fibromyalgia/the princess and the pea

Hi everyone!

As promised, below is the diet you should be using. Actually, it is not so much a diet as a way of life eating. The interesting effect I have found from eating this way for the last 6 months, is that I no longer crave sweets in the afternoon, or ever. I am never hungry. I eat when I feel a little hunger and I don't need to eat much to feel satisfied. I haven't had nor have wanted a piece of chocolate in 5 months and I am a chocoholic.

I find the easiest way to eat in this manner is to read all ingredients on everything. The less ingredients, the purer the food, and the less likely you will have a reaction to it. It may be allergic or intolerance. But the chances are much less likely.

So try it and enjoy eating, and the absence of pain. I keep a copy of this list in my purse and refer to it when I'm in the restaurant. I have no problem asking the server to ask the chef any questions about any food I might like to order. They are always helpful, and patient. More so than some of my friends, I might add. But I do it anyway. Hey, I'm the one who is going to suffer, not them. So don't be embarrassed. Just ask if you're not sure.

As a by product of my eating this way, I also lost 20 lbs. Now if that doesn't motivate you, the pain will.

Sources of gluten Primary sources:

* wheat (including semolina, durum, spelt, triticale, and Kamut(r) grain)

*rye

* barley

* oats (oats don't naturally contain gluten, but are often subject to contamination with small

amounts and many gluten intolerant people avoid oats).

Hidden sources: (ingredients/additives which may contain gluten)

The source of many of these ingredients must be carefully scrutinized to ascertain whether or not any gluten is present. For example, modified food starch from corn is acceptable, as long as no wheat starch is included. Apple cider vinegar is acceptable, but distilled vinegars may contain gluten. Pure buckwheat or buckwheat flour is acceptable, but many buckwheat flours are contaminated with or have wheat flour added.

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* Binders

* Bleu cheese

* Brown Rice syrup (if barley malt enzyme is used)

* Caramel coloring (made from barley malt enzymes)

* Coatings

* Colorings

* Dextrins

* Dispersing agents

* Emulsifiers

* Excipients (added to prescription medications to achieve desired consistency)

* Extracts (in grain alcohol)

* Fillers

* Flavorings (in grain alcohol)

* Flours, Breads, Cereals, Crackers, Pasta, Sauces & Condiments made with the above listed

grains or their derivatives.

* Grain alcohol (beer, ale, rye, scotch, bourbon, grain vodka)2

* Homeopathic Remedies

* Hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP) hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)

* Malt or Malt Flavoring (Barley malt)

* Modified starch, modified food starch (when derived from wheat)

* Mono- and di-glycerides (made using a wheat starch carrier)

* Oils (wheat germ oil & any oil with gluten additives)

* Preservatives

* Soy Sauce (when fermented using wheat)

* Spices (if containing anti-caking agents)

* Starch (made from grains listed above)

* Vegetable gum (when made from oats)

* Vegetable protein

* Vinegars (distilled clear and white or with a mash starter)

* Vitamin E oil

Good night and sleep and eat well.

Shirley

fibromyalgia / princess and the pea

Hi Everyone!
In my last blog, I talked about diet and the need to move your body. Tomorrow I will post the entire list of foods which you should positively NOT eat. But for right now, I would like to talk about the pain and how to get through it. We talked about medication for sleep and depression. After you have seen your doctor and have found the right medication that works for you for sleep and depression, you might also need to take a pain pill prescribed by your doctor. Perhaps something in the ibuprofen meds. When you get the pain under control, so that it is tolerable, you may begining some mild exercise. Stretching slowly is always a good way to start. Remember that the objective is to get the blood flowing bringing oxygen to your muscles. There will be times when the smallest amount of exercise will be painful.

If you can work through the pain, slowly, you might find that the pain will stop. If it does not stop, then you need to stop the exercise, rest your muscles with moist heat and try again the next day. Too much is not good, so start slowly and for short periods of time. You can lengthen the time as your muscles can work through the pain. Remember to start SLOWLY.

I find that most of the time, when I play tennis, I will have pain in different parts of my body, sometimes my feet, shoulders, elbows, fingers, somewhere, but as I continue to work through the pain, it decreases within minutes. You must also find some form of exercise that you like to do. It is important to look at this exercise as a pleasure and not a chore. Something you can look forward to every day. As you get more into the exercise or sport or whatever, you should do it only every other day. It takes 24 hours for your muscles to recover. In between, you can rest the muscles, use moist heat, and your pain meds.

Eventually, you will not need the pain meds. It might take a month, 6 months, a year, 2 years or whatever. It depends on the level of your pain, and when you are ready to go it alone without the pain meds. It's up to you.

There are many different ways to deal with the pain, along with the exercise. Meditation, as I mentioned, is a wonderful way to focus on your breath and refocus your mind, The more you focus on your breath, and are only aware of the pain, but do not give the pain any thought, it will not be an issue.. Refocusing your mind is one of the most important steps in managing your pain. Not that you don't have it or notice it, just that you don't give it any energy. I know this sounds strange to some of you. But if you just try sitting still for a few minutes and focusing on your breath, you can let me know how that was for you. Just send me a comment and I will discuss it in my next blog.

I hope you will benefit from my experience. It is long, complicated and difficult. But it can be done. I have done it more than once. Each time you have a trauma, you almost need to start over. But it can be done. Right now, I am in a good place, practicing everything I have written about so far, and I play tennis 4 or 5 times a week, play golf once or twice a week, and swim or do water aerobics whenever the weather and the temperature of the pool allows.

Good luck in beginning your journey to healing and living a better life. Stay with it and you will prevail.

So, get some good sleep and will talk tomorrow.
Shirley

princess and the pea/firbromyalgia

Hi Everyone!
Yesterday, I left you with my life style change in my journey of healing. I could just tell you things you could try, like meds, exercise, good sleep, meditate, diet, etc., and you could try any or all of them.

But the truth is, everyone is an individual and each person may have the same pain, but the treatment might be different for each person. So I shall begin with one style change at a time.

When you have established that you do, indeed, have FMS, you need to know your own body very well.

However, the first life change you need to make is to get something or some way to help you get deep good sleep for at least six to eight hours every night. If you want meds, they are all trial and error. You would have to ask your doctor to start you on something that not only helps you sleep, but is also an anti-depressant (not a tranquilizer) It's important to know the difference. An anti-depressant is a serotonin re-uptake medication, which helps increase the serotonin levels in your body. This is very important for your pain and well being.
The tranquilizer will only alleviate the anxiety.

The reason this is a life style change, is that you may not want to take meds. Some people need only take them for a few years or less, until they can make other life style changes that help them. Some pain will always be with you and you will have to learn how to cope with the residual pain. You can do whatever you want to do. That part is in the mind and you do have to train your mind to overcome the myths and sometimes overcome what the doctor tells you that you can and cannot do.

It's your life. It's up to you how you live it. Living with the sensitivity of your skin, muscles, bones, nerves is not easy. Life changes do not come easy. But I guarantee you, that if you take one step at a time, it will all come together and you will work out, play tennis, play golf, walk, swim and do whatever you want to do to have the quality of life that you want.

I cannot stress how important the first step is. which is good sleep with an anti-depressant. I, personally have always done well on Clonopin. A lot of doctors don't like to give that medication, but you have to find the one that works for you. This one works for me and has for many, many years. Although, I must tell you that there was a time when I did not need the meds to sleep well. Later I will tell you how I accomplished that. This period lasted for about 4 years, until I had my next physical trauma and invasive surgery which left more pain, everywhere in my body, than can be imagined.

Each time there is a physical or emotional trauma, you will have more pain. Stress causes the chronic pain that aches so much, and is so insidious, that we cannot stand another level of pain, and we are told that we have a low pain threshold. The truth is that because we are in constant and chronic pain, we cannot take another measure of added pain.

But it can be overcome eventually and can be kept to a level that is hardly noticeable most of the time. Some of it you just get so used to that you don't notice it, when you are living your life.

So start thinking about how you want to live your life.

Get some good sleep, and will talk tomorrow.
Shirley

shirleylifecoach.blogspot.com

Hi Everyone!
Yesterday, I quoted a statistic which my daughter pointed out is not quite accurate, so I am letting you know that the true statistics are that 80-90% of people who have fibromyalgia are women. Ten million have been diagnosed and that adds up to 2-3% of the U.S. population.

Well, my daughter has it and now that I think about the pain my mother used to describe to me over the many years when I did not know what it was called or how to treat it, I believe she also had it. I now believe that it is genetic.

Before you undertake any kind of treatment, you should go to the doctor, preferably a Rheumatologist who believes in fibromyalgia. It is very important to be diagnosed correctly. The reason I say this is because one of my first patients came to see me about the pain she was having, and asked if I could help her manage her pain. She had been diagnosed with Lupus. When we talked about her pain, I said that either she had FMS or I had lupus, because the pain was so closely aligned.

She had done blood tests and was sure that she had lupus and was being treated by a steroid which was popular at that time. When I told her about my pain, she went back to the doctor and found that she indeed had FMS also. I had my blood checked and was relieved to find that I did not have lupus. However, the doctor did want to put me on a massive dose of intravenous steroid, which I thought about for a few minutes and then politely declined, deciding that I would find another way.

I decided that it was time for me to have a life style change. So that is how I started my journey of healing.

Lots to tell you.

Get some good sleep, and will talk to you tomorrow.
Shirley

Fibromyalgia

First I must say that I am a Marriage Family Counselor, Mediator and Life Coach. I am NOT a medical doctor. All of the medical information related in this blog, are my own opinions gathered from my experience, doctors, and research. If you want to know more about my education, licenses and my professional career, you can google: Shirleylifecoach and read my website.

I decided to start this particular blog, because so many people have been calling me to ask me to talk to their friends who have fibromyalgia.

I have lived with this condition for 45 years, but was only diagnosed with it 20 years ago. This is a condition which not many people nor doctors know about, and most doctors do not believe exists. Only those who live with the pain, depression, brain fog and anxiety because no one believes them, know what it feels like.

Ninety-eight percent of women have it and many more men are becoming aware of their symptoms and are being diagnosed. Until the past two years, there has not been any medication, other than drastic measures, prescribed by those few Rheumatologists who do believe it exists.

It is important to first know that, yes, it does exist; yes the pain is real, and no it is not in your head.

I, personally, have gone through many stages from excruciating pain to being paralyzed, to not being able to walk for more than a few steps without pain, to many medications at one time, to times of pain free, depression free, and being able to play tennis, golf, swim and walk without pain, and times of no medication at all.

This is my story. I decided that it was time to share it with those of you who might want to know "what my magic" has been, as one caller put it.

Tomorrow, I will begin to list the variety of symptoms, different ways of handling them, different medications that could be taken, different life styles that can help, plus my own personal story of what really got me started in taking my own life into my own hands, and figuring it out for myself.

For starters, get some good sleep. See you tomorrow.
Shirley