Fibromyalgia: It is what it is...

     At this point in time it isn't clear what causes fibromyalgia. So for this post I will keep the explanation short and focus more on what to do. Fibromyalgia is a disorder that has a lot of different signs and symptoms. The biggest one is pain, primarily in the muscular system of the body like muscles, joints, and tendons. Again, there is no hard evidence of what causes fibromyalgia. Theories range from genetics to stress. The fact is that there is no cure at this time. However there are many, many ways to deal with fibromyalgia as a whole.

     The primary symptoms of fibromyalgia, and most important symptoms to deal with in my opinion are 

1. Wide spread pain
2. Trouble sleeping
3. general feeling of exhaustion

These three create the pyramid that entombs you to the suffering of fibro. Any boxer, martial artist, or MMA fighter can tell you that physical pain is far more exhausting then any other activity. When you look at all the symptoms of fibro, pain is at it's core. Depression, problems concentrating known as "fibro fog," anxiety, tension and migraine headaches, and morning stiffness. All of these symptoms are pain related. So how do we help? In modern medicine most people would say just take some pain killers, but the thing is pain killers just hide pain from us. Being the hollistic hippie I am I wanted to find better ways to assist. 

     The number one thing I decided after looking through treatment options is that you have to get off the couch. It may seem backwards to go work out when you're already over tired, feel exhausted, and hurt all over. Working out is the perfect thing to do though. On top of the normal benefit of being in shape pushing your body makes it better. Maintaining a good level of physical fitness means you're less likely to have unrelated chronic pain, it helps keep your energy up, it's stress relieving, and makes you stretch your muscles. I honestly believe this is the best thing anyone with fibromyalgia can do.

     If you don't want to go to a gym and deal with grunting gross men then there are other alternatives. Try starting a yoga class, It's fun and and effective. yoga pushes balance and core strength while still being calm and focused. Try meditation, most yoga studios have ether a mediation class or practice it during the yoga class. I found this site helpful to learn about and engage in meditation. I've also read that heat is an effective treatment for fibro, so next time you're have a flare try taking a long hot bath, turn on some soothing music and try mediation. Even if it doesn't reduce your pain being in a soothing enviorment like that could be more helpful to you mentally than a medication.

What do you think? Do you deal with Fibromyalgia? What treatment do you find works best?

Please leave comments below about you're fibro experiences and more questions for my next post!

Thanks,

Nicholas