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Ruchie, glad you got a sleep mask and took a hot shower to help you sleep. Aleve helps a little but it's also an IBS trigger so I have to take it with Imodium and don't take it every day. Extra-strength Tylenol (or the store brand equivalent) is the best thing I've found over the counter, but you have to take it right on time every 4 hours (sometimes I even take it after 3.5 hours) and 4 times a day, because if you wait til you're already in pain to take it, it doesn't work as well. (Your central nervous system gets all hyper and won't calm down!)
Also, Benadryl is an over the counter antihistimine that is also used as a sleeping pill. Again, buy the store brand because it's cheaper and take two about an hour before bedtime. It will make your mouth a little dry but you'll sleep much better. It actually helps you get the Stage 4 deep sleep that you need to heal and rest.
I'm so glad you bought Fibro for Dummies! My personal trainer at the gym said she saw it in a book store and it looked really great. The more information you can get, the better you can manage the fibro.
Good for you!! YAYAYAYAYAY, RUCHIE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Laura
Keep it simple!
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LauraSue,
Thank for writing back 
I will try the tylenol (I'm already in major pain, but it can't hurt right?) And I'm IBS C so so Aleeve might help in that dept. 
I'm on Levaquin right now so I'll have to see if I can take Benadryl while on it (Levaquin already gives me dry mouth...but I need sleep so blady!)
Should I be so convinced it's foibro? Is that ok without a diagnosis? Btw, I don't think I get morning stiffness...maybe I do and don't know it? Is there a place I can get a real good defention of it?
I like the Fibro for dummies so far. Good stuff. their books are usually pretty informative 
The sleep mask is WONDERFUL! Now I think I need tog et earplugs...any you recommend? I told my hubby that the cars outdise even wake me up...he couldn't believe it!
I've read a LOT on fibro in the past week or so (when I have the energy to sit at the puter). With all the things docs ruked out and all the tests and my symtpotms...it's surpirisng no one ever put 2 & 2 together!
I'm just SO THANKFUL that I might get better! I really thin i will...and I really think I'm gonna be ok. Just reading about the pian cycle and how you can get scared to go out or scared your szymptoms will flare and this makes it worse and all this stuff about the cycle...I was SO RELIEVED! I feel like I'm not alone anymore! *phew* I have felt SO ALONE for so many years...first with my tummy troubles and now with this. But I know I'm not alone anymore....WOW! I can't say that enough LOL
Thakns LS for ehlping me figure all of this out! You recommended OA and you're helping with fibro....I just can't thank you enough *hugs*
Love ya LS! 
Ruchie
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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I'm sorry to hear you've been "bitten by the fibro frog" as LS put it once. that is awful. but at least you're on to something with the diagnosis. let me know how the Rhumy visit goes, will ya?
as for the sleep mask, how's that helping? i bought one but can't use it 'cause it puts too much pressure on my nose. (stupid, i know, to those of you without fibro, but these things can be terribly painful to us!) i know LS loves hers, though, proving that fibro is different in all of us!
most of us, though, don't get a lot of help from pain meds. things like Alleve work on inflamation, which we don't generally have. fibro is about misfiring nerves. it unfortuntaly requires heavy duty drugs and they often don't work, or work for long.
i switch up my pain meds a lot. i have a prescription med that i take on my bad days, but sometimes take mega-doses of Excedrin. i also have migraine meds for those days. (i hate the migraine days!)
my saving grace is my Skelaxin. it's a non-drowsy muscle relaxant and it can really help a lot.
morning stiffness.... uck. i have that. when i get up in the morning, i feel about 100 years old. i can't bend my legs and my toes and feet are all cramped up. i usually limp for about 1/2 hour when i get up. a hot shower usually helps, plus some gentle stretching after. usually, though, i can't put my heels on 'til i get downstairs 'cause even after the shower and stretching i am too stiff and wobbly to get down the stairs in heels. (ridiculous!)
keep posting about fibro, Ruchie. hopefully we can help. LS and Linzy were a great resource for me when i started. if only Linzy would stop using the British names for meds, we'd be great! (paracetamol is basicall aspirin, in case you wanted to know! but somehow it works better. i have my friend in England bring me some when she comes to visit!)
SMOOCHES to you, Ruchie!
*jen
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JenX!!! *hugs*
You mean I'm not crazy? I used a headband (stretchy material) to block out the light on the holiday and it HURT MU NOSE so bad I couldn't use it! LOL Hubby thinks I'm nuts I bought a sating eye mask last night at a groverry here and it helped...had to get it "just so" on my nose or OPUCH!
How are you doing Jen? I'll def. let you know what Rhumy says :-)
I don't thin i have moning stiffness. Is that a requirmenet for fibro? I used tog et RIGHT out of bed...now I have to lay there a while. I'm not sure that's the same thing though?
today is an off day for me. I woke up in them iddle of the night in pian and I'm STILL IN PAIN (but not as bad). I haven't doen a thing around the house and it's noon here already. I'm so tired I had to force myself to eat breakfast (that helped a bit with the energy...but not oo much)!
How do you guys work or spend time with friends or gorcery shop or ANYTHING? Last week I couldn't even get in the car (wouldn't do it today either) I was so tire and achey! I just lay in bed most of the day some days (this has been going on for ovwr a year...more like 2 years now!) When I taught kindergarten, I cam home and went straight to sleep most days! Last year I got fired or I quit my jobs I was just too sick! how do you guys live normal lives like this?!
i hope you're feeling good thewse days Jen *hugs* Keep in touch...thanks for always being there for me!
Love ya Jen!
ruchie
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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yeah, fibro is a blast. *rolls eyes* the nose thing is freaky, huh? i can't even wear my prescription glasses, 'cause they pinch the bridge of my nose too much. well, that's all ok, 'cause fibro can also cause your prescription to change, which mine did. for a long time my glasses were great (when i could bear them on my nose!), but then i started getting migraines every day at work. took me a while, but i finally realized that i didn't get a headache if i didn't put my glasses on. HOW ANNOYING!
so... welcome to the land of fibro. at least your hubby sounds supportive! you may have to remind him you're not crazy from time to time, but i think all women have to remind their hubbies that!
i don't believe morning stiffness is a requirement for fibro. what they really check out is trigger points and how long you've had pain and exhaustion. other than that, the symptoms are so different from person to person, there's no way we can pin down the symptoms! for example, i think LS has allodynia, which is pain on the skin from even the lightest touches (clothing, for example). i don't have that at all. in fact, when i get a massage, i prefer a stronger touch, even though it usually triggers more pain for a day or two afterwards. i get a lot of deeper muscle pain and joint-type pain, though i have had some skin layer stuff before (like the creepy crawlies i had this Spring). i also get a lot of hot flashes and cold flashes. anything a nerve can do, fibro can recreate at will and randomly! ridiculous.
Ruchie, i don't know how you feel about medication, but you've GOT TO beg your doctor for Ambien. it's amazing. lots of the sleep medications leave you groggy in the morning, but it doesn't at all. and a lot of sleep meds (especially the over the counter stuff and Benadryl) prevent you from getting Stage 4 sleep, which is the sleep we fibomyalgics need and aren't getting. Ambien puts you right into Stage 4. Some tips, though: you need to take it right before you fall asleep. do not try to do anything on the Ambien, no matter how controlled you feel! i took it one night and didn't feel sleepy or drugged at all, so i sat in bed and "trimmed my cuticles." well, let me tell ya, Ruchie, i woke up with every single finger bloody. i had no idea i had made such a botch-job of it. i had bandaids on my fingers for a week. it was awful. also, you'll sleep really soundly on the Ambien, so be careful. i would sleep through a fire alarm, i know it, so i won't take the Ambien if i'm the only one in the house. it wears off after 4 hours, for me, so i have to take another one in the middle of the night. i don't know if that happens to everyone or not. but Ruchie, Ambien is my savior! it has really made such a difference. i am DRAMATICALLY less worn out and painful when i'm taking it. it's amazing what sleep can do for you! it took me about a week originally to get up-to-speed, but really that's quite amazing, considering i, like you, hadn't slept in about 2 years!
anyway, that's how i get up and accomplish things, Ruchie: getting Stage 4 sleep. I can't get my Ambien refilled right now because of a problem with my insurance and i haven't slept in 2 weeks. now i'm so achy and painful it's pathetic. i went to the Giant to buy groceries and was worn out after. i've had to cancel all my plans this weekend 'cause i'm just not up to anything. can't wait to get that Ambien! You weren't on the boards this Spring when I was so sick, but Ruchie, you're not alone in not wanting to get in the car. i spent weeks on the couch.... it was terrible. i beat myself up about it for a while, 'til i got a strong lecture from Linzy, Bevrs and LS. they told me what i'm going to tell you: make sure you take the time your body needs. if you need to rest, then do it. you can get past a lot of it, but not if you push yourself too much. know your limits! do a little, then rest. that's the way to survive fibro. that and Stage 4 sleep! but i will say this, too: try your best to get a little stretching time every day, and try to take a tiny little walk in the fresh air, even if it's only for 3 minutes. sitting on the couch or lying in the bed actually made me feel a lot more painful 'cause of the inactivity. trust me!
SMOOCHES, Ruchie. Luv ya right back!
*j
(Ruch, you and i are really similar, sweets. it's kinda eeire all the things we have in common!)
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Ruchie,
not trying to overwhelm you with all my talking, but you know i have too much to say!
if it makes you a little hopeful, i feel that my IBS is related to the fibro. once i started getting some sleep, i have been able to eat whatever i want. when i get tired or really stressed, i go back to the Eating for IBS plan, but when i'm feeling a-ok, i can have my coffee in the morning and even McDonalds! can you believe it!? and that's coming from the girl who had diarrhea for a year straight!!
*j
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I am oign to take a hot shower and try and do a bit of yoga. I will write more later tonight I hope I'll be up fir it!
Love ya!
Ruchie...P.S. We aRE simsilair...no one else I'd rather be like *hugs*
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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Love you guys! If it wasn't for this board, Heather and you lot, I'd have NEVER been diagnosed. I was going to doctors for a DECADE with symptoms that add up to classic Fibro and not a single doctor mentioned it. 
Ruchie, honey, I diagnosed myself 6 months ago and only just recently got round to getting a doctor to confirm this! I'd been banging my head against brick doctors for so long I didn't give a damn about diagnosing myself - I know my body way better than anyone else could. You sound like a classic case.
The others have given a pretty good description of morning stiffness. I find I only tend to get it bad when I have to drag myself out of bed early for work or something. If I lie in bed all nice and warm, I tend to not be so stiff.
You guys MUST have paracetamol over there. I'll find out some brand names. My FIL works in Pharmaceuticals, so he should know. Paracetamol isn't a brand-name, it's a drug, like aspirin, but unlike asprin it doesn't thin your blood. It's supposed to be safer and it doesn't affect your stomach like ibuprofen (Aleve?).
Get some drugs Ruchie!
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jen,
i took your advice...and i got up and walked around a bit...and it really helped! i'm less stiff! thanks! *hugs*
i am TOTALY going to pamper myself! I am going to buy votive candle holders since I can't use my scented candles anymore...I'll make sure they're colored (the holders) to brighten up my world I'm going to look for a heat sac (the kind they sell at the mall) to put on my neck while my back aches so I can use both simultaneously. I am going to keep posting on these boards and on fibrohugs. I am ogibng to tkae meds for my pain (something I used to shy away from...well guess what? IT HURTS and if I can do something to lessen the pain, I'm worth it!)
Any other pampering suggestions and I'm all ears
Seriously, Jen, how are you doing these days? When will you be able to take Ambien again? That's so not cool thta your insur. co. is doing that to you! PLEASE feel better soon! *hugs*
Love ya girl!
Ruchie
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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