Managing Fibromyalgia: Tips and Advice Needed

Idk if this applies to you, but there's a lot of evidence that the majority of women with fibromyalgia, and a large portion of men who have it, were abused as children. Even if you have no conscious memory of abuse, therapy is not a bad idea. I'm working with Internal Family Systems therapy, and there was a specific muscle that was hurting in my arm. I found a small child part who remembered someone pulling her by the arm; comforted her, and that muscle hasn't hurt since. Told my mom; turns out my brother had picked me up by the forearm when I was 2, and I hurt so bad they took me to the hospital. I had a trauma memory surface at age 46! Point is, therapy is never a bad thing, and just might help with fibro pain.

What the alike wisdom said!

For me it was a combination of things. Changing my diet specifically removing gluten helped a lot. Lots of rest and not overdoing things and ending up in a flare. Lyrica and low dose naltrexone helped. So did acupuncture and aquatic physical therapy making sure the pool water wasn’t too cold. Weighted blanket and heating pad. Epsom salt baths. There is an epsom salt body wash and actual epsom salt for baths with things like arnica and others stuff added in designed to help with pain. I listen to the fibromyalgia podcast by tami stacklehouse and learned a lot. And purchasing an oska pulse was a game changer.

Stretching

I am reliant on a bunch of things, but my no 1 piece of advice is to do something you enjoy that doesn't require much effort every day. For me, I crochet. Others paint, write, or take long baths. It's important to indulge in self-care every day, both for physical and mental health.

Know your limits! If I do too too much and have an attack it puts me out of everything. I missed Christmas with my kids and their families because it was the day after a big family party on my husbands side. I cannot say enough about my hot tub, massage jets and I can use them on the pressure points and the entire muscles. After the first 2 years I changed Drs and started taking Gabapentin. It helps so much.

Truthfully, even with meds I felt I was spiraling. I tried altering my diet and exercise, but still had to quit working. I was in the er every month for a year. Cannabis, in addition to zoloft and remeron, is what has truly stopped the downward spiral for me. It's still hard, but now I can function more often. I went from doctors every month to not even seeing my primary dr for 5 months. Also, this Alike app helps alot too. I've learned so much from my fellow fibro warriors on here.

What works wonders for me is pressure point manipulation and massage therapy. It is painful but worth it. I also find assisted stretching to be helpful. I have neck and low back problems, so it's hard for me to get a really good stretch, especially in hip and shoulder areas, by myself. When my muscles are super tight, I use Lasting Touch Deep Tissue Therapy Massage Lotion. It has Arnica, which does wonders at relieving the inflammation in the muscle.

Ooh ok, physical therapy and dry needling has helped me the most with muscle tightness. I went from bed bound to hiking in Wyoming after a year and a half of work. It's hard but it is helpful :)