Anja8

[anja8]

I am 5 foot tall and weigh 13 stone 4lb. I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the doctor has advised it will help to lose weight and take more exercise. I have been a yo yo dieter for many years and have tried every slimming club but take off a few pounds then a month later it goes back on with even more.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi and welcome, anja8

It sounds as if you need to get off the diet rollercoaster and find something that's sustainable. Have a look at these healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... and phcuk.org/wp-content/upload...

There's plenty of information here to help you on your journey, just follow this link to our chat thread and a list of all the activities we run. We've found active participation to be key to success, especially with our weigh-ins and Daily Diary.

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Wishing you all the best

[BerlinBetty Visitor]

Snap, anja8 , so was I diagnosed with this condition by two consultants, though I'm sure you will be aware of the cynicism there is in the medical profession about it. When I was diagnosed I was 84.5km and had been for several years. I am now between 71 - 73km (fluctuates according to diet and exercise of course) and I can tell you that from my experience your weight and fitness will make a HUGE difference to how you feel.

Try to reduce sugary things from your diet. Don't yo-yo diet in any way; rather eliminate very sugary foods (Im talking added sugar at this stage, especially in processed foods). If you drink alcohol, do it occasionally. For me this was a huge change because I drank wine most days if not every day, and now I do it on one or two days a week. This made a huge change to my sleep quality, my digestion, my ability to concentrate and my weight! Knock out snacking; that's crucial. Exercise vastly decreases anxiety, as well as burning carbs. You need to do that every day, though at first it hurts, I know. But the discomfort recedes as your body strengthens but you've got to persist. The phrase I keep always in my mind?

Stick with it.

I've lost weight but also the dreadful aches and pains in all my joints have receded, as has the crushing fatigue. There is no solid diagnosis for fibromyalgia, so all they can do is gather the symptoms together and call it a syndrome. But this is good news for us: it's a bunch of symptoms not a disease, as far as we know. So we can address them. It will take you a while but I can tell you that the effort will be so worth it in terms of your quality of life.

There is no miracle cure, but this seems to be a condition that you can take some control of, with time, patience, and yes, with courage.

You have all my Positive Thoughts. You can do this. love Betty.

[anja8 Restart April 2024 in reply to BerlinBetty]

Thank you for your reply, it helps when you know there is advice and help from others in the same boat. I am determined to do it this time with healthy eating and leaving out snacks between meals.

[BerlinBetty Visitor in reply to anja8]

Good for you. I'm sure you'll feel so much better when you've lost some weight, more than bods without this condition, because loading on the inflamed joints is involved.

One consultant said to me, 'Just walk through the pain and things will get better' with that confidence of a professional who's never had a day of fibromyalgia in his life! Infuriating man. But he was absolutely right.

BTW. Might have no relevance to you at all - different strokes for different folks - but I felt a lot better for largely avoiding lactose in foods. Not complete avoidance, you understand, but buying lactose-free milk and yoghurt and sticking to hard cheese rather than the gooey, 'buggy' ones I used to love. My IBS stopped just like that - after years and years of misery, but so did the massive waves of fatigue which used to overwhelm me. There may be no connection for you, but it's certainly worth a try.

Always feel you can chat on this site about this to others like Auld Betty who have been through the same. It helps so much to talk.

BB x

[BerlinBetty Visitor in reply to anja8]

p.p.s. Regarding the possible connection with lactose intolerance: Look at the tiny print on most snacks packets and you'll find powdered milk present, so lactose build-up can happen throughout the day, without your realising it! BB

[anja8 Restart April 2024 in reply to BerlinBetty]

Thank you, it may be worth me looking into this, it can’t do anything harm and may help.