I would talk about hip pain but right now I have managed to vanquish my headache...but still feel so awful that my dinner is saltines, Gatorade, and pepto. Ow.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have some generic Afrin that I've been using sparingly, but I'm going to go ahead and use it for the next few days. I've been knocking back ibuprofen, but I have some heavier duty NSAIDS. I'm just weary of it all. I feel like all I've accomplished this month is creating massive piles of wet Kleenex.

Steph, have you tried sleeping with a pillow between your thighs? Long ways, from crotch to knee.

When I had bad back pain (that was localized to what I traditionally thought of as the lower back -- which, for me, didn't include the outer hip), I would put a pillow between my thighs/knees. But it didn't occur to me to do it with my hip dealie. However, this morning when I was tossing and turning like a jitterbug trying to get comfortable, Tim suggested a pillow between my legs. Smarty-pants. And then he also massaged my hip for a while, in between falling back asleep.

I'll do the pillow thing again tonight and see if it helps (although I fully expect that I'll kick the pillow out of bed at some point in the night, because I do that).

Thanks!

I have some generic Afrin that I've been using sparingly, but I'm going to go ahead and use it for the next few days.

My doctor swears by 5-7 days of continuous use, if 3 days doesn't do it. (Only with ear involvement, though. When it's "just" a cold confined to the nose/sinuses, he's kind of a hardass about the 3-day Afrin rule.)

My mom sees the same doctor I do, and she's had great luck with using Afrin to get her ears to un-stuff.

I'll look and see if I can find a way to describe / picture my stretches. Which is fun because my hip is killing me. I torqued it a few days ago and travel is just not helping. Massive stretching and soaking in a tub is helpful. I throw Advil at it but it's not very helpful. Massage helps too. I'll see if I can find pictures. After a hot bath. Because my hip hurts.

A hot bath was in my future tonight, but then we went to do the week's grocery shopping at 9:00, and when we came home and put stuff away, we decided to flip the mattress (NOT a euphemism) and put the heated pad on it. I'm hoping sleeping on a heated pad all night might help with some of the tight muscle stuff.

Anyway, too much goings-on = no bath tonight.

And actually, it's 12:30. I gotta get my ass to bed.

Heating pads are good too. I can't really take a useful bath at home, so it's heating pads there.

Best thing about San Diego might actually be the tubs. I'm loving being able to take a bath.

Oh, I miss baths.

Heating pads are nice. Wish I cold get one to solve my congestion issues.

eta *could. Geeesh, I really shouldn't type with a snotty brain.

Oh, baths are gooooood. Stretch, massage and hot water - best things for hips.

My hip pain isn't muscle pain, I don't think. It's more twingey stuff in the joint itself. That's different from what you guys are talking about, right? It's the thing that's worse during various points of my menstrual cycle and also before storms.