I have had aches for a couple of years off and on. In January, my brother was arrested, I was taking care of his 2 kids, taking care of my own family, working, and going to school. I started to experience a lot of fatigue and muscle/joint pain. I then was fired on Jan 19th for sleeping on the job. I do not feel that I was just 'sleeping' because when I came to I had no idea where I was, what I was doing, or what time of day it was. I lost my unemployment case because the employer changed the reason to missed days. From that point on, I have had several bad days. I started going to the doctor for my pains on January 20th and as of 5/7/12 I have fibro, CFS, and depression. I find that stress and cold weather makes me have flare ups. We r just now coming into the summer months, so we will see how my body reacts to the weather. I wish u all the best and welcome u to the group.

It's hard to tell what specifically sets off my flares because it I have one thing going on that might trigger them, I usually have more than one.

For example, my brother had to move in a hurry, so I volunteered to help. I was lifting and carrying boxes (strike 1), had to spend a long time in the car (strike 2), pushed myself too far because I was stressed out by the situation (3), missed two meals (4) and didn't get home and to bed until really late (4).

I think stress triggers a lot of my flares, but when I'm really stressed I also tend to push myself too hard, so maybe it's the physical work instead? On the other hand, on a good day I can often do some garden work, which makes me happy and is more physically demanding than most of my ADL, and that seems less likely to trigger a full flare-up.

Calcium suppliments and some antihistimines also trigger flare-ups in me. I'm also intolerant of ibuprophen (really weird side-effects), which I know some people here swear by, so watch your OTC medications and suppliments, too.

My main cause seems to be a combination of stress and lack of sleep (as they tend to go hand in hand with me). Sometimes, however, I can be completely relaxed, sleeping 8 or 9 hours per night, feeling good for a week or so and BAM! Flare. This is not as common (probably because I'm ALWAYS stressed haha) but does happen.

Mine is stress and lack of sleep for sure but it's also being in the heat. Summers are miserable for me. Not only do I hurt but I get so sick on top of it.

Yes! The heat too, I forget about that since I live in FL and it is always hot and humid down here. The couple weeks in February when it gets cold here, I usually have a good couple of weeks and LOVE it! I know for some people, the cold affects it, but I am opposite of that, definitely!

2 much - 2 soon - 2 fast...brings out the good the bad and the ugly....

stress...yes and then soom.

I finsihed a book my mom bought on fibro (a bragon she thought) it was 10 years old and I laughed after I finished...first if you wrote down every food group that was listed as being bad for us I'd still be sucking my mothers boob (had to...lol) the meds have changed in ten years as the therapy....

So the just of it all is what works for the goose may not for the gander....you need to learn to listen to your own body. Start with a daily journal, record what you ate, drank, meds you took and WHEN and what did each day....hopefuly you can end your curiosity and start on the road to your own feeling more like you.

definatly stress and not getting good sleep bring on the flares also weather changes especially electrical storms. and sometimes they seem to just happen.