What It's Like to Leave the House with Fibromyalgia

I spent about two hours outside this weekend, including a short trip with my husband to our nearest big box store's garden center. According to my D Minder vitamin D app, I made nearly 8,000 IUs of vitamin D this weekend.

I accomplished something!

Standing up was hard and walking around was even harder. I've been struggling mostly with muscle weakness and vertigo lately, so I clung to the cart the entire time. Toward the end of the ten-minute romp through potted plants and stacks of mulch, all I wanted was a chair or bench. My legs were so tired. So shaky. So weak.

My husband paid and chatted with the cashier. I just smiled; my brain felt slow. I needed to focus on standing. I worried that if I tried to talk, I'd lose focus on my legs and just collapse embarrassingly.

When we made it back to the car, I dropped myself into the passenger seat. There's no such thing as controlled motion with me right now. Then I had to clutch my pant legs and lift so I could get my legs inside the vehicle and close the door.

The rest of the day at home was a struggle too, but at least I got to struggle while wearing pajamas. With lawn mowers going all weekend and fuzzy seeds and pollen floating in the air, my allergies were intense. I took Zyrtec; it helps tremendously with my sneezing and watery eyes, but can leave me my dizzy and extremely tired. So I napped in a lounge chair in the back yard while my husband spread mulch and planted rhubarb for me.

When it was time to eat dinner, I was so weak. I couldn't life myself from the couch. I couldn't cook my own dinner. I went to bed at 9:00 and fell asleep right away. At least I didn't have to deal with insomnia too.