Food and Fibromyalgia

[Miriamgibbs29]

Hi I'm new here, a doctor diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia a few days ago.

I was wondering do any of you have problems with hunger and this thing? Like I regularly find myself very suddenly very, very hungry and without any real energy with which too eat. If you do what helps? I've heard about eating every two hours or eating a little and often, I wondered if that would apply to Fibro'?

[Jaylise]

I find a similar thing. Mid-flare, I want to eat everything, but when I'm really tired I crave sugar. The trouble is, in attempting to keep going, as I also have a tendency not to give in to my FM, I also resort to the sugar option a bit too much. I have found, in a particularly nasty flare this summer, that my low mood (first time for that symptom to appear) was fatigue related, as I discovered, if I took all the medication available to me, then drank some (sugar free) redbull, I could temporarily alleviate the mood symptoms. However, with the hunger, that one is not a good idea! When I was younger and found that I was hungry like that, having eaten and there was no reason, I knew it was fatigue related, and went back to bed for a nap.

I don't know how fit and active you are. I was lucky, when my FM was triggered, I was a dancer. When the doctor told me what it was, I decided, if I was going to have to live with a chronic fatigue syndrome (sort of) I was going to need to have the stamina of an endurance athlete. I have noticed, over the years, if I let my fitness level drop, my FM gets infinitely worse. Then I have the horrible process of building my fitness level back up, while suffering bad FM (exercise followed by rest if you can). From an almost zero, I start off on a bike. Since I retired from dancing I took up running again (the two don't go together).This summer's flare was compounded by an IT band injury meaning I couldn't run for 6 months. I'm still fighting back up...and need to lose about a stone again! Exercise is one of the recommended symptom controllers, and for me, it's the very best one.

My humble advice is to make sure you eat a proper breakfast, I like porridge with raisins, dried cranberries, and chopped soft apricots, but anything healthy and slow burn will do. Then I have a cereal, fruit bar or fruit as a mid morning snack, a healthy lunch including something like wholemeal toast and marmite and fruit, then if I need, a small mid afternoon snack, like a banana, then dinner. I find, both in myself and friends with FM, you become much more healthy eating conscious, and make sure you take a vitamin supplements to ensure your body has all the correct nutrients to draw from. My downfall is studying, as I'm finishing up a masters on top of working, family and running training, studying tends to be the point I start to sugar crave, and because I have to get it done in the very little time space I have, I can't nap, so that's when the sweeties have a tendency to creep in! That, and work has a tuck shop!!

Good luck with it all

[Pussycat432]

This is my first post I'm sooo worried I had chest infection five weeks ago and since then just no energy to do anything I've had to give up work went to drs she said it sounds like post viral fatigue syndrome I've had no tests done apart from blood pressure she says I'm not anaemic as had the full blood count done 3 wks ago as I had autoimmune liver disease I'm really scared I can only walk from one room to another I'm breathless absolutely no energy nausea an aching neck muscles I sleep round the clock I'm 58 yr old female who neither drinks or smokes