Article: Exercise and Eating Right for Fibromyalgia?

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Article: Exercise and Eating Right for Fibromyalgia?
I have been experiencing what I believe to be severe symptoms of Fibromyalgia since my hysterectomy. My symtoms include: tiredness, achy joints including knees and back of neck, restless legs. It is a challenge every day to get up and go to work. I have read that a change in diet can help alleviate the symptoms. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who suffers from fibromyalgia and has been successful in treating the condition with diet. I read that I need to cut back on caffine and sugar. I hope that I can at least have my one cup of coffee in the morning. I am so tired of feeling lousy everyday. I have forgotten what it's like to feel healthy.

Patty
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I'm sorry you are feeling bad. I've been having trouble with my tendonitis and allergies lately - nothing really bad, just constantly annoying, mild pain there all the time, and feeling tired. It's hard to get excited about much when you don't feel good.

I don't know anything about fibromyalgia, but I was looking up some info on Restless Legs Syndrome recently for my grandma-in-law. This site has tons of info - I think they have stuff on diet, exercise, etc. that might help you:
http://www.rls.org/

Best of luck! I hope you (and I!) are feeling better soon.

Linda

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Fibromyalgia

I have fibromyalgia and sleep apnea and I hurt and am tired all the time. I do work full time and everything I do is an effort. I use to love to cook and garden, now it is just get a meal on the table as fast as I can. I plant less and less each year. I have had fibro for over 10 years now and sleep apnea for 3 or more.

A nurse that I happen to sit next to on a flight from Boston to Phoenix told me of a book that helped her and I picked it up last weekend. Books put me to sleep but I will try to read it soon. The name of the book is "From Fatigued to Fantastic" and I picked it up at Barnes and Noble Bookstore but I have seen it on Anazon.com. I believe the book deals with diet for the most part and eliminating foods. The book cost about $12.00. I will have plenty of time to read soon as I go for my TAH/BSO on Sept. 4 and because of my problems the doctor has said I will be out of work for probably 8 weeks. I can not imagine being more fatigued than I already am now.

I hope I learn something from the book. I am on Vioxx for the fibro and I do believe it helps the pain. I am nervous about pain after the surgery and worry that the meds will make me sick.
Black Cat lady

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Thanks for the tip. I will look for the book this weekend. I haven't officially been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia but I have all the symptoms. I wish you luck with the surgery Black Cat Lady and I hope the book offers some helpful information how diet can help elliminate the symptoms of fibromyalgia. And thanks for your feedback Linda. I hope to feel normal again. Well, it's almost 8:00 p.m. Pacific time and I am hoping to go to bed soon.

Patty
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Hi Agnew

Sorry to hear about the fibromyalgia. I was diagnosed with the same 4 years ago, although I rarely have symptoms now. Balancing my hormones, for me, was a major factor in minimizing the pain. My pain was worst on Premarin, but on Estratest HS it was less. My best results by far have been with the natural hormone replacement. Adding natural progesterone has been Godsend.

Also, and I know it's hard to think of this, but exercise has helped immensely. I was so fearful to start. I was too stiff to even contemplate it. But, going easy on the treadmill at first, I slowly built up. This morning I did 71 floors on the stairmaster, and a mile on the treadmill. Also did strength training. There's something about the aerobic exercise, oxygenating the tissues, that really helps me to feel better.

Now if I could just lose the 25 lbs I gained when I quit smoking!

Carol

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Carol is absolutely right! Exercise for fibromyalgia is definitely the way to go. I was diagnosed several years ago. I was in pain constantly. I even had to go to an occupational therapist to learn how to be able to sleep comfortably with this. I am not a pill popper but sleep is one of the key things in controlling this disease.

Do whatever you need to do to get the proper sleep at night. I found that taking a benadryl before bed helped me. It is actually one of the drugs that docs use for this disease. Check with your doctor. Anyway, I started doing Yoga. The combination of stretching and breathing amazingly worked to take care of my pain.

I can move things now that I never thought I would. Yoga can be for anyone. There are many good books - Yoga for Dummies is an excellent one. I had my TAH on 5/23 and with my doctor's blessing, started Yoga again at the six week point. It took me a little while to get back into it but I feel great.

My body actually looks forward to doing it everyday and I was always one that hated exercise. I highly recommend this for anyone with fibromyalgia and just to promote good general health all around. From time to time I have pain but I can deal with it easily now and it goes away as fast as it came. It's nothing like it was before. I also can sleep now without taking any medication.

Take care and I hope you get well soon.

Dana

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Fibromyalgia *may* be a syndrome related to neurotransmitters gone whacky in the brain. So I think anything that helps stabilize nerve help would help. B vitamins for instance, especially B6 which is important to nerves and to serotonin production. Magnesium too.

Also if you can drop your cortisol levels, then there's improvement. That's another reason why exercise and yoga/meditation work well for many. It lowers stress and cortisol. Also the autonomic nerve system goes whacko with fibromyalgia, so exercise might help regulate that.

It's also something that appears at menopause, so some are trying HRT as a way to help--which makes some sense with the neurotransmitter theory because ovarian hormones and neurotransmitters are all connected--especially estrogen and the two neurotransmitters they think are involved, serotonin and epinephrine. Here's an article at Web MD about actual drugs that might help that mentions estrogen.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.51261

For over the counter help, there's this article at the Natural Pharmacist

http://www.tnp.com/encyclopedia/condition/305/

Can you tell that I'm working on the article about hormones and neurotransmitters?

trish

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Patty,

I have fibromyalgia. My surgery was the 23rd of July TAH/BSO and I knew that my fibro symptoms would be increased as a result of the surgery. I had endometriosis and adhesions with many prior surgeries. It's not unusual to find woman with endo who also develop fibromylgia and migraines and IBS etc. All goes together. Right after the surgery my symptoms were not too bad but now they are really kicking up.

Some very important things to think about. You need plenty of quality rest. Excercise is imperative. I have spinal stenosis also which makes walking long distances difficult however I am trying to walk everyday again.(nothing too far) Relaxation and meditation is wonderful for you in terms of pain control and sleep. Yoga ( gentle stretching ) is great also. Be gentle!
There are several good books on the market and I have given all of mine to my Mom so I can't give you the names but look on Amazon.com and you will find several. Get the books. They validate your concerns and feelings and give you tools to live a healthier lifestyle.

Trish is right about the neurotransmitters. Neurontin is a drug that is used to treat some patients with fibromyalgia. If you can take it and it works for you that's great. I can't take any NSAIDS like motrin so I in a fix when it comes to pain relief.

See a doctor that you like and trust. If you don't feel good about the doctor - go to someone else. There are still alot of Docs out there who don't think fibro exists and it's all in your head. Of course they haven't had to get up in the morning and take an hour and a half to get moving. Your choice of doctor will be very important. I interview them and don't go back if they don't listen!!!! But you should see a doctor with your symptoms especially since this started after the surgery.

Mine started after my last major surgery when I developed a viremia and became very ill. Months later I realized I had the syptoms of fibro.

I'm on this site to also see if I can find some new dietary ideas to improve my immune system Post-op.

Best of luck to you and God Bless,
Just don't let this get you down or at least don't let it keep you down. :-)

Linda

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Patty,
Sorry to hear how you are feeling, I hope by now you have found some relief. I just wanted to tell you about something that has helped my mom with her fibromyalgia. It is an anti-oxidant called OPC-3. When she started taking it, she was in bad shape and had been for years. She was not able to work, and live the active life she was accustomed too. OPC enabled her to get her life back.

About a month after she started on OPC she was out in the yard digging with a shovel, and planting flower bulbs. Something I hadn't seen her do in years. The OPC that she takes is in an isotonic form for the best absorption possible. I also take it, and it has helped me tremendously as well. I don't have fibromyalgia, but have other problems such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, asthma, frequent headaches, all of which were helped with OPC along with other isotonic vitamins.

When I had my hysterectomy on May 15, I healed faster than normal, with very little pain. I am sorry I didn't reply to your post sooner, but this is the first time I saw it. Feel free to email me for more information. Or click on the link below and go to the health and nutrition store. You will be able to find detailed information on each product as well.

tracy