Usually we don't know what triggers our pain cycles – why we hurt more some days than others. Often it's tiny, unnoticeable things. Our central nervous systems become so hypersensitive that we react to things like changes in barometric pressure brought on by weather fronts. I'm not suggesting you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what causes every pain flare. Focusing that much attention on your pain will only serve to make it hurt worse. But being aware of how the pain cycle works can help us make changes in what we do or the way we do it so we can try to reduce our pain levels.
Heading Pain Off at the Pass
One of the biggest mistakes people with FM make is waiting until they are in a lot of pain to take their pain medication. Our culture tells us to be tough when it comes to pain. Athletes who play through the pain are admired and lauded. And all the talk about drug abuse makes us feel guilty about taking pain relievers, so we try to hang on as long as we can without taking them. But when it comes to FM, trying to tough it out only makes it worse. Once that pain cycle gets started, it's much harder to tamp it down. It's important for fibromyalgia patients to take their medications on a regular schedule to help prevent the pain cycle from getting a foothold.
Other prevention tips are pretty much common sense things. If you're prone to stubbing your toe a lot, wear shoes more often. If you tend to overdo when you're having a good day, force yourself to scale back or do less strenuous activities so you don't spend the next week paying for one day's enthusiasm. Just try to be more aware of what you do and how you do it. You might try keeping a pain journal for a month to see if you can pinpoint things that may be increasing your pain levels.
I wish I knew of a surefire formula to prevent all of our pain. But until someone discovers that forumla, at least we can take steps to help minimize and control our pain levels.
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© Karen Lee Richards 2009
Updated 5/20/2009
