Living with fibromyalgia

[Peg436]

Someone I know has recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, has anyone got any tips or sort of must dos to control pain, or any herbal remedies you'd recommend.

[Nana140]

Absolutely! The Fibro Lady, Leah McCullough, has tons of free, good advice. I was able to improve my function and pain significantly by following her advice. It took 6 weeks, but once my gut was healed, I and the people who love me, couldn’t believe the difference! The secret is to be vigilant. MSG is in everything , and cheating will only delay healing. The Mighty is a great source of support and good info. Dr. Mercola and Hal Blatman have good advice on diet and supplements. Your friend is probably reeling after her diagnosis. Just listen, believe and support her for now. There is no cure, but many things that help. Kratom is much better than any prescription drugs, or cannabis.

💕

[Hidden in reply to Nana140]

I was a bit worried about Kratom. I remember meeting several people when I worked in Africa who told me they were addicted to a local tea. Took a while for the penny to drop. I did find this online drugabuse.com/kratom-addict... just to give another side to Kratom and its use.

[Nana140 in reply to Hidden]

Vs opioids, seriously?

[Hidden in reply to Nana140]

The women I worked with wouldn't have had access to opioids. When one was diagnosed terminally ill with cancer it was extremely difficult to obtain painkillers, certainly morphine was not an option.

The tea made from Kratom was cheap and brewed on the streets. Took me a while to find out what it was. As well as a few of the women telling me they were addicted to the tea ( it had a local name but no idea of the spelling) there was some discussion in government meetings about the widening use of the tea and the effects of addiction.

[Hidden]

Keeping mobile, with gentle stretching and any movement possible, helps. Lots if people find Aqua exercise helps. I'd love to try it but the getting there, exercise, getting dry ( and warm), dressed and the drive home would exhaust my energy reserves. Maybe you could help with transport and moral support if your friend would like to try this ?

Heat helps me the most as I'm always cold.

And just understanding how awful fibro feels. It's difficult to understand an illness you can't see and it affects everyone differently, though with common aspects. If you can understand the utter draining fatigue and ever ore sent somewhere pain, you'll be the best friend a spoon ie could ever have!

[moo196]

Morning, the best thing I have ever done is to give up diet coke and anything else with artificial sweeteners in. The pain in my hands disappeared within a week. Worth trying?

[Al10]

Read up on health and fibro. Read with your thinking head on. Does it resonate? Or Is it someone selling something and making money? Learn to listen to your body. Not that naughty voice that screams for junk food, but the sensible one that says, Are we doing a bit of exercise today? Getting some fresh air? Learn how to judge what is enough. Read up on being Fibro healthy.

What does your body think of the new fibro diet? It might say, take changes slowly. If you change your pets diets suddenly, you are asking for trouble, yes? Maybe you are the same? Lots of naturopaths are claiming the organic diet is healing. Is this something you could afford? Does it resonate with you that sprayed food, that kills bugs on the plant, might be killing your gut bugs too?

Learn to filter out the voices that will like to pick at you. You will get lots of advice that will be 'the cure' Some of it is likely healthy advice, but a cure? For Fibro? Don't hold your breath.

While we are waiting for the answer, I think to try to keep healthy is important. Eating for comfort wont help. Getting too down to look after ourselves just makes fibro worse.

Beware of extreme advice. Extreme diets. I think balance is important. Not everyone can be a vegan. There is no shame to admit, a regime doesn't suit.

I think for me, I need to at least try to eat healthy. Keep moving. Do what I can do. Drink water. Stay away from junk, sweeteners, sugar. They are addictive and likely harmful. Worse, they leave little space for eating anything nutritious.

Reseed your tum with quality probiotics. And feed em with veg n fibre. Today the advice is for everyone to eat more fibre. That is what's healthy. No word of caution, that not every tum can ad-lib their fibre. Your body needs to tell you what is good for it.

For me, if I have too much fibre, and too much is actually very little, it clogs up my digestion. It can slow it all down to almost stopped. People will like to say, how ridiculous!! Yet still, my tummy does what it likes. People come and go. I have to live with my tum and my body 24/7. I have to learn how to treat it nice and maybe, it will treat me better too! If not, I know I'm hopefully not making more problems for myself. I don't need diabetes, or any other preventable conditions as well as fibro.

Most fibros are sensitive souls. Many have been bullied. If you have, it's time to stand up to it. Make your own decisions. If they coincide with 'helpful' advice, fine. If not, that is how it is. Stand up for yourself and your body. It is your life to live and no one elses.

[Spider395]

These things help me, but everyone is different, Keep active as much as possible. I find even a few days away from exercise causes me whole body pain when I return. But I can usually work through it & get back on an even keel. But the flip side is rest. The hardest thing is learning to pace yourself so you don’t hit a wall of exhaustion, imagine wading through treacle. Meditation is also a great help as I find it calms an overactive mind & stops the exhaustion. I’ve always had quite a healthy diet, but I do find if I cut right down on carbs I feel generally better. Finally my rheumatologist told me a Positive Mental Attitude makes a lot of difference & I have to agree. I’m sure they will find something that works for them.

[Bemoresquirrel]

Hi, I’ve started drinking lots of warm water rather than tea or soft drinks and that’s making a difference. I’ve cut right back on sugar and processed foods. I’m taking turmeric capsules (can use powder), as it’s a natural anti-inflammatory.

There is something called the dirty dozen and clean fifteen fruits and vegetables. It’s a list of which ones absorb the most and least pesticides. We grow some of the dirty dozen organically in our little veg plot and tubs or buy organic, or just don’t eat them.

I had to stop all my fibro meds due to side effects, so take a water based CBD instead. If you’re interested, I can send you information. It’s not a miracle cure, but it does help.

In addition, I use pacing, a TENS machine, a heat pad, mindfulness and meditation, Brain Hacker subliminal music (99p each from Amazon), I bought the tracks for pain, healing relaxation, headaches and migraine and deep sleep. I leave it playing all night. I also use positive affirmations phrased as if it’s already happened “I am pain free and walking further and further each day.”

Pacing makes the biggest difference, as learning to stop before I’ve done to much, has cut down on the number of flares. If you’re not familiar with spoon theory, take a look at this:

burningnightscrps.org/wp-co...

For me, acceptance was a turning point, as the pain levels dropped when I stopped fighting it. I now look at how I can adapt, or do something differently, or find something else instead. Rosey x

[emrebalduk in reply to Bemoresquirrel]

Great article 🙏🏻

[Bemoresquirrel in reply to emrebalduk]

😊 Thank you so much!