Fibromyalgia Alternative Treatment
Are you looking for alternative treatments ideas for fibromyalgia that actually help? Do you wonder if there are any alternative treatments that actually do help? So did I. I spent more than 10 years trying to find relief from this debilitating pain syndrome. (See my story "Brain Fog vs. The Quest for Coffee" below to see what an average day used to be like for me). My symptoms have decreased greatly over the past few years, and now I would like to share with others what I have learned.
If you are not familiar with fibromyalgia, visit this informative lense for a good description and overview: Living With Fibromyalgia
Eventually I got to the point that I was just desperate enough to try anything. In all my searching, I found a lot of useless information, (but gave most of it a try just to make sure I wasn't missing out on a miracle cure). No matter what, though, I didn't give up seeking out new information. Now I'm glad I didn't give up trying new things, because if I had, I wouldn't have found so much useful information or be as much better as I am today.
I've tried many medical therapies (at one point, I was on over 10 medications a day!) as well as many alternative treatment therapies for fibromyalgia. Believe me when I say, they don't all help. In fact, most of the medical treatments I've tried didn't help much at all. Furthermore, some of the alternative treatments I've tried were frustrating enough that they seemed to make matters worse! As you can imagine, if you're trying to decipher information that is not particularly specific and to-the-point, it can be very hard to implement the alternative treatments they suggest. In my opinion, that kind of "help" is more frustrating than helpful. The alternative fibromyalgia fighting strategy that has worked best for me is actually a combination of several therapies at once. It takes a bit of effort to get into the habit of doing things that help over a longer period of time. That is actually the trickiest part for me.
Below are a few of the basics of some of the alternative treatments I have tried that have helped me. I've tried to organize them in order from easiest to implement to more complicated.
Fibromyalgia Alternative Treatment Top 10 List :
1) Keep hydrated. Even overly hydrated. Water is your friend. I know this is something we hear so much that it tends to get annoying, but if I become dehydrated, I can tell it! I don't particularly like drinking water, BUT it's better than feeling dog tired and mentally lethargic all the time.
2) Soaking, somewhere between a few times a week and every day, in hot water with Epsom salt and peroxide. Just run a bathtub full of water and add between a half-cup and a cup of both Epsom salt and peroxide to the water. Soak for at least 10 minutes. This really helps my achy muscles.
3) Changing position frequently BEFORE you start aching and hurting. It's easy to get involved in what you are doing and forget to move around. For instance, I suggest, if you doing the type of work that involves sitting at a desk for long periods of time, get a small timer. Set it for short intervals and get up and move around when it goes off. Stretch a little each time. Most cell phones and watches have some kind of alarm you can set. Avoid obnoxious tones that will just annoy you (and others). Then teach yourself not to ignore it!
4) Make a deliberate effort to do deep breathing and relaxation exercises on a regular basis. This has probably helped me as much as anything else. I can really tell when I forget to do this for a while. It's really a necessity for everyone, but especially people with pain disorders. See my article below on breathing and relaxation exercises to learn more.
5) Make it a point to see the beauty in life. As I have already said, your thought process has a lot to do with how you feel. When you hurt and have brain-fog all the time, it's very easy to get in a slump and stay there. Look around! Use any excuse to see wonderment and beauty. It's a relaxing, therapeutic process!
6) Perhaps this seems like a continuation of number 7, but I think they are really they two different things. Use humor to your advantage. Find reasons to smile and laugh as frequently as possible. Laughter has been clinically shown to reduce stress and promote healing. (Disclaimer: don't laugh at people, they don't like it. It can exacerbate fibromyalgia symptoms if they physically retaliate or just make you feel guilty. Laugh with others, not at them :o)
7) I avoid simple carbs and sugar and focus my diet around veggies and meat as much as possible. When I lighten up on this rule, I can tell a big difference. It's hard to do because carb food is easy food. I've heard many authorities on fibromyalgia suggest avoiding red meat. I have never found this to be useful, but some people might, so I thought I would throw it in there. I avoid preservatives, flavor enhancers and artificial sweeteners in food as much as possible. Some ingredients that are allowed to be added to our food are actually very toxic. They have been shown to destroy nerve, brain and eye tissue. Because they can't be properly broken down and excreted by our bodies, the tend to "plug up" our cells with remnants of their breakdown process, decreasing our cells ability function properly. We have leftovers from this break-down process in throughout our brains and our bodies and it builds up over time. It's no wonder we feel achy and brain-foggy!
8) I've done a ton of work on getting rid of guilt, anger, frustration and negative emotions in general. That's a book in itself. The long and short of it is, you have to change how you think to change how you feel. If you keep the destructive thoughts and feelings, it will create a negative, perpetual cycle. Here's what you will have going on if you don't resolve those negative emotions. 1) If your mind is not at-ease, you body isn't at ease (just try thinking about something that makes you angry, guilty etc and try to relax your muscles at the same time. It won't work). 2) If you're not getting rest, you're not recuperating (our body does most of its healing / rebuilding during the REM stage of sleep. So if you never get deep sleep, you're never healing / resting). The point is, the only way to stop this part of your problem is to heal your thoughts and feelings.
9) Accept your limitations, but ONLY AS TEMPORARY. You can accept that right now you have certain issues to work around, but don't let it wear you down, and don't become despondent. It's essential that you have faith and hope for tomorrow! Just know that you are working through a process. New medical treatments and alternative therapies are being discovered every day. It's the whole "Life's a Journey, not a destination" thing. Right now you have issues to work on, but in the future, you will have found ways of resolving many of them (maybe ALL of them). This faith/ hope can keep you going, whereas, knowing that you are stuck in a rotten situation, and believing that it's permanent, can be a very demoralizing and destructive mindset. This alone can make your symptoms worse.
10) Become aware of your "triggers". This is a toughie. It can take a while to sort out. A journal can be a great help here. Keep a journal of what you eat, things that affect your mood/ emotions, the weather and how you feel. For instance, I realized a few years ago that when the weather man said "low pressure system" I can interpret it as "brace yourself you're going to feel bad for several days". I didn't realize until very recently that peanuts were a trigger for me. I've always loved peanut butter, but now I believe that the small dose of peanuts helped keep me feeling achy and brain-foggy. I reached this conclusion because I did not start liking actual peanuts until recently. I used to eat peanut butter between a few and several times a week, but never ate peanuts in quantity. Recently I ate a couple of ounces of peanuts and felt terrible the rest of the day, became worse the next day, but began to subside the day after that. However, I couldn't just be happy with the SUSPICION that peanuts made me feel terrible and brought on a host of my worst and most common symptoms at once! I had to know for sure. How? By repeating the experiment! I've repeated it a couple of times and am now sure that peanuts are, in fact, a huge trigger for me, and probably have been for years. Oh well, now I know!
For some great info on holistic healing and alternative treatment of fibromyalgia, visit www.DrProdell.org's Fibromyalgia Pages
Fibromyalgia Alternative Treatment Poll
Brain Fog vs. The Quest For Coffee Part 1
I have a syndrome called Fibromyalgia. It affects my life in a variety of ways and can range in severity from annoying to excruciating. All things considered, though, there are many worse afflictions one might have and at the very least it keeps my life interesting. One of the many ways which fibromyalgia affects my life is a little thing we fibromyalgics call "Brain Fog" (it's a non-medical term).I've learned to cope with it fairly effectively, I think. Primarily by accepting my limitations, but, to a lesser extent, developing appropriate coping skills. I think the hardest part of having a disability like fibromyalgia is feeling misunderstood by others. So often in my life others have assumed my capabilities far surpass my very real limitations. It seems that because I appear to be perfectly normal, many people assume that I must be exaggerating my pain, inability to think, or complete minor tasks. I wanted to try to explain how my brain works on a moderate to bad day by giving an example of some real situations in my life.
Sometimes I do better than others, but I remember several times in recent months that I've stumbled out of bed and sat down and tried to get organized enough to make coffee. This seemingly simple task is often far too complicated for me and I will sit contemplating it while I do something that comes more naturally... like stare blankly at my computer screen trying to figure out what to do next.
Although it doesn't lend itself easily to words, I'll also try to describe here the subjectivity of the perception of time. You see, although it is a fact that every day consists of the same amount of time (24 hours) and that can be proven in a variety of ways (the sun for instance) that does not necessarily mean that everyone's perception of that amount of time will be the same. I know this because I've seen time from more than one frame of reference and know that it is very overrated. More on this later...
As I sit staring blankly at my computer screen, my mind teetering on the verge of consciousness, I am vaguely aware of the fact that I feel very badly and that if only I could obtain from somewhere a cup of coffee, I am sure that I would feel better. Going somewhere is out of the question. I look like a mongoloid Sasquatch (my hair bent and disheveled, dark circles, gray tinge, etc) and lack the energy to take a shower before I have coffee. However, the underlying reason that I cannot go out for coffee is that I couldn't put together a plan that complex at this point if my very life depended on it. Therefore, I begin to contemplate a plan to get the coffee pot in the kitchen to produce some of the soothing liquid I crave.
Though I have no idea how much time actually elapses between the point at which this idea enters my mind and the implementation of my plan, it feels like it could have been hours, or maybe even minutes. Eventually, I push my rolley chair back and put my fingers on the desk and move toward an upright position. From there I begin to turn and put one foot in front of the other in a semi-shuffle type of locomotion, not unlike that of Ozzy Osborne in the T.V. show "The Osborne's". In the few seconds it takes to reach the other end of my 900 square foot apartment, my shuffle is in full swing and I have to quit leaning forward in order to slow it down.
In the midst of all of this, something else inevitably interrupts the well-oiled machine that is my thought process. Perhaps it's that I am hungry or tired or that there is a certain cereal bowl under my bed in my room that has needed to be retrieved and returned to the kitchen for weeks. It matters not what the distraction is, but by the time I get to the coffee pot and realize that the coffee already there is too old to be consumable by higher life forms (and that lower life forms have already set up colonies anyway), a large percent of my brain is already doing something else. I steady myself and try to concentrate. What was I doing again? Oh, I'm hungry. Maybe a bowl of cereal...
I pour my cereal and shuffle off toward the computer desk. When I get there I slow down, turn around and drop into my chair congratulating myself on a job well done. I eat away at my Total Raisin Bran with 2% milk until suddenly it occurs to me that I'm not feeling so well. My head is swimming and I feel like I need some medicine. (OH yes! My morning meds! I almost forgot!) After a while another thought joins the first. I'm not feeling so well and I would feel better if only I had some coffee. Then, just when I thought I was safe, a third thought joins the first two: I already went to the kitchen for coffee. Where is it? I didn't get it? [Expletive deleted]! ... Continued in Part 2... See Module Below
Humor Therapy
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Brain Fog vs. The Quest For Coffee Part 2
A day in the life of...
Continued from Part 1... See Module Above...With a sense of determination, I motivate to an upright position, fingers on desk, push rolley chair back and begin my shuffle once again. I'm leaning forward, grunting with each movement words like "Oh, drrr, eh, dang, etc..." and so on. Finally I reach my destination and pour the elderly coffee out of the coffee pot. [Focus! If only I can stay focused and don't falter on my quest, I know I will persevere!] I fill the coffee pot with water and try to find filters. I can't find them, but vaguely remember seeing some on top of the entertainment center in the living room. I shuffle in that direction only to realize at the cusp of the hallway that I need to use the little girls room. I shuffle down the hallway into the bathroom.
After that, I shuffle across the hall and sit down at my computer desk. What a day. I check my email and grab my bowl of now-soggy raisin bran. That reminds me of something, but I can't quite place what. Oh well, I'm sure it'll come back to me. I surf the net for a while... a sure way to forget time and kill pain. Gosh I'm tired. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm vaguely aware that it's been two hours since I woke up. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. Or maybe it seems like it's been a lot longer?
I need coffee bad. I wonder why this hasn't occurred to me before. I scoot back my rolley chair and push myself up with my fingers on the desk. I do the shuffle-mutter-locomotion all the way down the hall into the kitchen. I find the coffee half made and attempt to continue where I left off. Soon I realize why the original plan failed. There are no coffee filters. Maybe I should call the police? No, that's not what you do when you are out of coffee filters. Let me think...
Something about the living room... what was it? Oh yes, I go to the living room and look on top of the entertainment center. The new package of coffee filters is not on top of the entertainment center, but where there is a top of something (now remember this... you can use it later) there is invariably a lower horizontal surface to catch the things that fall off of that something's top. I check the floor. There I find a new package of coffee filters that never made it to the pantry after their trip home from Wal-Mart. [The anticipation is intense!] This is about the point that I usually realize that it doesn't have to be this hard and it isn't this hard for most people. [How would I know? I'm not most people... It's just a hunch... Stay focused!]
Ok, I get the coffee filters back to the coffee pot. Suddenly I'm aware that I feel sharper than I did a mere hour ago. Oh yeah! I'm on a roll!!! I have the coffee filter in and scoop coffee grounds in and shut the little filter drawer thingy in no time flat. (Only like ten minutes or so.) I pour the pot full of water into the back of the coffee pot, spilling less than half, and decide that there's no point in just standing there. I'm on a roll, dang it! While the coffee is brewing, I head down the hall. I am no longer shuffling, but am not yet running, so I simply walk toward the shower. Oh yeah! I'm that good!
I shower and dress in record time. I have no idea what comes over my brain, but something actually occurs to me. Not being familiar with this unusual occurrence, I wonder for a moment what the abnormal sensation in my head is. Then I realize that I am aware of something and attempt to decipher what it might be. Oh yes! Today is the last day to pay my electric bill before they tack on a ten-dollar late fee. Well, not on my watch, buddy! I'm going downtown...
I grab my coat and keys but forget my purse as I charge out the door to pay my electric bill before I acquire the dreaded late fee. I start the car and go zooming at a low rate of speed out of the parking lot. I get to city hall and smile smugly to myself about my well-positioned parking space. I get out of the car just in time to realize that I can't pay my electric bill if I don't have my purse. I unlock the car door and get back in. I groan to myself an inaudible phrase. I'm not quite sure what I said, but I think I heard the words "wish" and "coffee" in there somewhere.
I slink back home to get my purse. I see the coffee, but don't want to take the time to drink any right now. I'm too busy pouting and cursing myself anyway. Oh well, I'll be back in a few minutes. I'll drink some then. I get back to City Hall and pay my bill. Yesterday was the last day to pay the bill without incurring the late fee. Did I not remember today's date or was it the date of the deadline I forgot? I remember now that I knew last month, and every month before that for the past year, but why didn't I know an hour ago? Now I'm really confused. Oh well, maybe next time I'll remember. I pay the bill AND the late fee and walk back to my car that is now parked a block away.
By the time I get home, I'm exhausted from the day's emotional roller coaster ride. I decide that nothing about life is fair and I hover over the pot of coffee, glowering at it as if to say, "you look so good... but at this point... I'm so tired... the very thought of you... makes me sick." It's afternoon by now and I contemplate my day and my life wondering where I went wrong. Am I a victim of a problem beyond my control or is it like many people seem to insinuate (directly or indirectly) that it is somehow a matter that I could control if only I tried harder, tried better, tried to get right with God etc.?
I wonder if it seems like it's been a few minutes or a few days since I woke up this morning. I consider how good it would be to finally drink that cup of coffee, but I'm so tired that the room is dancing in circles around me. I collapse face first onto the nearest horizontal surface to await restoration... or at least rest. I'll figure it all out later... after all, I'm sure it will still be there and all still need figuring out.
Fibromyalgia Alternative Treatment Links
- Ayurvedic Treatment of Fibromyalgia (CFS)
- Ayurveda is a medical therapy that originated in India centuries ago. It's now being rediscovered, especially as a means to treat health issues that don't respond well western medicine.
- Improve Your Health by Following Fibromyalgia Alternative Therapies
- More fibromyalgia alternative therapy information.
- Fibromyalgia Alternative Therapies
- Explains many alternative therapies for fibromyalgia, including my favorite... "Humor Therapy"!
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Thanks :)
Great story, you made me understand things I never would have
Posted July 11, 2008
