It's a double whammy!

I am flat out resting today, trying to cope with the pain of a flare of fibromyalgia and polymyalgia rheumatica.

Honestly, it's hard enough coping with fibromyalgia flares, let alone PMR as well. And to make it more difficult it's Easter and there are no doctors available, and it doesn't seem to be urgent enough for ER.

Usually PMR fizzles out after about 5 years, but I have had it on and off for 20, often at first mistaken for fibromyalgia. 

My doctor told me that often it leaves the sufferer with neck and shoulder arthritis, but rarely, it can last a lifetime. Lucky me.

The treatment for PMR is prednisolone but I am wondering if I should take it without my doctor's permission. I have to remember that it elevates my sugars and they have  already gotten higher without it.

After a miserable night's sleep, I took a Tramadol which has helped a little. I took paracetamol as a baseline.. I will most likely have a nana nap soon.

The fibromyalgia is making my knees and back ache and where that lies off, my neck and shoulders and jaw with pounding headache take over thanks to the polymyaglia...

All in all, I am a mess and tired of feeling like this... PMR and fibro are bad enough separately, but this is the worst of all- a double whammy! 

Sitting down brings no comfort

 

Over the years of chronic illness, I have noticed that what used to be a reward for spending spoons and being proactive was in having a comfortable place to sit.

Gradually the places that once gave me a comfortable sitting have become objects of pain. My armchair, couch or sofa, typist chair, dining chair and car seats have all become places of torture and there's no reward or rest found in them.

Like wise, my bed also yields no comfort to my fibro effected muscles or my spinal pain.. it can't be the furniture's fault.

I think the fault lies in my allodynia which is pain on the lightest of touch. It is often a part of fibromyalgia and/or diabetes neuropathy. There is no cure.

I cannot take many tablets that are commonly prescribed for fibromyalgia, such as Lyrica so I have had to find something that helps with the pain. 

With both peripheral neuropathy from diabetes and fibromyalgia, and with constant knee pain, I find the only time I can completely relax is when I am lying on my couch and Chris is rubbing my swollen feet. The swelling is from heart failure.

The massage seems to distract the nerve path that interprets pain and replaces it with a pleasurable sensation, allowing me to often drift off to sleep.

I know it's sad that a foot rub is the only help for me at this stage of my life, but it is what it is. And it is good for me as sitting down brings no comfort. 

Cooking with fibro plus fibro bloggers' tips!

In trying to come to terms with my sore hands and lack of energy with my fibromyalgia, I have come up with some new tricks to help in cooking meals.

I have gleaned all the catalogued convenience foods available online and I have found some things that I don't have to peel or chop.

Getting my meat already diced and my vegetables pre-cut and peeled is more expensive, but if it means that we can still enjoy nutritious meals, then so be it.

My freezer has diced onions, pumpkin pieces, diced carrots, broccoli and florets of cauliflower as well as pre-cut chicken, stewing steak that has been diced and diced bell peppers. I no longer peel and chop and mash potatoes, but I use the frozen potato with butter added. It is worth the expense.

I have a jar of minced garlic so that I don't have to peel the cloves. Our pantry has spaghetti, penne and rice that cooks in the microwave in 90 seconds. I use that because I no longer can hold the colander to drain it. Our fruit is canned as I can't peel apples or oranges.

I keep our butter in a dish in the pantry because I cannot hold the knife to cut through hard butter or to scrape it. My diet lemonades now come in bottles because I cannot manage the pull rings and my tomato sauce is in an easy pour container for the same reason.

I am grateful for anything which will save my hands, like my electric can opener and my dryer as I no longer can hang washing out to dry. You don't realise how hard pegging something on is until your hands are too weak to push on the pegs.

But one simply has to go on and like all good Sacrificial Home Keepers, I do. It just takes a bit more planning and a lot of research to keep at it when you are an old hand in need of new ones.

Here’s what works for my fibromyalgia blogger friends

• Cynthia from The Disabled Diva shares her top tips
• Shelly from ChronicMom blog shares her #1 recommendation
• Australian Sacrificial Home Keeper on tricks to help cooking  
• Mandy and Michele on their preferred medication
• Lee Good, who is discovering what works to help Fibromyalgia at Fibro Files 
• Katie from Painfully Living shares what’s worked for her
• Sue at Rebuilding Wellness blog shares her top tips
• Carrie shares her top tips at My Several Worlds blog
• Bettina shares what works for her in the hope that it will work for you
• Nikki from the Brainless Blogger shares her top tips
• Bethan from Hello Fibro Blog shares what she’s learnt since diagnosis
• Cynthia from My Inspired Fibro Life shares her tips
• Donna over at Fed up with Fatigue writes about the beneficial fibromyalgia treatments she’s used since diagnosis

It was good while it lasted!

So yesterday I woke up without the usual muscle pain and fatigue that characterises fibromyalgia.

I sensed that I had some spoons in abundance and I was in a quandary as to how I could best utilise them without giving myself a flare the next day.

I decided it would be sensible to pace myself which is what I did at first... I say at first because like all good intentions, they can fall by the wayside. And they did.

There was so much I had put on the back burner and left undone. But then it was a long time since I had any energy and to be honest, I was so used to living with chronic illness and fatigue that feeling energised seemed "abnormal"

So I started a load of washing and cleaned out Xena our cat's litter tray. Then I hung out the finished  load of whites... also something I have had to forgo due to no spoons and pain.

I rummaged through the fridge and cleaned out the out of date food. Then, remembering to pace myself, I made a cup of tea for us both and decided we needed some cookies to have for afternoon tea.

After I made a batch of cookies for the afternoon, I brought in my washing. It dried quickly because the weather has been rather warm.  Too warm in fact.

By the time I came back inside, I was wilting. My spoons were dissipating! Quickly! 

My muscles and back started paining me and it hurt to turn my neck thanks to polymyalgia rheumatica.

I left the clothes in the laundry trolley and kissed thoughts of ironing my pillow cases goodbye. I had so wanted to do that too... just one of the jobs that I had to put on the back burner, put back again..

Chris made me a cup of tea and I took some Tramadol. I only use them for top of the range fibro flares and knee pain.

As I sat sipping my tea and waiting for the Tramadol to work, I realised that I hadn't got much done in spite of some spoons. 

Xena had a clean litter tray. We had some cookies to wash the tablets down. The fridge had no science experiments but didn't get a thorough clean. And I hurt so badly for so little! 

If I ever get another day with some spoons, I will not bother to hang the washing out... I nearly always use the dryer since fibromyalgia found me. And I know my poor old broken knees will thank me for not walking so far up the back garden to the line.

I guess I can sleep on unironed pillowcases.. it has been known  to happen! And as the pain relief finally kicked in, I decided that you can't really win with spoons. They are devious little dictators!

Chronic illness is not for wimps and I refuse to give in to depression. I think all things considered, I do a reasonable job of keeping our home nice. 

Still it was great to wake feeling refreshed and alive! It was good while it lasted!