While each person with fibromyalgia experiences the condition differently, one thing most fibro warriors have in common is fighting other peoples’ doubt that fibro is a “real” condition. Lady Gaga, who first opened up about having fibromyalgia last year while promoting her documentary “Gaga: Five Foot Two,” revealed exactly what she would say to those who are questioning her pain.
Gaga appeared at the MTV Movie and TV Awards to announce “Five Foot Two” had won Best Music Documentary and to present “Black Panther” with the Best Movie award, and spoke to Variety backstage after the taping on Saturday about the documentary, which chronicled her illness and raised awareness of the condition.
“I made a decision really early on that I wanted Chris [Moukarbel, the film’s director] to have full access to me and my life. I just blocked the cameras out so they could capture the realities of my life,” she said.
“To anyone that doesn’t believe in fibromyalgia: I dare you to spend five minutes in my body on a day when I’m in pain, and then try and say it again.”
In January, Gaga’s “Joanne” world tour was cut short due to her severe pain.
“I’m so devastated I don’t know how to describe it. All I know is that if I don’t do this, I am not standing by the words or meaning of my music. My medical team is supporting the decision for me to recover at home,” she said at the time.
Gaga is making her film debut in “A Star Is Born” in October. She’s also beginning a Las Vegas residency at the MGM Park Theater in December.
It is a good way to restart your body, as it gives chance to your immune system to increase the fight against symptoms of fibromyalgia. The toxins in your body can be released and you are more able to fight against the symptoms of fibromyalgia by doing cleanse.
Where the toxins are present in your digestive system, as it tries to release them from your body. So, you just accelerate the process for your body by doing cleanse. The toxic materials are effectively and quickly get out of the digestive system with the help of cleansing, in order to replace those cells with nutrition and energy.
The process of riding digestive system of the toxins that are presently held in there is called “cleanse”. Cleaning out the kidneys, liver, and bowel with a diet which is rich in nutrients is a part of cleansing. The process of cleansing allows you to restart the immune and digestive system by quickly getting rid of the toxins and creates a clean state.
Various kinds of cleanses are available. Some of those cleanse involve additional juicing vegetables or vitamins. You should talk to your doctor first before starting digestive systems cleanse because if you have some medical conditions, it can be harmful to you.
If toxins get removed from the digestive system, it will help in decreasing pain and muscle stiffness for people with fibromyalgia. All your efforts are spent on getting rid of the toxins when your body is full of toxins and you don’t get enough time to reduce pain and inflammation.
Your body starts to spend less time on toxic cleanup when you start taking some positive elements through a vegetable juice cleanse. Instead, cleanse will help your toxins to get washed away in your digestive tract. If these toxins get removed, the cells are then filled up with the positive ingredients from cleansing, like some minerals and vitamins from your vegetable juices. The toxins more easily get removed by drinking lots of water during cleansing.
An autoimmune system is in charge of a lot of things and those who suffer from fibromyalgia mostly feel like their autoimmune system is working overtime. Your system gets a chance to relax, to restart and to reboot for a new fight against their illness by doing cleanse. The toxins that have built up in your body over years will be removed by a digestive system cleanse. Your autoimmune system will not need to work really hard by having digestive system cleanse. It is believed that when an autoimmune system gets a chance to relax, it helps in reducing symptoms of fibromyalgia instantly.
Various types of cleanses are available out there. Some cleanses have strict guidelines while others have not very strict guidelines. Vegetable or juice cleanses and chemical cleanses are the main cleanses. Juicing fresh vegetables and fruits are involved in the juice cleanse that provides your body with a large amount of pure nutrition. It is highly recommended, not to eat or drink anything while having a juice cleanse, as it will allow your body to focus on ridding itself of toxins. People have done a juice cleanse in 3 to 10 days, but there are people who have done it for a long time span.
Chemical cleanse is another type of cleanse. The person takes herbs, pills and other natural products in this cleanse, as it helps in releasing the toxins. Usually, in conjunction with some particular diet plan like just eating vegetables, this cleanse is done. There are some people who also do the colon cleanse or enema with this chemical cleanse for getting rid of the toxins from the body.
Before starting to cleanse, it is important to reduce the intake of those products that are toxic. You need to eliminate some of the items that include sodas, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and saturated fats. Eliminating these items from your diet will help you in suffering fewer side effects when the cleanse starts.
There are some ingredients like sugar and caffeine that can cause nausea, headaches and other physical discomforts when stopped abruptly. You can switch your diet to a plant-based diet that involves salads and other light food items before starting to cleanse, just to prepare your digestive system.
Headaches, stomachs upset, constipation and agitation are the most common side effects of cleansing. Your body may go to some withdrawals from the substances, as it works to get rid of the toxins. Before starting to cleanse, if you prepare a diet, it can help you avoid these side effects and make you feel good during the whole process.
While having cleanse, shakiness or dizziness is often felt by some people. So, it is really important to discuss with your doctor if you are facing some side effects. A common problem with cleanse is low sodium and it can be treated as early as possible. Try to build some system with your doctor, so you can be monitored during the process of cleansing with blood tests and checkups.
As fibromyalgia is a never-ending illness and it can lead people to struggle hard to fight against pain and soreness for a longer time period. So, refreshing your body with cleansing is a perfect way to be able to fight against fibromyalgia. a lot of cleanses are available and vegetable juice cleansing is a popular one.
Reset your system and give your bodies a chance to reboot and restart by using cleanse. You will notice that you are getting more energy and power to get rid of the toxins that are present in a digestive system. It is important for all the people to discuss you’re cleansing with your doctor before using it. Your doctor can give you advises or recommendation about what will be safer for you or suit you.
There are several things that should be kept in mind before appearing as a volunteer for any medical survey or a clinical trial. The newly discovered medicines or therapies related to certain medical conditions and diseases are tested for their results in clinical trials.
In order to launch any treatment or medicine for any syndrome, a successful clinical trial is very important. The victims of fibromyalgia always have eager to present themself for any clinical trial in hope of getting relieved from the symptoms but this decision should be taken very precisely.
There are all chances of success and failure of the trial process. So they should be ready for any consequences and after-effects of the procedure. This volunteer aid can be highly risky in case of failure of the treatment.
The process of testing new drugs or therapies on the human body is said to be a clinical trial. After a successful trial performed on the animals and confirmation by the FDA, the trial is done on humans. This is done after successful clinical studies and observations.
Various groups and subgroups of the volunteers are made. A placebo-a sugar pill with no effects at all but resembling the drug pill is given to one group. Tests are done in order to check the effects of the trial medicine taken by the people for a specific period of time. It is kept secret for both the volunteers and the doctors which group is provided with actual drug pill and which one is having a placebo to avoid any inconsistency of the results.
Such trials can be conducted for any treatments that may or may not involve any drugs. A recent trial was done to determine the impacts of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment for fibromyalgia patients. The neurochemical imbalances are altered through transmitting electrical current into the central nervous system using a specially designed machine. This clinical trial process does not involve any drugs. The trial involved providing actual TMS therapy to one group while the other group received trial therapy with no effects.
-Drug or therapy is provided for a specific period of time
-Placebo treatment for eliminating any effects of the trial procedure is given for two weeks
-Thorough observation is made at every level of the process
People fulfilling the requirements of age, gender, a lifestyle that has the medical state for which the drug or therapy is made are mainly focused to carry out the clinical process. There are special criteria for the volunteers so the researchers select the people according to the requirements and criteria for the specific process. The criteria for any trials related to fibromyalgia are developed by the American College of Rheumatology.
Some processes demand the people who have never undergone any medical treatment or therapy while some involve the patients who have not recovered from the syndrome after trying almost every available treatment or therapy.
People should keep in mind every factor involving their ease to have a regular visit to the clinic that is far most important throughout the process. It is a lengthy process so decisions should be made carefully for volunteering yourself for the trial. Visiting the lab at right time and providing proper information about the condition is very important.
The research must be approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the trial should be approved by FDA. The studies based on ethical standards and risk to participants should be approved by Institutional Review Board (IRB) must approve
The tests are performed for the drug or treatment that has not been introduced as a proper remedy and observed extensively so the risk of any adverse effects of the process is equally present. So people eager to present themselves as a volunteer should be properly and completely guided by the consequences associated with the treatment. A proper survey should be done to determine that people deeply understand the level of their participation, as well as any risks involved.
One of the biggest issues of having fibromyalgia is the pain that is felt in eleven different pressure points throughout the body.
But while the most noticeable thing one feels having fibromyalgia is physical pain and people with fibromyalgia also suffer from another kind of pain and that is the emotional side of things.
The true and clear symptoms of fibromyalgia include stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, cognitive issues, sleeping problems and mood disorder.
Unfortunately, it is true that the more the emotional pain is felt by a person, the worse their physical pain becomes. Therefore, if this emotional pain is not controlled, the physical pain will not get better as well.
Fibromyalgia is a complex and mysterious chronic disease, but it goes untreated for a long time period, it will have the worse effect on your life even in doing routine activities. It will be much harder for you to take care of the house and do work at your job.
You can look for the professional treatment, but it would be great if you start controlling fibromyalgia on your own. The first step in controlling fibromyalgia is controlling the emotional pain. You should not let your fibromyalgia control you.
In this article, we are going to discuss the types of emotional pain a fibromyalgia patient can feel and one of the best ways to control it (slow and controlled breathing).
Depression and anxiety are the two most predominant forms of emotional pain a fibromyalgia patient feels. These two can be experienced simultaneously often times.
The extreme sadness that a patient feels all day is depression. Depression is not the same as feeling down in the dumps after a bad dad. Depression is actually feeling sad throughout every single day, no matter how good or bad your day is.
It is common for a fibromyalgia patient to act in a bad way by lashing out against others, crying or feeling angry when he/she is depressed. These are all normal symptoms of depression.
Feeling worried and fearful in an almost anxious manner over little things is anxiety. A small feeling of your heart racing over going to job interview is not the same thing as chronic anxiety, just like as the temporary feeling of sadness is not the same as depression. If you feel anxious and fearful about every little thing that happens in your day is actually anxiety.
The two most critical emotional pains that a fibromyalgia patient feels, is depression and anxiety. But, having more depression and anxiety will result in more physical pain.
Of course, there are medications and therapies that you can take to deal with your problem. But you can also try slow and controlled breathing if you want to deal with your problem on your own before looking for a professional help.
According to a recent study by ‘Pain’, a reputable medical journal, slow breathing can help in controlling a person’s emotional pain.
The emotional pain can extremely become reduced by simple exercises like meditating, sitting down and breathing slow or even doing yoga.
The study of ‘Pain’ took twenty-seven different women who showed clear fibromyalgia symptoms and also reported to have both physical and emotional pain.
The same study also picked 25 different women who were totally healthy and most of the same age as the women with fibromyalgia.
Altogether, fifty-two women were in the study and the researchers asked them to practice slow and controlled breathing. All the women from both the groups, with and without fibromyalgia reported having less emotional distress and reduced pain subsequently.
However, less emotional distress and physical pain were reported by women without fibromyalgia.
So, the women without fibromyalgia considered having more benefits of this as compared to women with fibromyalgia, but the fact is that every woman in the study reported having less emotional and physical pain after having slow and controlled breathing.
This was the first study in which slow and controlled breathing was taken into consideration. In addition to this, no specific breathing method was used in the study.
The women were just asked to slow down their breathing and control it and they find it effective. So, you can choose any method to breathe slowly and it should work for you.
Still, we have limited knowledge about fibromyalgia and the diagnosis of fibromyalgia is very difficult as well. The reason can be overlapping of the symptoms with other chronic diseases and conditions.
But if you have reported less pain in the study, maybe it doesn’t matter that you are having fibromyalgia. Why spend all the money on knowing whether you officially have fibromyalgia or not?
Why not try a controlled and slow breathing technique to control the pain, if you are feeling pain and pain symptoms.
Stress can be controlled by slow and controlled breathing beside depression, anxiety and physical pain.
Stress can be controlled by this technique because it can balance out the nervous system. The nervous system causes a person to react to stress by increasing the person’s heart rate and blood pressure and causes the person to perspire and sweat.
Slow and controlled breathing technique can control the nervous system and think of this nervous system as an accelerator for feeling stress.
From all the above discussion, you should come to know that you also have emotional pain and not just physical pain. You can also visit a professional for help but try slow and controlled breathing exercises will help you in controlling stress, depression and anxiety for a longer time period on your own.
In today’s world, various different techniques are available that help in fighting against fibromyalgia. Now, you can look at the world of alternative therapies, if the traditional medications and therapies are not working well for you. One form of alternative therapy is Watsu therapy that is found to be effective and relaxing.
Therapist performs some gentle movements in a warm pool of water that helps in relaxing the patients. The physical, as well as the psychological effects of fibromyalgia, gets reduced in Watsu therapy. It is important to talk to your doctor before starting any new therapy or exercise.
Mostly, some physicians will not have any concerns related to Watsu therapy, but if you are suffering from a heart condition, it is not right for you to be in the warm water for a longer time period.
Stretching, shiatsu massage and a little bit of dance are combined in this water therapy. This therapy is performed in warm water and throughout the movements, the therapist constantly holds the patient. A cradle hold or back floating is usually used by the therapist so that he can manipulate the body of the patient into the necessary Watsu movements.
This alternative therapy is used in conjunction with the traditional therapy to battle against different diseases. People with fibromyalgia find combination of gentle movements and warm water to be really helpful and effective for their symptoms. In Watsu therapy, the deep breathing techniques are also found to be effective and helpful as a relaxation method outside of the pool.
Watsu massage and other massage therapies have similar physical effects on people with fibromyalgia. Warm water in Watsu massage is one of the benefits of it, as it is not available with typical massage techniques. A decrease in respiratory rate is also a positive physical effect of this therapy, as it brings an overall muscle relaxation all over the body.
The pain is decreased with the release in muscle soreness and tension. The stimulation of the massage gives a boost to the immune system and this result in pain reduction throughout the body.
Better digestion and sound sleep are other important physical effects for people having issues with these. When you start a new treatment like Watsu therapy, keeping a journal can help you in noticing the changes that you feel physically in the entire treatment process.
The stress in the mind is reduced when the stress and tension in the body are released. The mental side effects of the illness also occur in people who have fibromyalgia. The psychological effects due to fibromyalgia can also be reduced by Watsu massage.
People who are suffering from fibromyalgia also struggle with another emotion, anxiety. An idea constantly revolves in the mind that you will feel pain and will find it hard to move, even in those days when you are not feeling any pain.
So, anxiety over the pain can be reduced by Watsu massage process, and make you feel more energetic and empowered to move forward in your life. People with fibromyalgia often show the immediate overall positive effects of Watsu massage.
You can feel uncomfortable when you start this new Watsu therapy technique. It is important for you to feel comfortable with your therapist, as the sessions are held face to face. You need to have a level of trust for that therapist because he/she will be holding you throughout the session.
The therapist will also provide an overall session outside the pool to go over techniques and answers to your questions. For feeling for comfortable, you can also watch another session before starting your session.
It will take some time to get comfortable with it because this therapy and massage is a close pattern of movements. It is completely fine that you don’t feel comfortable at the start of this therapy. You can discuss with your therapist if you have any concerns about the therapy treatment.
The Watsu therapy session and other physical therapy or massage sessions have a similar cost that is around $100 per hour. Most often, there are some places who will offer you a discount on a contract of six or more visits. Watsu therapy can also be performed at your local warm pool by individual therapists.
These pools are not those typical ones in which you swim with your family, as this Watsu therapy is performed in a warm temperature pool of approximately 95 degrees. This type of pool is often found in high-level gyms and they offer special classes and to help the people with joint problems.
You can call at your local warm water pool to know the availability of the Watsu therapist or you can ask them if they know some other pools that have the availability of Watsu therapist. This therapy is becoming more and more popular, so now it can be easy for you to find a Watsu therapist near you.
The best way to control your health and recovery is to work on different type of treatments to deal with your fibromyalgia. The best to reduce symptoms and pain is to try new and creative techniques.
There is no need to stick with boring traditional medicine for fighting against fibromyalgia. Instead of this, you can now try different new techniques such as Watsu therapy. Of course, you will need some time to get used to it, as it is in warm water and one on one therapy. This therapy is really uplifting and calming.
You can enjoy the sessions as much as you want and you will notice that this therapy is providing you with consistent benefits to your body and your mind. Before starting Watsutherapy, consult with your doctor and therapist to ensure whether this treatment is suitable for you or not.
There are a lot of patients of fibromyalgia that are prescribed with Zoloft. Because, the worst symptoms of fibromyalgia are depression and anxiety, so fibromyalgia patients are often prescribed with antidepressants. Most often, fibromyalgia may be causing these symptoms or these symptoms can be an underlying cause.
Usually, doctors prescribe antidepressants for fibromyalgia to relieve the symptoms of anxiety and depression. A person may also feel pain relief because of these antidepressants. These antidepressants also help such people who find trouble in sleeping. Zoloft is one of the antidepressants that are prescribed for fibromyalgia.
Zoloft is a brand name for sertraline which is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Some of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants include SSRIs. For treating anxiety and depression, Zoloft (sertraline) is prescribed which one of the most prescribed SSRIs. A lot of doctors also prescribe Zoloft for fibromyalgia sufferers for treating the concurring anxiety and depression as well as for treating the disease itself.
As we have mentioned that it is a brand name for sertraline, which is an antidepressant in the group of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). It is not completely understood how SSRIs work, but it is believed by the researchers that they restore chemical balance in the brain or affect the positive communication between the central nervous system and the nerve cells.
Either Zoloft is used by itself or it is used in a combination with other drugs for the patients who have panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Zoloft is also prescribed by many doctors for chronic fatigue syndrome, seasonal affective disorder and fibromyalgia.
According to the research, SSRIs like Zoloft are effective in helping the people to sleep, can improve the overall well-being and also helps in giving pain relief resulting in fewer effects on the tender points and fatigue from fibromyalgia.
Moreover, Zoloft can also provide some relief from the anxiety because anxiety and fibromyalgia are often diagnosed together. There are more than 20% of people who are diagnosed with fibromyalgia and anxiety together. Usually, depression and fibromyalgia also go hand in hand, so Zoloft that is an SSRI antidepressant, also provide some relief from fibromyalgia depression. Zoloft does help in treating some of the conditions that are secondary to fibromyalgia even if it doesn’t directly treat fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgiaflares can be caused by the stressful life events that lead towards anxiety and then it turns into a vicious cycle of pain and anxiety. These flares are prevented by SSRIs like Zoloft. You may find yourself better for dealing with the day to day stressors and anxiety that leads you towards flares by using Zoloft. It is worth knowing that Zoloft will help in preventing flares.
It is common in many people when they are unable to perform their routine activities make you feel depressed. It also feels depressed when you are unable to care for your children or going to the job affects badly on your life. Zoloft can help you in managing all these depressed feelings. There may be an improvement in ability to perform daily activities like driving, shopping, doing the job by taking Zoloft.
In a study, 70 female patients were traced for six months for the comparison of the efficacy of Zoloft to physical therapy. The study revealed that better outcomes were showed for pain, morning stiffness and sleep problems in people with fibromyalgia than the patients that were treated with ultrasonography and physical therapy.
Zoloft also have some side effects just like other medications and some of these can be unpleasant. During the first 10 days of taking Zoloft, a lot of people report in having a feeling of nausea which wears off as your body gets used to it. Taking higher dosages of Zoloft may result in weight gain. So, it is something that should be taken into consideration before taking Zoloft. If you have any concerns about taking Zoloft, talk to your doctor.
Following are some side effects that you should tell your doctor if they continue:
at last, you need an immediate medical attention if you ever experience black or blood stools, blurred vision, vomits that seems like coffee grounds, eye pain, swelling or redness of the eyes, widened pupils, or vision changes. A lot of internet forums are dedicated to fibromyalgia if you are concerned about how Zoloft affects you. It also includes many forums that specifically discuss taking Zoloft for fibromyalgia. Ask other people if they use Zoloft for fibromyalgia and also ask them how it is working.
Like all other SSRIs, Zoloft is only available by prescription, so you need to have a prescription from a medical provider who can write it for you. SSRI can also be a good option for you if your fibromyalgia is accompanied by depression or anxiety. Some providers are also there that are trained specifically in the treatment of fibromyalgia, so you should find a specialist. Consult your doctor whether or not you should take Zoloft for fibromyalgia.
Constant aches, pains and discomfort are felt by people with fibromyalgia. Fortunately, there are a lot of medications approved for fibromyalgia such as Lyrica that helps in dealing with the symptoms of fibromyalgia. But unfortunately, these medications do not respond equally to every person.
A new drug has been discovered that help a lot of people who cannot take other fibromyalgia medications. One problem this medication has it is that it is not prescribed by the doctors and a lot of insurance companies haven’t covered it yet. Xyrem is this new medication. Originally, it was used to help patients with narcolepsy.
As Xyrem was meant to get you into a deep sleep, recent studies have shown some positive results from Xyrem in people with fibromyalgia. When we get a full night sleep, we feel best and fresh, and people with fibromyalgia know that it gets impossible for them to sleep all night due to constant severe pain.
Xyrem is useful in solving this problem. You just need to take it two times per night that will get you into a deep sleep of almost 9 hours. Can you just imagine how well you will feel after a deep sleep? There are a lot of doctors who agree that this medication is effective for fibromyalgia people.
And many studies have proved this theory to be true. According to a study, patients felt less pain and improved energy after taking Xyrem for 3-4 weeks.
Why aren’t doctors prescribing it, if it is a miracle drug for fibromyalgia treatment? Well, the answer seems tricky. The root ingredients of Xyrem have a bad repute. Gamma Hydroxybutyrate or GHB is present in Xyrem. You may have heard about GHB in the news because it is related with the college-going people who offer this drug to other people illegally. It is morally wrong to misuse this narcolepsy medication. That is why doctors avoid prescribing it and getting it too much out into the public.
And this is also the reason you haven’t heard about Xyrem that it helps in treating fibromyalgia. But, doctors are not slowly accepting the fact that it is really effective for fibromyalgia sufferers. It can help in giving deep and restful sleep which allows the people to heal their mind and bodies.
In this age of advanced and progressive development in medical science, it is still a difficult task to understand Fibromyalgia.
The only clarified fact about fibromyalgia is that it is a genuine syndrome and affects millions of people every year but the cause and cure are still to be known.
Some of the experts have consented that it is a neurobiological or a functional somatic disorder, while most of them agree on the fact that its growth is strongly related to a certain imbalance of the neurochemical elements in the brain that lead the central nervous system to process the pain in a wrong way. However, a lot of research is still to be made.
The actual causes are still not clear. However, there are certain factors that may prove to be a risk for developing the syndrome like genetics, diet, stress, and other psychological elements.
Stress is a source of creating abnormalities in the neuro-chemical brain elements, which eventually lead to Fibromyalgia. Depression and anxiety are also strongly related to this syndrome, but it is still not clearly identified whether they are the actual cause of the syndrome or not.
The only clearly accepted fact about the symptom is that the patient experiences pain all over the body. But this fact is related to many other symptoms and disorders so it makes its diagnosis very complicated.
The common symptoms related to it are headaches, fatigue, sleep disturbances, irritable bowel, weak limbs, tingling, and numb fingers and extremities.
The proper cure for the disorder remains a mystery until its root cause is not identified. Its symptoms are treated separately and there is a number of things prescribed and recommended by the doctors in these cases.
But most commonly doctors recommend carrying the natural/alternative remedies to suppress the symptoms like yoga, meditation, acupuncture, Tai-Chi, and so on. A simple workout routine like walking or relaxing proves to be very beneficial.
Diet is always an important thing to be healthy and fit. It plays a vital role to reduce the risk associated to develop the disease and eventually ameliorating its symptoms. Good nutrition is important even for healthy living and being a patient it is really important to focus on your diet.
Fast food is a fast way to develop a number of health-related issues like heart, stomach, and waistline problems. But when you become a victim of Fibromyalgia, things can get even more complicated. Fast Food has a lot of “bad” fats that lead you to a worse condition.
The stomach is most endangered to be affected by this type of food. Moreover, it affects the energy levels in your body and does not provide essential nutrients required by the body.
It is enticing to enjoy your favorite movie and have a whole bag of gummy bears or chips, but so far it is one of the worst choices you make. You just enjoy it at the moment but unfortunately, such things are creating serious troubles inside your body.
Additives can produce serious problems related to the stomach and limit the dosage of essential nutrients required by the body to function properly. Moreover, certain additives actually influence the way your neurons perceive pain and make your condition even worse.
Sweets are not found good for patients with Fibromyalgia. Sweet chocolates or cakes may give you pleasure and you feel better, but in the long run, they promote fatigue and increase the chances of chronic yeast infection.
Fibromyalgia patients often suffer from bad sleeping patterns. Disturbed sleep or sleepless nights makes them feel tired during the day and in this situation, the greatest and simplest method of charging yourself seems to be a cup of coffee or tea.
But unfortunately, this is a bad choice because it will only lead you to more disturbed sleeping patterns and deprive you of adequate sleep required by the body.
These foods can prove to be good and bad depending on the patient. They contain Calcium and Vitamin D that are essential for people trying to ameliorate the symptoms of Fibromyalgia. However, some of the patients are very sensitive to these kinds of foods and thus they should avoid them.
So what we concluded is that we require a lot of healthy food in order to fight against Fibromyalgia. Fish contains omega 3 fatty acids that are important to reduce inflammation, and so do walnuts and other similar products.
Fruits and vegetables provide you with sustainable energy and will help you stay active throughout the day. However, avoid eggplant, tomatoes, and other similar vegetables as they are likely to make symptoms worse.
Empirical evidence dominate western cultures. It means that we don’t believe it to be real if we can’t see it, touch it, taste it, hear it or smell it. We have separated the mind from the body both medically and philosophically so distinctly that the concept of dealing with the intangible illnesses (either in a physical form of pain or emotional anguish) becomes a trouble instead of a compassion. When you are dealing with fibromyalgia, it is easy for you to get frustrated with the friends who are not capable of understanding the extent of your overwhelming pain and energy loss.
A distressing fear is there that you will say too much about your symptoms or pain that it will potentially push away colleagues or casual friends. It is also concerning that sometimes even your close friends get tired of hearing about symptoms and pain that you are having. It also happens that you would have to cancel all the plans for tomorrow that you have made when you felt great because you may not be able to get out of the bed in the morning and would have to cancel the plan with your friends again for like third time in a row.
So what do we need to do? Dr. Elena V. Gonzales, a clinical psychologist, in a candid piece published by National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association says, “We can allow chronic pain to teach us how to be a better friend or allow it to isolate and limit our friendship”. She also adds, “The experience of chronic pain teaches us lessons of the importance of understanding, caring and compassion in relationships. It is important to both be able to give and to receive these gifts of friendship.”
When your friends lack a clear understanding of fibromyalgia and feel annoyed by your chronic pain and fatigue, just keep in mind that our culture has taught them to be that way. Thus, an opportunity is there for you to show them compassion. Let’s face it. You control the only one thing in a relationship and that is yourself. You can’t just force the other person to understand or have compassion, but you can make yourself understand and can be responsible for yourself. There are many things that you are dealing with, so why heap on more responsibility for others?
Many of us have a friend who is living the life of a true extrovert, who is always traveling, planning parties and attending all the major social scenes. These kinds of friends may seem like a positive person and friendly, but they may also be the least likely to understand chronic pain and fatigue. Dr. Gonzales encourages those people who are having fibromyalgia and gradually educate friends who are unable to understand the limitations that are required due to fibromyalgia or even unable to participate in normal activities with friends and family. So, acting as a part of gradual instruction, you are also supposed to mention the way this chronic pain deprives you or your sense of well-being, thus taking an extensive emotional clang on you as well.
Up till now, you might be thinking why even bother with friends? Why even care? Because these friendships bring comfort and this comfort results in healing, and the people who need this healing are the ones who have this chronic pain. Dr. Gonzales has also added, “ Friends can’t take the pain away but they can hear you out and respond with validation and comfort for the losses you are experiencing.”
Let’s know one thing. Some friends are there with whom it is simply a burden or too much work to maintain a friendship. They are not accepting their responsibilities and continuously rely on you to make them happy and contented. Of course, this case also happens with most of the people whether they have fibromyalgia or not. So, you may have to let go of some of those fair-weather friends and that is completely fine. You have this right and you can do it without any guilt. Moreover, excluding those friends may help in getting you deep into your existing relationships as well as giving you time for your health.
The most important takeout here is that when it comes to relationships, you have to allow yourself to be responsible for you alone. Yes, that sounds mean as you think. This is really nor selfish to take care of yourself and allowing yourself guilt-free permissions to do such things, as all these things can help you in sustaining long-term friendships that are important to health. Just be a friend of yourselves and treat yourself the way you would treat your other friends. And that is how you endure friendships when this fibromyalgia gets in your way.
When you have fibromyalgia, your whole life becomes frightening. Fibromyalgia treatment is very much difficult since it is not known what causes it. One main feature that makes it a lot more difficult to understand this illness is that the symptoms of fibromyalgia vary a lot. Different people having fibromyalgia have different experiences. Of course, most of us deal with the generic symptoms, but the severity, triggers and combinations are across the board. Chronic pain, memory problems, mood disorders, sleep issues, depression and anxiety are some key symptoms that we all are familiar with. Thus, fibromyalgia seems to be mysterious sometimes. Certain options are there that permits you to treat more than one of the symptoms at a time.
Usually for treating fibromyalgia symptoms, a medication from the family of drugs that are known as “antidepressants” is prescribed. These antidepressants are prescribed to fibro patients even if depression is not an overwhelming symptom. These come from a highly effective branch of drugs called SSNRIs or SNRIs (Selective Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors).
Neurotransmitters produced by the body are acted upon by SNRIs such as Cymbalta. Normally, these chemicals carry out important functions within the brain. In this case, their importance is easier to understand by looking at their side effects from when the neurotransmitters do not function properly: the results include memory loss, depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, health issues such as neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia and much more. This may give you a closer look into the precarious role that neurotransmitters play in your health and overall well-being.
SNRIs help the brain in proper processing of neurotransmitters within the brain. Although it is not completely known by the researchers how it works. Usually, it is done by the brain automatically. However, this is not the case for people with anxiety, depression and fibromyalgia. The neurotransmitters broke down and reabsorbed into the components parts instead of carrying out their proper function within the brain. So, SNRIs help in bonding the neurotransmitters and it also forces them to stay in the brain until they are absorbed properly. Once these neurotransmitters are absorbed, the brain then uses them properly and the expected benefits that they provide are then experienced. People with major depression disorder, anxiety as well as fibromyalgia have found SNRIs to be effective.
Cymbalta (duloxetine) is a particular SNRI that is proved to be effective for both people having fibromyalgia and mood disorders. Cymbalta is widely prescribed to fibromyalgia sufferers by healthcare practitioners. A lot of fibromyalgia symptoms can be minimized by Cymbalta like depression, anxiety, musculoskeletal pain, brain fog and so on.
It is important to keep this in mind that everyone is different. No two bodies can be same, so no two people will experience the exact same things and exact same results whether in terms of positive or negative. Make it sure if you are using any other medication before your doctor prescribes Cymbalta for your fibromyalgia. Medications, as well as health or herbal supplements, are also included in it. Sometimes, the prescription medications also get interacted dangerously with the naturopathic herbs that you are taking to treat fibromyalgia.
So, it is important to let your doctor know about everything you are using and its effect on you, either good or bad. It is also important to follow the directions in regards to the proper dosages. Sometimes the medications become toxic and lead towards organ damage or may even die.
The side effects of Cymbalta
No doubt, Cymbalta can be very beneficial to people having fibromyalgia, but people should be aware of the side effects that come with it, just like other medications. These are not limited to, but include:
Everyone will be thinking that fibromyalgia is such an overwhelming condition. So, why would I take something that would cause some of the symptoms that I need to fix? Yes, this is a valid concern. Like other SNRIs, Cymbalta is also proved to be effective for treating fibromyalgia symptoms. Yet some of the patients can’t take because Cymbalta may make some symptoms worse. You need to do research on your own as well as you have to consult your doctor and should do a trial run of Cymbalta. You and your doctor need to determine what is best for you.
