THE MUSCLE REBELLION

"Oh, what a beautiful mornin'.

Oh, what a beautiful day.

I got a beautiful feelin'.

Everything's goin' my way."

(Rodgers and Hammerstein)

What a crock.

First of all, I've never been a morning person. My body just isn't set up that way. When I say that I walk into walls, I mean it.  As long as I can remember I've loved to stay up late, sleep late and  I tend to do my best thinking late in the evening.  However, as I entered the work force I gradually re-adjusted my body clock. My dream schedule would have been actually adding hours to the day because there never seemed to be enough. Yep, I was on hyper-drive. 

That was BF (before Fibromyalgia).

About 90% of the people with Fibromyalgia experience morning stiffness. The stiffness can occur in your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints throughout your body. I know that it takes about 30 minutes before my feet can hit the floor, There are times that it's much longer.  My back, hands, arms, legs and feet feel like the Tin Man without his oil can. It takes some time to get body parts moving. Every muscle in my body is screaming and they aren't screaming that they love me. The muscle rebellion is in full force.

Actually this doesn't just occur in the morning. If I sit down or have any period of time when I'm not moving, the stiffness and muscle pain hits. Sometimes I can't even walk for a few minutes because of the pain.  I feel like an old woman trying to get up and move. I probably creak too. It doesn't help that the humidity is up to about 53%. The rain is coming and I can feel it in every move that I make. The humidity definitely makes the stiffness worse.

I'm better than a barometer.

There is the old familiar tightness and stiffness in my muscles but there is also a deep ache that hits my hands and feet. When I went to the pain manager she kind of dismissed it and said that pain was arthritis not Fibromyalgia because Fibromyalgia is all muscular. I was too tired to fight her but, boy is she wrong about that! I just hate it when they start that dismissive garbage. My brain artificially amplifies pain and even the lightest touch can cause excruciating pain. What's not to get about this? Arthritis??

It's interesting how the pain fluctuates and radiates. The stiffness is bad and the morning and then gradually improves in the afternoon. Then it starts to return in the evening accompanied by muscles spasms. Throw in a little fatigue and insomnia and there you have my day. I spend a lot of time in the jetted tub because the swirling water helps the pain. Some days there isn't a place on my body that doesn't hurt. 


Well, I exaggerate..........maybe my eyebrows don't hurt.

I've tried to be proactive. I think it's important in the management of pain. I go to the gym to walk in a controlled environment. I don't like walking on the street. If something happens and I need to stop I've got a place that I can rest. Plus, it's got the water. I usually get in the jacuzzi after I walk. I know that walking will help me eventually but I still need to take pain medication to venture out of the house. Managing the pain. 

All I seem to do lately is live in management mode. 

And I'm not doing a real good job of it.

Like I said.

Beautiful morning?

What a crock.