A comprehensive guide on chronic pain, its causes, symptoms, and effective management strategies to improve your quality of life.
You don’t live with chronic symptoms such as pain, fatigue, brain fog, insomnia and the like for over 15 years and not develop any tricks. For my teenage and early adult years my symptoms were ignored by medical professionals and there was very little information about fibromyalgia out there. I had to come up with my own secret weapons for fighting fibromyalgia. After pushing myself through about four years of trying to work full time and…
Having Fibromyalgia is like a roller coaster ride. Most days I just don’t know how I am going to feel. I try to have a positive mindset and I find it helps when I’m around others with a positive mindset as well. However, I realized that not everyone wants to hear or see positivity right now. Frankly, I can understand that – I use to feel that way too. I started to realize I have…
It has been awhile since I sat down to write. Life has been overwhelming, wouldn’t you agree? I’ve been contemplating my place in the world and what I want that place to look like. I’ve shed most of my responsibilities and stayed away from social media, so you might be wondering why now am I deciding to write? Well, to be honest I feel broken and I need to put myself back together. So, let’s…
At the age of thirty-nine I decided to go back to college and finish my degree that I had started over 20 years prior. If I thought college was hard at eighteen, I had no idea what was in store for me. At this time, I was married with three kids and a full-time job. I wondered how I was going to fulfill all my responsibilities. I didn’t know at first what my end goal…
Staring down at my beautiful new son I am filled with love, so much love. I practically imagine his whole life in front of me. How wonderful his life is going to be and how happy we all will be together. I’m not sure if everyone feels this way when they first see their newborn baby or if it’s just me. I don’t care though; I have a son and I am on cloud nine!…
I have spent years (and much pain) in “trial and error” fibromyalgia research to develop the elements of the protocol I have presented here on my website. Fibro is such a complex syndrome that it is difficult for fibromyalgia research to make a “cause and effect” finding for each of the many symptoms. However, my co-condition of MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) makes me hyper sensitive to even, what most people would call, “mild toxins”. And,…
Chronic pain is one of the most devastating of Fibromyalgia symptoms as well as of the other co-conditions such as CFS/ME/MCS. Osteoarthritis, auto immune illnesses and other conditions often accompany fibro as well. Progress in understanding pain mechanisms has been slow until recently. I work to stay up to date on fibromyalgia and pain research. Most studies I read leave my “hope dial” unmoved. Many are so abstract or focused on such minute details that…
How does fibromyalgia affect the lymphatic system? Chronic pain management techniques are called for when lymphatic stagnation exacerbates our fibromyalgia pain. We like to focus on the less invasive remedies for any lymphatic involvement, because if you are living with fibromyalgia, you already have enough side effects from the condition itself. When pain, tension and stagnation of any kind take place in the body, every system is affected; this is often where diseases of various…
Fibromyalgia and lower back pain If you have fibromyalgia, then you have likely experienced fibromyalgia related back pain. With many nerves and muscles in the back and around the spine, this is a vulnerable area for anyone but especially those with fibromyalgia and chronic pain issues. Chronic pain management techniques are often called for with every kind of back, spine and/or nerve related pain. In fact, because lower back pain is more common today, even…
Fibromyalgia patients need to adhere to a regular routine of fibromyalgia exercises. According to the American Council on Exercise (one of my certifying bodies) people with fibromyalgia need to avoid being sedentary. Exercise needs to be tailored to each individual. The safe and effective programs need to include moderate forms of cardio, light stretching, and strength training. As a trainer specializing in fibromyalgia, I like to add that ROM (range of motion) exercises are essential…