The Anatomy of an FM flare
The use of body resources during a flare
and what we can do to help ourselves


Flare: =
"the sudden intensification of a disease." Not saying much huh? Alright then, it's defiantly not enough for our purposes, so let's look at it a bit deeper and see what it really means.

Fibromyalgia flare =  Not so easy to define. As each persons experience with FM is different, ergo, their flares are going to be different, but here is a list of some things we all tend to have happen, during a flare. ( See things to avoid that tend to bring on flares here on site link )

Increase in pain
More sleep issues, often due to the pain
Deeper memory problems
Neuropathic issues
IBS is worse
GERD is worse
Blurred vision and more eye issues
Greater chest pain
TMJ issues
Profuse sweating
Sensitives increase
and of course, the Fog got thicker, as the brain just took a hike.

Now this is to name just a few ... now, what do we tend to do, or moreover what can we do during such a time?

Un-refreshing or not, sleep can be a major relief from an FM flare. ( See sleep and FM on site link )

The main reason is that while we are asleep, we are making fewer demands on the body, so that it can use the bodies resources to tame the flare. Rather than use them all up to try and let us do our day to day tasks, since we are up and about. Resources are finite on any given day when you have FM, but during a flare, they are almost nonexistent.  


What are body resources? 

Energy to rebuild, which are created by a variety of things. Lipids ( fats ), Carbs and Proteins. Most of which come from calories burned from food, which depends on a gut that is A: Processing things correctly and B: Passing the energy onto the blood stream. The O2, from the lungs which is, one hopes, passed into the blood stream, to activate all of the above. All cells need oxygen just to live, much less to work. So, to DO anything at all on any given day a lot of things have to be in working order.

How we get energy from food:




"Carbohydrates one of the three building blocks of living things, the other two are proteins and fats ...carbohydrates are broken down into very simple carbohydrates, mainly into glucose and fructose via digestive tract and then absorbed into bloodstream to cells." Wiki answers


O2 and the cells:



Understand however, that even on a normal day, we stand at what is called the "lactic" threshold, in our muscles. ( Which translates into they are two cents off of total collapse, as if we were pumping iron all day ) and since our muscles comprise our major cellular mass, the body will find slim pickings in that area if it wants energy, along with some major demands being made of the blood cells by those very same body parts.

( For which Mycoplasmic infection on site link, may well be to blame )  As according to studies on the effects of FM, the mitochondrial cells, which are the cells that contain the lipids make energy for muscle tissue to use. They are being damaged, therefore the muscle cells themselves, are being damaged as a result.

So if the blood cells have to go hunting for energy, as the body has little to spare floating around in the blood stream, the cells of the muscles literally cannot, not even to help themselves, provide that energy. It's like they are so tired, that food might be within reach and they don't even have enough energy to lift  "a cellular hand" to reach for it.

The idea of  processing  food correctly is really put into question, as most of us have IBS as noted above. Over 80% of us and we often stand at what is called "caloric exhaustion" at any given point, regardless of the diet we eat. So our digestive system does not work well for energy processing either. Which is why the situation of little free energy in the blood stream, happens in the first place.

Then of course the O2 exchange, which is vital to all of the cells in the body, is often compromised. Many of us have shortness of breath, for a variety of reasons. Mechanical ( the rib cage and chest muscles themselves do not move or work well and that makes it hard to breathe ) and or we have COPD or other issues. At a cellular level we are shown to have poor oxidation of the cells, even when there is normal intake and exchange of air.

Which means that even with all the air in the world to breathe and a proper diet, the body still can be standing there doing without, on a chronic basis.  When it is pushed too far and too hard, the signs of the disease increase and we have what is called a flare. Creating an even greater demand that the body often has little to no freely available resources to try and fill.


However, more is still needed just to function, so the body goes hunting for it. Most often taking it from the bones, the teeth, hair, anywhere it can find things that it can convert into usable body resources, to repair the damage being done. In short, the body is basically feeding on itself during a flare.

This fact is why most of us have low density in our bones, often have poor teeth, straw like hair, thin brittle nails and damaged skin. It is also is why during  flares, every alarm bell that we have are all ringing at once. The body is on full alert, doing some rather extraordinary things just to try and minimize damage and allow for some functionality, but it is often stripping the body almost bare to do it.

So the bottom line is, often the best thing we can do to help the body along and ease our own pain, and prevent as much damage as possible, is to feed the body as best we can and then sleep. Sleep and let the body do what it does best, which is heal what it can. Without us making more demands on an already overtaxed system.