I am with you. I have a lot of other things going on as well so I get confused about flare ups. I started out at 20 with pain and in my back mostly on one side and shoulder blades. I wake up with muscle spasms between my shoulder blades daily. I am 42 now but my pain has moved into my whole body. Mostly my back and neck. In the last couple of years my for arms throb a lot like I just cannot get deep enough to massage them. At night my calves hurt so bad I can barely sleep. I have been to the doctor at one point I wasn't sure if I had blood clots or what. They said no blood clots but the pain is excruciating. I have flexeril for my muscle spasms but if I take them during the day I will pass out. When people ask me where do I have pain I usually tell them it would be easier to tell them where I do not have pain. I would never wish this on anyone. However if I could have a few people feel it for 5 minutes I believe they would understand a little better about whAt we deal with. I have tried a lot of medicines but I believe I am going to try and change the way I eat and maybe do some yoga. I am willing to try about anything. But I have also had some reactions to medicines andd I am very sensitive. God bless you

If I did not take pain medication or go to Warm Water Aquatic Therapy twice a week to walk & jog in the pool, do exercises in the pool and most of all stretch in the pool, then have very warm showers every day or epsom salts baths to keep the circulation moving, then I would likely be bed ridden from the pain. It took me a while to wrap my head around the concept that I had to take pain medication, so that I could tolerate a work out, or tolerate going to the rink to watch my children play hockey, when just a few months before, I was the manager of their team and working as a police officer and running a small business. I had no idea there was an illness on this earth, that could be so devastating. The good news is, I am no longer in the devastation phase. It is amazing how resilient we can be, even when we have been thrown a shocking blow. Eventually, we adapt and once I learned to pace myself, so called "listen to your body & learn" from past mistakes. Don't do everything you have been wanting to do or need to get done because you are having a good day because that is just recipe for disaster, but clean one room, do one load of laundry, write a new to do list, check off a couple things, remember to have breakfast and eat small meals every 4 hours. I can no longer eat very much. If I go out for dinner, I find it very difficult to sit that long, I can not eat the entire meal, I am lucky to eat 1/3 and so I pack it to go. I get very sore when out for dinner and would not make it thru a meal without pain medication every 4 to 6 hrs. Sitting is the worst. It must be a cushioned booth, no more wooden chairs, I must be dressed warm or the restaurant must be warm, if I am cold, or catch a chill, it makes the pain even worse. I highly recommend buying a large professional heating pad from a Massage Therapist. They are about 1 foot x 2 foot and they have a cotton/terry cloth cover in a cream colour. They have a plug and a switch that you can put an elastic around. I use mine every day to warm up my spine, hips, thighs, upper arms, shoulder blades & neck, hamstrings, calves & FEET. I have a small breakfast, a half a coffee if my stomach can tolerate, my pain medication and the heating pad, then in about 30 minutes, if I start running warm water in the kitchen sink, wiping down counters, the warm water in the sink helps my hands and then I am able to do light housework, then sit and pay bills and remit reciepts to my group insurer for massage, physio & chiro. I also have a wonderful dog. She is a god send. Such amazing animals, truly my best friend, she is so comforting and stays with me wherever I go. So I bundle up warm even if I have to wear a balaclava and go for a 20 minute walk at her speed. Its her treat.

Oh Dorothy , I understand how you feel . I started back to work full time and I come home aching and so tired'

Yes Dorothy I feel the same. Thought I would not feel so bad once I quit my job. I do feel a little better ,but I hurt and before I would have a day down and the next day I was fine like nothing wrong, but these past 2 years have been horrible. And only out of work for 6 months and I am lucky if I have 2 days that I feel ok.

I've had fibro 5 years. For the past two years, I've had to quit working and stay home..I do push myself to clean and walk.yes mine feels like it's getting worse.