For those of you not familiar with fibromyalgia and other kinds of chronic conditions — auto immune included — I’m flaring.
Flare does NOT mean: I’m set on fire with gusto; Enraged; or my hips are getting wider (than they already are). I’m in a fibro-flare which does mean that my symptoms are loudly reminding me I’m not cured and I need to simmer down a bit.
And the stress that triggered the flare? – I got lost on the freeway. 
In hindsight it’s a bit like a Marx Brothers comedy on wheels. I started out going the right way, and thought it was wrong. So I got off the freeway and got back on the wrong way thinking it was the right way, but I was wrong.
Being the “man” that I am I hadn’t asked for directions when I started out. After almost ending up in Cuba I decided to pull off the freeway and find someone who could tell up from down and north from south. I pulled into a church parking lot. Church people wouldn’t steer me wrong! And a very nice gentleman “told me where to go”.
Back on the freeway, now heading in the right direction that I thought was wrong in the first place I noticed I was running very low on gas — both the car and me. Now my adrenaline was pumping. I anxiously looked for an off-ramp that led to civilization and gas stations. First off-ramp I struck oil. I was so relieved that it didn’t occur to me that I was the only car there — the station was closed and all I had was cash.
I could go on and on and on, much like my sojourn, but suffice it to say I found an open station further down the freeway and paid $4.03 a gallon!
2 1/2 hours later I was home.
Now I’m in a fibro-flare just because of a ride on the freeway filled with more stress than my system could accommodate*
Exhausted, my whole body hurting – The price of gas is much higher than even I thought.
*In many, if not most . . . or all, chronic conditions the body is chronically in a stress state. Added stressors, even small ones, throws the system into an even higher stage of red alert and symptoms become elevated. Kinda like if you’ve had an injury to a joint (body part, that is). At rest the joint feels fine but if you tax that joint, sometimes even years later, it will hurt.
I think I am flaring up just reading your post. I ALWAYS get lost, wherever I go and I even have a GPS system. I’m also a little OCD with gass, if it’s at a quarter tank, I need to fill it up. I’ve had a flare up for four days and today I am feeling better. I think I just did way too much the last two weeks and it caught up with me. This is a very disconcerting disease, with me, nothing really makes the flare ups go away, except time and rest. Do you have any helpful hints? I spend a lot of time writing about Fibro, so much that I get sick of myself. My best pal, Lorraine knows!!! feel better soon!
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Laurie, I rarely let my gas go below 1/3 of a tank — ran out once when I was 17 and I’ve never forgotten. I was in “strange territory” on Sunday and didn’t know where the stations were.
Time and rest ARE the two best for DE-FLARING and belief that I will feel better.
I personally find if I write too much about my fibro it gets worse. I think it likes the attention.
I think I’ll write a post about that! Thanks for the inspiration.
XXXX J
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Glad you found your way home! I’m the navigator when we go on road trips. I get nervous when I can’t match up what the map shows and the real world outside of the car.
Last time I was on a California freeway was 1984 — it was crazy then, I can barely imagine what it must be like now!
Is Max any good at reading maps?
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Dear my best friend Lorraine,
I would be good at reading maps if I was ever given the chance to sink my teeth into one.
LLLLLLLLLLLLL Max
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