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| Wrapped up and still freezing |
No matter where you are in the world, you can’t fail to have noticed that poor old Britain has, yet again, been taken by complete surprise by some snow and freezing weather that’s predicted to be going 'to grip UK for weeks'. Brrrr … Just how cold is it? Well especially for all my friends down in the sub-tropics who will probably have a right laugh at it, I took this photo when I came back from an outing on Saturday afternoon, while I was still wrapped in 10+ layers of clothes.
We haven’t even got any snow – that stuck – in this area, but it’s still bitingly cold out and having been out on a previous day without face protection, I knew I had to guard against the cold that was burning and drying my nose and lips. I already felt like I was fraying at the edges and might develop cold sores.
As a side issue, what’s the difference between me wrapping up in a beanie hat and a fleece neck-warmer and a Muslim woman wearing a burka? Frankly, I can’t see any difference at all, but I can’t imagine anyone suddenly getting their panties in a bunch over me insulating against the weather.
Anyway, the reason I decided to go out was because I’d spent several days indoors at the beginning of the week, trying to recover from a pretty bad fibro flare. The lack of movement, however, was creating other problems, namely, what we shall politely call, sluggishness in the bum department and I really didn’t want to spend days bloated, nauseous, with an almighty headache and increased aches and stiffness from the retained toxins (as always happens), so I went for a walk to, er, try to get things moving. I didn’t go far or stay out long, because the weight of the extra clothing was utterly exhausting that I felt like I was dragging a ton weight with me. Then there was the other problem that the cold made me want to pee, but there was no way I could undress again to go, whilst I was out.
Despite being wrapped like a demented mummy, I felt utterly miserably cold and the cold made my thigh muscles tighten into solid knots, which in turn has made my knees hurt so much I just want to cry and cut my legs off. From walking, the pain in my hip has gone way off the Richter scale yet again. It also just isn’t possible for me to walk fast enough to stay warm, without surpassing my abilities and going into the exhaustion zone with myalgic encephalomyelitis.
But the moment I went into a shop, I began sweating so profusely that I was soon soaked from head to foot with my wet clothes clinging to my body. Then I had to go back outside again, of course, so my soaked clothes got cold and I had to walk home like that, wet and frozen to the bone. That would be bloody torture for anyone. With fibromyalgia it’s beyond description.
The levels of stiffness and pain this cold and damp has left me with – that isn’t improving because of the ridiculously low temperature in the house – are, yet again, beyond excruciating and disturbing my sleep. I’ve tried taking herbal stuff to help me sleep, but even when I do sleep, I’m not refreshed.
Last week I took some notes in order to type a couple of letters and my shoulder froze from doing that and that hasn’t yet unfrozen or recovered. My joints are all now cracking – both audibly and painfully - at the smallest movement. My wrists hurt so much I’m now having trouble positioning myself to sit up in bed. My neck hurts so much I have to support it: I can’t hold my head up without. And I don’t even have the energy to sit up without support. So that’s it, until the weather improves (in about May), I don’t have an option other than to avoid going out at all unless it’s absolutely essential. Some life eh?
