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I used to have FMS. I cured it with meditation, acupuncture, swimming, gentle exercise, daily exercising, meridian stretching, Reiki, etc. Basically all kinds of alternative therapies that target both pain levels directly and the psychological relationship with pain. I also eat healthy and make sure to walk every day and do resistance stretching every day to keep it from coming back.
Thanks Helena and Mike - stretching I think is something I really need to do.
Check out stretching with resistance. It's way more effective than simple stretching. I do it every day and it's what keeps me going. Basically the difference is that you stretch as usual, except that you contract your muscles while you stretch them, to give a much fuller stretch. That way you're not just stretching the muscle on the macro level, but also on the micro fiber level as well. It also loosens up dense fascia, which can be major cause of a lot of stiffness and pain.
Fibromyalgia and CFS are often times just undiagnosed adrenal or thyroid issues.
Get a 24 hour Cortisol urinary test or 4x saliva cortisol test
Get a full thyroid panel done, especially the hormone "reverse T3". if reverse t3 is elevated, then you can have hypothyroid symtoms even though tsh, t4, and t3 levels are optimal. most doctors do not even know what rT3 is...
I take Cymbalta and Lyrica for the fibromyalgia. Along with Tylenol Arthritis for pain. I refused to enter into the actual pain pills arena. I watched that wreck havoc on people and I just didn't want to enter that state.
Those two medicines seem to keep the affects of pain quite low. The Rhumatologist
told me the medicine was all for the chemical effects that will work to eliminate pain. It helps greatly.
I have gone to the Chiropractor also, and that helps.
Like most of you the cold weather hurts...cold fronts coming. I had to leave the cold climate and head south. This weather is so much easier on me. Thank goodness.
I got rid of it once by aerobic exercise in a heated physical therapy pool. On the non pool days I had 15 minutes of light aerobic exercises to do. They also tried thyroid but that wasn't it, they tried a few amino acids and that wasn't it.
Then years later I got fibro again from a virus (that's how I got it the first time along with moving heavy furniture out of a house) and this time I had it for two years. My health insurance no longer covered the fibro specialist in Boston so it took a while with my pcp to convince him to let me try the heated pool with special exercises assigned by a physical therapist.
I only went a few times to the pool because I was googling on my own about fibro and came across articles about amino acids. These weren't the same ones the doctors had tried me on years ago though. One of the amino acids worked and I no longer have fibro!!! For me it was an amino acid called L-Glycine and I'm not sure how it worked or why. The theory is that your muscles are not building back up, they are just getting worn down. To build them back up, you need protein and if you cannot metabolize protein, your muscles suffer.
Amino acids work in complicated ways and can also affect seratonin and dopamine, along with many other things. Most of the research is being done outside of the US but at least some is being done. Many years ago I was told NOT to just drink protein drinks but to find which amino acid/s I was deficient in. I still have no idea HOW to know except by trial and error. I don't know if doctors can test for amino acids--I guess there must be a test or the studies that have come out wouldn't be saying the people were low in certain amino acids. The inability to metabolize protein seems to be one of the root causes of illnesses like fibromyalgia.
Every person is unique so what worked for me won't necessarily work for everyone. There is a lot more to learn and doctors just don't know so it becomes a do it yourself job for most of us.
Guess I am an odd one. First off, since I was originally diagnosed in Missouri, I was tested for Lyme and did not have it. I have been tested for so many things that did not fit.
Now, the heat is what kills me, or air pressure changes. We moved from Missouri to South Florida. Instead of dry heat, we now have moist heat and it's worse. Family obligations made us more back to Florida. When those are done, we will be moving to upper NW Washington State. Moderate temps, not a lot or much heat at all, cool temps and very little snow. With the heat here in WPB, FL, I cannot walk much. I have to stay indoors as much as possible. As long as I am cooled down with the A/C and ceiling fans, I am okay, but I miss the outdoors.
I have a lot of allergies and therefore, cannot take ANY medicine for this. I "grin & bear it". I try to stay active in the house and move around, but with 5 and hard tile floors, 2 dogs and a cat, it's not easy.
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