I wrote this for another forum quite some time ago but it lends itself well here.
Should I Laugh or Cry About This?
JustStevie
OMG! This is so tragically funny!
I was looking back through some discussions I used to follow and I found this one. I said to myself "boy, this is good that person is right on!"
OOPS! I realized I wrote it.
Pain - "Let me count the ways"
Not exactly the way Elizabeth Barrett Browning meant it but....
Everyone knows Fibro causes pain and fatigue but there is way more to it. I thought it would be interesting to compare more specific complaints.
I have been through all the specialists and tests plus diagnosed by many Drs. I know I can't contribute these complaints to any illness or injury. It gives me a small amount of comfort not to have to keep searching for a mysterious illness but it is frustrating that so many things triggered by Fibro can't be or are not addressed. They are all part of a puzzle. Lack of gray matter, substance P, chemical imbalance, immunity or dormant viruses' bla, bla. They are all good starts but there has got to be an answer to why it affects so many systems in our bodies. All the studies just look at “pain. That is too general.
Here is my list in part. I say part because problems come, go, subside and increase so often sometimes you forget them. All of the sudden one shows back up and you say “hey, I haven't had that for a while.
• Pain from injuries that are way in the past (30 years) like a badly sprained ankle. I am walking along and a sharp pain buckles me. I take a few steps I'm fine and all of a sudden it does it again. I can't put pressure on it. This can last minutes, hours or days. Then it's just gone.
• Aches and shooting pain in my wrist sometimes it gives out when using it. (I had problems with a weak wrist when I bartendered as a teen many, many years ago.)
• Sometimes my eyes throb and ache. A ceiling fan will feel like it is blowing directly in my eyes. I get vision changes often. Some days I see worse than others.
• Noise seems so LOUD. I can't process it.
• My heart seems to skip beats. I cough to give it a jump start.
• I get out of breath with little effort.
• I have trouble swallowing.
• I get sore places and actual changes on the surface of my tongue that can last a long time.
• Intense cravings for salt and sweet. Sometimes I eat a jar of olives then look for candy, the higher sugar content the better.
• Sometimes I can't stand anything touching me. Sheets will drive me insane. I have to keep moving. While other times they feel like sandpaper or like I have sunburn.
• I was a terrific speller now often the words seem foreign. Sometimes when I type words the letters come out switched like teh = the, smoe = some, awlays – always. The whole sentences look like gibberish. Thank God for word spell!
• Sometimes I get a pain that feels like rats are gnawing at my stomach.
• I get nausea, dizziness, clumsiness and loss of depth perception.
• Muscle weakness so intense I can barely stand or hold anything.
• Confusion and unfamiliarity (fleeting)Sometimes while driving "Where the heck am I and how did I get here? Oh yeah now it looks familiar."
• Total memory blank, like "what did I just do? Did I swallow the pill I just had in my hand? Was it the right pill?"
• Reoccurring infections i.e. urinary, bronchitis or laryngitis or colds that last for 4 months. Sometimes I feel like a cold is coming on or an allergy then it just goes away.
• Muscle spasms without cause.
• Pain that starts in my lower back and runs up through entire back, shoulders, neck and into my head. I can't even lie on a pillow. This one is most off the time.
• I had a toothache for several days. I finally went to a dentist (I HATE them)There was no cavity. A few days later it stopped.
• Of course insomnia, always tired never sleepy, wake often.
In addition to general muscle pain and tenderness, theses problems come and go with no rhyme or reason. Thankfully not at the same time. I KNOW I am not imagining them.
