i know fibromyalgia is not contagious… but you would have really thought it was in my house this past couple of weeks…
i gotta tell you, God works in interesting ways… the last few months, my husband must have really really wanted to know what it felt like to be me. i mean he must have really been saying to himself (in bold and underlined one hundred times if this web editor allowed me):
husband: “i wish i knew what it felt like to be in pain 24/7 and not be able to sleep”
[pretend insert me saying, to myself of course: “what a complete idiot!“]
God’s response: “some wishes are really just too easy to pass up!”
… and so begins the best blog topic to come to mind!
my wonderful husband has a pinched nerve in his neck/ shoulder area… we think. aha! so begins the quest for the real diagnosis… sound familiar? anyone? anyone?
about a month ago, while starting the mower and pulling that damn string or whatever the hell you call it, he pulled or pinched something. this started in the shoulder and then moved up to his neck, down his arm and now his finger is numb. he’s been to the primary dr. who told him he had a pinched nerve and gave him prednisone and vicodine. he felt pretty good for a week while on the meds… well… after the week, he stops the meds and boom! he feels like crap because he stops the prednisone and now he’s feeling the pain of withdrawal and pain of … well… pain! we’ve all been there.
meanwhile… i have started my new meds and while still having sleep issues, when i actually do sleep, i sleep very hard. you can’t wake me up unless you turn the house upside down. i am scary asleep… like he tells me he’s watched t.v., kids coming in and out of the room, lights are on, crazy loud in the room and i am sleeping through all of it!
strangely enough he has become the light sleeper and the one who cannot sleep. he is the one getting up in the middle of the night because the dog and i are snoring in stereo on each side of him. he is in pain and now he’s getting up, leaving the room and sleeping on the couch. what the hell is going on here?
he has now become a walking zombie. shit. now there are two of us in the house. we can’t really afford this. i mean, i’m high maintenance as it is. my husband does everything in the house and he keeps it all together. he is everything to me. what do i do if my everything is broken? i’m already broken. we can’t both be broken… can we? this fibro shit is not cool. and i’ll be damned if all of a sudden it’s contagious… noone told me it was contagious! i gotta tell you, he even had a little bit of the foggy brain… i was getting a little scared! two of us in the house with foggy brain? the kids would be running the house… ummmmmm, halo3 24/7 in one room and texting, tv and facebooking in the other. we better get our shit together! thankfully his foggy brain only lasted about 8 hours. enough time for him to get a complete understanding of what it felt like to be me.
start of week 2 of my ever complaining, can’t take the pain, husband… (did i just say that?)… and he is in some real pain (truth be told, he is in real pain, i do know and most importantly believe that). he calls the dr. and they tell him to come in for a follow-up appt. he told his dr. that he shouldn’t be in this much pain (good for him for putting his foot down with his dr!) and the dr. gave a referral for him to see a rheumatologist and to come back to see him to get a lidocaine shot which will take the pain away…. however when he sees the rheumatologist, she tells him his dr. should not have given him prednisone and that the source of the pain was in his neck not shoulder, blah blah blah… end of the day… he still doesn’t have a diagnosis. and those damn shots didn’t help a bit. can we fibro people relate? hell yeah!
he says to me… “i understand how you feel. i know this is small in comparison to what you feel, if God wanted me to know… i got the point! i can’t believe you have to go through this everyday… ”
i never would have wished it on him or anyone else. it definitely makes a difference that he understands, but i don’t want him to feel pain. emotional or physical.
i find it interesting that this has occurred. anyone else have this happen in their relationship?
thanks for reading! stay cool.
my foggy brain 
i have been going throw a lot to i have firo and my hubby just had sugory and he has had a lot of pain with his to be i loved the way you but it you should right a book yor tha good at it
Thanks for your comment! That is so nice of you to say! I hope you and your husband work through your pain together… it’s definitely not fun. Hopefully you can find ways to help and support each other through it… let me know if you have any ideas to share as well. Hoping tomorrow is less painful than today…
I totally understand! Very interesting experience. I am fortunate that my husband is very understanding. It is much easier when those around you believe and understand your pain.
I was wondering if he has tried a chiropractor. My ‘pain free’ husband did something similar. He suffered for weeks. Finally he went to a chiropractor for his first time ever. When he walked out the door he said his pain wasn’t 50% of what it was when he walked in. He went one more time a few days later and was back to his old self.
If there is swelling around a pinched nerve, it make take a little longer for the pain to ease up. So dont always expect immediate results.
There are some herbs that have been known to help reduce inflammation and even to help build up the coating on the nerves. I could give you individual herb names but I find that they work better when blended into synergistic formulas. I find that Nature’s Sunshin has very high quality and reasonably priced products so that is the company I use the most. Here are some of the ones he may want to try:
Nature’s Phenyltol (http://www.mynsp.com/drake/products/guide.aspx?stockNum=1180) Take 4 capsules every 4 hours for pain relief.
MSM and Colostrum are powerful anti-inflammatory formulas.
(http://www.mynsp.com/drake/products/guide.aspx?stockNum=4059 &
http://www.mynsp.com/drake/products/guide.aspx?stockNum=1828)
Aloe vera – 4 oz with each meal.
Red Clover Blend – tea.
Thai Go Juice – powerful pain reliever. (check the Weekly Specials page since it is on sale right now)
BTW, Thai Go seems to be the biggest miracle yet for my fibromyalgia.
Along with Fibralgia and extra magnesium.
I hope you find this helpful.
Deborah Drake, ND
Fibromyalgia Relief Specialist
debdrake.com
Sounds like you are having an eventful (& stressful) month! I can so relate to worrying that something will happen to a husband’s health. My husband is the sole-bread winner and he pretty much has to work 24/7 to keep us barely afloat. He is often tired but thankfully healthy and strong. But, he does not have an understanding of what it is I really “feel.” That is frustrating when he loses his compassion and lays on the occasional guilt-trip. However, I feel the same as you – I would not wish him any pain, emotional or physical.
But, last night he came home looking horribly ill – he had caught my son’s cold/flu bug. He felt awful and stumbled around complaining of body aches, fatigue and even that his teeth hurt. I could totally relate but held back from a rant about how I feel everyday (even though I so so wanted to). I tucked him into bed and handed him the phone so he could call his mother for advice & support (and she is in the hospital recovering from surgery)! ! Men can be such big babies! (I apologize to all men in general, but could not resist).
I am really sorry that your husband is having such a difficult time. But, it is interesting to hear that it has expanded his understanding of your situation. That is a blessing in disguise. Yet, it is madness when both parents are ill. I can so relate to the kids running wild with the Internet and video games!
Thanks so much for letting me share and really ramble on here. Take care – E.
Strange how things work out, huh? An increased level of understanding is great on all levels.
I love that you shared and please come back and continue to do so… it makes my blog so much better!