Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll

How do sex, drugs, rock and roll factor into fibromyalgia, you might ask? The sex is self-explanatory and drugs also need no explanation. The rock and roll part equals activity, work, moving around.

For the past 3 weeks, I have been on a pain-free reign. That is a previously unheard of record for me. I stated in a previous blog that I didn't know how to account for this lucky streak.

I haven't been taking pain-killing drugs, thus the 21 Tramacet-free days. Cross that one off the list.

Rock and roll? I have been more active lately. I'm not sure whether that is because I have had no pain or merely because I have been moving around (hence, preventing the pain). The chicken and the egg. I've been up on my feet, dancing to Glee CD's, doing yoga stretches when I remember to, running errands and keeping house with energy left over to have fun.

That leaves sex.

People, I completely understand the lack of desire when you're exhausted and hurting. It's like participating in a gorilla wrestling match and you're wearing the bananas. However, please allow me a brief podium to give a shout out to the wonderful world of endorphins. We all know that our bodies make naturally-occuring endorphins during exercise and ... sex - well, good sex, anyway! As if that wasn't incentive enough, endorphins are natural pain-killers. I don't know about you, but I'll take sex over squat thrusts any day.

To be honest, at my age and with all the medications I consume, my sexual desire needs to be dusted off for cobwebs. Perhaps it's been the lack of pain that has me endorphin-seeking and I'm not talking about ab crunches here - wink wink.

Obviously, I'm not a sex therapist. But I do know there are different kinds of intimacy within a relationship: emotional, mental, physical and sexual. Even with a chronic illness, it is important to maintain some semblance of a sex life with your beloved. Perhaps on a reasonably good day, a 'date' could be set for intimacy later on. The endorphins could give you a reprieve from pain and you will have had the win-win experience of connecting with your partner.

This leads me to the question: how long do endorphins stay in the body? I've been googling and searching but haven't come up with a definitive answer. Maybe no one knows - has a study ever been conducted? If anyone knows the answer, please drop me a line.

Rock on, folks.