Can anyone give me advice....

What if anything can a person do to avoid flares. I have been on a combo of Cymbalta and thyroid for a month and been feeling so much better, But on occasion I have what I call flares( what I call all hell breaking loose with Fibro symptoms).
This morning I had to have help out of the bed and then I could not get out of the shower by myself. I have always been the caretaker, not the on who needs to be cared for. So this totally SUCKS and I am not loving life at the moment.

Just wondering if anyone else has these experiences or some advice on how to handle the pain and feeling of helplessness?

Sorry to say I don't know of any way to stop the flares. All I know of to do is take the best care of yourself that you can. Plus do everything you can to keep stress to a minimum, I know so much easier said than done. I had to just let others deal with their own problems and step back from any controversy. Peacefulness is my mantra.

You have to learn to make peace and friends with your pain. Accept that it is there and it is what it is. Learn to gracefully accept the help you need and accept that you will need help. We do not have to be wonder woman and basically we can't do what we used to. Yes it's frustrating but you have two choices either fight it and be frustrated or accept it and learn to work with it. I hope others will come on with their advice too. This is our opportunity to love ourselves.

My has fibro for 15 years. She been on topamax ,lyrica ,petisome and 3 day patches. It has put her to bed most of the time. She does not go shopping or church anymore. She is on a walker or wheel chair. When she has a bad attack some time we have to go to emergency room. She goes through spells of sleeping all the time. She get in so much pain she crys. I can not move in bed because it hurts her so i sleep in the lazy boy. She had one knee replaced and did great. the 2nd knee has been nite mare from hell. In P.T. she blew the inside liagment out and had to have 2nd surgery. The doctor said that liagment was like sewing two woren out mops together. The pertisome caused this. She a staff infection and had to go back an have 3 surgery. They had to take hardware out the knee and cement upper leg and lower leg togther untill al infection is gone. The wound doctor removed 2 stitches out to clean the wound out and left it packed for a week. A HOLE open up big enough to drop a golf ball in could see the cement. Took back to the surgern . He blew his top. He said if he had not been able to close the hole they would have to ampee the leg. Now he is hoping no infection set back in . iF so more surgery and antiboloic. After the infection goes away they have to put the hardware back in. she has be in the hospital since 6/1/11. They are saying now 3 to 4 more mobths

HOLY OUCH BATMAN!
I hope things get better soon!

Thank you! that is great advice I appreciate your time

You sorta figure it out as you go along, and nothings ever absolute... you never really get to a pain free place, more like a somewhat controlled state.  My advice, Sleep alot like 12 hrs.. I know it seems like alot but with FMS you need the extra time to get your body to recoup.    Sleep is so key to controll.. stress... try to keep it under controll because that causes flares... Ho****er, like hot hot showers are known to help with flares.   Right now Im taking a combo of  tramadol and
Seroquel and Welbutrine, Because everyone with FMS has issue, depression and anxiety caused by the pain.   Find your self a good pain doc, one who doesn't look confused when you tell him you have FMS.   And move, the more you sit still the more the pain will creep into your bones.. Pay attention to how you sleep, some times the postion your sleeping in can cause upper back pain between the shoulder blades in FMS people.    Be carefull with Cymbalta, It suddenly stops working, and when you come off it you go through a week long withdraw syndrome... not pleasant... Most FMS docs willl recomend tramadol, it's the kinda drug you need to give a chance because you body needs to get used to it, when you first start taking it's really sedating.  The seroquel is awesome because it really puts you to sleep and makes you get a dedicated 12 hrs.  The welbutrine is preety good because it has the added weight loss and then it helps ward off the depression.  Have you tried the lidocane infustion?? I would love to try it but im illergic to lidocane... I heard you have to get the treatment frequently but it totally kills the pain... worth a shot right?? 

 

 unfortuantly, flares are unavoidable as I am learning myself. I am on Cymbalta and Abilify along with several pain meds. When I have the breakthrough pain which we call flares, I usually end up in the ER. I have found that hot showers help some, and heating pads help as well.  I don't really sleep much due to the pain being so bad.  But I have slowly been coming to terms with it, accepting that this is part of my life. My son helps me out as much as he can, I try to do things when I can, I also found that exercise helps with keeping the flares down especially yoga. Starting at first hurts, but the more you do it the better it gets.  I hope this helps you some. Good luck.

Thanks for your comments, I took abilify for awhile and gained weigth on it. So far I have lost about 8lb of the almost 25 I gained.
I too have almost went to the ER and have found that life sucks less as I have been on the cymbalta.

I'm sorry you are in pain, seems crazy a stranger would care, but just starting on this path, I know there are people who are suffering the same thing. 

I think having the support of your family and friends is so helpful. My DH does so much for me, my adult children are also very sweet and caring.  I did move from the North to Florida because of the cold. That helps too.

My Dr suggest hydro therapy/exercise. I have lost the minor amount of weight I was carring around, so that should relieve some pain from my joints.

Take care and I hope you overcome you helplessness.

Shauna

I agree, there is no way to actually avoid the flare ups. I went for quite awhile without any real flare  ups and then one day I couldnt get out of bed and I hurt so bad that even my son hugging me, made me cry, now I have been in a flare up for almost 2 yrs running with only the occasional day without pain.  It got so bad that the Dr has taken me off work.  But, in my case they are thinking that I have developed MS.  My Dr said that sometimes people are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when it was truly MS as they have a lot of the same symptoms.  I have been on a medication regimen for many years and have even tried some experimental surgeries to help with the pain.  I too tried Cymbralta but it didnt work for me, I only got really depressed with it.   

I just take one day at a time and I try really hard to avoid stress because that will cause you more pain in the long run. I try to eat healthy and avoid eating at the fast food places.   I really cant give advise on how to avoid them, because there isnt really anyway that we can.  Just remember that you are not helpless and this is not your fault, A good support system is helpful. Do you have anyone you can talk to?  If not, start a diary and write down what you did that day how you felt, what your pain level was, what you ate etc, you might see a pattern and maybe it will help you  determine what caused your flare up. Unforunately even though we all have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, it effects us all differently and what might cause my flare up might not cause your flare up. We all deal differently with the pain and experience the  pain in different ways. 
Good  Luck
Nancy Godina
nana1176
GRDS 2001
Dr. Kesheshian