I have found that certain "diet" stimulants can trigger FMS symptoms so avoid caffine, diet sweetners (except splenda), and supplements/vitamins that act like caffine.
In my experience I have also found that gluten is not my friend and have to avoid anything that uses it in its ingredients list.

I had heard somewhere a long time ago that what you eat can affect your FM symptoms, but I've never had a flare from eating a burrito, if you know what I mean. I do know that I feel better if I eat healthier than I do if I eat nothing but my favorite foods (think lots of red meat, cheese, and tomato sauce - YUM!). Not sure if it's that I'm avoiding all the bad fatty stuff, or if the healthier food has extra vitamins in it or what.

I agree with MJCHM, though, about stimulants and especially aspertame (Nutrasweet). Aspertame makes all my joints hurt like mad and turns me into a flaming B****. I have found this isn't the FM talking, though, as it did the same thing to my step-dad. After he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, he switched to drinking a gallon of Crystal Light a day. His joints hurt him until he could barely walk, and he was a real bear to live with until my mom cut him off!

I think the foods in your diet can greatly effect how you feel. It is important to maintain a proper pH balance in your body. A more acidic pH can make you feel bad even if you are healthy. Especially joint pain & headaches. It is strange, but foods like milk, chocolate, artificial sweeteners & white bread turn to acid in the body. You can find a pH food chart at http://www.essense-of-life.com/info/foodchart.htm

Diet is crucial to fibro. I have to agree with the others that aspertame is awful for fibro (as well as being bad for you overall) and many dieting stuff has it. My symptoms went away after switching my diet to all organic food. Based on that I would think that your flare up might be because "diet" food has more chemicals and artificial stuff in it that "real" food. The increase probably triggered the flare. It is my experience anyway that the more chemicals and artificial stuff in a food the worse the flare up. We are what we eat. I think this is especially true for people with fibro because we FEEL what we eat.

My sister tried to get me to join Weight Watchers - now you would think that is healthy, right? Wrong.. i was miserable, and gained 4 pounds!
Years ago I bought the book Eat Right For Your Type, but gave it away. Has anybody read this and do you think there is anything to it?
Blessings, Star

I agree too - artificial sweetners and chemicals aggrivate my system! I am on a fruits, veggies, brown rice, nuts, oatmeal diet (you know... real food!) and am feeling better. I don't have IBS as many do with Fibro, but my insides are definitely working better. And

PaganChild - I did read the same book. they have a website you can check out: http://www.dadamo.com/

If the book you're talking about is the book I'm thinking of, the one that tells you how to eat based on your blood type, then I've heard of it, but never read it. A friend read it and said that since my blood type is O+, that I should avoid wheat. Those of you on a gluten-free diet know how hard that can be, and when I heard that, I said, "Forget it!"

But this brings up a silly question - If what you eat based on your blood type can help you lose weight and be healthier, and what you eat can make your FM flare or get better, does it stand to reason that FM patients might all have similar blood types? (I think what I'm doing here is what my mother would call, "stretching things a bit.")

I have had fewer really high pain days since I stoped eating sugar, caffine, aspertine, flour, and aa starchy foods. I read a really good book, and it sugessted trying to follow the ""Zone diet as a way to live forever in less pain. If you need to lose weight yoou will if you do not, you will maintain. I have lost 22 lbs so farm and am really feeling better. Try not to eat ant "diet" products, or prepared foods with all kinds of chemicals, and drink lots of water to wash away toxins. DRW