Finding your cure for Fibromyalgia
- 20 things you need to do!
Finding a cure for Fibromyalgia has, in the past, been deemed as impossible. We are told that although Fibromyalgia is treatable it is incurable. We are told time and again that finding a cure for Fibromyalgia is beyond our current knowledge.
Use all these tips to find your cure for Fibromyalgia
These tips are written in no particular order, so you can pick and choose which couple you want to start with and pick out others when you want to.
1. SAD Light lamp
2. Gentle exercise
3. Control fascia
4. Sleep
5. Move lymph
6. Cut carbs
7. Supplement
8. Reduce stress
9. Heal gut
10. Assess medication
11. Regulate temperature
12. Cut smoking, alcohol, caffeine
13. Take Epsom salts baths (or foot baths)
14. No napping
15. Take rests
16. Prioritise self-care
17. Laugh
18. Get out in nature
19. Stop doing too much
20. Stay within BMI
1 SAD Light Lamp
The amount of sunlight, or lack of it, we are exposed to impacts dramatically on our mood and sleep patterns.
So if you are feeling in a low mood and are not getting a good seven hours sleep each night you might want to consider using a SAD Light Lamp.
Many people with Fibromyalgia report getting just 4 - 5 hours sleep per night and many have depression.
The acronym SAD denotes not just to the emotion that many of us feel in the depths of a dark and cold winter when sunlight is in short supply. SAD refers to Seasonal Affective Disorder which is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern and is sometimes referred to as winter depression.
I started using my SAD Light Lamp when I was researching for my cure for Fibromyalgia. I use it EVERY day all year long. It helps increase the feel good hormone Serotonin and lifts my mood and helps with sleep. I found my cure for Fibromyalgia in part down to using a SAD light daily.
Read more about using SAD Light Lamps.
2 Sleep
A lack of sleep is perhaps the most important issue surrounding
Fibromyalgia. Finding ways to get enough restorative sleep is key to
having me discover my cure for Fibromyalgia.
Researchers discovered that when a group of healthy middle-aged women were sleep deprived for just three days they displayed a decreased tolerance for pain and increased levels of discomfort and fatigue. The researchers concluded that such sleep disruption may play an important role in the development of Fibromyalgia symptoms.
As a lifelong light sleeper and more recent Fibromyalgia sufferer I knew that not getting enough sleep was key to my health issues. Without good restorative sleep I would be fatigued all day and consequently in a low mood. Low key stress would affect me dramatically and cause me physical pain. My body could not get the time it needed to heal during the night.
The BBC news recently reported that UK Government ministers were planning to issue guidelines on how much sleep people should be getting every night. According to a leaked draft of the plans having less than seven hours sleep per night has been linked to a range of physical and mental health problems and cutting short life expectancy.
A lack of good restorative sleep was reported in over 90% of Fibromylagia sufferers in a closed Facebook Group I belong to. Many people, myself included, reported just 4 or 5 hours sleep a night.
I found my cure for Fibromyalgia was largely down to getting enough sleep.
Read more about getting good restorative sleep.
3 Gentle exercise
It may seem counter intuitive to even think about exercise when you are wracked with pain, exhausted by chronic fatigue and unmotivated because of low mood. But I have to say commencing some form of gentle exercise can really make a difference to all Fibromyalgia symptoms. I found my cure for Fibromyalgia was largely due to daily practice of Qigong.
Read more about exercise and Fibromyalgia
4 Control fascia
Fascia looks a bit like cling film and it does a similar job. It envelops every muscle, organ, bone and nerve fibre throughout our entire bodies.
If you look at raw meat, you can see an almost transparent layer of fascia surrounding a chicken breast for example. It isn’t fat, it isn’t muscle, it isn’t bone – it is one form of connective tissue.
It is the stretchy glue that clings to and wraps around all those things.
Unfortunately for people with Fibromyalgia there seems to be a build up of this type of connective tissue.
It becomes stiff, knotted, tightened, taut and more importantly very painful.
Read more about fascia
5 Move lymph
The lymphatic system circulates nutrients throughout the body. It collects and removes toxins, bacteria, viruses and waste from our cells.
Unlike the circulatory system where the heart pumps blood around the body, the lymphatic system has no central pump to move fluid around. Instead it depends on the movement of the diaphragm during breathing and the massaging effect of surrounding muscles during movement to allow the lymph to flow around the body.
Read more about lymph
6 Cut carbs
Consuming a diet that has too many carbohydrates can be detrimental to the health of people who have Fibromyalgia. Too many carbohydrates can cause problems with blood sugar levels and consequently result in fluctuations in mood and energy.
A high protein, high fat diet that contains very little or no simple carbohydrates is best for people with Fibromyalgia.
Read more about dietary stress
7 Reduce stress
We all tend to lead stressful lives and throughout our life we will undoubtedly go through some very stressful experiences. The death of a loved one, moving house, divorce and job loss etc. are all major stressful events that many of us have to deal with.
But the daily stresses that may seem quite small to most people can be overwhelming to people with Fibromyalgia. This is termed sensory overload and many Fibromyalgia sufferers experience multi-sensory hypersensitivity. Basically having Fibromyalgia makes you much more sensitive to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch. This hypersensitivity causes stress. For people who have Fibromyalgia and stress issues life becomes very difficult.
Read more about stress and Fibromyalgia
8 Heal gut
Many people with Fibromyalgia have leaky gut syndrome, which is also known as intestinal permeability. This is where toxins are absorbed into the bloodstream via a porous digestive system.
A leaky gut can be caused by imbalances in gut flora and can trigger food intolerances such as gluten and dairy intolerances.
9 Assess medication
Because Fibromyalgia has so many symptoms and doctors still do not exactly what causes it they tend to prescribe a myriad of medication. But you really need to assess how much good the prescribed medication is doing for you. Strong medication such as Gabapentin and Pregabalin have many nasty side effects and many people with Fibromyalgia do not get any improvement in their health after taking them. Read more about medication for Fibromyalgia
10 Regulate temperature
Changes in weather temperature can be problematic for people with Fibromyalgia. In the winter months it can be very difficult to keep warm and in summer becoming too hot is common.
It is important to not allow yourself to get too hot or too cold. People with Fibromyalgia bodily systems including temperature control don’t seem to work effectively.
11 Cut smoking, alcohol, caffeine
Cutting down or eliminating alcohol and caffeine is beneficial for people with Fibromyalgia. Stopping smoking too is a no brainer. Having poor health due to Fibromyalgia symptoms anyway can only be worsened by smoking.
Many studies have proven that smoking tobacco is connected with the worsening of Fibromyalgia symptoms. Smoking tobacco may also be one of the underlying causes that trigger Fibromyalgia.
12 Take Epsom salts baths (or foot baths)
Soaking in an Epsom Salts bath can help Fibromyalgia symptoms. This
may seem a bold statement to make. You see Epsom salts are simply
Magnesium Sulphate (sometimes spelled as Sulfate). And most of us need
to increase our intake of Magnesium. Elsewhere I have written in more
detail about the benefits of Magnesium
And it has been estimated that 75% - 90% of the western populations are deficient in Magnesium and interestingly women with Fibromyalgia
Read more about Epsom salts baths for Fibromyalgia
13 No napping
When you have chronic fatigue it is almost impossible not to take naps. But taking naps will disturb the sleep you need during the night. To get out of the habit of taking naps during the day simply set a timer for 20 minutes and no longer.
By doing this you will not go into a deep sleep of say one or two hour’s duration which effects your ability to have a good night’s sleep.
14 Take rests
While you are on your Fibromyalgia road to recovery you will need to allow yourself time to rest, relax and recover from anything physical you have done. Resting is not being lazy.
You need to find the right balance of physical activity and rest. If you push yourself too hard to do too much you will worsen your symptoms of pain and fatigue. Treat periods of rest as healing treatments.
15 Prioritise self-care
There are lots of physical things we can do to look after ourselves in a better way but we need the right mind set.
Guilt and a sense of duty are often the main barriers to self care. But do we feel guilty when we take medication? No, we take medication to make us feel better and more willing and able to care for those we love.
Most of us are ready and willing to take prescribed medications in an attempt to make us feel better. But there are other types of therapeutic activities that can help our health and wellbeing.
16 Laugh
They say that laughter is the best medicine. And because having Fibromyalgia is pretty grim with its many awful symptoms, there doesn’t seem much to laugh about.
But laughing and even just smiling more helps release endorphins. Endorphins make us feel good, reduces stress and acts as natural painkillers.
Even forcing a fake smile releases endorphins.
Try to watch comedy programmes, films or Youtube videos that make you laugh out loud. The more you do this, the less stressed you will feel. As at the same time as endorphins are released, cortisol, which makes us anxious and stressed is reduced.
17 Get out in nature
Because people with Fibromyalgia tend to have very poor mental health, anything that can be done to help this will be of huge benefit.
If your mental health improves, then so will you physical symptoms of pain and fatigue. Getting out in nature is known to relieve stress and make you feel better.
18 Stop doing too much
There are many more women with Fibromyalgia than men. And women have traditionally tended to put others before themselves. Pressures to be the perfect wife or girl friend, home maker, mother, friend, daughter and to have a successful and rewarding career, and all the time looking fabulous is overwhelming.
Sleeping, resting, nourishing yourself and reducing stress are key to your recovery.
19 Stay within BMI
Although gaining weight seems to go hand in hand with Fibromyalgia, it is really beneficial to stay within your Body Mass Index (BMI). Striving to attain a healthy weight is important as excess weight can worsen Fibromylagia symptoms.
Read more about Fibromyalgia and weight gain
20 Supplement
Supplementing minerals and vitamins in people with Fibromyalgia is crucial to feeling better. Magnesium, Vitamin D and the B Vitamins, in particular Vitamin B12 are essential to good health.
I found my cure for Fibromyalgia was due in part to taking supplements.
Read more about supplements for Fibromyalgia