Fall And Fibromyalgia

Fall and fibromyalgia in the mid-Atlantic states go as well as oil and water. You would think after 9 years I would catch on to this fact. Somehow it sneaks up on me every year. During the summers I generally feel well (if you don’t count the asthma flares during the rain forest like humidity). On a pain scale, the summers generally bring a 1,2, only about a 3 on a bad day. The weather is fairly even. This year, even more than others. Hot and humid during the day, then slightly less hot and humid at night (yay for central air conditioning!).

Then Fall comes. When the summer hasn’t been dry, the leaves turn magnificent colors. Here on post, we’re labeled an Arbor City, USA (something like that because of all the trees). I love to walk around and take pictures of the leaves. What Mother Nature is doing with all the pretty leaves is trying to make you forget she’s having hot flashes. It’s almost 90 degrees one day, then the next day it’s barely 70 degrees. Nights are hovering around 50-ish. There are 20-30 degree temperature swings in the course of one day, then also across our high temperatures over the course of a week as the thermometer goes up and down at Mother Nature’s will.

Inside, the house is in chaos. We can’t yet pout away shorts and sandals because it might be 80 degrees yet. At the same time our weather report for the day may read 60 degrees and rainy, so out come the jeans, sweatshirts, and rainboots. When you live in housing coined with the name “Smurf Village,” there just isn’t room for all of these things for the whole family.

Then the weather outside seems to decide it’s going to stay cool, Fall-like, and rainy. Then the migraines come as the various fronts move through with the highs and lows bringing in and pushing out the rain. The joints start to get achy. The trigger points in muscles start to knot up again. I cope with yoga, Aleve, the chiropractor, Biofreeze, and hot showers. Then the hot showers start to aggravate the eczema because the heat is on and the air in the house is drier. Can’t we just find a happy medium? This almost makes me wish for Winter. At least then it’s consistently cold without all the ups and downs.

Then I get a couple days where I’m feeling pretty fine. I feel like I can take on the world after a bout with a migraine from hell, muscle spasms that weren’t for the weak, and kids who have been behaving like there are no rules like Cabo during Spring Break. I decide to deep clean the house and rearrange some furniture. I realize now that moving that 200 pound piece by myself wasn’t a great idea. It didn’t seem hard at the time (adrenaline makes you do bad things), but I’m certainly paying for it now.

Is it Summer again yet?