I was having a spring flare up, too. I thought it would never end.....hips, elbows, shoulders, back........you know. The cold rainy weeks did me in, but I'm feeling somewhat better now. The weather has stayed pretty much the same for a week or so now.
The next kicker will be the high humidity. I would love to have central air (dream).
There is a lot going on in my job and my family. I may be laid off next year from a teaching job. My father has such extreme pain in his hips he can hardly walk. He's going to a hip othro next week. He's legally blind from macular degeneration and the pain medication makes him goofy. He looses his judgement and does wacky things. I had to call the doc, and he's off it now. They're trying him on a trial of prednisone. He's 84 and I'm the only child. When he gets more needy, my stress level goes way up.
Can't go to sleep.
I'm glad the weekend is here.

Spoke too soon. The weather got colder again and I'm in tremendous pain: hips, ankles, elbows and arms plus ankle pain woke me up.
One of my friend's husbands is dying at an early age from cancer, and maybe the stress and sadness of that is affecting the pain level also. He's one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. He took care of my dad for me several times when I was away.

Hey Coyote. Yup, we had a thread about this not too long ago. Everyone seems to be a hurting unit lately. Once the weather calms down and settles I am sure everyone will start to feel better. Or as good as they will normally be.

Dear Coyote:

Kudo's to you for taking care of your elder(s)/Father. I grew up in a time when the family was never ever separated and our elders put in a nursing home - my culture is coming around to where our youth/youngers are now starting to care for their elders at home.

With your father's pain - how much can he do on his own? Can he walk/get around? Can he be a partner with you in combating the pain?

Stress is the worst thing for someone with Chronic Pain to deal with. Stress causes a whole host of different problems and will keep us in a "flare".

Try not to think about what may or may not happen next year, just get through the stress of today, deal with today - then tomorrow deal with tomorrow. I am going to steal AA's phrase of "one day at a time". If you worry about what will happen next year - then either it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy or it may happen and you will look back and say "this is not so bad....why did I worry about this so much".

I wish you all the best. Sorry to hear about your loss.

Take care of yourself, take a break - sit by yourself and make yourself a wonderful calming cup o' tea and relax.

Kim

I wrote in a while back about being FLATTENED by the spring weather, too. It really hurts! And i've been under so much caretaking stress, and job misery... One little thing that did help me was to buy the biggest heating pad I could find. My massage therapist had one that covered me from neck to tailbone, so I went out and splurged on one just like it that I found at a medical supply store.
Now I drag it all over the house with me, day and night. I lean against it on the back of the couch, hang it over my shoulders like a cape while sitting at the dinner table, slip it in between my sheets to warm up my bed before I get in at night, and wrap my feet in it like a sausage roll!
I also take the loooooongest, hottest showers just to get heat on my neck and shoulders. I joined a health club this spring mostly because I could take a shower without the hot water running out!
I hope you feel better soon. In the meantime - heat might work, dry or wet. You need summer on your body right now!

Thank you for your thoughtful replies. AK kid, your suggestion of a cup of tea sounds good about now. I like your avatar. Molly and FiberoWendy, yes, the spring weather is wreaking havoc on me again today. The temp. and the humidity keep going up and down, and I was just thinking about how do we keep going in the middle of a flare. The steroid shot hasn't helped my dad at all. I was hoping it would work for him the way it helped me. So, he is 83, legally blind but still can do things for himself, tries to keep active with his 20x viewer looking at airplane and tank pix and catalogs. The pain is keeping him down and he relies on my all the more. But I've had an intestinal but over the weekend, and I'm sure he's tired of hearing I'm tired and don't feel well. Others really don't get what it's like. He thinks I just don't feel like doing things or helping him. It is hard to help someone else when you'd like some help yourself.
I'm a teacher, and can't wait for the end of the school year. I teach and and travel from school to school. I see about 700 kids a week. It's ok if I don't think about it and just do it.
I wonder where other people are at with their job situation.

Hi! Just reading the posts here helps me not feel so alone w/this Fibro thing. It's been a miserable Spring so far w/the weather changing so much.

I have been to Mayo Clinic and when the Neuro talked about FM, the first thing he said was.. "I bet you hate the changes in the barometric pressure?""

Do ya think????? Oh yeah... I hate what this FM is doing to me... One day good, two days bad....

Yes, yes and yes. This spring has been a rough one for me too. Don't know if this is a forshadowing of things to come but I would rather not have a fall like this!

Hope everyone is feeling a tad better. My flare extreme has lessened.

April is my tough month for pain flares (along with August and Jan or Feb) and yesterday was the first day ( and it was a very humid day) in 6 weeks that I returned to what I call my "normal" pain from RA and Fibro.

BUT (always seems to be one) I am now besieged with earaches and UTIs which arrive every spring/summer.

I think my old bod is just in one constant allergetic state!

Gentle ehugs to all...Carly

Ugh! I can only think of how awful you feel when you have to travel all over the place. By the way, I probably don't live very far away from you....! We are both in Mass.