Sorry you have been diagnosed with this awful condition.

Pacing is a good idea. If you plan on cooking up a storm or shopping all day, you must also plan to be down a day or two. For me it's the second day that hits me hard after a lot of activity.

Listen to your body and you will begin to understand the signs that say you better stop now or if I do this I'll pay...

Do you take medication for your pain?

This is such an awful condition and I'm sorry that you have it. It's not easy to live with that's for sure. I was diagnosed when I was 24 and I'm 30 years old now. I'm still learning different ways to deal with it.

You've got to be cautious with those good days, take frequent breaks, set the timer for 20 minutes worth of whatever you're wanting to do and then take a 30 minute rest before doing more. It's tedious but it keeps the pain attacks at bay for the most part, at least they do for me.

It's easy to overstep and do too much, even if it doesn't seem like much at all compared to what you used to be able to do before fibromyalgia.

Heat helps me the most, a nice heating pad and a comfy spot to sit or lay on and I'm good for a few hours. Best of luck to you.

~Stephanie~

Hi Debbie and welcome!

Pacing is key to living with this complex illness. Most newbies have a hard time learning to respect their limits. It takes time and there is a grieving process.

I'd like to recommend that you purchase the book "Fibromyalgia for Dummies." You can find it on Amazon. It offers a good overview of this illness and a lot of ways to try and manage it. This is our "go to" book on this forum.Take care.

So sorry you have fibro. There's a lot to learn about. Many take a combination of meds that dampen down the pain signals. The Dummies book is great to read and reread.

I hope you like your doctor. If not, get one who will work with you to find meds that knock the pain back a bit.

What's key here is to get help with sleep problems, pain and psychological support and support so that you can continue working (if possible).

What do you think is the cause of the facial pain and blurred vision? I'd bring that up when you see the doc. Sometimes symptoms are not fibro related, although almost anything can be....

Feel free to post any concerns, feelings, whatever....take care.

Do you take medication for your pain? My pain lasts for two days after I over do it. It's hard to explain to my family and friends how I am feeling because they do not see anything. I'm starting to get really depressed and cry because I'm not Debbie anymore. I want her back. Can you tell me how or why you were diagnosis with fibromyalgia?

Hi Debbie,
Please see an opthalmologist right away. Or at least a neurolgist. You should not be experiencing blurriness. That along with facial pain is generally Optic Neuritis. I had the same issue a couple of months ago and mine ended up being trigeminal neuralgia (which hurts almost every day) and shingles of the trigeminal nerve, which they believe was causing eye pain and blurriness. However, docs are still following up to make sure it isn't ON, which generally is not caused by fibro. Please see them right away.

Over the last 2-3 years I have tried a lot of things for pain. Some work, some work for a while and some don't work at all. We are all different.

Take care of yourself.

Do you itch with fibromyalgia? Also have itchy ears and burning ears? The muscles in my neck in the front and back is killing me.

I don't itch. But some people here do. I have ringing in my ears. My neck and shoulders are always VERY tight and ache.

Ty so much baskerba . I'm having a bad day today. What medicine do you take?

The three primary medications used to manage Fibromyalgia are Cymbalta, Savella and Lyrica. Gabapentin and muscle relaxers are also used. It takes time and a lot of tinkering to find the right medication/s and dosage for each Fibromyalgia ( FMS) patient. Using medication and learning to pace yourself will ease some of symptoms that you are experiencing.

Get the book that we recommended. It is a good reference and you can share it with friends and family to educate them.

Fibromyalgia is a disorder of the central nervous system. The mechanism that causes it is not understood. In some people it can be triggered by high levels of stress, surgery, childbirth, an accident, emotional abuse to name a few examples. There is no cure but it can be managed by certain classes of prescribed medications. OTC medication such as Tylenol is usually not effective for the type of pain caused by FMS.

You can still live your life albeit at a slower pace. Things will get better. You are not alone. Take care.

I currently take a muscle relaxer and Voltaren when needed. If I am not in a flare I do not use them. I have tried Gabapentin and Cymbalta and didn't care for them. As I said before, it is trial and error. Unfortunately it is painful waiting to see if something will work. For my shoulders and neck, I get massage. Sometimes I can't handle being touched, but that is generally more on my legs.

Hang in there. Try to get some rest. Sleep is the best medicine I have found for fibro.

Speaking of sleep - that is a critical part of managing FMS. You should have a sleep study done. And, you should be on medication for sleep. FMS interrupts the deep sleep cycle with short bursts of high intensity brain activity. Your muscles require deep sleep in order to repair themselves from the days activities. No deep sleep means higher levels of pain.

I take Cymbalta and Gabapentin for FMS and an underlying health issue. For sleep, I was on Amitriptyline (prescription) but switched to an OTC called Calms Forte and another one called Mid-Nite. They work just as well for me as Amitriptyline with less of a hangover effect. I also like a massage - love hot stone massages. Wish I could afford one more often. As I said before, we are all on different "cocktails" of medication. What works for me, may be a total train wreck for you.

Take care.

Hi Debbie! Welcome to the group! Yes fibro can be quite a roller coaster, you are not alone. And yes, people in my life thought I was crazy. It hurt me that they told me that and said I need to get help.

The key to feeling better is learning how to pace your self. When you have those good days, learn to not over do it and find out where your limits are. This can be tricky because I've realized some days my limits are different than other days.

When you feel good and you want to do a bunch of things, do some, then rest, do some more then rest again, etc. Experiment with where you deicide to say stop for the day even when you still feel good. Don't wait till you start going down hill. You know how that goes, you start going down hill and then for the next few days it just keeps going down and down. Next thing you know you're in a flare.

Also, for me, when I've had a day or 2 of activities, I will have a day or 2 of chill out days before I resume another day that may consume my energy.

Also I noticed it helps to have a routine of mild exercise, like walk down the street, go for a mild swim, do some stretching, etc. You have to find something that suits you. For me I found out that I have to do something everyday or I can't sleep right. Also helps me keep the pain levels down. And I noticed when I started doing it everyday, my flares were getting shorter and less in frequency. But like I said, this helps me and may not be exactly right for you. Everyone here has different things that work. You just have to experiment and find what works for you. It takes time and patience. Hang in there! Hugs....

Sorry to hear Debbi. FMS is no fun. Treating depends on a number of things including your temperment, but I very much agree with bluesun regarding stretching and exercise. It's difficult to do especially if you are not used to it in the first place.

I take the ol' addage, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. So subject myself to ALOT of pain daily in stretching and exercise, and I try to get a punishing deep tissue/accupressure massge once or more a month. It's not fun, but the reduction in nagging aches and flare ups are worth the hour or so a day routine.

I take Cymbalta for FMS 60mg 2x day. It has helped quite a bit with respect to my hip and foot pain. Made things go from barely manageable to manageable on most days. I also take norco and soma when needed. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who says they don't work for FMS who doesn't have FMS is a pharmeceutical company shill.

Acceptance is the key. I say don't be afraid to push it on good days, if you have a routine to stay active and limber. Just expect a day in the not too distant futute where you'll need to sloooooooooow down. Don't let it get you. Be happy for the good days. The negative feelings feed into the brain pain and reinforce the flare up. Stiff upper lip, stretch, move around, get in some hot water or preferably a jaccuzzi, and push past it. Remeber, the brain is amplifying pain. So there's no real reason to not get your body moving. It's hard, I know. But getting moving changes your energy state, and will keep your mind off the negative thoughts.

Take care.