Turbo Jamming

I did Carmen Electra's strip tease workout day before yesterday. It's fun, but not enough cardio for me, so I followed it up with Turbo Jam (Cardio Party). That is fun and a great workout. I used to be certified to teach Turbo Kick, the gym version of Turbo Jam (and much more difficult), but the doc made me quit quite sometime back because it was too strenuous for the damned fibro. But the TJ is easier, and I love it - so I drug out the DVD and went to it. I had forgotten how much FUN TJ is! I actually grin the entire workout. Great music, fun, funky moves - TJ rocks.

Today is a better day

Don't feel fantastic, but don't feel so hopeless - so that's a good thing.

As horrific as the physical toll of fibro can be, I think the emotional toll is a hundred times worse. Can you imagine being in pain every single day of your life? Having any stress - good or bad - tear you up so badly that you may end up bedridden for a day or two? (Or three!) How about if you can't make plans, because you have no idea how you'll be feeling on any given day?

I am extremely fortunate; my fibro isn't nearly as bad as a lot of other people - but that doesn't make it any less devastating. Depression is a big thing for fibros - who wouldn't be depressed from constant pain? Add in the lack of sleep (insomnia is a huge problem) and it shouldn't be a surprise that we tend to get depressed.

Don't think the depression is because of self-pity, either - while I freely admit that I can throw a pity-party with the best of 'em, I do NOT feel sorry for myself. I consider my situation to be a challenge, as well as a learning experience. I tend to be horribly impatient - fibro is teaching me that I can't always have what I want, when I want it. I don't see that as an entirely negative thing, but then again, I make a sincere effort to dwell on the good things in my life.

Okay now I'm just babbling, so I'll end here for the day. Hope anyone reading this (ha) has a healthy and happy weekend.

So I start a blog about fibro....

....and then don't post for a few days because I'm having a flare-up. I hate to be a whiner, so I try not to talk about it when I dont' feel good, but I guess that defeats the purpose of the blog....

I am miserable and just pissy about it. My fibromyalgia is flaring all over, but it has really kicked up my TMJ syndrome (jaw joint hurts like hell) and it's really messing with my stomach. Have one hell of a headache, too, but that's kinda par for the course. The TMJ and stomach thing are...well, I can't say NEW symptoms, but they have never been this bad in the past. And it's not like the daily aches and pains go away - this is in addition to.

I try VERY hard to maintain a positive attitude - I HAVE to! My attitude is the only thing I have any control over! But times like this, when I've been in so much pain for so many days, I just can't. I've had enough, damn it - but fibro doesn't care. It's got to run it's course, and I just have to grin and bear it.

I HAVE been keeping up with my workouts - not daily, like I'd prefer, but still - something is a hell of a lot better than nothing. How's that for irony - I have the motivation to workout, something that eludes most people, but I CAN'T - my body won't cooperate. Bwahahahahahaha

It's laugh or cry - and crying just makes the headaches worse.

Sorry you're sick - but we can't help you.....

GRRRR!! As if living with a chronic pain condition isn't bad enough, trying to actually find HELP for it is damned near impossible. I tried to get into the Mayo Clinic (AGAIN) and they won't take me!! I didn't call Florida because of the unGodly flight time involved, but the Rochester clinic isn't accepting new patients in general internal medicine, which is where they would want me to start, and Arizona won't take me, period, because I have fibromyalgia!! What the hell?? Gee, so sorry that you're sick, but we won't see you....nice.

So - I'm going to try Virginia Mason, Stanford Univeristy and Scripps University. And I'm going to see if I can get into Andrew Wiel's clinic in Arizona - that would probably be best anyway because he integrates holistic healing into Western medicine. Still, though - talk about FRUSTRATING! I can hardly find a local doctor to see me because no one here (or anywhere, frankly) knows much about fibromyalgia. So - sorry you're sick, but we can't help you is a refrain I am all too familiar with.

GRRRRRR

Hell, I KNOW it works and I'm STILL amazed!

www.t-tapp.com

This is, hands-down, the best damned workout on earth!

I used to be a hard-core T-Tapper - lost 63 inches in less than six months - looked good, felt good - then BAM! Health went to Hell in a hand basket and I quit doing it. I just started back up THREE days ago - not even doing the entire Beginners workout - and damned if my jeans aren't fitting a LOT better today than they were last week!!

Hope to have time to REALLY blog later on, but this was just too good to wait.

Living With Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a little-known and less understood chronic pain condition. I'm lucky - I am very high-functioning for a fibromyalgic - there are very few days that I'm bedridden, I hold down a full-time job and I'm pretty active physically. That doesn't mean that I'm symptom-free, though; just yesterday, I woke up in tears with pain tearing through my body from head-to-toe. I'm not telling you that for sympathy (don't want it, don't need it!) but just to explain how things are.

I can feel fantastic today - sail through my 8 hours at the office, waltz through the front door and whip up an awesome dinner from scratch (nutrition is important to a fibro), work out for an hour and still have energy to burn. Tomorrow, I may not be able to get out of bed. Needless to say, this makes planning anything pretty damned difficult, and that can take a serious toll on relationships.

(Will finish this later...)