I have been living with Fibromyalgia for over 20 years now and I must say I never look forward to the winter months here in Texas. Around the month of February is when we start to see more traditional winter temperatures, that’s the time of year my body dreads the most. As the temps start to drop my body begins feeling the cold in my bones which makes the already intense fibromyalgia pain worse. Once I get cold it’s hard for me to warm up. The aches and pains in my entire body run deep.
Day after day my body tenses up due to the cold which causes a fibromyalgia flare up. This is likely because of the numerous sensory nerves in the circulatory system. It’s hard for me to relax because I can’t regulate my body temperature. I mean my skin even hurts if you can imagine that. When I get cold my nerves become agitated which causes the nerves to act improperly, thus causing increased pain.
No matter who you talk to, those of us who have Fibromyalgia seem to have this in common, we hate the impact cold temperatures have on our bodies. I belong to several chronic illness groups and it never seems to fail that when we get into the winter months you start to notice more and more posts where people are in increased pain due to the cold weather.
Pain Management
What helps with managing the increased pain levels for Fibromyalgia sufferers during the winter months? Here are a few things that help me:
◦ Hot bubble baths (As hot as I can stand it)
◦ Heating blanket
◦ Fluffy socks
◦ Wearing lots of layers
◦ Eating more hot foods
◦ Weighted blanket
◦ Sipping on hot water with lemon or hot tea
◦ Turning up the thermostat (This can be a balancing act with other family members in the house)
◦ Keep a sweater in every room of the house as well as in the car
I have read about instances in which a family will move to a warm weather climate to get away from the cold temperatures, however I do recognize this is not a simple solution that many can make.
Here’s a recent picture of me in the backseat of our car (driven by my amazing husband) in so much pain due to the really cold temperature. You can almost see the pain in my face and the many layers of clothing I am wearing to try and get warm.
One note of caution…you will want to be careful when trying to get warm, you don’t want to warm up too fast as this can also cause a flare up of symptoms and increase pain for getting too hot too fast. It’s a balancing act for sure and you will want to ease into any routine until you find what works best for you and your body. Remember everyone is different and what works for me may or may not work for you! Please be careful!!!
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XO- Windy
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