Monday, July 2, 2012

Cold Viruses & ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia

Before delving into the oh, so, uplifting subjects of illness, ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia, I just have to celebrate for a moment, this,...

MY 100TH POST IN "FIBROMYALGIA???"!!

I can hardly believe it!  I started writing this blog on Jan 13, 2011 in the midst of feeling so sick and recently having been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (the ME/CFS diagnosis came later).  I'm so thankful for the progress that I've made since then and I hope that some of my experiences were helpful to others who face a similar plight.  Of course, I realize that at any time, I could be right back where I started which is why I will never take my health for granted again.

In celebration of this momentus occasion, I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop, Catalina Inspired, for all of you who've read my blog and let's face it, really deserve something for going through the hell that is ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia (or what ever other challenges you face in life).  Please use the coupon code - 100THPOST - to enjoy 20% off your entire order in my shop through 7/16/2012.


Here's a sampling of what you'll find at
Catalina Inspired on Etsy:

Ok, enough celebrating and back to the topic at hand.

My two and a half year old daughter brought a lovely cold virus back home from pre-school earlier this week.  My entire family has been suffering with a horrible cough, sinus congestion and just feeling super crappy since then.  Before I fell ill on Tuesday, I had a reaction that reminded me that although my ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia are somewhat under control at the moment, what ever it is that caused them in the first place is still thriving in my body. 

I woke up Monday with a scratchy throat which didn't surprise me since I'd been constantly wiping my daughters runny nose the previous day.  What did surprise me however, was what happened later in the afternoon. I started feeling those all too familiar jabbing pains throughout my entire body. In an hour or two I was in bed with a heating pad, moving it from my back, to my legs, to my hips, etc and had strong, throbbing, stabbing pain throughout my whole body and was not able to get out of bed. I couldn't sleep because the pain was too strong. It was like I'd been transported back two years and I was in the middle of Fibromyalgia hell again.

Fortunately, I was finally able to fall asleep that evening and when I woke up on Tuesday, I felt as though I was getting the cold my daughter had but the jabbing pain had diminished to a tolerable level.

It makes me so curious to know why, when attacked with this common cold virus, my immune system revolted into a full autoimmune attack. It makes me think back to those theories about viral causes to ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia and wonder if there isn't something more to it.

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