Today’s blog is going to be a very controversial topic and one that might have many people disagreeing with. However, this blog is what works for me and my fibromyalgia and my family. It is not intended as medical advice but purely my experience which could potentially help you. I want to discuss how we manage a flare – do we stay home or do we go out?
At home and in a flare: do I stay home?
So, to give a little context, this morning I woke up in a huge flare! My arms and hands were burning, I felt exhausted and all together pretty rubbish. My kind and thoughtful husband said to me that he could take Charlie out this morning and I could stay home and rest. I contemplated this for a little bit as I sipped my coffee he had brought me in bed and remember the ideas I had for today. I wanted to take Charlie to a Christmas Fair to see Santa and explore the lovely things they had on sale for potential gifts (or presents me for!). I never want my fibromyalgia to take away family days out or rule my life. With this in mind, I said to my husband thank you for giving me the option to stay home but let’s take Charlie to the Christmas fair.
Controversially, this decision helped me to get out of my flare! I put on a nice dress, put some lipstick on and nice earrings and off we set. It was nice to have a family morning there. My boy got to see Santa and have a Christmas Tree biscuit. I got a lovely hot chocolate and a few pieces of handmade jewellery and a good time was had by all. Granted, it was rather warm in the hall the fair was in and rathe crowded and I did feel a little bit spaced at times because of the flare I was in but I was really glad I went instead of staying at home. We then went to Asda afterwards and got lots of lovely, nice food from shopping, which is always fab!
Out and about and feeling fabulous
I say this is controversial because the advice with fibromyalgia is that you should pace yourself and rest when you are in a flare. I don’t want to sit here and encourage everyone who is in a flare to suddenly snap out of it and go out. That’s not my intention at all. However, I find that personally sometimes just getting dressed and trying to carry on with my day can really help. It helps my mental health as well as my physical health and means I get to spend more time with my family than being bogged down by my illness.
I am slightly more tired this afternoon and my husband has offered me to go and have a nap but I’ve just been having such a great time reading and playing with my little boy and I really wanted to get my thoughts onto paper, too.
Mummy the Fibro Warrior Top Tip:
- Try not to let fibromyalgia dictate your life. Time with family is super important and can sometimes be enough to help you get out of a difficult flare
If there is one takeaway I’d like you all to remember today is that fibromyalgia is not a life sentence. We are not held hostage by our home with this condition. Sometimes what might help is doing the thing you wanted to do and seeing how your body responds. I need you to know that you are doing the best you can, your child/children love you just as you are and you are Mummy the Fibro Warrior!
Look how great my Mummy the Fibro Warrior Quote looks on my wall! If you want one for your wall, please visit my Etsy shop!
Until next time,
x
p.s. How do you manage when in a flare? What would you have done differently in this situation? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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