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.
I was recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I am always in pain. I try to do things like excercise in my pool, music therapy, reading , things to take my mind off it. Sometimes it works. I am on 600mgs of Gabapentin daily and it helps with the throbbing pain. But I still have the pain on the sides of elbows, hips, knees, and collarbone area. Is this common? Sometimes I feel so all alone. My husband doesn't understand. He thinks by excercising the pain and stiffness will go away. I try to do my daily household duties, but I get so tired (very tired) and my body hurts, sometimes I can't finish. There are days where I just want to sit and cry. Does anyone else feel this way? And how can I get my husband to understand?
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I'm alive, I'm sleeping like a rock, and for some reason I wanted cherry juice so that seems to be helping. (??? Weirdo that I am.)***Infamous therapies over history:1. The Attic. The madwoman in the attic is a motif in literature going waaaaaay back: the nutty female relative is locked in the attic. (See: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte for a grotesquely racist version of it, and Charlotte Perkins...
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We're all troubled.WSo, to remind ourselves we're not at rock bottom (this is a reverse optimism thing I learned as a kid):We are not living on the island of Krakatoa when the volcano goes boom!Yeah, okay, that sucks.***Toay in 1942, Pierre Laval announced that the way to free France was for Germany to win WW2. Pierre did not win a lot of friends. When the war ended, quite quickly he was tried...
You did not say if you are on any sleep medication. FMS interrupts the deep sleep cycle with short bursts of high intensity brain activity. Your muscles require deep sleep in order to repair themselves from the day's activities. No deep sleep means higher levels of pain which rapidly becomes a vicious circle. YOu should be using Amitriptyline or something else.
Have you been tested for a Vitamin D deficiency or a problem with gluten? Either of these items will also cause widespread pain.
Diet is very important too. Avoid anything that contains an artifical sweetner including Splenda. They will ratchet up your pain levels. If you need a sweetner, use something made from the nontoxic Stevia plant like Truvia or Sun Crystals. They can be found in the baking aisle at the grocery store. Avoid deep fried foods, lunchmeat, bacon and red wine. Those are just a few examples of things that contain nitrates. Anything will nitrates will make your pain levels worse.
You might consider seeing a counselor that specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Managing a chronic illness is very difficult on several levels. CBT would give you some tools.
You can find a CBT counselor by calling your local hospital and asking for the physician referral service. See if they can match you up with someone. Or, use Google. Type in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the name of your metro area and see what pops up.
If you want another medical opinion, go to the National Fibromyalgia Association website. You can see a list of fibro-friendly doctors for each state. Get copies of your medical records to save time and money.
And finally, purchase the book "Fibromyalgia for Dummies." Like all of the dummies series, it contains good information. Read it yourself and ask your husband to read it too. Knowledge is power.
FMS patients have to be their own best advocates when dealing with this syndrome. Take your husband to your next doctor's appointment. I bet that you would not act the way that he is if the tables were turned.
Take care.
I recently did a sleep study (waiting for results), I believe I sleep good, but I wake up exhausted...so tired I can't function. Then sometimes I am so overtired I can't sleep....I read to make myself sleepy and that does help, it relaxes me. I'm just so miserable!
Take care, Kelly......Hugs, ELizabeth
Gentle hugs
Andrea