"Morning Stiffness"

Morning Stiffness - This is what my doctor calls the hell I wake up to every morning,... and it's not always restricted to just the mornings. I hate the name "morning stiffness", it makes it sound like I had a wet dream or something. This is not a pleasant thing people! This is not something I'd wish on anyone, I don't really have enemies, but if I did, I wouldn't wish it on any of them either.

A much more accurate depiction of this symptom would be "The Waking Death." It usually happens when you are just waking up and you feel like "The Walking Dead." (Which, ironically, is a favorite show of mine. haha)

I know that once I start moving a little, as long as I'm not in the middle of a fibromyalgia flare up, I usually start feeling a little bit better. However, the temperatures have dropped a bit, I have been doing a lot of activity  and I'm pretty sure, I'm flared, after all the tears last night and insomnia. "Flaring" is also not a picnic in the park and makes "morning stiffness" worse and persistent.





  Last night I was not able to get to sleep until after 4am... so I guess it was more like this morning, and then I was up at 11 am. I have been having terrible restless legs, aching feet and my arms wrists and hands have been so gruesomely tender and obnoxiously sore, right down to the bone. Needless to say, it's been miserable. It takes me all day just to take care of myself on days like this. Life takes a backseat, so thank God I have such an amazing husband. I truly am blessed for that. I would not have survived this long with out him.

Just yesterday morning I was feeling pretty good, it is crazy how fast my body can take a turn for the worse. I'm very susceptible to my environment, especially temperature and barometer changes. VERY FRUSTRATING!!! One wrong move and I could be down for a full day or more.




Symptoms and Pain Levels on Scale 1-10 is the worst

• head, neck, and face Pain Level 5
• upper back, chest, shoulders, arms, wrists and hands, Pain Level 7
• lower back, butt, hips, and thighs 4
• knees, calves, shins, ankles and feet 6 (but seems to be getting worse as the day goes on.)
• frequent urination and urgency, difficult to empty and barely anything there
• craving sweets, I wish I would have saved some of that Halloween candy :-P
• IBS (constipation) 
• blurred vision

Helpful Linkage:

Fibromyalgia Health Center
http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromyalgia-symptoms

Morning stiffness is a sign of Rheumatoid arthritisis
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20464354_7,00.html

Morning Stiffness in Fibromyalgia
http://www.fmnetnews.com/latest-news/morning-stiffness-in-fibromyalgia

10 tips for overcoming morning stiffness
http://www.fmaware.org/News202dd.html?page=NewsArticle&id=8589

Early Morning Stiffness of Hands
http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/h/early-morning-stiffness-of-hands.html

Health Center - Why Your Joints Are Stiff or Painful in the Morning
http://www.healthcentral.com/osteoarthritis/c/23101/34051/morning?ic=506048

Morning Stiffness when Getting Out of Bed and Standinghttp://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/stiffness-morning.shtml

Morning Stiffness in Rheumatoid Arthritis
http://ard.bmj.com/content/19/4/361.full.pdf