Ohhhh, My Aching (Blank)

Support stockings, like knee-high TED hose, do help with swelling and tiredness in the legs. But they tend to slide down during the course of a shift, rendering them utterly useless by the time you're ready to clock out, so I don't know how much good they really do in the long run.

Yeah, that fibromyalgia thing really stinks.......and a lot of doctors, including mine, still don't really believe it exists.

I've had it for years, but my case isn't too bad. I've never had the chronic fatigue or depression associated with it. You just have to scrape me off the ceiling if you happen to touch one of my many trigger points! I had a patient do that once; she was showing me where her trigger points were---on ME---and I must've jumped four feet in the air when she hit the ones on my lower back. YOWZA!! I'd wondered for years why I couldn't lie on either side (trigger points on both hips) or why I wanted to scream when one of the cats walked on my chest (yep, trigger points near my collarbones).

But then, I've lived with pain since I was fourteen, and it's all just so much a part of life that I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't have it. I'm just happy I can still manage it without narcotics or expensive prescription drugs.

I have a Sleep Number bed, and it's perfect for me because I can adjust it to meet each night's particular needs. Back pain? Dial it up a little to provide support. All over soreness? Dial it down to make a soft cradle of comfort. I didn't know how bad our old bed really was until we bought this one; now we don't wake up each morning tangled up together in the middle, our backs screaming in agony.

Another thing I invest in is a good shoe. I don't really care what it costs, I've got to have shock absorbers and plenty of cushioning, because I'm really hard on shoes and ruin the cheaper ones within 3-4 months. In the case of work shoes, you really do get what you pay for---I can ruin a $30 pair in a matter of six weeks, whereas it'll take me as long as six months to render a $100 pair useless.