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In this article, you are going to learn 8 tips to help you overcome fibromyalgia naturally. I will aim to present these tips in a simple, easy to understand fashion

Even though there is no cure or magic pill for Fibromyalgia, there are some steps you can take to help you feel better, and to help you get areas of your life back on track that may be out of whack. These small changes in your fibromyalgia diet certainly won’t cure this condition, but a person who takes the time to modify their eating habits somewhat, and watches what they are eating (and what they are not eating) might find some fibromyalgia pain relief. Before you begin any changes to your diet, it is a good idea to talk to your doctor first. Here are 8 handy tips to help you get started.

1) Avoid Mono Sodium Glutamates(MSG): These are something that are found in some chinese food, red tomatoes, some potatoes, and certain peppers. They may not be a problem for you, but they can cause problems in some. If you gradually eliminate these from your Fibromyalgia diet, you may find some muscle pain diminish.

2) Stop drinking Alcohol: Beverages that contain alcohol can make sleep patterns worse, and also harm the liver. Many think they sleep more heavily when they are drunk, but in reality, it is not the deep, restful, stage 4 (Delta) sleep that someone with Fibromyalgia needs.

3) Limit Caffeine Intake: Though you may be feeling tired and think a shot of caffeine may do the trick. This will only make your sleep issues worse. Caffeine will exaggerate your sleeping difficulties, so watch for caffeine in any form and in things like chocolate and medications, especially when taken later in the day. If you must have some, have it in the morning only, and have only a cup or two of coffee.

4) Eat only when genuinely hungry.

5) Sip beverages between mouthfuls of food (no ice cold caffeine beverages if you can help it)

6) Drink at least 8 glasses of pure water daily. Water aids in the proper digestion of food, waste elimination, detoxification and cleansing of the colon.

7) Avoid Preservatives: You should avoid foods that have a lot of preservatives as they can be like toxins to the body. Instead, choose fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats for the main staples of your diet. Don’t forget about dairy if it is okay for you to have it.

Limit Sugar Intake: You should watch your daily sugar intake, because those who cut down or eliminate sugars altogether often feel better. Don’t forget about the less obvious sources of sugar like high fructose corn syrup, which is the most troubling of all sugars, and is found in many sodas and some juices. If you drink juice, make sure it is 100% natural.

To help you with your fibromyalgia diet, try keeping a food diary for a month and make a note of what you eat and how you feel afterwards. If you notice any developing patterns regarding certain foods and worsening symptoms, then work to eliminate that food from your Fibromyalgia diet.

Daryl Johnson, an expert on the topic of fibromyalgia pain relief, offers intelligent advice and useful tips for relieving fibromyalgia pain naturally with hypnosis. Daryl currently writes articles for Fibromyalgiasymptomchecklist where you can find more great information.

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Cymbalta is the First Antidepressant Approved to Treat Fibromyalgia

The FDA has approved the drug Cymbalta to treat fibromyalgia.

That makes Cymbalta the first antidepressant approved to treat fibromyalgia, which is a chronic disorder of the muscles and related soft tissue, including ligaments and tendons. Its main symptoms are muscle pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and tender points at certain points of the body.

Besides fibromyalgia and depression, Cymbalta is also approved to treat generalized anxiety disorder and diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, a diabetes-related pain condition, in adults.

Cymbalta belongs to a class of drugs called serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).

The FDA approved Cymbalta for fibromyalgia based on two clinical trials that together included 874 fibromyalgia patients, according to Lilly.

For three months, the patients either took Cymbalta or a placebo. Cymbalta trumped the placebo at pain reduction and overall improvement.

Compared to patients taking the placebo, Cymbalta patients were more likely to experience nausea, dry mouth, constipation, decreased appetite, sleepiness, increased sweating, and agitation.

Cymbalta is the second drug approved by the FDA to treat fibromyalgia. Nearly a year ago, the FDA approved Lyrica as the first drug treatment for fibromyalgia. Lyrica also treats nerve pain caused by shingles and diabetes, as well as reducing some forms of epileptic seizures.

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AcaiBerry-Products.com, the leading internet destination for general information and product information about the popular acai berry fruit from the Brazilian rainforest reports that for the 2nd Quarter 2008 a freeze dried organic acai supplement was the company’s top selling product.

The product is aptly called Perfect Acai and it is unique in many ways. According to Charles Sanderson, Public Relations Director for the company, “We believe the reason the ‘Perfect Acai’ product is now #1 with us is because it is the purest acai supplement on the market and it’s the most potent since it’s 100% pure organic acai. It’s also priced the best by far.” Sanderson added that the Perfect Acai really is the perfect acai product because it fits all of our essential criteria for selecting a quality acai product which includes potency, purity, and price.

Sanderson also noted that the Perfect Acai product is made from 100% pure organic freeze dried acai and most knowledgeable folks agree that freeze dried acai is the best way to take advantage of this fruit’s extraordinary benefits. Most all of the research done on the acai berry has been done on freeze dried acai, not on acai extracts, spray dried acai or acai juices.

We believe that freeze dried acai and specifically the Perfect Acai supplement product is as close as possible that most people will get to eating fresh acai berries from an acai palm tree in the Brazilian Rainforest.
There is an informative section on the website that explains why freeze dried acai berry is considered to be the best form of acai. Since the fresh berry is highly perishable it is important to either freeze dry the acai berry within 24 hours of picking or freeze the skin and the pulp the regular way in order to maintain the nutritional potency of the berries.

Charles Sanderson says that, “We believe that freeze dried acai and specifically the Perfect Acai supplement product is as close as possible that most people will get to eating fresh acai berries from an acai palm tree in the Brazilian Rainforest.”

For folks who want the extraordinary nutritional benefits of acai but who also want a product to boost energy and endurance, Sanderson suggests people look at an exciting new related called Perfect Acai Revive™ which is available through the website through the Perfect Acai link. This new all natural product is a perfect blend of Acai, Rhodiola Rosea and Cordyceps. It’s caffeine free and it is formulated to increase energy and endurance and to reduce stress. Perfect Acai Revive™ is a blend of the freeze dried acai and two herbs. The herbs, rhodiola rosea and cordyceps, were rated as the top 2 energy boosting supplements by Alternative Medicine Magazine in 2004.

Additional information about the Best Acai Berry Products can be found on the website. The website is full of information about acai berry and there is additional detailed background on the herbs that are included in the Perfect Acai Revive™ product, but here is some basic information about the herbs.

Rhodiola Rosea is an herb known for its energy producing and stress reducing properties that was used by Olympic athletes in the former Soviet Union to increase speed and endurance. Soviet astronauts also used it to increase their stamina and performance while on space missions. In 2004, this herb was named the best energy booster by Alternative Medicine Magazine. The herb has also been used to reduce stress. An article in Newsweek Magazine in 2003 titled ‘Herbal Stress Buster?’ stated it has been used for centuries in Russia, Scandinavia and Iceland. Even the Vikings used it to enhance endurance.

Cordyceps Sinensis was also named one of the best energy booster by Alternative Medicine Magazine in the same year and has been a staple of Traditional Chinese Medicine for over 1500 years. This ancient Chinese herb is a mushroom-like fungus that grows in the high altitudes of the Tibet and Nepal regions of China. It’s said to increase energy, endurance and stamina as well as combat weakness and fatigue and improve sexual function. Cordyceps is popular with endurance athletes of all types including cyclists, runners, swimmers and mountain climbers.

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1. Learn deep breathing or meditation to help with chronic pain relief.
These are techniques that help your body relax, which eases pain. Tension and tightness seep from muscles as they receive a quiet message to relax.

The soothing power of repetition is at the heart of meditation. Focusing on the breath, ignoring thoughts, and repeating a word or phrase — a mantra — causes the body to relax. While you can learn meditation on your own, it helps to take a class.

Deep breathing is also a relaxation technique. Find a quiet location, a comfortable body position, and block out distracting thoughts. Then, imagine a spot just below your navel. Breathe into that spot, filling your abdomen with air. Let the air fill you from the abdomen up, then let it out, like deflating a balloon.

2. Reduce stress in your life. Stress intensifies chronic pain.
Negative emotions like depression, anxiety, stress, and anger can increase the body’s sensitivity to pain. By learning to take control of stress, you can find chronic pain relief.

Several techniques can help reduce stress and promote relaxation. Listening to soothing, calming music can lift your mood — and make living with chronic pain more bearable. There are even specially designed relaxation tapes or CDs for this. Mental imagery relaxation (also called guided imagery) is a form of mental escape that can help you feel peaceful. It involves creating calming, peaceful images in your mind. Progressive muscle relaxation is another technique that promotes relaxation.

3. Boost chronic pain relief with the natural endorphins from exercise.
Endorphins are brain chemicals that help improve your mood while also blocking pain signals. Exercise has another pain-reducing effect — it strengthens muscles, helping prevent reinjury and further pain. Plus, exercise can help keep your weight down, reduce heart disease risk, and control blood glucose levels — especially important if you have diabetes. Ask your doctor for an exercise routine that is right for you. If you have certain health conditions, like diabetic neuropathy, you will need to be careful about the types of activities you engage in; your doctor can advise you on the best physical activities for you.

4. Cut back on alcohol, which can worsen sleep problems.
Pain makes sleep difficult, and alcohol can make sleep problems worse. If you’re living with chronic pain, drinking less or no alcohol can improve your quality of life.

5. Join a support group. Meet others living with chronic pain.
When you’re with people who understand what you’re going through, you feel less alone. You also benefit from their wisdom in coping with the pain.

Also, consider meeting with a mental health professional. Anyone can develop depression if they’re living with chronic pain. Getting counseling can help you learn to cope better and help you avoid negative thoughts that make pain worse — so you have a healthier attitude. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

6. Don’t smoke.
Smoking can worsen painful circulation problems and increase risk of heart disease.

7. Track your pain level and activities every day.
To effectively treat your pain, your doctor needs to know how you’ve been feeling between visits. Keeping a log or journal of your daily “pain score” will help you track your pain. At the end of each day, note your pain level on the 1 to 10 pain scale. Also, note what activities you did that day. Take this log book to every doctor visit — to give your doctor a good understanding of how you’re living with chronic pain and your physical functioning level.

8. Learn biofeedback to decrease pain severity.
Through biofeedback, it’s possible to consciously control various body functions. It may sound like science fiction, but there is good evidence that biofeedback works — and that it’s not hard to master.

Here’s how it works: You wear sensors that let you “hear” or “see” certain bodily functions like pulse, digestion, body temperature, and muscle tension. The squiggly lines and/or beeps on the attached monitors reflect what’s going on inside your body. Then you learn to control those squiggles and beeps. After a few sessions, your mind has trained your biological system to learn the skills.

9. Get a massage for chronic pain relief.
Massage can help reduce stress and relieve tension — and is being used by people living with all sorts of chronic pain, including back and neck pain.

10. Eat a healthy diet if you’re living with chronic pain.
A well-balanced diet is important in many ways — aiding your digestive process, reducing heart disease risk, keeping weight under control, and improving blood sugar levels. To eat a low-fat, low-sodium diet, choose from these: fresh fruits and vegetables; cooked dried beans and peas; whole-grain breads and cereals; low-fat cheese, milk, and yogurt; and lean meats.

11. Find ways to distract yourself so you enjoy life more.
When you focus on pain, it makes it worse rather than better. Instead, find something you like doing — an activity that keeps you busy and thinking about things besides your pain. You might not be able to avoid pain, but you can take control of your life.

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Suffering from fibromyalgia is obviously not fun. Dealing with it requires a long term approach.

What do we mean by long term approach? Quite simply, there is no cure yet for it so any short term mentality to dealing with it won’t do you much good. A solid treatment for fibromyalgia plan needs to be put into place.

Sure, there are short term pain relief medication options and that’s fine as long as you follow your doctor’s directions but living with fibromyalgia needs something a little more long term.

Managing Fibromyalgia Pain

Fibromyalgia can be managed very successfully with a variety of treatment methods and activities.

First things first though, a person suffering from fibromyalgia needs to make a commitment to a long term treatment management plan otherwise symptoms will continue to hamper their quality of life.

With a combination of stretching exercises and day-to-day planning you can limit the incidence of pain in your life. Then, with the use of medication management can be effective.

Day–to-planning is simply recognizing at what times of the day pain is most prevalent. For example, if pain seems to set in at a particular time of the afternoon then consider doing things like your chores or even shopping in the morning.

You can also consider reorganizing the way you perform daily tasks such as grooming. Organize your clothes and grooming utensils in a particular order so as not to expend any extra energy.

Also, have a notepad and pen at the ready to write things down that need to be attended to so you don’t forget them. These are simple treatment for fibromyalgia options worth exploring.

Treatment For Fibromyalgia Options

Let’s take a look at possible treatment approach options for fibromyalgia sufferers.

1. Exercise is the number one consideration when looking at treatment for fibromyalgia. Well, exercise relates to conducting proper stretching routine. Along with this, exercise means working the muscle to strengthen your motion range. Then , most importantly, proper rest should be observed.

2. Therapy involving the improvement of flexibility and relaxation of muscles is recommended. This type of therapy also involves massage vibration and acupressure to relax the muscles.

3. Accupuncture or pressure point therapy is highly recommended as a treatment for fibromyalgia option. This can relieve painful trigger points and well worth exploring.

4. Sleep problems need to be corrected. You should also look at your bedding such as mattress and perhaps explore bedding such as tempurpedic.

5. Visiting a chiropractor with experience in treating fibromyalgia can have it’s benefits. Being educated in proper posture techniques in all facets of your day-to-day activities will go a long way to tempering the emergence of fibromyalgia symptoms.

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Have you ever had the feeling someone thought you were just a wimp when it came to pain? Like you just can’t handle pain like most people? Maybe, in some of our weak moments (i.e., heavily drugged, still hurting and unable to sleep at 3 a.m.), we even think that about ourselves.

It’s true that we feel pain when other people don’t. However, we also deal with more pain than other people do, and we generally deal with it better than they do as well.

What’s at work here is the difference between pain threshold and pain tolerance. Here are the definitions:

• Pain Threshold: the point at which stimulus is reported by a person as pain.
• Pain Tolerance: the amount of pain a person can withstand before breaking down, either emotionally or physically.

So yes, our pain threshold is incredibly low. When confronted with stimuli other people’s bodies consider harmless, our nervous systems sound the alarm, turning up the volume on pain.

When it comes to pain tolerance, though, we can blow most people out of the water! I had a good friend who recently was laid out by an ingrown toenail. Sure, it hurt, but does it really warrant constant complaining, stopping your life and spending a few days on the couch? Meanwhile, we deal with so much pain that it becomes just another part of who we are. For me, it’s like, “I’m a Mom, I’m short, I wear glasses, and I hurt.” I work in pain, I socialize in pain, I parent in pain. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do them at all. It takes a heck of a lot of pain to break me down, physically or emotionally.

So when someone looks at you as if you’re weak for being in pain, look back at them with all the strength it takes to live with pain as your constant companion and ask, “Who here is stronger?”

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Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic condition that causes intense pain in various places around the body, including muscles, connective tissues and joints, as well as a host of other symptoms. It affects more than 6 million people in the U.S.

Doctors classify fibromyalgia as a syndrome, which means it has a group of signs, symptoms and characteristics that occur together. Experts are investigating a new blood test that may be able to detect FMS in up to 50% of sufferers. While this may be available to some patients, others still will have no definitive medical evidence that they’re sick. To make a diagnosis, doctors must usually rely on signs and symptoms alone. Complicating the matter, symptoms vary widely from person to person and often, as do their intensity.

Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
People with FMS frequently hurt all over and feel exhausted all the time. Those symptoms often force you to seriously limit your physical activity. It’s also common to have problems concentrating and remembering things. A lot of people with FMS have symptoms so severe that they have to quit or modify their jobs.

Because FMS is frequently misunderstood, family, friends, co-workers and even medical providers may not believe the person is actually sick. A proper diagnosis often takes months.

Adding to these considerable frustrations, it can be difficult or impossible to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. That’s in large part because it used to be commonplace for doctors to mislabel any chronic pain of unknown origin as FMS, and the diagnosis is still misused somewhat today.

Keep in mind that the signs and symptoms vary widely from one person to another. Some people have only a few, while others have many. The intensity of symptoms is different in everyone as well, ranging from mildly annoying to highly debilitating.

Common symptoms of fibromyalgia:

• Widespread pain
• Chest pain
• Morning stiffness
• Fatigue
• Sleep disorders
• Anxiety
• Cognitive or memory impairment (“Fibrofog”)
• Depression
• Abdominal complaints

Frequently, people with undiagnosed fibromyalgia don’t realize that a host of secondary symptoms are related to the pain, fatigue and other primary symptoms. Keeping a detailed list of symptoms can help your doctor make a diagnosis.

Additional fibromyalgia symptoms include:

• Painful menstrual cramps
• Vision problems
• Nausea and dizziness
• Weight gain
• Chronic headaches
• Skin problems
• Muscle twitches and weakness

These lists include the most common symptoms.

Fibromyalgia & Overlapping Conditions
As if all this weren’t enough, several other conditions frequently go along with FMS. Researchers aren’t sure whether one condition leads to another or whether they have related underlying causes. Becoming familiar with the symptoms of these disorders can help you determine whether you have more than one.

Overlapping conditions include:

• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ)
• Multiple chemical sensitivity
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Restless leg syndrome

History of Fibromyalgia
Doctors coined the term fibromyalgia (fibro – meaning fibrous tissue, my – meaning muscle, and algia – meaning pain) in 1976, but it wasn’t until 1990 that the American College of Rheumatology developed diagnostic criteria. While muscle pain is the primary symptom, research found nothing to be wrong with the muscles. For a time, researchers thought it could be an autoimmune disease, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. Now it’s widely believed in the medical community that a malfunction of the central nervous system causes FMS, leading to new research into treatments and new hope that fibromyalgia will be not only more treatable, but perhaps even curable. To date, two drugs, Lyrica (pregabalin) and Cymbalta (duloxetine), are FDA approved for treating FMS, but other drug trials are in the works.

Common Fibromyalgia Terms
Tender points: places on the body that are painful when slight pressure is applied. These are not the same as the trigger points associated with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). However, people with FMS frequently have MPS as well.
Flare-ups: times when symptoms are more intense. Many FMS sufferers experience periodic flare-ups separated by remissions, when symptoms recede. Sometimes, flare-ups link up with a woman’s menstrual cycle.

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After reporting a few months ago that it may force makers of 11 anti-seizure drugs, including the fibromyalgia treatments Lyrica (pregabalin) and Neurontin (gabapentin), to carry a prominent suicide-risk label, an FDA panel now says the risk doesn’t appear great enough for that type of labeling. The Wall Street Journal reports that decision could be an $8-billion boon to the companies that make those medications.

Instead of the highly visible warning for patients, the panel recommends sending a medication guide to doctors explaining the suicide risk linked to these drugs.

Just over a year ago, Lyrica became the first drug to be FDA approved as a fibromyalgia treatment. Doctors frequently prescribe Neurontin, Lyrica’s predecesor, in part because it’s far less expensive. Neurontin, however, carries a greater risk of general side effects. The other anti-seizure drugs linked to a heightened suicide risk are:

Carbatrol, Equetro, Tegretol, Tegretol XR (carbamazepine)
Felbatol (felbamate)
Lamictal (lamtrigine)
Keppra (levetiracetam)
Trileptal (oxcarbazepine)
Gabitril (tiagabine)
Topamax (topiramate)
Depakote, Depakote ER, Depakene, Depacon (valproate)
Zonegran (zonisamide)
Even if the risk is small, it’s still there. If you’re taking any of these drugs, both you and those closest to you should know they do put you at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Please keep this list of resources on hand in case of an emergency.

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Have you ever had the feeling someone thought you were just a wimp when it came to pain? Like you just can’t handle pain like most people? Maybe, in some of our weak moments (i.e., heavily drugged, still hurting and unable to sleep at 3 a.m.), we even think that about ourselves.

It’s true that we feel pain when other people don’t. However, we also deal with more pain than other people do, and we generally deal with it better than they do as well.

What’s at work here is the difference between pain threshold and pain tolerance. Here are the definitions:

Pain Threshold: the point at which stimulus is reported by a person as pain.
Pain Tolerance: the amount of pain a person can withstand before breaking down, either emotionally or physically.
So yes, our pain threshold is incredibly low. When confronted with stimuli other people’s bodies consider harmless, our nervous systems sound the alarm, turning up the volume on pain.

When it comes to pain tolerance, though, we can blow most people out of the water! I had a good friend who recently was laid out by an ingrown toenail. Sure, it hurt, but does it really warrant constant complaining, stopping your life and spending a few days on the couch? Meanwhile, we deal with so much pain that it becomes just another part of who we are. For me, it’s like, “I’m a Mom, I’m short, I wear glasses, and I hurt.” I work in pain, I socialize in pain, I parent in pain. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do them at all. It takes a heck of a lot of pain to break me down, physically or emotionally.

So when someone looks at you as if you’re weak for being in pain, look back at them with all the strength it takes to live with pain as your constant companion and ask, “Who here is stronger?”

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FibroAction is delighted to announce that their input has led to NHS Direct fully reviewing and updating their website information on Fibromyalgia Syndrome (Fibro). This updated information is also available on the NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries website. Despite still being in the process of becoming a registered charity, FibroAction is already having an impact.

Fibro is a debilitating, chronic condition whose main symptoms are widespread chronic pain, hypersensitivity to pain and chronic fatigue. Despite the high numbers of sufferers (between 1.2 and 2.7 million people in the UK alone), awareness of the condition, and the knowledge and treatments available for it, is very low, even amongst medical professionals.

The NHS Direct website is the first port of call for many patients and the media and the much expanded and improved Fibro topic will help to raise awareness of the condition.

The NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries are a source of reliable, evidence-based information and practical ‘know how’ about common conditions, aimed at healthcare professionals working in primary care, from GPs to pharmacists. The updating of the NHS CKS information on Fibro, as well as the NHS Direct website, means that healthcare professionals now have better information available on their own NHS information sources. The information can be printed out as a patient information leaflet from the CKS Library

FibroAction founder, Lindsey Middlemiss, a Fibro sufferer herself, said:

“I am delighted that NHS Direct responded so promptly to our calls for an update of their information on Fibro and that they carried out such a thorough review of the information, as well as making the updated information available on the NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries.

This is an important step forward in our work to raise awareness of Fibro and make accurate, up-to-date information about the condition easily accessible. We are especially pleased and proud that the information we provide was considered worthy of reference on such a high profile publication.

There is a lot of information available about Fibro, but it can be hard for patients and healthcare professionals to keep up to date, which is why the updating of information sources such as NHS Direct’s website and the NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries is so important.”

FibroAction will continue to work with NHS Direct, and other organisations, to make sure that the information available about Fibro is as good as possible.

For more information see www.fibroaction.org

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