Well, I just decided that since I haven;t posted in a while that I should. Today, I feel exhausted. There's no other way to put it. I could put my head down at my desk and sleep for hours.

It's cold outside; around 32 degrees, and although I love the cold weather, today I am in a great deal of pain, especially with my legs and upper back/shoulder area.

On days like this, I pray that I can get to work early enough to get one of the availabl disabled parking spots as the lot fills up pretty fast.

I guess that's it for now.

Do you ever have one of those days when we sort of feel better than yesterday, buit still feel like junk?

Yesterday, I made a comitment to post regularly on this blog for several reasons; one, to track and make some sense of my condition and two, to hopefully help others.

This morning, I am in pain and discomfort. It is bad, but more discomfort and exhaustion than pain... I think.

My shoulders, back and legs really ache this morning. My left knee burns so bad.

It's bad when you can't get comfortable at work. I often wish that I had a couch to lie down on because our work chairs are VERY old (~10 years) it seems and offer little comfort and NO back support as they can't lock in an upright position.

It's been another long time since I've psoted, but felt like I need to write today.

Today is a really rough day for me. It started off as early. I had to be at work at 5:00AM just in case there were any preproduction problems at work.

It is now only 6:45 and I am overwhelmed with pain and fatigue. My enite body hurts... burning pain in my shoulders, back and thighs... stabbing pain in just about everywhere else. I just came back from the restroom where I soaked my hands in hot water to help with the pain.

I really don't understand what coud've set this off. I didn't have a stressfull weekend.

I just want to curl up in a corner and sleep. I pray that today goes well and for strength from the Lord to make it through today.

I also wanted to mention that for personal reasons, I am assigning a "pain number" to how I am feeling to help me track what's going on.

This is a good thing as I've always wanted to, but never did for some reason. Anyway, today is an 8. It's really bad. I expect that if it gets more than an 8, that I will be in no position to post anything.

It's time

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted, so I wanted to journal what I'm going through right now.

Yesterday , June 3, 2007, I went to church with the kids and about a 1/2 hou from the end of the sermon, I started feeling exhausted for no reason. My legs, arms and hands got really achy and sore.

I came home and Diana got me some medicine and I took a hot bath to loosen my muscles up abd then took a brief nap.

Later, last night, we went to a Smal Group meeting. I was hurting the entire way through. When I got home, Diana again gave me medicine and I webt to bed.

This morning, I feel better; not a lot better, but better. I still have ached and pains, but can;t do much dince I'm at work. I feel tired and sore.

Today is Fibeomyalgia Awareness Day

This is cross-posted from my other blog.

Today, May 12, 2007 is National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. Fibro-ma-what?!?! Fibromyalgia is a condition that affects a large number of people, including myself, but is not widely known or understood, even among the medical professionals.

Fibromyalgia or FMS is a chronic pain illness characterized by widespread musculoskeletal aches, pain, and stiffness, soft tissue tenderness, general fatigue, and sleep disturbances. The most common sites of pain include the neck, back, shoulders, pelvic girdle, and hands, but any body part can be affected. Fibromyalgia patients experience a range of symptoms of varying intensities that wax and wane over time.

The symptoms of Fibromyalgia include:

Pain:
The pain of FM is profound, widespread and chronic. It knows no boundaries, migrating to all parts of the body and varying in intensity. FM pain has been described as deep muscular aching, throbbing, twitching, stabbing and shooting pain. Neurological complaints such as numbness, tingling and burning are often present and add to the discomfort of the patient. The severity of the pain and stiffness is often worse in the morning. Aggravating factors that affect pain include cold/humid weather, non-restorative sleep, physical and mental fatigue, excessive physical activity, physical inactivity, anxiety and stress.

Fatigue:
In today's world many people complain of fatigue; however, the fatigue of FM is much more than being tired. It is an all-encompassing exhaustion that interferes with even the simplest daily activities. It feels like every drop of energy has been drained from the body, which at times can leave the patient with a limited ability to function both mentally and physically.

Sleep Problems:
Many fibromyalgia patients have an associated sleep disorder that prevents them from getting deep, restful, restorative sleep. Medical researchers have documented specific and distinctive abnormalities in the stage 4 deep sleep of FM patients. During sleep, individuals with FM are constantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activity, limiting the amount of time they spend in deep sleep.

Other Symptoms:
Additional symptoms may include: irritable bowel and bladder, headaches and migraines, restless legs syndrome (periodic limb movement disorder), impaired memory and concentration, skin sensitivities and rashes, dry eyes and mouth, anxiety, depression, ringing in the ears, dizziness, vision problems, Raynaud's Syndrome, neurological symptoms, and impaired coordination.

I once read an incredible analogy of what having Fibro means; it's called the Spoon Theory. Although it's written by a lady with Lupus, but the theory still appies to all fibro sufferers. It is worth a look at it.

Posted by George Romano at 9:28 PM

Just an Update

Wow, I can't believe that it's been so long since my previous post. I really don't know what to say right now except that this is s short update. Today is a bad day, pain-wise. I have burning pain in my left thigh that's been unrelenting since 4:15 this morning. I cannot describe the intensity of it, but it's stong enough to overshadow most of my other pains yesterday.

I am also VERY exhausted and feel like I can fall asleep while sitting here. I really wish that I could just go to sleep right now. I pray that God gives me strength to make it through today and to help me make wise decisions.

It's odd that during the days between my posts, I seem to forget about this blog and don't post, when I should. I find it to be very theraputic to write down whatever is going through my brain at the time. Sometimes it's not much.. LOL

Well, I guess that's about it for now.

Brain Zaps

I know that it sounds weird, but I've been having an "unusual" feeling in my head acompanied by dizziness and mild nausea. In looking through some of the withdrawal side effects of Cymbalta, I found one called "brain zaps" or "brain shocks". In looking it up, I discovered that that is probably what I am having. Any rapid movement of my eyes or head causes these "zaps".

Wikipedia says that,

The brain shiver effect appears to be almost unique to those antidepressant chemicals that have an extremely short half-life in the body; that is, they are quick to disappear completely. This attribute of abruptness leaves the brain a relatively short time to adapt to a major neurochemical change when the medication is stopped, and the symptoms may be caused by the brain's readjustment. There is no evidence that the shivers present any danger to the patient experiencing them.