Fellow Fibromyalgia MNers advice please

[MrsDeterminedandSpecialMum]

I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.

Is there anything in my diet I need to eat/avoid to help me feel better?

TIA

If you google fibromyalgia diet then there is some stuff. I have a friend who follows it and is very healthy and active compared to me.

I don't tend to think diet helps me I have tried. I find my attitude depends on work x

Yes, you may well find cutting out some of the common triggers (wheat is one) can be beneficial - this book is worth a read and there's also some information here.

Thanks ladies. The fatigue is awful feeling

Is there anything else you recommend to help especially with fatigue?

Hi MrsDetermined - sorry to hear you have been diagnosed with this and I have nothing to add to help but I hope you don't mind me asking what your symptoms were and how you got a diagnosis? I am feeling very low at the moment - I have neutropenia (in another thread) but wonder if there is something else going on too. Thanks

Hi.,

Well I am extremely tired even after full nights sleep. Excruciating joint pain - top of spine, lumbar spine, hips & knees, also my hands lose strength.

I have Raynards syndrome, Severe joint hypermobility both had from birth.

Mood irritability and slowed digestion.

Hth.

Pincushion is your neutropenia treatable?

Well for the last 2 years I have been having injections (GCSF) which are normally given to chemotherapy patients. It is literally the only thing the haematologists can think of giving me. It has given me a huge boost in that I had some really good phases but just lately I am not rallying as quickly after an injection (every fortnight) and feel dreadful - the exhaustion and headaches being the worst symptom. Fed-up!

Being fed-up is one of my symptoms too!

Bump anything else I can do as feel awful

Pincushion I also get mood swings but its not depression it's like PMT!

I don't get mood swings thankfully but when I feel at my most drained I do get irritable because I just don't have the energy to deal with even the smallest thing. Very fed up today cos feeling particularly rubbish.

Did you get your t4 and t3 tested and also vitamin d? It could be worth getting both checked first. If vit d is low, a high dose supplement could help with the pain. It is often low with autoimmune conditions.

Did you get your t4 and t3 tested and also vitamin d? It could be worth getting both checked first. If vit d is low, a high dose supplement could help with the pain. It is often low with autoimmune conditions.

Pin - that is just like me irritable & snappy esp when exhausted.

Merci - I've just had full bloods taken this week. So waiting for results!

Exercise - but not too strenuous. Even if - and especially if - you don't feel like it. Walking is really good.

Therapy.

I write this as someone who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 11 years ago. From my own experience, and from talking to other fibro sufferers - most of whom are women - I have found there is nearly always a psychological element that is asking for attention. I am not saying fibro isn't physical - heaven knows I know just how debilitating it can be. But there is something to be said for the term 'suppression' - whether it is suppressed anger, shame, or fear.

Which is why I would recommend a multi-pronged approach: dietary, physical and psychological.

Can you explain the psychological part a bit further? As mentally I'm fine maybe a little stressed but okay other than that.

Forgot to add my GP agrees I'm totally fine mentally.

Can I also ask what medication you have been given? Understand if you don't want to say just curious.

If you're totally fine mentally, MrsD, then great. I'm not a fibromyalgia expert; it's just what I've found personally.

My doctor (a rheumatologist) wanted to prescribe Propanalol, but I couldn't take it because I was asthmatic. He also prescribed a very low dose of amytriptiline, which I stopped taking because it spaced me out. Both of those are used to treat anxiety and stress, and apparently the amytriptiline helps with sleep. I preferred to address the underlying causes, which in my case were emotional. My fibromyalgia is a very good indicator of when I am feeling out of control in my life and out of touch with myself. Note: I am not saying this is true for everyone else, or anyone else, for that matter.

I know my fibromyalgia flares up when I'm stressed or exhausted.

I'm on 1000mg Naproxen a day and 30mg of Amitryptiline to help me sleep.

Good luck with your blood test results MrsD.

I had some more done yesterday and another trip to the hospital planned for this week. Feel like I have an ongoing virus at the moment - headaches, nausea, joint pain, dizziness, lethargy etc. No end to it. Just when I think I'm starting to feel a little better it flares up again.

Sorry to hijack your thread!

Pin - it's not hijack its helping both of us.

Hope you get on ok at hospital x

Thank you! I have to go 4 times a year anyway but they are fitting me in because I have got worse recently.

BTW - is your trouble sleeping caused by the pain you suffer or is it another symptom of your condition IFYSWIM? And how do you find Amitryptyline? Does it leave you feeling hungover? I ask because I have terrible trouble sleeping.

I hope you manage to get some rest