I am so sorry your are having a flare.

They are terrible to deal with. Have you tried hot showers or baths?

I know it's hard but try to get up and move, this does help, but very hard to do during a bad flare.

I hope it doesn't last to long.

Tonsie

I live in the MidWest and this winter has had a terrible effect on me. My pain levels have been consistently terrible with sharp increases every time the weather has another tantrum. I'm having problems with pain right now with the advent of somewhat milder weather. I'd guess that we are both in the same boat (Titanic ??!! - lol).

Have you tried soaking in the tub with Epsom salts? A lot of our fellow members swear by that remedy. I would do that, but I don't bend that way anymore. At the moment, I'm surgically attached to my heating pad again. Hope you feel better soon!

One piece of advice I can offer will reall help, from what you describe. You need to keep moving even if you are lying down. Staying completely still is the worst for pain. You might be too tired to do much 'official' exercise, but it i essential that you move your body somehow. The soaking in an epsom salt bath is a great idea and should help. I find that Aleve, Ibuprophen, aspirin, etc. do nothing to help with my FMS/ME pain. FMS/ME patient don't typially have immflamation, so those medications won't work for us. Over time, I hope you are able to get access to something stronger for your breakthrough pain. After 30 year, I am now taking two tramadol and two Vicodin a day. I still hurt like crazy, of course, but at least I can get out of bed.

Science is just going to have to learn better how to treat us, including access to better pain medications. And, hopefully, you have a doctor who will treat you and not the disease.

best of luck

Oh my, I should've said that you need to stretch when you are lying down. I twist my body in all kinds of strange positions when I'm lying down so as to keep that worst pain at bay. The main thing is to avoid making multiple duplicate movements. So, no sit-ups, or anything that requres you to do the same thing over and over. I can move around quite a bit, so long as I don't do EXACTLY the same movement again and again.

Also, pacing yourself when you move is essential. If you need to do something to take care of yourself, like cooking or something, just work for a few minutes, until the pain becomes too much, then sit down and wait for a few minute and you should feel like getting up and doing a bit more and a bit more until your task is done. Pacing yourself is really important to deal with this disease. Sorry, I forget to put this in the earlier post.

Thank you for the advice. I did take a hotter than usual shower this morning and I do feel a bit better. I, too, can no longer take baths due to the fact that 'my body does not bend that way' anymore.

Have another question. The exercise I do is a form of gentle yoga that I can do at home. When I feel this awful I tend to skip the yoga for fear that, even though it is fairly gentle, I'm bound to feel worse afterwards. Do you think I should try the yoga no matter how I'm feeling? Especially since it's the only exercise I do.

I am always in pain and always in a flare. It sucks. I hope that you start to feel better. Sometimes a heated throw feels really good on the body.

I know that our doctor told us to exercise even if Caleb is hurting. Says it will eventually help. He also said, Caleb wouldn't be doing any actual damage if he exercised when hurting. He's hated it, but he's doing it.

I'm with you in regards to this crazy winter causing flares. I've hurt more this winter than any other time over the last few years. And today we have 60 degrees and I can barely move my neck and shoulders. I know the changes in barometric pressure can cause pain to flare but sometimes I think we just flare up for no specific reason.

Sorry you've been in so much pain. I hope it eases up soon.

I am sorry to hear of your flare up. I live in CT and we have been having severe weather this winter too. I do believe that the weather has an effect on our bodies. I have been having flare ups here and there too. As far as the gentle yoga goes, definitely you should do as much as you can. I do yoga myself and the stretching definitely helps. I also find that if I take a muscle relaxer for one night, the next day I feel so much better. The hot shower (or muscle soak in the tub for me) words too and Ben Gay.