Laughing and crying, you know it's the same release. Joni Mitchell

Laughing and crying, you know it's the same release. Joni Mitchell

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

My Fall Flare-Up

A photo of trees in a forest in New Jersey, Ea...Image via WikipediaI had just gotten my groove back when the cooler weather crept into New England. At first I noticed that I was more tired than usual and my breasts were tender. Then by the time it was so cold that I had to dig out my jeans and put on closed-toe shoes, my flare-up was in full swing. Now my body is so achy that I have to take a hot bath just to get my stiff joints and muscles moving. A one-bath day isn't so bad, but a two-bath day means symptoms have gotten worse. We don't even want to talk about a three-bath day! Sometimes I'm so tired that I need a nap just to get through the second half of the day, which often means covering a late evening meeting for the local paper. My knees are so painful that they actually sting and my breasts are so sore that it hurts to put on a bra or shirt!

However, compared to last fall when I felt like I was thrown into a black pit, this is more like tripping in a pot-hole and spraining my ankle. I'm limping around but my whole life isn't thrown into chaos. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this annual flare-up stays at a tolerable level. Of course, I'll keep my readers informed as the autumn progresses. Sometimes it takes several months for the symptoms to calm down.

I'm sure I'm not the only one whose FM is affected by the seasons, or the change of seasons. Let me know about your experiences. Do you feel better in the summer or does the humidity do you in? Do you do better in winter or does the cold weather make your muscles and joints ache even more? Do tell!

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1 comment:

  1. Personally..the hotter, the better!! Cold weather feels like daggers to my joints and muscles. A nice, 100 degree day, may make me sweat but I can move so much better.
    I noticed a change in the weather before the themometer (sp?) did! The morning is the worst. Trying to get out of bed and walk to the bathroom is nearly impossible when my body feels frozen because it's so stiff and painful.
    A complication from my Fibro is that I have Raynaud's. (They actually found the Raynaud's first, then Fibro...story of my life- doing things topsy/turvey :) ) So, when the cold weather hits, my fingers and toes are first effected and the constricting veins cause such stabbing pains in my legs/hands, and then the delightful(ha!) pains from Fibro sets in.
    I'm actually going to the Rothfeld Center for the first time in October. Let's hope they help me survive this winter better than I survived last winter's! (Last winter I was newly diagnosed and very uneducated in Fibro)

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