I finally got a haircut! It was getting shaggy and long for me. Okay so it was barely touching my ears.
I really don’t know how people with long hair do it. Fibro and long hair? I’d have a crew cut if I thought I could pull it off. Remember Susan Powter? You know big brash mouth, really short hair? The image kind of suits me.
Right now I have a “wash and go” hairstyle. When I first developed fibromyalgia my hair was longer and required styling. This became an issue because I was usually too worn out after taking a shower to do much about it. If you have fibro you know exactly what I’m talking about. And going to work in a professional office place with wet hair and no makeup? That doesn’t go over really well.
After I whacked my hair off it was easier to take care of. But have you ever noticed that once you fix one problem with fibromyalgia (be it sleep or hair) another one pops up?
And so it became harder and harder to get up and take a shower in the morning. I used to get up every morning, hop in the shower, grab some breakfast and out the door to work. After the symptoms developed it wasn’t so easy. Much harder.
Waking up was painful, so I’d set the alarm for half an hour earlier and take my pills. Then when I’d get up I’d be semi-functioning.
Another adjustment we tried was having my husband started making me breakfast first so I’d have a chance to get my act together before taking a shower. Is he not the sweetest man? And sometimes that, with half a pot of coffee, would work.
Taking a shower was incredibly hard. (Try explaining that to someone who doesn’t have fibro!) It made me crazy that I could never remember if I’d already shampooed my hair or not…and even worse, was I supposed to shampoo or condition first? Which scrubby was mine? Know what I’m talking about?!! How can I not know how to do something I’ve done all my life without ever even having to think about it?
I’d already developed some habits to overcome my leaky memory…for instance I learned to make sticky notes for things I was constantly forgetting. But I was pretty sure a sticky note in the shower was not going to work.
These tips from CFIDS and Fibromyalgia Self-Help for overcoming fibrofog didn’t really work for remembering to shampoo first. I kept trying various things to try to focus and finish the whole job of showering. I even tried talking to myself. “First I shampoo, first shampoo, first shampoo” until even the words didn’t make sense and then I’d give up and end up in a heap in the shower.
In retrospect…what would have been wrong with taking a shower at night? NOW I think of that. Showering wasn’t the worst of my cognitive difficulties…I eventually had to resign from work. I was an accountant. If I couldn’t think my way through a shower do you think I could think my way through a work day?
It took a couple of months after resigning from my job for the shower fibrofog to calm down. But while I was working it seemed like taking a shower was such a huge hurdle to overcome. Even now it can be a big chore because it expends so much energy.
Some days I take it in steps:
- Undress
- Lay down
- Turn on the water (argh, we’re having a drought!)
- Lay down
- Get up and take the plunge…hopefully the water is warm enough. I have a sitting space in my shower. I make good use of it!
- Proceed at a steady pace: shower, shampoo, conditioner, soap and then out.
I have a very water absorbent bathrobe (okay I have many bathrobes. They’re a wardrobe staple for me), so on the days the energy level makes drying off seem like a monumental chore, I just put the bathrobe on, put a towel around my head and go lay back down.
By the time I have enough energy to get back up I’m usually dry. And if I’m having a “bathrobe” day it’s back into the pajamas, brush my teeth and I’m good to go for the day.
And that’s one more way I’ve learned to adapt to fibromyalgia. If you have anything you’d like to share, I’d enjoy reading your comment!
