Thanksgiving & Fibromyalgia

Well, Thanksgiving break has officially wrapped up and it's back to work!  I was able to be on break at my parent's house for nearly a week, which was much needed.  My break promptly started out with a trip to see a rheumatologist to figure out what is going on with all the muscle/joint pain that I've had all fall, as well as my everyday headaches.  I had a ton of bloodwork completed in October, including every rheumatological condition that could include muscle aches.  I was also tested for Lyme and various flu's and whatnot.  All that came back was that I showed inflammation. 

So, after a long exam, the rheumatologist came up with an answer:  fibromyalgia.  Great, right?  But at least I have an answer.  More fibromyalgia info is here and here.

The rheumatologist didn't seem to be the most knowledgeable (I felt like I knew more about fibromyalgia) and decided that I didn't need any medications.  She felt as though my blood pressure (108/57 mmHG), resting heart rate (52 bpm), and other stats were too healthy and that she didn't want to mess me up with any sort of medication.  While I am not a fan of medication (I take it as a last resort), I asked her what I could do to relieve some of the pain and she had no answer.  Literally.  So, it's back to my primary doctor to see what she says and then potentially (hopefully) a pain management doctor who can help me look into treatments like acupuncture instead of medications.

So, that was the lows.  I felt crappy and super achy all week and weekend.  I am cutting way back on caffeine, staying active, and trying to get enough sleep in hopes of avoiding any really horrible days before the semester ends in a few weeks.

Now, for the highs!  Of course, I got to spend tons of time with family and friends.  I always miss having that time and I wish I could see everyone more often. 

Also, remember me saying that I was going to walk the 5-mile Turkey Trot run in my hometown?  Well....I did!  And I beat my personal record!  By a lot!  My goal (since I had been so achy and the wind was high) was to come in under 70 minutes.  My previous record was 68.5 minutes for 5 miles.  Here's what I ended up with!

Yep, you read my time right!  65 minutes, 12 seconds; average of 13 minutes, 3 seconds per mile.  There were 524 participants, I placed 500 overall.  This seems a touch sad however this was a run and I walked the entire thing and finished ahead of a number of run/walkers.  I am 98% sure that I was the first person who walked the entire race to cross the finish line so I'm pretty proud of myself!  I was so happy when I was done. 

I set out to just beat my own record but my competitive side really came out mid-race.  With fibromyalgia, I have been told and read a lot about how hard everything is going to be with all the pain associated with it, but I feel like I showed myself that I am still a very healthy person and I can keep fibromyalgia in the background instead of letting it run my entire life.  I would love to walk another race! 

Walking this race really helped me stay on track with exercise this fall.  Even with all the pain I was experiencing, I forced myself to get out and get a walk in, knowing that I wanted to beat my personal record.  Now that the race is over and I am heading into the last few crazy weeks of the semester, I plan to tone down my workouts a little and get in whatever I can whenever I can.  So, my goal for working out for the next three weeks is do something five days a week.  I need to start working with weights again, so maybe a little Ripped in 30?