Lisa feels good. The sun is shining and low in the sky. The temperature is warm, but not overly so. The air is crisp and filled with the earthy fragrances of fall. Lisa sets off energetically on her mission. She rakes the leaves to the curb, removes all the screens from the windows, cleans the gutters, stacks the firewood, and brings in the lawn furniture. She finishes up by taking Abby, her rambunctious Labrador retriever for a long walk in the park.
As Lisa sits down to dinner that evening, she feels pleasantly tired and fatigued. “I’ll sleep well tonight,” she thinks. As the evening progresses, Lisa finds herself getting a little achy. Muscle groups she didn’t know existed are beginning to murmur their distress. Her lower back is aching a little, and her shoulders feel tight. Comfortably ensconced in an easy chair, she is watching a movie, a fast-paced action thriller, and yet she starts to doze off in the middle of it.
Lisa finally gives up on the movie. Rising out of her easy chair, every muscle in her body screams, from her little toe to the top of her scalp. Lisa pops a couple of over-the-counter painkillers and heads to bed. A good night’s sleep, a slightly easier day tomorrow, and she’ll be feeling fine by Monday.
Lisa wakes up Sunday morning. A little fatigued, a little achy, but she’ll survive. She takes a couple more pain-killers and sets off for a brisk morning walk with Abby. When she returns, she’ll relax, read the paper, and maybe even take a nap. Life is good.
Mary’s story parallels that of Lisa’s, with one critical difference − Mary’s life is lived from the perspective of a fibromyalgia sufferer. Mary does not allow herself to be defined by her disease, and most of the time she functions normally. However, because she must be aware of those circumstances that trigger her symptoms, she is often frustrated by needing to limit her activities.
Mary also wants to take advantage of the beautiful weather. She feels good and full of energy. She might be feeling a little stiffness, but that’s normal for her condition. Because it’s such a great day, and she feels energetic, Mary performs all the same activities Lisa did. But in the back of her mind is always the niggling little worry, “Am I pushing myself too hard?” Nevertheless, she goes ahead and accomplishes what she wants to do. The adrenaline that has kicked in keeps her going as she works steadily and productively.
Just as Lisa did, Mary sits down to dinner that evening feeling pleasantly fatigued. Okay, maybe a little more than fatigued – she’s really beat. But she accomplished so much today, she feels satisfied.
Meanwhile, her muscles have already begun to ache. Her elbows hurt and it is difficult to bend and unbend her arms. The spot between her shoulder blades burns, and pain and numbness radiate down her arms. Just lifting her arms to put the dishes away is an effort. It hurts to lift her arms above her shoulders. Her hips are aching and her legs have a heavy feeling.
Mary sits down to watch the same action thriller that Lisa had turned on. Like Lisa, Mary also has difficulty staying awake. Unlike Lisa though, Mary cannot seem to get comfortable. She tries curling up with a heating pad in a big comfortable easy chair, but she has to constantly shift her position as different parts of her body send out pain signals. First her lower back and then the back of her thighs are aching. She straightens her legs and rests them on an ottoman, but soon she has numbness, and an unpleasant tingling feeling radiates down her left leg. Curling to the right puts pressure on her right arm, causing it to tingle and go numb. Curling to the left provokes the same sensations on the left side of her body.
Despite the discomfort of her fibromyalgia, Mary has the good fortune to remain fairly mobile and agile. She can still climb in and out of a bath tub easily, many fibromites cannot. Finally giving up on the movie, she takes a long soak in a hot bath, which helps to ease the aching somewhat. Unfortunately, she will not sleep nearly as well as Lisa. Characteristic of fibromyalgia is sleep disruptions throughout the night. Mary never sleeps well. She also takes an over-the-counter painkiller and heads to bed.
Mary tosses and turns all night. If she rolls to the right, her right arm goes numb and the right hip pains her, roll to the left, the same. Lie flat on her back and her lower back hurts, and she could never sleep on her stomach. All night, Mary flops around like a fish out of water. She wakes up every time a new pain starts or a part of her body goes numb. She falls into a restless sleep by early morning.
Mary awakes at her usual time. She is exhausted, but she can’t sleep anymore. Her body aches all over and she is uncomfortable. Her brain feels foggy. She gets out of bed, and goes through her morning routine. Bathes and eats breakfast. By the time this is done, she is even more exhausted. She needs to close her eyes, just for a few minutes, she’ll feel better in a few minutes. Mary dozes fitfully for an hour, then gets up for a drink. Maybe some caffeine will help. It doesn’t. Mary aches from head to toe as if she has the flu. Even her skin hurts. Her brain is cloudy and reading the paper is difficult. She just can’t make sense of the words. Henry, her border collie, lies dejectedly by her side. No walk today.
Mary has entered what fibromites call a flare. By over-exerting the day before, she triggered a flare-up of her fibromyalgia symptoms and trouble spots. Mary won’t be right as rain tomorrow. It could take days or even weeks of rest − depending on the extent of her fibromyalgia and other contributing factors − to return to a level of normalcy again.
This is the difference between someone with fibromyalgia and someone without. Those without fibromyalgia do experience pain and fatigue from their over-exertion. Those without fibromyalgia do not have daily chronic pain, fatigue, and many of the other symptoms associated with fibromyalgia. They will be right as rain by Monday, if not Monday, at least by Tuesday. They won’t miss work or be confined to the house or bed. They won’t become socially isolated, because they are just too tired to go out, and tired of trying to explain why.
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