So are you only in pain, or are you experiencing other symptoms with the flare?

The reason I ask is because if you're just in pain, part of it could be that you have myofascial pain where the muscles get knots in them that refer pain elsewhere. The thing about myofascial pain is that it comes and goes at random, there's no rhythm nor reason to why you're in pain in a certain place and it can be any place on your body from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. Myofascial pain goes hand-in-hand with fibro but few doctors bother mentioning it to their fibro patients leaving us to suffer needlessly.

The good thing about myofascial pain is that you can learn to do trigger point massage on yourself to break up the trigger points [the knots in the muscles] so the pain will subside. I've had this for 40 years, and was in absolute agony for years on end until I learned trigger point massage and am now painfree about 85% of the time.

Other things to think about are possible side-effects from meds as so many have side-effects that mimick fibro so it's hard to know what's actually fibro and what's a side-effect. A lot of meds have muscle pain, numbness and tingling as side-effects so if you have a few minutes, google the side-effect of any meds you're on. If you consume artifical sweetners, especially aspertame [nutra-sweet], that will increase your pain. Aspertame is in something like 14,000 products!!! It also causes MS type symptoms along with miscarriages.

Another thing that is common in fibro patients is unrecognized food intolerances and sensitivities that mimick flares. I can't tell you how sick I was for years on end due to that and unrecognized side-effects from the meds I was on!!! I was to the point of being virtually bedridden half the time. Once I realized I had all the food intolerances/sensitivities and cleaned up my diet along with going off my meds due to nasty side-effects, I got back to feeling decent overall other than fatigue and memory loss.

Hayley is right.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but to be very honest - my fibromyalgia set in back in July of 2003 and it has never gone away.
However, my experience may be completely different from yours & I pray that it is!

I can say with proper treatment & lifestyle changes, we can have some better days where we can endure it. :)

I do have multiple problems so mine may not be only fibro, but the fibro pain is obvious & mine only allows me to get out of my bed after I take my medication. As son as I open my eyes in the morning (or shoule I say at lunchtime!) - it never ceases to shock me how bad I hurt. I take my pain meds immediately & within about 45 minutes I can get up & get my coffee.

I believe it is all in how we try to cope with it, too.
(And I used to be a very athletic, fit, busy, working girl & Mom of 3 who always had energy)

But, after adjusting to this diagnosis in 2003 - I have allowed myself to think positive & always remember that it is not life threatening & it could be much worse. I could have cancer or something, so I consider myself lucky.

I use OTC menthol pain patches...not the prescription ones. I put them in every painful place but I do spend a small fortune on that.

I do stay in my bed but I have come to love it. By the way, the beds without any springs are the best! Once I finally invested in a memory foam bed (not just the mattress top)...I sleep better.

I have my own TV next to my bed. I have my computer in my room but it hurts to sit in the chair so I am getting a cheap Tablet PC. Laptops are impossible to get comfortable when you cannot sit or lie any ways to prop it up.

I am just chattering away, sorry. It is the middle of the night & the only time I feel a bit better...

Anyway, I gave up my sports & now I enjoy new hobbies at home like making dolls, playing with my little tiny doggys. (I used to raise & show large Golden Retrievers but also had to end that)
I take a few easy courses online.
I play games online to keep my fibro fog brain a little better off.
(My memory was affected by fibro) I cannot comfortably sit & play games at a table. But, I have a lap pillow desk to prop in front of me & I can read & write...(I cannot hold books to read)

What I am saying is even if it does continue, you will learn to make adjustments to deal with it & find peace.

And, hey, there are new great treatments coming out more all the time.
Back when I first got it, nobody believed me. Nobody even thought fibro existed but many doctors today understand it better.

God bless!

Pain pills do not ease Fibromyalgia flare ups.
However, pain pills will ease other medical conditions.
It does make a huge difference to understand the entire situation with the pain, where it is triggered from, and what works to reduce the knot pain. Trigger point massage is effective at immediately reducing the flare-up from screaming to a dull ache.
Medicines affect each of us in a different way, so it is a matter of finding what works best. Keeping a detailed journal is a must when trying to find out what works and what doesn't. it doesn't take long to do, and after a few days, you will find a pattern in the level of your pain symptoms.
Hope this helps.
You are not alone.

I'll have to double check the side effects of my meds. however before starting any meds at all the pain started random,very painful,muscle cramping,spasms all over twitching carpel tunnel feeling achilles tendonitis,stiffness,burning sensations lack of movement like I had a stroke on my left side.( 4 mths PT For this )I was also DX'ed a year ago april with a Pseudotumor IH I had a LP shunt put in sept 22 2010,witch I'm sure has not helped any !!Fatuge is Extreme ! I no longer sleep ! I still have wekness a typical on one side but has afeected both sides just not at 1 time.knees take a good beating and behind them more on the right side that muscle gets very painful to the piont of me limping.both feet and hand hurt all the time balance is way off befor and after the IH DX.Brain fog bad memory is so bad I get mad at myself,each day seems like it keeps getting worst !!!! Not sure about food intolerances something I'll have to keep an eye on thanks !myofascial pain I'm gonna look into more but seems right on ! trigger point massage seems like something I need to look into too Thanks again I don't believe that Fibro and IH is my only problems though I have an Appt. to finally see a Rheumatologist I may start getting some answers I hope..I've known for awhile that my road got longer and was closing in on me trying to keep positive but knowing I was in for the long haul my only option is to stay on that raod and ride it out and to just be Thankful !!! keeping my head held as high as I can put that smile on for the day !!! Thanks everyone !! big hugs to alll xxxxx.....

I don't know why mideyebrow says that pain pills don't help. Of course they do! Whatever gave you the idea that pain pills won't help fight pain?

I find that if I'm going into a bad pain cycle that if I take pain medication I can stay on top of it. If I don't and try to ride it out it will be much worse and harder to get under control.

youdontlo, I will say I take Dilaudid 2 mg's every 4 hours for pain along with Robaxin 750 mg's ( muscle Relax ) and 3 migraine meds for my IH. If I don't take the pain med I DON"T MOVE & I really mean I DON'T MOVE ! Like you if I don't stay on top of it I find myself in big trouble.... So yes they do work otherwise I'd be a Veggie-tail !

Because youdon'tlooksick, like mideyebrow, pain meds don't do anything at least not for me. I may once in a while find something that helps but it will only help for about a week and then it's back to square one. I might as well not take anything. I've only found one thing that doesn't quite on my (at least it hasn't yet) and that's Soma. Anything else is just waisted money.

Hello! Flares ups...can last for minuters,hours,days,months,or for ever long it takes to work it lout...The are muscles thjat first go into spams than they become tight and feel like they knot up...The best way to get them tlo loosen up,is warm heat with water...I have a heating pad that has a special wet sheet thst goes into the pad...and that moist heat helps alot...You are truly blessed as my flares ups now last for months... The flare up that I have now...started last Dec.,10 and is still going...I would love to b e your friend...

Thanks pastormjc My flares are lasting longer with little days ( off ) shall we say and back on I've been in this one since Feb 2 has not let up yet the one befor was way longer with about 3 ok weeks ( tolerable ) I should say and back on yet AGAIN,Thanks for ups on the moist heat I'll try it !! !Chrishen sorry that nothing really works for you.. you as I know That everyones body reacts so differently to different meds,some work some dont,and some not at all.By Far any thing that I'm on right now is not a cure all,just makes movement alittle easier For Me ( moble ) Ihave movement problems with my legs.It is short lived I do agree on that hands down ! Thank you all !!! xxx

I have been in a pain flare for two months now. Nothing and I mean nothing helps with the pain. Hot baths and heating pad is my only friend now. I cannot sleep because of the pain in my legs at night. I am up and down all night long. The pain has me worn down now. Don't know how much longer I can stand it. Ultram does not help, vicodin does not help, percoset does not help.

I have had fibro for 13 years but never this bad. Every muscle and nerve in my body is screaming.

I have the knots quite a bit. I have been getting phrimmer massages about once a month. I do not take medication. Iam doing the natural approach. It cleans all the build up from your muscle. Like when you exercise and you take a apple cider vinegar bath after it will draw the build up out of your system. It is reccomended that you drink alot of water to flush your system take it easy for a few days to let you get your strength back. you may feel like you have the flu. That was hard the first time. But It is helping my pain and you have . I would not have dared helping my son with baseball and I practice with him. I take it easy after and do have knots but more manageable. I recover faster. I went to conner prarie and bowling, in one day I thought I would be sorer and I got up and was ready for my day.. I felt it more I took it easer in the week to come. But before I would be down for 2 to 3 days. big inprovement.

mommies4, a lot of people with fibro also have other illnesses that cause pain such as Lymes' Disease, lupus, MS and the like so if you find your pain is more than myofascial pain, keep at your doctor to find out what's going on so you can be treated properly.

sugarbear75's suggestion of using apple cider vinegar in the bath to pull toxins out is a good one. With the myofascial trigger points, people with fibro produce twice as much lactic acid in their muscles in half the time as a normal person and it takes twice as long to clear from our systems. If you don't have high blood pressure, you can add a pinch of baking soda to a glass of water to help oxygenate the blood as low O2 levels in one reason why it takes so long to clear. Excess lactic acid causes muscle pain.

I'm on a constant roller coaster ride. I have some level of pain every day since 2004. Off and on for years prior. One day at a time is all I can say. Find a doctor that will help. I think I'm dealing w/ a decent one now.

My husband surprised me w/ a great gift... he said he is replacing our broken hot tub( it been broken for 4yrs). We went looking yesterday!!! Cant wait! Thanks Hubby!!

Perhaps we all have different definitions of "flare up"? For me, I have muscle pain every day. However, when I get that pain that feels like every nerve in my body is on fire, that's what I call a flare up. For me, Lyrica really helps that. They usually last from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how aggressively I take care of myself. But what I think of as the "normal" pain is every day, and has been for many many years.

hi, I'm new to this group- I've been recently diagnosed with Reynauds, my doc and I think it's primary because my mother and grandfather had it- but we're wondering if i also have scleroderma. I had one flare about 5 years ago that lasted maybe 2 minutes- I was on a walk with my children and two fingers turned blue. Then no flares (just constantly icy cold hands) until about 2 months ago. I went to the dr. because my hands began rotating between hot, swollen and dark lobster red, blue and Ice cold, and white and painfully cold. I went to the mayo clinic website which said a bad flare can last up to a week. I'm still waiting for my week to end. My hubby took me to Florida this last week hoping that the heat would help. The plane ride was horribly painful- the vibrations made my whole body hurt! The heat and humidity didn't help like we'd hoped, but maybe the plane was just to upsetting? Long story short, I have a couple of questions:

1) when is this flare going to stop? It's been 2 months, and i'm just tired of the pain and am starting to feel it all over- previous posts here are not super encouraging.

2) I'm on amlodipine but feel like it's just out of control- when is it time to change meds? push for more tests? sit in a corner and cry?

ok yes I'm a noob, and a bit of a disaster.