Posts from — July 2008

Hi Fibro-CFS Friends,

How many of us have questioned if fibromyalgia-cfs leads to other complications and have been told by medical professionals “No”. Complications of Fibro and CFS are not as straight forward as a direct “yes” or “No” answer.

Wikipedia states that “a complication is an infrequent and unfavorable evolution of a disease, a health condition or a medical treatment.”

This brings into the questions is being tired daily, weight gain, loss of personal relationships and quality time a complication of fibromyalgia-CFS? I say “yes” and Mayo Clinic agrees with me. Mayo clinic elaborates that “the frustrations of dealing with an often misunderstood condition can also be a complication of the condition.”

Care Tip: increase your water intake daily and give up the soda for 2 weeks (I bet you heard this before:) But this time really take action and try it. Let me know if this has helped you with the complication of weight gain? It works! Just because the label reads DIET Soda doesn’t mean you will not gain weight! Think of this as a seriously positive step in Your Fibro-CFS Survivor comeback. It is!

Your friend,
Cheryl

Hi fibro-cfs friends,

Today Fibromyalgia and Stress combatted the gulls that sailed across the sky blue waters of Lake Michigan like white wash clothes drying in the breeze. Fibro fog… yes. Light sensitivity…yes. Work to be done (that includes rolling out of bed)… yes!

STRESS… YES!

Care Tip:

Stress ignores no living being, especially those with chronic pain! A little cognitive behavioral therapy may help! How many of your thoughts, feelings and behaviors were based on your pain today causing hours and hours of stress? How many watched the gulls sail by?

Vocalizing your pain and stress to someone who listens may help. How do you feel today?

Your friend,
Cheryl

Technorati Profile

Hi fibro-cfs friends,

A little Fibro-cfs care talk:

The 2007 physician fibromyalgia exercise article in this blog was right on track. CFS-Fibeomyalgia Sufferer’s can barely get up off a chair some days less start up an exercise program. THe mention in the article regarding swimming or walking is a fantastic program. Only issue I find here is one must get out of bed or the chair and go do it! For those of you who can, wonderful! For the sufferers that are to tired or hurt to much to participate, exercise is out of reach! Or is it? This is were stretching plays an under utilized role for CFS-Fibromyalgia sufferer’s. Chiropractors and physical therapists play a vital healing part in your life. Work with them and follow the stretching erercises they provide you. Make sure the stretching exercises are explained clearly and written down with an example of each exercise. Go for it! Nobody can do it for you!

Care Tip: an exercise I perform in bed before I attempt to roll out (I’m not kidding) is lying on my back with one knee bend and foot sole down on the bed, with knee bent I bring the other leg toward me, circle my arms around the bent knee and draw the leg as close to my chest as I am able. I Hold to a count of 3 and lower my leg. I do this 3 times for each leg. This is one of my stretches that has helped my flexibility. I don’t even need to get out of bed for this one!

your friend,
Cheryl

                                                            Exercise and Stretches

Because Fibromyalgia causes significant pain in the muscles, ligaments, and joints,stiffness is also a common problem.  With proper exercises and stretches, you can help loosen the muscles and joints, ultimately bringing the pain to a more management level.

Of course, it is important that you work with a qualified person to learn the right exercises and stretching techniques to avoid making the pain worse. In most cases, exercise is a great way of preventing illness although in the case of Fibromyalgia, it can also provide physical and mental benefits.  By incorporating exercise and stretching as a part of the treatment plan for people with this illness, marked improvement is noted.  The type of exercise should be simple such as swimming or walking, always starting out slow and then increasing gradually. This illness causes serious pain, which results in sleep problems, fatigue, and a number of other symptoms.  Today, it is believed that 3.5% of all women and 0.5%of all men in the United States have Fibromyalgia.

One study conducted by the Arthritis Foundation and U.S. National Institutes of Health used exercise to determine the level of affect.  Exercises were basic, showing improvement specific to depression, fatigue, mental health, social function, and pain.  In combination with patient education, the benefits lasteda minimum of six months.

Daniel Rooks, Sc.D., Assistant Professor or Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Roland Staud, MD., Professor of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville; Nov 12 issue, 2007, Archives ofInternal Medicine.

Hi fibro-cfs friends,

A little “cfs-fibro care talk”: Has anyone given massage a try?  What was your experience?

A couple months ago I was introduced to a lymphatic massage.  The licensed/certified therapist provided her services from her home.  She furnished a pleasant upper room with a massage table and all the comfy’s that make’s one feel safe and relaxed.  It turned out to be a very special helpful Fibromyalgia treatment for me. 

I understand if you are unable due to skin sensitivity to have this therapy performed at this time.  But some fibromyalgia information that may lift your spirits is at one time I too was unable to be touched without unbearable pain.  I couldn’t even use a light sheet to cover with.  I have journeyed through what seemed an endless fog and am gaining back health due to taken action to learn what works and what doesn’t work for me.  I truly hope all fibro-cfs sufferers become survivors.  

If you are able to be touched, try a massage.  You’ll be glad you did!

“care tip”:  use a “soft” ear plug for a better night’s sleep.  Even if you take medication or a remedy at bedtime an ear plug blocks out the noise. Especially if your cfs-fibro noise sensitive.

Join in on overcoming this thief cfs-fibromyalgia.  Take back what is yours!  Did you find this info useful? I hope so.  As it’s about You! It’s about Us!

Hope to hear from you soon.

Your friend,

Cheryl

<a href=”http://technorati.com/tag/Health” rel=”tag”><img style=”border:0;vertical-align:middle;margin-left:.4em” src=”http://static.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16×13.png?tag=Health” alt=” ” />Health</a>

In some instances, the skin of a Firomyalgia patient is simply too sensitive to touch thus eliminating massage therapy. However, if you are okay to touch,  this can be a very beneficial option. With manipulation, the body’s muscles and soft tissue are worked, which is great for easing pain, as well as improving nutrient flow to the muscles, As a result indivivuals who suffer from Restless Leg Syndrome and stress associated with Fibromyalgia would likely find relief.

Other benefits of massage therapy is that with better circulation, endorphins, which are natural panikillers within the body are released, therefore reducing pain levels while improving flexibility. Of course, it is crucial that you work with a well trained licensed therapist, one who specializes in bringing comfort to people living with this illness.

With massage therapy, the parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated. This causes the heart to slow, which helps by relaxing the body.  A 2002 study involved Fibromyalgia patients, each given a 30-minute session, two times a week.  The result of all patients in this particular study was a noted reduction in stress.  What makes this study so intriguing is that the pain was greatly reduced within just five weeks.

Sunshine W., Field T., Schanberg S., Quintino O., Fierro K., Kuhn C., Burman I.  Fibromyalgia benefits from massage therapy.  Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. 

Hi fibro-cfs friends,

A little fibro cfs “care talk”:

Today has been a good day! It’s been beautiful and sunny over Lake Michigan’s shoreline, with scattered thunderstorms disrupting activites for a time, then back to sunny again.

Isn’t that how You feel sometimes (or everyday) living with fibromyalgia/cfs? You’re biggest accomplishment of the day might have been crawling out of bed.You need to hear from me right now

“fibromyalgia/cfs does not own You!”

For Over 10 years I have been treating patients with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and have communicated with sufferers from around the world. No matter what country the fibro or fatigue sufferers are from, I hear the same complaints over and over again.

• “I have tried everything to help my symptoms without success.”
• “My doctor said I just have to learn to live with it.”
• “I don’t want to be on medication for the rest of my life.”
• “They tell me it’s all in my head.”
• “People tell me I look fine. How can I be in so much pain all the time.”

It seems the sufferers who have gotten better, did so by addressing “areas” of their lives that their doctors didn’t focus on or attend to. These specific areas are related and contribute to your discomfort levels.

A comprehensive, well-rounded approach works best when treating fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue to improve ones symptoms. Examples of these “areas” in a sufferer’s life that need to be addressed or evaluated if symptoms are to improve are:

• Stress management
• Diet/nutrional status
• Current medications
• Treating painful “areas’
• Sleep habits
• Nutrient intake or elimination

These are just some of the areas that should be attended to. There are not many doctors who treat fibromyalgia who use this type of comprehensive method. But when you apply this type of approach; you will finally begin to make improvements and enjoy a better quality of life.

After learning how I treat fibromyalgia and fatigue, one of the next questions that sufferer’s ask me is; “With all these areas that need to be addressed, where do I begin?” I have found there is typically one starting place that is more beneficial that works best for most sufferer’s.