I also have pain 24/7 but a day or week or month in a flare puts me out of commission!! When not in a flare, I can function and can do a few things in a day!! If I'm in a bad flare, I can't even get out of bed and I never know when it's going to end! I lay with my electric blanket, take my meds, watch tv and hope I either fall asleep or at least can concentrate on a show a bit so I'm not thinking about my pain! I consider it a flare up when I can barely function but a so called normal day is still filled with pain but I can push myself to function!

I hurt all the time, but my pain on a normal day probably sits between 3-4, as long as I don't overdo it or eat bad food or have too much caffeine, and as long as I sleep. It had been a long time since I had a really bad day (what I call a flare, and yes, my flares last longer than just a day!), but when I do my pain gets to 7-8. On the weekend I felt like someone had rammed metal rods through every part of my body, every movement is so painful, I am so stiff, I feel like all my bones are smashing into each other. I probably sound like I have it easy and maybe I do, but I am meds free these days, no painkillers apart from 1 tab at night, and just heat packs and patches any other time. I generally have slightly lower pain levels than most Fibro sufferers but I also have a larger array of symptoms than most, so a flare is not so much just about the pain as it is about every symptom occurring at once at increased levels making me severely dysfunctional for a period of time. Even during a flare, pain killers don't seem to help me, only lots of sleep and rest & more heat bags than anyone can imagine!

That's a good question and I was wondering that myself. I feel like I am in a constant state of "flare". I can recall only two, nonconsecutive, days in the last 8 months that I would call good days. I actually felt normal. I felt like I am supposed to feel. I cherished every moment of them.

If you've ever had the flu (not a bad cold) with fever, that's how my flares typically feel. My whole body hurts and aches. My feet hurt to walk. I can't get comfortable. They typically last a few days...as long as I'll make myself rest.

Thank you everybody that does help. For me even with gabapentin, cymbalta, and meloxicam everyday I still need pain meds to function. On a good day which are few and far between and only happen if I laid in bed all the day before I am at a 4. A typical day the pain before percocet is a 7. It has been like this since my daughter was born 3.5 years ago. On bad days I am so stiff and in pain that I can barely make it to the bathroom.