The fibromyalgia attack, and yes that is the proper word for it, prompts me to write.

There are days when you want to wear your Seamaster Professional but the weight of watch and bracelet causes excruciating pain. By the way, "excruciating" literally means "the pain you feel being nailed to a cross, also known as crucifiction."

Bracelets, even adjustable ones, can feel like they're choking your arm off. A big watch can drag you down too.

Therefore, you seek light watches.

I think my lightest is the Elgin Foch with a 16mm fabric strap.

The other two WWI-era watches, one an Omega and the other the Fererro, very light.

I'm trying to "make do" right now with the WatchCo Seamaster 300 on the Forstner flat-link with the stretchy links.

But I might change soon.

 

Oh well.

 

An "attack" indicates that it may pass soon and hopefully you'll be back to your normal self.

Maybe it's time to try pocket watches .

 

Generally lasts a few days. Once or thrice a month.

The Elgin Foch is kinda fun, mine is a genuine WWI watch.

 

I suffer from it myself. There is a direct correlation between sleep (lack thereof) and the intensity of the symptoms. When you don’t sleep (true REM and deep sleep) your body starts to go into hyperdrive to compensate. Cortisol levels fluctuate, adrenals start to exhaust- all in an effort to keep going. It’s truly amazing how the body will try to compensate when things go offline- but the effects are awful.
Part of my attraction to smaller, lighter watches was due to my sensitivity- heavy watches feel like anchors. I had to stop wearing my Whites, Chippewa and Thorogood boots as they felt like concrete blocks. Rag wool touching my skin felt like a Brillo pad- had to go all cashmere or lambswool (forget cotton- feels like scratchy wet towels)
Flybrimialgia gets a bad rep as a “bullshit” diagnosis because many (including doctors) don’t understand what it is nor have they suffered from it- but it is very real, and excruciating is an appropriate word for the effect.

 

Not to mention that 80% of the sufferers are women and we all know women just make shit up, right?

 

Cortisol is an interesting one...too much of it and you're so used to having fight or flight emotions that a 3headed martian could turn up in your living room and you will just say : hey what's up? I read that in a book called 'Not in your genes' But out of experience I believe it to be true.
But I like smaller watches due to my girly wrists.

 

The body is pretty amazing in how it self-regulates, but it requires a certain level of repair & rejuvenate to do it. If the mind is racing, or there is low- level pain that keeps one from falling into a deep sleep, the body/brain can’t reset and repair.
The spike in cortisol and adrenaline put everything into high alert. You actually become a bit sharper- but thready. And in time you exhaust your systems- your body starts to go into shut-down. Systems like temperature regulation (hot& cold flashes) digestion (food intolerances) pain regulation and sensitivity (a slight pressure on the wrist feels like a brick) all go into flux. What once may have been a dull ache in your foot from a bad insole becomes agony and you can barely walk. The tag on your shirt that may rub a little feels like an ice pick grinding into your skin. Your temperament changes, your tolerance changes, your moods fluctuate, you are in constant panic because your brain knows something is wrong but you cant identity it. It’s truly- torture.

 

I'm very sorry to read about your suffering. I have had problems with my chemical imbalances or 'mental vulnerabilities' but they are different from yours. Textbook treatment is well...Uno. IL n y a pas de maladies seulement des malades' that can be interpretated as everyone is individual, unique and should therefore be treated as such. Hell is the impossibility of reason, someone once wrote. Some of the things that happened to me I wouldn't wish on anyone.
Being passionate about something can take one's mind into their desired direction, staying positive about the beauty in life helps me. Stay strong

 

"Flybrimialgia gets a bad rep as a “bullshit” diagnosis because many (including doctors) don’t understand what it is nor have they suffered from it- but it is very real, and excruciating is an appropriate word for the effect"
I am lucky because I find a good doctor, she really knows how this shit feels like....

 

I think Jim hit the nail on the head. You need to branch out into pocket watches, that way when you have an attack you can carry a pocket watch and have no concerns about anything being on your wrist.

 

Am having an attack of some kind right now

 

That tiny little Elgin Foch I can wear with no issues. It weighs about nothing.

 

My version

 

I know little about fibromyalgia, but it sounds pretty terrible. I have a bit understanding what is like to have chronic pain and an illness few people understand (Crohn's Disease). I like the movement to recognize of invisible disabilities: https://www.invisibledisabilityproject.org/

I am also a big fan of those really small vintage watches that you can easily forget you are wearing.

 

My friends, all female with this condition, celebrate legal weed in Illinois. CBD oil especially.

 

But since this is a watch thread, here are a few that don’t feel like a 20 pound sack of shit hanging off my arm when I’m feeling particularly sensitive

And this one is just for you, Tom

 

I work with a few people who have it, they swear by lyrica although they say it has an unpleasant “drunk like without the fun” side effect. Pain in general sucks, trying to avoid it can be even worse at times, damn what a catch-22

 

The drunk without the fun is the problem with most medication. The brain fog, lethargy and fatigue was enough to make me just suck up the pain to keep going through my days- otherwise I was just a fucking waste of space

 

Ya I got that waste of space part down pretty good naturally I don’t need meds to coax it out more.