Whatever the reason it hit right around noon. This made the afternoon seem to drag on forever. There I am, popping Tylenol and Ibuprofen to try and feel better while still busting my tail to keep up with my work flow. It wasn't going that well. I still got a lot done but when I got in the car and was heading home it all kind of hit me at once. I think it has to do with the fact that I wasn't moving anymore. I was just sitting there. I couldn't really stretch in ways that would help either. It was all in my shoulders and lower back. Well, when you're sitting in the back seat of a small car, even at my height, you can't really stretch all that much.
So for the 45 minute drive home I basically just kept adjusting how I was sitting. I would alleviate some of the pain in my lower back but then my shoulders would hurt worse than before and the other way around.
When I walked in the door Master immediately asked me what was wrong. I knew I probably looked like hell. When I'm in that kind of pain I look pale and tired as hell and I tend to wince when I'm walking.
I got comfortable by getting undressed and putting on one of His jean shirts. When I'm in a lot of pain or not feeling well I love wearing one of His shirts. I don't know why but it makes me feel better. I'm weird that way. Maybe it's a security/comfort thing. You know how when you're a little kid you have that one blanket or stuffed animal that always helped when you weren't feeling well or were scared?
Well, when I was a little kid it was a blanket. Now? It's Master's shirts. I have one of His jean button down shirts and three t-shirts. Two Alice Cooper shirts and one Disturbed shirt.
After dinner He had me lay on the floor and gave me a long back massage. It helped a lot.
Since I haven't gone to a doctor specifically for my fibromyalgia in about ten years I don't have any prescription strength pain killers and no muscle relaxers at all. I've thought about going to a doctor again for it. I hate the thought because they always just want to shove me full of pills and trigger point injections. Yes, those pills are really handy when it's really bad but back when I went they wanted me to take them all the time. Every day, twice a day. And trigger point injections hurt like a son of a bitch, let me tell you.
I've done trigger point injections, ultrasound massages, a chiropractor, physical therapy, traction, and acupuncture. The works basically. Nothing really helped long term. It was all immediate relief that would last for a little while and then hit me full force again.
But it seems that it's just getting worse as I get older. I'm only 29 now. I hate to think of what it will be like when I'm 40 or 50 or 60, etc. Maybe I can find a doctor that won't just want to pump me full of drugs and just give them to me for when I need them.
I'm only playing with the idea currently. And since I'm currently trying to find new employment I'm not sure how wise it would be to start looking for a doctor now rather than waiting to see what my new insurance would cover.
Do you have Epsom salts that you could put in your bath? I may have recommended this before to you, but if I take a bath with Epsom salts every night, it does seem to have some level of overall improvement with muscle tension and pain. I used to buy mine from CVS, but I just discovered unscented epsom salts are $3 for 2lbs at Target. I have a condition where my muscles are pretty much what holds my joints together and initially I was misdiagnosed with fibro (the specialist I see for my condition actually thinks a large portion of people diagnosed with fibro actually have the condition I have). What that means I have quite a bit of experience with tight muscles and chronic pain. I'm happy to talk to you about some of my experiences and what's helped me, as well. I'm also very resistant to the idea of taking meds, although I've had to over the years give in to some extent. I feel like I should mention, too, that there are more medications out there now that seem to be successful in treating fibro, although most are ones you do have to take every day. The thing with pain management is that it works best when it's consistent so that you're starting out with lower baseline pain and that's often why doctors want you take pills daily rather than just as needed. There are, however, also a few new muscle relaxants out there which may be more beneficial for taking just when you need something. There are also things like patches containing the anesthetic lidocaine which only work on the area they're on, but if there's a specific spot that tends to be extra bad, they might be worth trying.
ReplyDeleteAs far as seeing a doctor, if you decide to see one (and it's probably not a bad idea to actually see a primary care doctor every couple of years just for a physical); there are doctors who won't just force you to take meds. It might take a couple tries to find the right doctor for you, but it may be worth paying a co-pay a couple times if you don't like the first one you see or think they'll push you to take meds you don't want to take. Instead of doing a physical for your first appointment, you can do something that's more of discussion so you can "interview" the doctor, as well.
As you can tell, this is somewhere that I have a fair bit of experience. I also have quite a few friends with fibro so I've picked up things from them over the years. I think you can see my e-mail the way I'm commenting on this so feel free to send me an e-mail if you have any more specific questions. If you can't see my e-mail and have more specific questions, comment, and I'll send you an e-mail.
Good luck!