Every day in the run up to Christmas I’m going to talk about a symptom or side effect of fibromyalgia, to give some insight into what it’s like to live with the condition.

December 10th: Temperature Regulation

A fitting problem that ails fibromyalgia sufferers, given that it’s currently in the minuses.

My ability to regulate body temperatures has all but vanished. I used to run a little cold at all times – not enough to be uncomfortable, but I LIVED in hoodies for nine months out of twelve.

I had assumed this was purely a hot weather phenomenon. Summer has become an unbearable sesh of feeling like I’m about to burst out of my own skin. I had no idea I was physically capable of sweating as much as I have done for the past couple of years. At night the fans are on so high it’s not unlike trying to sleep in a wind tunnel.

The temperatures have plummeted recently and I am discovering that the suffering is real in the cold as well. The temperature in the house is probably comparable to the molten core of the earth and still my hands and feet are freezing. I feel as though I haven’t been warm since September.

Because temperature regulation is naught but a blissful memory however, the moment these measures let me approach a comfortable temperature I sail gleefully past it and end up going outside into the -4 breeze so it will cool the endless sweat on the back of my neck.