Stop Fibromyalgia Now

Did you know that what you eat plays a very big role in your fibromyalgia treatment? Your doctor might recommend diet changes as part of your treatment plan. Even if your doctor doesn’t order this, you might decide to partake in certain diet changes on your own because you see that they can help you live a more comfortable life.

Studies have shown that eliminating one or more foods from your diet can help reduce your symptoms and pain from fibromyalgia.

Foods To Eat

What are some good foods that can help you with your fibromyalgia? Below is a list of some great foods to eat. Remember that fresh is always better than frozen or canned foods that have a lot of preservatives.

Meat, Poultry, Fish -
•    Lean beef
•    Lean pork
•    Chicken
•    Turkey
•    Shrimp
•    Scallops
•    Clams
•    Nitrite free bacon

Dairy (small amounts)
•    Cheese
•    Sour Cream
•    Butter
Eggs
Nuts
•    Pistachios
•    Macadamia nuts
•    Walnuts
•    Cashews
•    Almonds
•    Peanuts
•    Sunflower seeds
•    Nut Butters
•    Brazil nuts
Beans
•    Lentils
•    Kidney beans
•    Pinto beans
•    Refried beans made with lard seems to be especially good
•    Garbanzo beans
•    Black beans
Fruit
•    Grapefruit
•    Pineapple
•    Tangerines
•    Oranges
•    Cooked Tomatoes
•    Unsweetened applesauce
•    Coconut and coconut milk
•    Avocado
Grains
•    Al dente pasta - made from refined wheat, spelt, or rice and not fortified
•    Unfortified white rice
•    Tortillas - corm and wheat
Vegetables
•    Artichokes
•    Asparagus
•    Broccoli
•    Chard
•    Dandelion greens
•    Celery
•    Eggplant
•    Green Beans
•    Kale
•    Peppers - red, green, yellow and orange
•    Radicchio
•    Spinach
•    Squash
•    Zucchini

Making The Change

Changing your diet isn’t always easy. In fact, most people find it difficult once they have grown accustomed to certain types of foods and formed eating habits. You might want to start slowing weeding out the bad stuff and in with the good stuff or you might try the “cold-turkey” approach and just give up all the bad foods and start fresh with a new and improved diet so that you can start seeing an improvement in your symptoms of fibromyalgia.

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I am looking for info on the degrading of the muscles and surrounding tissues associated with fibromyalgia. Muscle weakness, tremors, and muscular pain. As well as any good information on a good course of treatment. What can I expect to see happen as it progresses?

Fibromyalgia is a neurological disorder of hypersensitivity, not a muscular disorder.

FMS isn't, technically, considered to be a degenerative disease at all. It does not directly cause any degradation of muscles or tissues, but can lead to decreased activity, which would of course lead to a decline in muscle tone.

If FMS isn't treated properly, though, the hypersensitivity can get worse, leading to a greater degree of disability.

Also, FMS can make any other condition the patient has more difficult to deal with, because it amplifies any associated pain.

For instance, I have arthritis, which is a degenerative disease, as well as FMS for which I didn't get proper treatment for over a decade after diagnosis. In my case, FMS has been degenerative, and as a result, I am disabled.

My daughter, on the other hand, was treated as soon as she was diagnosed when she was 9. At 16, she is NOT disabled, nor is she likely to be. She's very active, and she knows that she has to stay aware of the fact that she has FMS but she doesn't have to live in fear because of it.

Your prognosis and course of treatment really depend on your current health and background. The things I suggest most strongly to everyone are to educate yourself, get a good healthcare team of doctors who "believe in" fibromyalgia, and to surround yourself with family and friends who are supportive of you.

Stress will make fibromyalgia worse, so reducing the stress you can control in your life will improve your ability to deal with FMS and to deal with the stressors you can't control. If there are negative people around you, remove them. They're poison.

The same goes for environmental stressors. Drink plenty of clean water - put a filter on your kitchen tap or use a filtered pitcher in your fridge. Reduce the amount of everything else you drink - soda, coffee, alcohol, whatever. Watch what you eat, especially packaged stuff with preservatives and artificial coloring and so on. Put a HEPA air filter in your bedroom and change the air filter on your furnace/air conditioner every month. Keep your living environment as uncluttered as possible, and use non-toxic cleaning products - the Method line that Target carries is pleasant, effective, and reasonably priced. If you smoke, STOP - and don't hang out around people who do smoke.

Move every day, somehow. Stretch, especially - carefully Many people who have fibromyalgia have hypermobile joints (or, more accurately, many people who have hypermobile joints develop fibromyalgia). If you have access to a pool, swim. Non-weight-bearing exercise is great for allowing you to keep moving without increasing your pain levels.

And keep your spirits up! Play, treat yourself, have fun. Give yourself a daily "whine budget" and then STOP and move on to focusing on what you can do.

Good luck!

Before you can understand the treatments used for fibromyalgia you must have an understanding of the disease. Fibromyalgia is a disease that is not well-known throughout the medical profession. It is linked to arthritis but the symptoms are different. Unlike arthritis which affects the body’s joints this disease affects the muscles. Parts of the body can become tender and sore to the touch due to the muscles in these areas not receiving enough oxygen.

The symptoms are different for each individual and can seem to disappear completely only to return at a later date. Many times the symptoms will be worse at certain times of the day like in the mornings and during the late afternoon. The weather conditions can also increase your symptoms; damp rainy weather or extreme cold can increase the pain a person feels. The amount of stress that you deal with contributes to the symptoms along with the amount of physical activity you encounter.

Fibromyalgia Symptoms

There are a lot of symptoms that are associated with fibromyalgia which is the main reason it so difficult to diagnose. Below is a list of a few of these symptoms.

•   Muscle pain, spasms or leg cramps
•    Insomnia or waking up still feeling tired
•   Always feeling tired and having little energy
•    Being sensitive to one or more of the following, light, sound, noise, odors, foods, cold and medicines
•   Dizziness
•    Headaches
•   Upset stomach
•    A feeling of anxiety or depression

Treatments

Finding a treatment that works for a person suffering with fibromyalgia may be rather difficult. Everyone is affected differently and what works for one person may not benefit another at all. In looking for a treatment you want to find something that will help to reduce the pain making it easier to function. You also need a treatment that will help to decrease the feeling of fatigue and one that will help increase your sleep. Some of the treatments used are listed below.

•    Medications
•    Exercise
•    Diet
•    Rehabilitation

If you suffer from fibro the best way to treat this condition is by setting up a program that allows you to get enough rest, avoid as much stress as possible and eat right. Understanding your condition and having a set program as part of your fibromyalgia treatment will help you deal with this disease easier.

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What is the best way to build muscle (core and upper body, especially) when one has fibromyalgia and suffers from 24 to 48 hours of severe spams and pain in the shoulders and neck whenever any lifting (with arms or of the upper torso against gravity) is done?
I have a limited diet due to food allergies, and primarily rely heavily on fruits and veggies, and use chicken or eggs as animal protein. I need to build strenghth and endurance, but the effects of trying are severe.

I would suggest a physical therapist. They know about muscle "triggers" and what works. Maybe they can give you the advice you are looking for. I applaud you on wanting to keep up the momentum. I understand that a person with your condition actually profits from staying active(painful as it may be at times)

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When you suffer from fibromyalgia, even the slightest relief is a miracle to the suferer. Anything at all that can aid your fibromyalgia treatment or reduce your symptoms or pain is very helpful.

In addition to the fibromyalgia treatment your doctor has set you up for, there are additional steps that you can take even on small things around your home that will help you to feel better

Listed below are some of the tips and techniques that have helped others recover from chronic fibromyalgia pain.  Since one common area of pain for fibromyalgia sufferers is the hands, many of these tips relate to easing the tension on the hands.

•    Buy easy to prepare foods. It’s often hard – or even impossible- to cook when you suffer from fibromyalgia but eating out all the time is unhealthy and can become expensive. You can buy more “ready-made” meals, pre-cut vegetables, etc to make cooking and preparing meals at home easier for you.

•    Use very sharp knives. When you must cook or use scissors, make sure they are very sharp so you use less pressure to make the cut and apply less tension to your hands.

•    Use a paper shredder. If you find yourself needing to cut or tear a lot of papers, you will want to use a paper shredder instead. For many fibromyalgia sufferers, even tearing up a receipt can cause pain.

•    Avoid excess strain on your hands. It may be hard for you to do things such as sewing, knitting, long periods of typing, etc. If you must do these things, you should try to limit the amount of time you spend on it at once.

•    Get ergonomical. Try to keep things such as your office and workplace as ergonomically correct as possible.

•    Adjust your home. There are some changes you might want to make around your home and office to help your daily functions be more comfortable. For example, you should angle your computer monitor to eye level. Try different chairs, pillow, etc to make yourself more comfortable and ease pain later.

Making small changes such as these around your home can improve the way you feel and help aid other stages in your fibromyalgia treatment.

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I was diagnosed with EBV 10 years ago and got diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Depression 5 yrs ago-is there a connection and if so where can I obtain information.

If anyone can help-Thank You!

Is there a connection? No.

Here's one reason why. EBV only lasts in the body for no more than 2 years and that's in severe cases. Most people only have it for about 6 months.

There's no way you could've had it 5 years ago muchless now. Once the body overcomes EBV - or any virus - it builds antibodies to protect itself. You are not at risk for contracting it again.

Initially it was believed that EBV was connected somehow to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but they are two completely different illnesses. The bottom line is that EBV is really just an expanded version of mono - they are both herpes viruses.

http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/fibromyalgia/fibrofs.htm

That's a good place to learn more about Fibromyalgia. It is *not* a form of arthritis, just a relative. I'd love to elaborate but I've got to be a good answer fairy and keep it movin. Ask a specialist if you have further questions.

Best wishes.

I've started taking Baclofen for suspected fibromyalgia. It makes me feel a little stoned, but hasn't helped the pain yet. Does it take a while to get into my system and are they're others out there who take this med. and is it successful for the treatment of fibro.

I've never tried it, but am a sufferer. I found that taking magnesium mineral supplements actually did the trick for me.

What kind of doctor would i go see to get tested for Fibromyalgia? What tests to they do for it?

inthe US

email Kindness@fibrobetsy.com

a long time ago it was believed that Fibromyalgia (FMS) was a musculoskeletal/arthritslike condition-so Rheumatologist were the specialist taht claimed it.

In teh last 10 years it has been believed thjat it is a disorder of the central nervous system.

Not all rheumatologist are competant to deal with FMS-

many docs in all specialities still use it as a waste basket diagnosis for anyone who is tired and in pain-eevn if its due to their lifestyle.

fibrobetsy's list is based on recomendations form patients-she takes off the docs with bad reviews

other referral lists take any doc taht wants to be on it- even if 1 person recommends him and 99 say he is horrible.

the only 'test' for FMS is a tnderpoint exam-if you have symptoms of FMS and have about 11 out of 18 tenderpoints-you may be diagnosed with FMS

befopre that-other conditins with similar sypmptoms ned to be ruled out-such as MS and Lymes

other criteria include painin all 4 quadrants of teh body for at least 3 months

other symptoms include fatigue, stiffness, numbness, cognitive issues, sleep difficultities….

I have fibromyalgia. I was wondering how I can get people to understand what it does to me. No one seems to understand how it makes me feel and some of the people don't even believe me that I am in pain. What do I do?

Explaining Fibromyalgia is about as difficult as learning how to live with it in the first place. I can't recall the source (not surprising to those who understand) but I have always quoted whoever it was that asked, "Do you remember the last time you had the flu? …remember the aching body pain that affected your whole, entire body?…..THAT'S what having FM is like." And the most amazing thing to me is the need to continually repeat the same statement to the same people….again and again. I want to say, 'how COULD you forget what I told you? It's a most frustrating malady.. Also, I think what makes it so hard for others to 'get' is the fact that as long as you don't move, your outer appearance gives no hint as to how awful you are feeling. Unless you are having an acute flair-up, you appear totally okay. I find remembering a quote by Betty Davis that often makes me smile at myself. She said, 'getting older is not for sissies'….boy, is that an understatement. Good luck to you and remember you MUST work really hard at keeping your sense of humor…. it will more often than not, be your lifeline.