Question of the Week: Are You Flared Up?

How was your holiday weekend?

Can you believe that after weeks of preparation, Christmas Day has come and gone? So has Boxing Day. Kwanzaa just got started and New Years' Eve and Day are just five days away.

We all tend to overdo, overextend and overindulge ourselves this time of year.

My mother used to call overdoing it "burning the candle at both ends." Ironically, I think this has become the standard by which most people seem to live their lives now. After all, modern life is all about the hectic pace: getting up early and going to bed late and being hard working and productive all the waking hours in-between.

To be honest, over-doing it wasn't such a big deal for me until I started living with fibromyalgia.

Now overdoing it comes with some pretty nasty consequences, from worsening the symptoms I already have to causing the development of brand new symptoms. It's a mighty thin line between managing my symptoms and crashing and flaring up. It has taken me six long years to really start learning how to get through the holidays without winding up in bed afterward and needing several weeks to return to my baseline level of functioning.

So I want to know Are you flared up today? and really hoping your answer is no. But don't worry if it is yes; I'll be back tomorrow and the rest of this week with some tips for getting through a flare-up and back to your routine.

Submit your answers using the PollDaddy widget embedded below and compare how you are doing with your fellow readers.




We are also taking this conversation over to Facebook later today where you can leave a comment or join the discussion at the Oh My Aches and Pains! page.