Does anyone get fibromyalgia due to caregiving?
A few days ago, out of the blue I started to have quite severe pain all over, accompanied by the worst headache ever. My doctor ran some test but found nothing wrong. He said that probably I've accumulated so much sleep debt, that my body can't handle it anymore. He prescribed NSAID and Clonazepam, which hardly bring any relief, since I still can't get that much needed sleep. After all I have a late stage dementia mom to take care of. I still have to get up every 2 hours to take her to the bathroom (she absolutely hates diapers). So just imagine taking Clonazepam in that condition.
I have no one to take over caring for mom even for a few days. And I've been taking care of her for more than 15 years. For the first few years, her dementia was mild enough, and there was a relative that helped regularly. But she moved out of town, and I can't find anyone to replace her.
I hope it's not fibromyalgia, but if it is, what can I do to lessen the pain?
That kind of "sleep debt" also causes stuff like heart attacks. If you don't get some help, you might predecease your poor mom.
And then where would she be?
If you actually have fibromyalgia, analgesics may not work. Most medicines do not work in fibromyalgia when the main cause is stress. You may read about some research that has been done about this:
ehealthstar.com/conditions/fibromyalgia