What does a "bad day" feel like?

As I was laying in bed last night and couldn't sleep I felt like I needed to post about what a "bad day" with fibro is like. There are so many symptoms, that I will only scratch the surface of all of the symptoms I have. I am not posting this for sympathy!! I just want people to understand this disorder/disease better.

When I have a flare-up, it's really bad. Right now, I guess I'm in the middle of another flare-up. The last week or so, I've not been feeling good at all and getting worse. I have pushed through things that I want to do, but then, I feel much worse and it's even harder for me to get better. I have symptoms like, all my joints hurt really bad, at times it feels like someone is stabbing a knife through my elbow, or hip, or knee, etc. All of my muscles hurt really bad like I've been working out really hard. Constantly, my muscles tense up really hard and I have to mentally focus on them and make them relax, then they just tense up again a few minutes later. Frequently, I have muscle spasms - for no reason, different muscles will spasm and make my leg or foot or toes or hand jump. My hands go numb when I keep them in the same position for more than a few minutes. When I wake up in the morning, it takes them sometimes up to 30-45 minutes to "wake up". I'm dizzy, very nauseated, and uncoordinated. I feel like I'm in a dream, really foggy, I can't think very well. When I try to touch something or write something, my hands don't do what I want them to do. I am really hot and cold at the same time. I am constantly turning the fan on and off or taking the blankets on and off. I'll be cold and then hot, and not just hot, but on fire, then a few minutes later, I'm freezing. My feet hurt really bad, like someone has taken a baseball bat to the bottom of my feet while I'm asleep. In the morning, they hurt especially bad always, but right now, any time I get up, they are so painful I can hardly walk. My joints in my ankles and knees and others feel so unstable, they feel like the muscles around them aren't supporting them, like I might sprain my ankle at any moment. When I walk, I feel so shaky and weak. I have really bad chest pain (not inside, but outside). My energy level is non-existent. It's nauseating to talk or listen to anything because it takes energy that I don't have. Really loud noises are unbearable. My eyes have a really hard time focusing. Little things startle me, like someone walking into the room, or someone talking. I am so emotional, if someone asks me how I'm doing and I have to say I feel that I feel bad, I just break down and cry, feeling so weak and helpless. People want to help, but, there's really nothing they can do. I can't even figure out what to do to make myself feel better. It's easier to fib and tell them I'm doing good, that way, they don't feel bad for me and I don't have to explain what's wrong with me when I look fine. It feels like I have the flu and then some. This isn't even all of the symptoms I'm feeling right now. A lot of my symptoms that I used to have are taken away with the fibro medication I'm on, but these are the just symptoms that I still have. Yesterday, I took more pain medication than I ever have and it didn't touch the pain I was having. My back pain is excruciating and makes it really hard to walk, sit, stand or lay.

I am so thankful that God gave me two children who are very independent and help me out so much. I don't know what I would do if I had to do everything for them. I just pray that I'll feel better by Monday, when we start school. It should be fine though, because, physically, I won't have to do much, just sit at the computer.

Again, I'm not posting this for sympathy. I just need to express what I've been feeling the past several days.