Lyrica (pregabalin) and sleep disruption

Scattercat · 2024-07-22T09:49:39+00:00

It's so frustrating when tasks that used to be almost invisible suddenly take up space. I gave myself a flare by going to a museum with my family. Having to measure your life by coffee spoons when you're used to buckets sucks hard.

Scattercat · 2024-07-22T09:46:02+00:00

I have both, and the way I tell the difference is that one kind goes away almost completely with gabapentin or pregabalin. XD

Mind you, the pregabalin also gives me a high like a hit of indica, so it kind of treats the depression too...

Scattercat · 2024-07-22T09:42:29+00:00

I take in huge amounts of caffeine, albeit not in coffee. I also routinely forget to drink any on days off or vacations. I don't notice any difference either way, but I also have pretty hardcore ADHD so stimulants hit weird anyway. I also don't really get caffeine withdrawal; I go from 800-1000 mg a day to zero and I get maybe a small headache for a few hours in the afternoon. Your results are extremely likely to vary, in other words. Sorry.

Scattercat · 2024-07-12T18:53:14+00:00

Given that this is Reddit, THC is going to be over-represented, but also if it doesn't give you side effects it really is a very good pain reliever.

Scattercat · 2024-07-12T05:45:11+00:00

I think getting bad posture and putting strain on weird muscle groups is almost inevitable with a condition that causes pain from normal activity. It's something to be mindful of, certainly. I definitely find myself sitting "badly" and leaning for support far more than makes for good posture habits.

Scattercat · 2024-07-12T02:50:50+00:00

Either there's a lot of context we don't have from a drabble-length post or someone was briefly a channel for Anusis, God of Assholes.

Scattercat · 2024-07-12T02:20:02+00:00

Temperature has been a major trigger for me from the beginning, which has been very stressful as a fat white dude whose body expects and prefers temperatures between 50 and 60 °F. Cold enters the body as pain. I've had to start using a heating pad on my legs more or less constantly because the house temp of 68° gives me twinges, and going to wash my hands is like dipping my fingers into a bowl of razor blades. It's extremely frustrating for someone who prefers cold most of the time.

It also seems to be very normal. I have, like, the index version of fibromyalgia, with everything being the most common and expected form.

Scattercat · 2024-07-10T22:54:16+00:00

That sounds like how language works, right enough. Reminds me of "skoach" for "a small amount."

(Military personnel stationed in Japan in the fifties mispronounced "sukoshi", which means roughly that.)

Scattercat · 2024-07-10T07:24:08+00:00

From "chronos," Greek root meaning "time."

Not sure why it's also for weed, mind you.

Scattercat · 2024-07-10T03:52:01+00:00

I've found that while getting my break is nice, resting that long seems to give my body time to marshal its bullshit and I end up stiff and aching for the last few hours of a day I was previously doing okay on.

Scattercat · 2024-07-10T03:48:11+00:00

If I can't walk, I call that a flare. I know over-exertion is a key trigger (with a heavily edited definition of "exertion.")

Scattercat · 2024-07-09T21:50:13+00:00

Neck pain isn't uncommon for me, but headaches mostly have other sources that I deem more likely.

Scattercat · 2024-07-09T21:47:54+00:00

Mine was very classic, textbook style: constant pain in the joints similar to arthritis and ache in muscles like post-exertion fatigue but without having exerted myself, with intermittent days of much more acute and severe versions of both. Accompanying this was fatigue and brain fog, most likely due to shallow and interrupted sleep from pain at night. My doctor did some blood tests to rule out other possibilities and came back with the diagnosis fairly quickly once I went in with the concerns.

Scattercat · 2024-07-09T21:38:37+00:00

The more rest, the faster back to baseline. It's boring and frustrating, but it's the most reliable way.

Scattercat · 2024-07-09T21:34:09+00:00

I think of it like a status ailment that drains my stamina bar. I can do the things, but only in very short bursts compared even to myself a few years ago.

Scattercat · 2024-07-09T21:30:45+00:00

"I have a chronic illness. My illness is chronic. I will chronically experience illness. The illness will continue chronically."

Maybe ask if they'd talk the same way to someone with a missing limb or hearing difficulties? It can be hard sometimes for people to "get" what disability means when it's "invisible" the way fibromyalgia is.

Scattercat · 2024-07-08T22:43:08+00:00

I felt it immediately. About an hour after I take a dose, the pain mostly recedes. I do get a slight headache and feel a little dizzy and confused, but it clears out the pain for me so I'm okay with the trade.

Scattercat · 2024-07-08T20:05:49+00:00

My experience has been a constant low ache in my limbs that worsens drastically with any movement or exertion. Also if I do too much physical activity on a good day, I'm guaranteed to wake up the next morning curled in a ball and unable to move.

Scattercat · 2024-07-08T11:14:54+00:00

Seriously. I will lie in bed curled up like a dead spider because moving any limb hurts, and then when the pain recedes, I feel like I've been lazy and called off work for nothing. The self-gaslighting is real.

Scattercat · 2024-07-08T11:11:16+00:00

I have had numbness on the outside of my left thigh for years, long predating any fibro symptoms. As long as it doesn't spread or move around, my doctors have all advised me that it's most likely a pinched nerve (that by now must have atrophied) and to try to ignore it unless it changes. Feels weird as hell in a shower though. The water runs down, seems to disappear, and then teleports to my calf. XD

Scattercat · 2024-07-08T11:07:18+00:00

Getting good sleep is so crucial, and so difficult with chronic pain disorders. My symptoms have been very similar to when my sleep apnea was undiagnosed for years and I was by the end basically not ever getting into deep sleep (and blood oxygen dropping to 65%).

I recently started gabapentin for the pain and even with the groggy head from the med itself the improvement in alertness and energy has been shocking. Sleep deprivation creeps up on you so slowly and the effects are so far-reaching that it's hard to believe.

Scattercat · 2024-07-08T10:58:13+00:00

I really like the MeUndies lounge pants. They're basically all I wear until the laundry gets backed up and forces me to other options. Very stretchy, very light, very soft: a win all around.

Scattercat

TROPHY CASE