How do you handle holiday decorating with your fibromyalgia?
I love Christmas and usually look forward to decorating the day after Thanksgiving, but I’m dreading it this year.
Why?
Because I’m dreading the pain I’ll have as I twist, bend, and move while I deck the halls and trim the tree. I dread the days after I’m done, when I should be basking before the soft twinkle of Christmas lights as I sip my coffee, and instead I’m relegated to the sofa with my heating pad and muscle relaxers, doing my best to ignore the throbbing in my joints and head. Praying the throb in my head doesn’t escalate into a migraine, because I took my muscle relaxer and can’t take my migraine meds for fear of developing Serotonin Syndrome.
Because I know my body will kink and seize and cause me pain that steals my breath, my energy, and my will to enjoy the effort I put in…because I know that the light of the holiday season will dampen and dim as the pain brightens and conquers…me.
Still…I will decorate. Because there will be moments, fleeting moments, where I’ll catch the glow and feel the spirit of the season. I’ll look for those moments and cherish them.