it out and things will change (like it or not).