Aches And Pains

[Guest Iggy]

I am only 43, I have fibromyalgia...the constant pain that I live with on a daily basis makes me feel 20 years older than I am...That is no fun...

I thought I would start a new topic rather then to continue to derail Checkerboy's Intro thread any more than I have.

Yed, I have pain all the time. Since I was about 7 my 'bones' started to ache. They told me it was growing pains. Well the pain has never stopped. It is in my bones, muscles and joints. I have never been to a Dr about it because I never had money or insurance for that until I married Dear Husband three years ago.

I am used to it. Sometimes, like last night (end of the week for me and generally the worst) I go to bed and cry quietly. My left shoulder, neck, and the femur bones hurt so bad. Even 1600 mg of Ibuprofen didn't dull it fast enough. Husband gently rubbed my neck and right shoulder - applied some pressure points, then I laid down with my head at the foot of the bed and he squeezed my shins. That seems to help some. When my head aches - squeezing my head at the temples really helps. Sounds gruesome I know, but it works.

I haven't had migraines since 1995 - well at work two years ago I started to get one. I knew Husband would never hear the phone if I called, so I just hustled myself home. I made it to the driveway before I threw up. Light nearly kills me when I have migraines - and here I am in Arizona, it is 10:AM and it is 120 degrees out. I do not know how I got out of the car and into the house, but I found myself in the bedroom. Husband gets up at 11:30 as he doesn't work until PM. He gets up in a heartbeat, cleans me up (I threw up all over me and the front bumper of the car Yuck -Yuck - Yuck - Yuck) makes sure the car is turned off and doors closed. Gets back into bed after he calls his chiropractor and his job. Makes an appointment for me and tells work he will be late getting there. He then squeezes my head. I sleep for an hour and the pain actually subsides about 3/4.

I have never been to a chiropractor before - He manipulates my neck and then pushes on my back all the way down my spine, he then pulls my arms and legs, then has me lay on my side and does this pretzel thing. I crack and pop so much I feel like bubble wrap that has been folded, twisted and then stepped on. As I sit there afterwards I can feel the headache actually drop through my body and dissipate out my toes!

Husband and I go home and I tell him to go on to work - I have to eat something and then go get XRays on my neck and upper body. The migraine is completely and totally gone!

I have been to the Chiropractor on the average of every 5th week. I swear by it. The reason I am hurting so bad right now is i missed two appointments - Life and work got in the way. And now Husbands truck has been in the shop for 2 weeks and with our hours it is hard to get the shopping done and other appointments on my Monday off.

This Monday I am having a molar extracted (ugh!) at 8:10 am and a mammy-gram done at 12:PM! Just what I have been looking forward to with great glee - getting an impacted molar yanked out of my mouth and then having my boobies mashed between two cold(freezing) hard metal plates! It is the only thing in Arizona that is Freezing by the way. Oh on a lighter note, my co-worker just had her mammy-gram done and she said that the little stickers they put on you are now in a variety of colors and designs. She had Daisy's. Wonder if they have SpongeBob Square Pants?? or Kissy Lips

IF I am not in too much pain, I will have Husband drive me to the Chiropractor - he does walk-ins all the time. I will just have to wait for an open spot.

This same co-worker had FM, she takes Mucinex for it. http://www.mucinex.com/ Talk to your Dr about it. If you would like I can email her and have her explain how it works.

[siouxz72]

I too, swear by a chiropractor!

The other thing that helps me when I get a migraine...you know the kind where any light makes you want to vomit?.. is massage. If my husband will just work on my neck and upper back for a little bit, the pain starts to go away.

Finally... whenever I feel a headache coming on I head it off at the pass with my own special remedy. Excedrine with a Pepsi chaser! It really does fix everything. Especially the Pepsi part... head hurts? drink a pepsi.. tummy ache? drink a pepsi.. having a bad hair day?! drink a pepsi!

[mnn727]

I credit a chiropractor with ridding me of migraines, I used to get them at least monthly as a teen and young adult, like you I went to one at the onset of a migraine and by the time he was done, my migraine was gone. I now only have a migraine about once every 2 - 3 years and head to a chiropractor at the first sign.

[Maya]

Need relif contact me by a Message..... if it wont give you too much pains...

[Guest Iggy]

I too, swear by a chiropractor!

The other thing that helps me when I get a migraine...you know the kind where any light makes you want to vomit?.. is massage. If my husband will just work on my neck and upper back for a little bit, the pain starts to go away.

Finally... whenever I feel a headache coming on I head it off at the pass with my own special remedy. Excedrine with a Pepsi chaser! It really does fix everything. Especially the Pepsi part... head hurts? drink a pepsi.. tummy ache? drink a pepsi.. having a bad hair day?! drink a pepsi!

That is because it has caffine in it. Aspirin works because of the caffine in it!

At the onset of my migraines I would take about 8 plain Aspirin (what my family always called El Cheapo's), eat a bowl of cereal or a couple slices of bread with some sliced cheese or peanut butter - anything that was quick and full of carbs. Then I would turn out all of the lights, draw all the curtains, unplug all of the phones and lay down with a ice cold wet hand towel over most of my face. Leaving just enough room for my mouth so I could breathe.

ALL of my senses were on RED ALERT and extremely sensitive. EVERYTHING made me hurt. Even the soft movement of the air caused by the ceiling fan! I would 'sleep' anywhere from 1 hour to 1 week - then I would have to vomit, once I did that the pain would go away. No way could I force the vomiting and then have the pain go away. Had to be in its own time.

Over the years I have discovered what triggers my migraines. Sharp and Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheeses ( I really love them too), red wines, red wine vinegars, any alcoholic beverage that was aged in smoked wooden casks, smoked foods (lox, some hams, home smoked fish-game meat - peanuts/nuts, etc) some fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut, etc.those I can and easily do without) and extreme stress.

Once I eliminated those foods/drinks from my diet AND got rid of the extreme stress (can we spell First Husband!) - the migraines have become a thing of the past. Well with the exception of two years ago - and I was pretty stressed at work at that time. (Can we spell: Trouble Making, Client Losing Co-worker who was signing my name to her miss deeds! ).

Maya - you just may be the "Pill" that I need -

[MorningStar]

I have chronic pain/headaches too. One doctor wonders if I have endometriosis because of some symptoms I have, but it's hard to tell with my inflammatory bowel disease what is causing what. I have flare-ups with that and I'll have constant abdominal pain for months on end, cramping, and other problems as well. Last year it got so bad, I could hardly sleep and I was in too much pain to do anything that involved reaching, bending, walking, etc., so I would do things like count my change until 3am some nights. Every time I took a few steps, I would have to run to the bathroom again. It gets really old. Last year I had set up a colonoscopy (just in case anything new was happening - probably not), but then I broke my foot and there was no way I could handle the prep. It's hard enough to make it to the bathroom when you can run. The first couple weeks on crutches, I was still having the flare-up, but thankfully it subsided. One night I had to throw-up and in my rush to get to the bathroom on time, I landed on my foot and started bawling, threw-up, and bawled some more. Then a week later, all of us got a really bad stomach bug and I could hardly do anything to help with the kids except sit in a chair next to the tub and wash their hair.

Now my foot is still hurting, most likely from the tendons I pulled when I broke my foot and from the fracture boot (it caused plantar fasciitis and gave me a compressed nerve in my big toe). My back is messed up from the crutches, and I am pretty discouraged today about the things I'm not able to get done. I want to have people over on Saturday after my son's birthday, but I don't know how I'm going to get this place clean and organized by then. I don't want to take pain medication because most things aggravated my bowel disease and I am afraid of becoming chemically dependent on something. Both of my mom's parents were alcoholics and I'm just not going to risk that.

I'm off to do as much as I can until the throbbing overcomes me again. Ugh. My kids can mess up much faster than I can clean. Oh thank goodness my friend invited my youngest over tomorrow!!!!

[Pa Pa]

We must be twins...I never have "good" days, just ones that are better then others.