The Symptom Series - Pain
One of the largest attributes of Fibromyalgia is 'widespread pain.' This pain can feel different for every person so what I feel may not be necessarily what another sufferer feels. I am going to try and describe some of the pain that I get because that's all I can really do, I can't even begin to try and explain anyone else's pain!
For me, the pain I feel is an every day thing. I wake up in the morning and one of the first things my brain does is a quick scan to figure out what pain I am feeling before I've even moved a muscle. Usually this pain is an aching, heavy pain around my neck and shoulders.
As I begin to navigate through the day, more pain tends to be triggered after various tasks I complete. Here is an example of a few simple tasks that can cause me pain daily.
- Putting my hair up/Brushing my hair - This causes my arms and my hair to ache a lot
- Walking to the shops - As well as fatigue, this causes a burning, aching pain in my legs, especially near my hips
- Writing or using a tool like a screwdriver - This causes lots of aching pain in my hands and fingers, especially in the joints. (This could also be to do with my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.)
Some of the most simple things in life can be very slow, painful and difficult for me. I am currently learning when it is best to rest and when it is best to push through the pain. In a talk I watched by Lorimer Moseley, something he said was 'Motion is lotion' and this is something that I consider when figuring out whether it's best to continue or to rest. Resting to me is a temporary thing, I don't want it to become a permanent thing where I never do anything because of fear of pain!
The thing with this pain, is that it is totally unpredicable. Some days I may not have as much pain and I may feel almost normal, but other days the pain is so bad and the only way to avoid it is by sitting or lying still and doing nothing.
Due to the Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, my joints are pretty much all hypermobile apart from one hip. This hip causes issues because it is very stiff and has less mobility that normal, however I am working with my physiotherapist to strengthen this currently. All the other joints cause issues because it hurts when they over flex. Sometimes it feels like my shoulders and wrists pop and other times, standing hurts because my knees have bent beyond normal range.
The sensitivity of pain with fibromyalgia, mixed with the hypermobility of EDS, is something that makes things worse in a lot of ways. Things like lying on my side, standing up or carrying something can be really painful or awkward things to do when really they should be simple everyday things that everyone does.
Finally, there is one type of pain that is called Allodynia. This pain is a very strange pain that can cause some real issues in day to day life. It is a type of hypersensitive pain from something that wouldn't usually cause pain such as clothing against skin, someone gently touching you or even air! Luckily I don't get this too badly but I do still suffer from it sometimes. It is definitely one of the strange mysteries of fibro! To me, this is just another part of being hypersensitive to pain in general. It isn't the worst of my symptoms but some people do get it really bad!
Thanks for reading,
KP
Finally, there is one type of pain that is called Allodynia. This pain is a very strange pain that can cause some real issues in day to day life. It is a type of hypersensitive pain from something that wouldn't usually cause pain such as clothing against skin, someone gently touching you or even air! Luckily I don't get this too badly but I do still suffer from it sometimes. It is definitely one of the strange mysteries of fibro! To me, this is just another part of being hypersensitive to pain in general. It isn't the worst of my symptoms but some people do get it really bad!
Thanks for reading,
KP