Fibromyalgia's Cruel Take on Sleep

Chronic pain and fatigue are my main symptoms, which, of course the covers a lot of ground, but there are a lot of symptoms! I don't know anyone with fibro who doesn't have trouble sleeping, even though a big part of it is being tired. Its a cruel joke, really. "You're tired, but you can't sleep! No, no, no!" Its hard to say of the sleep issues cause the fatigue, or if the fatigue causes the pain causes the sleep issues. I think sometimes both happen, just depending on the day.

I woke up at 2:45 this morning, in pain all over. I got up and made a cup of decaf, and stretched a bit. I'm still waiting for the pain to subside, though I am feeling a bit better, its not better enough to fall back asleep. This is continuing a cycle that I've had set up for several years now of sleeping in the day and waking up too early in the morning.

ETA: I had a photo shoot yesterday, and was squatting and popping up, hence the hip/thigh pain!

Cleaning Schedule

I've recently, yes, its true, become interested in keeping a clean house. LOL. Not that I was "dirty" before, but I really want my house to be clean now. I'm using primarily Pine-sol (lavender scented!) diluted to clean, with some lysol and things thrown in for kicks. I plan to switch to home made natural cleaners, though, in the near future (aka. when the pine sol is gone!)

Here is what I'm thinking for my cleaning schedule to start:

Daily:
Dishes! (I've got to get better at this!)
Counters in Kitchen, bathrooms
15 minute "once over" on picking up stuff, organizing, etc
Dinner thaw/cook

Weekly:
Monday-Mop hard floors, Deep clean kitchen
Tuesday-Hubs work uniforms, sheets and my laundry
Wednesday-Vacuum carpets, clean bathrooms
Thursday-Pick up all "Piles o' crap"
Friday-play day! yay!
Saturday-Hubs work uniform laundry, finish all laundry
Sunday-Meal planning, shopping for groceries, putting them away, yadda yadda

Monthly-
Baseboards
Fan blades
Dust all furniture

Now I can make a cute print and get this habit going. I guess today I'll mop and clean the kitchen, since it is Monday after all. Laundry days, Fridays and Sundays I can play catch up if I haven't done something the prior day, so there's lots of room left in here for flexibility, which I definitely need.

Feeling Better, Cleaning Checklist, and STILL quitting smoking

I can't believe how much better I'm feeling over all! Good days alternate with bad, which is a lot better than a sorta good day every once in a while. We moved, which is of course the biggest change. Plus I've been very active, and cleaning more the last few weeks. I think the old house was toxic to me, maybe meth, or mold, or both!

I'm getting ready to actually start making some daily goals. Its been a LONG time since I've allowed myself to do this, because bad days were so frequent that there was no way I would get daily things accomplished, now I am pretty sure I can though. I plan to start with a small cleaning checklist, and add to it as I feel even better.

I'm still working on quitting smoking, I haven't given up! I've still got the cravings pretty bad, but I switched off of cigarettes to mini cigars, like swishers or phillies. They are awful looking but taste pretty good, the sweets and strawberry flavors anyway! I am also using an ecigarette. This combo seems to be allowing me to wean off the nicotine without actually smoking cigarettes. Great combo!

Fibromyalgia, Quitting Smoking and Moving!

My fibromyalgia is much better lately, I'm just flat not in as much pain as I was, except when I over-do it. I think moving has had a huge thing to do with it. We were living in an older house that had not been well maintained, and this house is just as old but we have worked hard to get it cleaner, repainting most of the house (trim included!) and just general cleaning. I now am coming to believe that the old place was part of the problem, some kind of toxin or air pollutant in the environment I was in all the time. This would definitely lead to the issues I was having on such a consistent basis, and then feeling better after being away for several days!

I'm also quitting smoking, it is super hard. My therapist said it was harder than quitting heroin!!! I'm doing ok, still no absolutely smoke free days, but I'm getting there. Trying to take it easy in as many ways as possible to keep the grumpies away. Paying attention to what I eat as much as I can, to keep the weight from creeping on! I have been very active, with the move and everything, and trying to keep active as time goes on. This will also help the fibromyalgia.

I wrote Hubs a letter, outlining the reasons and making a contract for myself to quit smoking, for good, once and for all. Health, Hubs, and money are the reasons, I just keep trying to keep those in my head!

Today, I am working on resetting my tablet, as it is running super slow. I finished another quiltie that is lovely, and going to start a new one today!