New to this thread. Can I join in?
I have a few painful conditions - CRPS, pseudo-gout, IBS and fibromyalgia are the main ones. I was also tentatively diagnosed with MS in 94 after losing the sight in one eye for several months. They didn't want me to go through a lumbar puncture so told me to go home and live life - which I absolutely did.
It's raised its head again recently, though, so I'm now waiting for another MRI.
I can cope with the pain for the most part (though it definitely aggravates my depression and anxiety), but the fatigue is crushing. And the lack of sleep awful. I wake most mornings feeling like I've spent the night in a cement mixer with a few bricks thrown in to keep me company.
The absolute worst thing, though, is stress. It makes everything a million times worse. And, boy, am I going through some at the mo (I have a thread in Legal).
I've spent an arm and a leg trying things to make me feel better, but heat seems to be the best help. I can't tolerate an electric blanket as the wires hurt, but I did invest in a bed warmer that I stick on for an hour before bed (£15 from Lidl, along with a remote control socket set so I don't have to go upstairs to switch it on). I bought microfibre bedding (QVC - the Lidl stuff wasn't soft enough) and it's brilliant! I sweat stupid amounts for the small chunks of sleep I have. My cotton sheets would get so wet that the wrinkles where I'd tossed and turned would be rock hard and dig into me. The m/f bedding stays put without wrinkling and if I give it a flick off me the sweat sort of flings off! It doesn't feel cold and soggy when I get back in after a loo trip either. Amazing stuff.
Finding a pillow was a real challenge! I alternate between a Snoozetime microbead and an Ikea memory foam job (that's meant to be used with a padded outer cover but I just use one of the m/f pillowcases that came in the set under a cotton one. Much as I love the m/f bedding, I couldn't cope with the pillowcase).
I keep warm in the day by sticking a (Lidl) heated gel pack down my vest! Real sheepskin slippers are the only things that keep my feet warm around the house, but Fitflops are the only things I can walk in. I take my gel pack to bed to keep my hips warm (side sleeper - I roll over every 45 minutes - anyone else like this?) and a microwave wheatbag to keep my feet warm.
I hope some of my helpful-to-me measures can help some others here if they want to try them and that we can keep this thread going to support each other. No matter how hard our families and friends try, unless they know what pain and fatigue 24/7 is like to live with themselves, they can never really understand.