Fibromyalgia Support Group
You're not alone in your pain. Fibromyalgia is a condition that can be difficult to diagnose and manage. If you're trying to cope with pain throughout your body, sleep problems, general fatigue, or other common fibromyalgia symptoms, you're in the right place. The community is here for you to talk about therapies and share your challenges.
Hi Everyone,
I'm sure everyone is frustrated with what established medicine has to offer us (which is not very effective so far). Here's something new in the field of pain management: Neuroplasticity.
It is hard for me to explain. I've read both books by Norman Doidge. Look him up in Amazon. Michael Moskowitz,MD is a pioneer in the field. I've taken a class in pain management from one of his pupils recently. There is really something to it. I haven't gotten it to quite work for me yet, because I am not good at meditating.
However, midway through the 8-week class, I had a breakthrough in my depression (which wasn't what I went there for). I suggest that you read Norman Doidge's 2nd book (the more recent one) which have real life examples of how neuroplasticity had actually cured people of various ailments, including pain. These are actual CURES, permanent cures. So if nothing else, it gives us hope. I highly recommend the book.
How are you feeling? What are your symptoms like? I feel like my bones hurt all the time, I ache like I have the flu, I am always running on empty, the season changes are the worst time for me...I am sick of feeling sick. I know I don't take care of myself as much as I should and this has been a long time coming...trying to do what is right for myself and still meet my obligations feels nearly impossible.
I have given up on traditional medicine for the most part, I honestly think most doctors have no idea what to do with us! Good luck on your journey, everyone can meditate, it just takes time and practice. Don't give up :) xo
There is also a website: neuroplastix.com which has info on this stuff, but it is hard to understand without a narrative guidance (which the class did).
The gist of it is this: Pain is felt in the brain, not the muscles. The longer you are in pain (chronic), the bigger your brain map is for the pain. That is, more and more of your brain neurons are devoted to this pain. The goal is to decrease this brain map of pain--take back the brain "real estate" that is devoted to pain.
Here is a good picture the teacher painted:
Imagine you are walking thru the forest with no paths. You have to go home thru there everyday, so you create a trail by walking thru the grass, etc. You walk thru this same trail everyday, so the more you walk on this trail, the more obvious the trail becomes (grass getting stomped on, rubbed off, etc.)
Then one day, the forest service decides to pave a path elsewhere thru the forest. Since it is professionally paved, it is more comfortable/convenient to walk on, etc., so you decide to take this new paved path from now on. You stopped using the old path. After some months and years, the old path grows new grass, leaves fall on it, etc. until you no longer can find it!
This is the goal! To train your neurons (which was hijacked by pain) to focus on something else, thereby erasing the old brain map of pain.
I don't know if this makes sense to you. I don't do it justice with my explanation. You gotta read the book.
After I took the class, I understood the concept. When you understand the concept, it makes it easier to accept, and I am more open to trying it. The problem is, although I understand the concept intellectually, I still need to PRACTICE it for it to work in reality. Just understanding it intellectually is not enough.
This is still western medicine. They just discovered these new things!
What kind of holistic remedies did you take to overcome epilepsy? I'm very curious.