Fibro-Flare!

Oh my! I was doing so well, too.

We had a picnic on the Saturday after Labor Day. Lots of great food and fellowship. But there was a lot of sugary stuff, and I “had to” sample every bit of it! I barely had a bite of everything, but it was enough. My body had a major inflammatory response, and I ended up with a “Fibro-flare.”

So what is a “Fibro-flare” you ask?

A person with Fibromyalgia (a misnomer since the muscles really have no pain in them) is extremely responsive to inflammatory situations and conditions. In my case, because I also suffer from PTSD, my body is overly sensitive. Inflammatory foods, such as sugar, grains, trans-fats, nightshade vegetables and dairy, are considered inflammatory. These foods promote an inflammatory response in sensitive individuals. Basically, it’s anything processed or sweetened.

I’m not an expert in Fibromyalgia. I am newly diagnosed (in the past year) and this was my first bad flare-up since then. However, Fibro is a progressive illness, and as bad as this was, it wasn’t as bad as it can get. Prevention and an anti-inflammatory diet are a priority in slowing the progression of the disorder.

What Happened?

At first, I thought it was the gardening since it began in my hips. I started on an NSAID (Naproxen Sodium) for pain relief. That wasn’t enough, so I ended up using a muscle relaxant (Cyclobenzaprine) as well. I can tell when I’m getting better because I drop the muscle relaxant first, then later the NSAID. I’m still on the NSAID, though not daily.

Anyway, my hips are always the first sign of inflammation for me. I have “Bursitis” in both hips and “Osteo-arthritis” in every other major joint of my body. My left knee is particularly affected, and my knee-cap is permanently out of place. Because of the skeletal difficulties, my muscles don’t work right, and I don’t exercise enough to fix that – yet.

I was having trouble walking to the garden and back (only a block!) and of course, kneeling is out of the question. Consequently, the garden beds need water and I haven’t been there for days.

Apparently, it wasn’t only the garden

Once I identified inflammation as the issue, I began eating an anti-inflammatory diet, and things got better. I’m not over it yet, but I’m much better. I can tell when the NSAID is wearing off and take another dose (once every 12 hours).

I hate to think of what this is doing to my kidneys, though. They were already stressed from 20 years of diuretics. I’ll find out about that on the 30th when I see the Urologist.

Got Mostly Over That and Then ….

I went to the Farmer’s Market to prepare for the Equinox on Monday the 23rd. A friend asked me to lead an observance/ritual to welcome the change of seasons. I wanted some fresh summer veggies as a centerpiece and some fruits to share to close our observance.

WebWork

I’ll also officially take over a website on the 23rd for SAPS – The Southern Appalachian Plant Society. This is another volunteer position, and it’s the last one I have room for. If you want your website done by me after this, you’ll have to pay for it. I just don’t have the time or energy to take on another volunteer position anywhere right now.

SAPS is a member’s group of plant lovers and gardeners. I hope you will follow along as I rehab the website and bring the organic search results up.

If you want to see the value of the services I provide, stay tuned. I’ll post a 6-month comparison of traffic and search results near the end of March 2020.

At least I’m still breathing!

These pics of Kitty kind of sum up things lately.