Hello everyone. I’m Belinda and I’m new to this site. I’ve been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia for almost 12 years now. I am also diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Depression, Anxiety Disorder and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and offering what I can to this discussion. Because of my chemical sensitivity I don’t take medication. I tried many in the beginning and they only made things worse for me. So that sent me on a very long journey to find a way to manage my symptoms and to live my life. It’s been a long road but now through diet and lifestyle changes I have many good days. Not all of them are good, but I do have the good ones and choose to take advantage of them and enjoy them to the fullest. Without overdoing it of course as we all know.
Looking forward to getting to know everyone. Have a most lovey day!
Hi, Belinda! Welcome! I’m pretty new to this site as well. I was just diagnosed with Fibromyalgia this past May, so I’ve been reading everything I can about it & looking into different treatments. This site has been very helpful & has made me feel less alone.
Again, welcome!
Hello Mardi. Thank you and the others for the welcome. With my diet I removed foods that tend to cause inflammation such as sugar, red meat, processed meat, refined carbs dairy, vegetable oils and saturated fats, etc. I became a vegetarian eating lots of foods that reduce inflammation such as green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, good fats such as olive oil, avocado and pasture raised, organic eggs. I watch my intake of alcohol as well only having a glass of wine on the weekends to help relax - that one was hard to do! I avoid all animal proteins with the exception of pasture raised, organic eggs.
I started with giving up sugar and all white products - such as flours, pasta, rice, etc. My diet has constantly changed over the last few years as I learn how foods affect my body. It wasn’t an easy road but I can honestly say that it was so worth the journey. My symptoms are so much better and I have more good days than bad now. When I do have a bad day it’s usually because I’ve overdone myself physically such as working in the yard or running too much without rest. And I will have a bad day if I allow the stress to take over my life - which I do at times.
I exercise now on a regular basis which I’ve found is critical for my body’s movement. Nothing extreme. I simply walk on a treadclimber that I have at home and do yoga. My rotation is one day on the treadclimber, yoga the next day and I rest on the third day and repeat the cycle as long as I’m not in a flare. If a flare does occur I take time to tend to my needs and rest until it passes and go right back to my exercise.
It’s not a perfect answer - my diet and lifestyle choices - but I found what works for me and managing my own symptoms. I think that’s what we all have to do - find the balance for our own lives.
Hi Belinda, I find the most amazing thing about fibro is how very different all of us are- our backgrounds, our symptoms, the paths we took that led us here, and the paths that lead us onward. In another post I read someone had good luck with prednisone- so did I, briefly! I had it for poison ivy but for that one week I knew what it was to live symptom free. It was almost worse than never having a break, when the old pains and so on returned. On the other hand, I am blessed to be able to take naproxen sodium for pain, I know most of us don’t respond to NSAIDs. A long time ago I began looking at myself as my own continuing science experiment. It’s helped me not feel so discouraged when something doesn’t work, or stops working- I think of all the scientists who persevered despite disappointment. I’m also blessed to be able to exercise mildly but daily, when I can’t as when I have a bout of bronchitis [I also have COPD], the depression and anxiety come back. I’m only saying all this because we all have to try so many different remedies- and some of us go into remission, yay! And I’m hoping to encourage anyone reading this to keep trying stuff. Some of it will work and some of it won’t. I myself have never experienced remission [except on prednisone!] but almost every day I can do errands, walk my dog, a little housework, cook meals, do laundry. Often that’s more than enough, but it’s the life of a sedentary housewife which is a heckuva lot better than the life of an invalid. When I was working I used to come home and go to bed and cry, I was so hurt and tired. My life is so much better now and I hope all of yours can be too.
One thing that didn’t help me feel better was improving my attitude. You know how you’re supposed to be more positive or at least less negative, according to the happiness psychologists. Well, when I practiced that, I found myself consistently overdoing it because I was ignoring the subtle, NEGATIVE warnlng symptoms my body was sending. So I’m a moderate pessimist now, but a happy one:) Diana