Re: My wife was just diagnosed, and we are moving. Any advice is most welcome.

December 29, 2007

Charlie...

My hubby and I recently moved...and this is what my doc told me.

He told me, I was under no circumstances to lift a finger to do more than

hold a pen and paper and jot down the stuff that went into boxes and such...

he told me that if I did, I could end up in so much pain, I would lose it.

Or worse, be in the hospital cause of it.

I did as he said, and things went well. I got happy about not having any

pain once we had moved everything in, and went crazy decorating and all...

which threw me into one huge flare. Please tell your wife to take it easy.

Do nothing but watch, and try not to stress if things don't get done the way

she likes it. I know that's hard, us fibromites have a problem with wanting

things done a certain way lol

Try selling your items you want money for on ebay...I did that. And for the

stuff you want to give away, do like we did...we went to http://www

freecycle.org and signed up for the groups in our area, and we passed along

things to others who really needed it.

There is a book my hubby has on fibro (let me run upstairs, well walk slowly

and get the name of it for you ) ok... It's called " The Fibromyalgia

Supporter " by Mark J. Pellegrino. He is a doctor who has fm and his book

tells your spouse what to expect and such. My hubby loves it. We have passed

it around to my friends and family to read that don't understand

fibromyalgia and after reading it, they seemed to understand more.

Blessings,

K.

-- My wife was just diagnosed, and we are moving. Any advice is

most welcome.

I need to be brief because of all the work we need to do to move on January

7th into senior housing. This is major major stress and my wife, who is 55

and formally quite energetic, was just diagnosed with Fibro by an allergist

We are relieved to finally have some kind of diagnosis, but she is feeling

overwhelmed and exhausted by the move, and of course, there is all the pain

We have to pare down a small house's worth of stuff to fit into a 1 bedroom

condo. It's a lovely green building and it's worth all of this, but I am

worried that Barbara (I call her Babs to amuse and annoy her. ) is just

going to go over some edge with all of this.

A brief tragic aside. My brilliant wife was friends with Benazir Bhutto at

Harvard, even went to Pakistan with her to tour the country. The

assassination has caused her greater sadness than she ever anticipated. It's

all over the news, even NPR. She just has to feel what she feels, I know. It

s just very disturbing.

We have people helping us and will have professional packers and movers but

are not anywhere where we thought we'd be by now and have so little time.

The sorting through old things and old memories is so much harder than we

thought it would be, as is the selling. We posted a holiday sale on

Craigslist and a moving sale and have sold very little. We have given away

big bags of stuff and will give away much more. I'm willing to get a storage

unit, but Barbara would much prefer to sell the things we no longer need and

have a fresh start.

What I know about Fibro: the best things to do are to get regular exercise

and to get help to get restorative sleep. It sounds like people use all

kinds of different methods and substances to control their pain. When there

is time, I will read through all the posts and find out about all of this

for my wife.

For now, any advice or suggestions about how Barbara can manage this awful

stress, which is exacerbating the pain, and/or any tips about pain

management for the short term are most welcome, as are any thoughts about us

making it through this move with our sanity intact or about selling antique

and vintage furniture and collectibles are equally welcome and please write

to me privately if this is off topic.

Bless you all,

Charlie

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December 29, 2007

Hi Debra,

Have you tried the salonpas patches? I use them, and they work great for me.

I have my hubby put them on my shoulders, its the only way I can go to sleep

at times, and with my snuggle buddies.

Hugs,

K.

-- Re: My wife was just diagnosed, and we are moving. Any advice

is most welcome.

Hi Charlie. Welcome. I am glad you came here. First of all, I am sorry to

hear of anyone diagnosed with this.

My name is Debra, I am 43, and was diagnosed about 4 years ago. I had the

symptoms for years before I realized something was wrong. Also, the pain

did not set in until about 4 years ago.

Rest is a major part of mananging this. Exercise varies from person to

person. Some do not have the ability to exercise much because of constant

fatigue and pain. For some people, exercise actually makes the symptoms

worse. It may be beneficial to her though... as we all vary in the stages

and severity of the symptoms.

Pain..... I started out with Tramadol a non narcotic prescription. It

helped for a while. Then I went to Darvocet a pretty mild narcotic. Then

about 1 and 1/2 years ago I started taking Hydrocodone which helps me

tremendously. I did not want to take narcotic pain meds, but in order to

function with this illness, I have to. Some people have tried Lyrica, the

new drug that is specifically used to treat fibromyalgia. Some of the

people get good relief, some don't.

As for over the counter, we have all tried Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Aleve, or

Aspirin. It helps some people.... but I found quickly that none of these

would touch my pain from fibromyalgia.

Alot of us might use epsom salt baths or mineral baths. Also over the

counter pain patches.

Of course, other people I meet here have to take even stronger narcotics

than me.... morphine or oxycodone.

Please also bear in mind the fibromyalgia is pain, but much more also. We

have other symptoms that annoy us from day to day. Some have loss of

balance and coordination, difficulty concentrating, and memory problems.

Sleep disorders are common with this... such as insomnia or sleep that just

does not ever make us feel rested. So chronic fatigue is a problem. And

stiffness,,,,, I might add that one. It is miserable... for me especially

in the mornings. Numbness and tingling in various parts of the body are

also common.

I sure hope she can work with her doctor to find a treatment plan that

does help. Fibro does not usually go away but worsens with the years.

(however, I have heard of a few people who do get better.... but not the

norm).

Keeping stress levels down is a real key.

I wish you both the best with your move. And remember, this disease is

manageble for most of us but it changes from day to day and is so

unpredictable. It actually can change with me from hour to hour somedays.

Well, there is my rambling. Hope we can be of some support.

Debra V.

Charlie Wilding wrote:

I need to be brief because of all the work we need to do to move

on January 7th into senior housing. This is major major stress and my wife,

who is 55 and formally quite energetic, was just diagnosed with Fibro by an

allergist. We are relieved to finally have some kind of diagnosis, but she

is feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by the move, and of course, there is

all the pain. We have to pare down a small house's worth of stuff to fit

into a 1 bedroom condo. It's a lovely green building and it's worth all of

this, but I am worried that Barbara (I call her Babs to amuse and annoy her.

) is just going to go over some edge with all of this.