Just want to say welcome to you even though it breaks my heart that one more person has this pain I live with it every day and have all the back and arm pain ,soft hugs

I find the things that I can do. Hobbies to stay busy. I find that motion helps my pain. Walking soothes my pain as long as its in moderation. I step softly because my nerve endings on my feet don't like pounding pavement.

Nice having you here on DS but I know it's not nice to have Fibro or other physical problems :( It's nice to have caring friends we can share life with but for sure only those that go through the pain we do can really understand, really relate. You will find that here. I hope you are able to find safe remedies to help you and as hard as it is I just try to focus on things I love including chatting with caring friends with lots of venting LOL taking it one day at a time and no matter how unlikely it seems I will find that perfect safe remedy I keep on doing a lot of online searches for safe remedies for the physical problems I have.

Hi, I hope its a bit better today. Try sleeping with multiple support pillows and a heating blanket. I recently pulled mine out even though its hot here, and the deep sleep it puts me in helps the pain immensely. A hot bath with dr. teals salts in it before bed can put you in the mindset that the pain is better too. I hope this is helpful. hugs

I'm glad you found this forum of great people. I was diagnosed 5 years ago but got fibro 6 yrs ago after the birth of my twins. I now have lupus, raynauds, sjogrens, and periperhal neuropathy. It's hard answering your question since I feel like I don't have a hold on my illnesses at all. I find myself constantly saying I will never get use to this. Heat does help my pain, but too much can make my nerve pain worst. I can't go to sleep without using icy hot or stop pain roller on my neck and shoulders. Have you tried it? I started going back to church and that has helped me. I have lots of depression and anxiety so probably the best thing is seeking help, therapy, doctor support for new meds or suggestions, and maybe finding a group to join. If I had more time I would like to join a few church groups. Joining this forum was a great decision, it has been my greatest help. I pray you find some relief and get out of this hard spot that you find yourself in. Good luck and keep us posted.

Welcome! We're fans of "Fibro for Dummies" (the book) for ourselves and the others in our lives, and also coming here to vent, whine, ask, moan, groan, rage, grieve, cry, you name it. I've been here for 6 years and it's been a huge help in managing the sense of solitude that can come wijth chronic pain and stress.

Feel free to meet us on the daily check-in (an enduring tradition) and we're here for you:-)

I hear you about being depressed about not being able to work. I wish I had given vocational rehab another 8 tries (my rehab counselor said someone finally suceeded in finding something she could do on the 9th try). However, a doc told me: when your body won't let you work, you can't work. Just hearing him say that helped me accept the situation.


The best advice now that I give myself is to take the best care of myself: that is my job. Self-care, kind of buddhist way of looking at it. It's not my fault, the illness.
Try to tailor down your life to where it's manageable, without flare-ups. Kind of hard, but then life seems somewhat more normal and less distressing. I recommend Toni Bernard's book on Living with Pain and Chronic Illness. Best to you.

Welcome to the group! Like Leo, I recommend the book "Fibromyalgia for Dummies." It is available on Amazon. It will give you a comprehensive overview of this complex illness and a lot of ways to try and manage it.

I have not been able to work since 2008. It was a tough transition especially with a divorce tossed in for good measure. After getting symptoms under better control, some people are able to go back to work part time or even full time. Everyone is different. Part of living with this complex illness is learning to respect your limits. I'd like to gently suggest that you consider getting some counseling. The best type of counseling for this situation is "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy." CBT will give you tools to cope with the diagnosis of chronic illness. Many of us see someone for extra support. And, depression can increase the perception of pain. Anything that you can do to manage depression is very important.

I've developed new interests that work within my physical limitations. I'm a gardener in training (lol), I work on genealogy quite a bit and try other things that pique my interest. Work should not define who you are as a person. And, you can still live your life albeit at a slower pace. For me, not working was a blessing. Not having to struggle to get myself pulled together and stay together during a job (I worked free lance in the film industry) was a relief. I can pace as needed and take better care of myself.

I'm glad that you found us! Feel free to join us on Leo's daily check in. You'll get to know all of better and vice versa. You are not alone.

BTW - That pain in your shoulders and arms might be TMJ related. You may be grinding or clenching your teeth while sleeping. You should check in with your dentist and have them take a look. A bite splint can be made to relax your jaw while you sleep which is very helpful. The splint is far cheaper than having to pay for restoration due to grinding your teeth. Been there, done that.

In the interim, try using a muscle rub before bed. I like Arnica gel (Walgreens) or Epsom Salts lotion (Amazon). Anything to get those muscles relaxed before you try to sleep. Take care.

Welcome, TealFlower! I like your name. Makes me think of a teal flower that's in the game Minecraft.

I'm glad you found this place. It's an excellent place for you to express yourself in a safe environment where no one will raise an eyebrow if the fibro-beast sends you up the wall on occasion.

I was going to say things and try to be helpful, but brain fog and headache have bested me. So just welcome from me. :)

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome and the kind words. I've been in my own world lately, trying to figure things out. Sorry for the late reply back to you. I hope you all had a good week and are feeling well.

I have things I'm interested in, but I haven't had the energy to do any of them lately. I do artsy things and make jewelry but I just haven't done any of it lately. I'm not inspired either. Lack of sleep isn't helping me at all.

I would like to see a counselor but I don't think we can afford to pay for that right now. Being on one income has its limitations, ya know.

My shoulders and arms are still keeping me up. I've been using my TENS unit and putting my heated wrap on my shoulders and arms ... not helping much. I think I'm doomed to just never get a real solid night of sleep again. :/. It feels like I'm pinching something, when it wakes me up, next to my shoulder joint. And the rest of the pain is because of that. I don't think it's a normal muscle or nerve pain, or Fibro pain. It's just weird that it's in both shoulders and what not. I've been sleeping like this most of my life, why is it suddenly causing me pain? Ha. And since I can lie on my back or my stomach because of my back, all I have left is to sleep on my sides. Unless I can learn to sleep standing up like a horse! ;)

I think I'm going to try to push myself to go somewhere tomorrow, instead of being at home all day alone. Maybe the library for a few hours. I have a nice new coccyx cushion, I'll take it with me so I can sit there for hours. Hopefully.

I just hate feeling so alone in all of this.

You are not alone we are all going through this. Can I recommend a Chiropractor for you shoulders. I started seeing one yesterday for my neck, and yes I hurt more today, but I think he is on to something and I might get some relief in my neck pain eventually. Good luck. You should join our daily check-in, that will help with that lonely feeling. I love these people like family.

What does the doc say about your shoulder, neck and arm pain?
I use capsaicin cream (hot peppers). it's the only cream that showed good effectiveness for arthritis pain. It's ok as long as you apply it with something and don't touch the areas. I also use icy hot extra strength (or Bengay) for instant relief. I take trazodone 25mg for sleep every night. Works well for me. Muscle relaxant (baclofen) during the day for stiffness.
Interested in what your diagnosis is though if it doesn't seem like fibro pain...

Welcome, Newbie! I just read through all the responses and am so happy there is such a wealth of info and compassion right here. I don't have anybody to really talk about it all either in my life. It's very hard to make another person understand . Most people are pretty much caught up in their own lives. My husband is a wonderful man, but I KNOW even though he doesn't say it, that he gets tired of hearing about this illness. My 22 year old son teeters between indifference and depression. What a complicated road we are all on! But WE ARE NOT ALONE! We are here! Peace to you

I've been putting the TENS unit on my shoulders and sometimes a Salon Pas patch. I can't use most muscle rubs because of the smell as they'll trigger a migraine. Even a tiny Salon Pas patch is risky business for me. I have also been trying the muscle relaxers and pain meds, but I am still waking up after a few hours because of this. It's hard to describe - it doesn't feel like it's muscle because it's in one spot; always the same spot, and on both shoulders; and it feels like I'm either being pinched or stabbed there. I've had plenty of muscle pains over the years, it doesn't feel like anything I've ever had before. Anyway, I haven't gone to the doctor about it yet. I hate doctors. And I hate the bills; especially since we can't afford them. So, I'm just doing what I can - the TENS unit, stretching, foam roller exercises, massages from my husband, etc. I might mention it to the pain clinic, if they won't insist on injections or something. I also have to go to a neurologist soon for my migraines and another doctor for something else. I just hate doctors in general because of the way they've acted about things over the years. Not just with me, but with my mom too. I tried trazadone and amitriptyline - neither worked for me.

Countingmyblessings - "Most people are caught up in their own lives." That's pretty much the simplest way of looking at it. I try not to make my stuff the center of my conversations, but it's nice to have people check in with you to see how you're doing. Especially when you do it for them all the time. If I'm having a bad day or struggling, I'm usually brief about it. Just enough to say that it's not an easy day. Unfortunately, I don't have any friends at all anymore that I talk to on a regular basis. Since I haven't worked for 4 years, no friends there. The one friend I did have, that I talked to almost daily for 5 years, recently ended our friendship. I have no idea why, she just stopped talking to me. (That's a weird situation to begin with.) And I've never had any close friends most of my life. Just my amazing husband now. He knows about my physical pains and the struggles I go through with all of that, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to tell him that I'm struggling with this emotionally too. So much of my life has been hard, one struggle after another, and I don't know how I made this far sometimes without losing it. When I finally got to a good place in my life, this happened, and everything fell apart again. Now, unlike before, I can't just pick up and go again because of this and what it's done to my body. That's the part I'm struggling with. It's like I can't see the forest through the trees right now.