Taking charge of my health and helping others do the same.
I have come to the conclusion that health, wealth, and relationships are the key to being fulfilled in life. I want to help others pursue the path they are really meant to travel by living a life of their own design. I hope I can deliver educational and inspirational information on these three subjects so you keep coming back for more.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Reduce Stress and Reduce Your Fibromyalgia Symptoms
Stress and pain are irreversibly linked in
fibromyalgia. For many people, some kind
of stressful event is what initially triggers fibromyalgia. It often shows up after a serious illness,
some kind of emotional or mental shock or with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder). There is probably a genetic
tendency toward fibromyalgia, and many people believe that stress unmasks the
disorder.
Fibromyalgia is thought to be a central nervous system
disorder in which either pain-sensing nerves are excessively sensitive, or the
brain is extremely sensitive to pain impulses.
People with fibromyalgia have poor functioning of the HPA
axis—hpyophysis-pituitary-adrenal axis—which is our body’s system for
responding to stress with neurochemicals like adrenalin and serotonin. We don’t know how pain sensation and an
abnormal stress response are related, but we do know that people with
fibromyalgia experience more pain when they are stressed.
Just having fibromyalgia is stressful. Dealing with constant pain, fatigue and
mental cloudiness is stressful. Not
being able to accomplish things is stressful, especially if it affects your
employment situation. That can lead to
financial stress. The fact that few
people understand what you are going through and expect you to behave
“normally” is stressful. Dealing with a
chronic illness and lifestyle changes is stressful. That’s the everyday stress load; adding
anything to it tends to tip the scale and cause the fibromyalgia symptoms to be
worse.
Stress reduction is an important part of managing your
fibromyalgia. Here are a few ways that
may help alleviate some of your stress.
- Good self care. Eating a nutritious diet, getting the right amount of the right kind of exercise, establishing regular sleep habits and giving yourself grace are all part of taking good care of yourself. They are important. You will feel worse, and be able to do less if you do not take care of yourself.
- Practice body awareness. People who deal with chronic pain, as in fibromyalgia, become accustomed to ignoring their bodies; it’s one way they cope with the pain. If you learn to recognize your body’s cues that you are becoming tense, you can use a relaxation technique or exercise early on, before stress becomes unmanageable. At the same time, you don’t want to lose that protective lack of awareness about pain. Take breaks every so often and just sit quietly and pay attention to how you feel. Learn where you feel stress first. Do you get heartburn? Do your shoulders get tight? Once you learn that, you can periodically scan to see if your body is showing tension.
- Change the way you think. This takes practice, but it gives you a chance to respond to situations instead of reacting.
- Keep a stress journal. This has two purposes. You can journal about stressful incidents and use the journal as a tool to help you identify situations that are stressful to you. This can help you either avoid repeating these situations or be better prepared should they be unavoidable. Journaling about a stressful event also helps you debrief and de-stress after the event.
- Learn stress management techniques, such as visualization, meditation and breathing. These techniques decrease the level of neurochemicals circulating in your body, and help decrease both stress and pain.
- Physical therapy, stretching and massage can help decrease muscle tension and stress, and help minimize pain.
- Talk to a counselor who specializes in stress management and pain treatment. He or she can help you learn new ways to manage stressful events.
If you decrease your stress, you will probably experience
less pain and fatigue from your fibromyalgia.
Changing your lifestyle so that you are taking care of yourself can help
prevent flare-ups and give you a better quality of life.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Fibromyalgia Symptoms Explained
Fibromyalgia is a syndrome (fibromyalgia syndrome, or FMS),
or a cluster of problems. People who
have fibromyalgia suffer with pain, either all over or in particular places,
have sleeping problems, are overwhelmingly tired and may have many other
symptoms.
Five to ten per cent of the population has
fibromyalgia. Most of them are women,
but men and children do experience the symptoms, too.
Pain is the most distinguishing characteristic of
fibromyalgia. Medically, it’s described
as generalized musculoskeletal aches, pain and stiffness. For the pain to be diagnosed as fibromyalgia,
it has to be present in all four body quadrants (arms and legs) for at least 3
months, and there has to be pain when pressure is applied to at least 11 of the
18 identified trigger points.
That’s the medical description. Here is how people with fibromyalgia describe
it.
“I can hardly move because of the pain I’m in. I’m fighting to stay mobile.”
“There is no way to describe the pain. You live with it on a daily basis.”
“What people don’t realize is that I am in pain all the
time, every day.”
“Sometimes you think, no big deal, it’s just pain. It’s not life threatening. Sometimes you wish it was. At least there’d be an end in sight.”
The pain waxes and wanes, varying in intensity. People have good days and bad days. Some days it’s not too bad; some days it’s
pretty much disabling. The pain of
fibromyalgia often gets worse on cold or humid days, when you haven’t slept
well, when you are too inactive or too active, when you are stressed or when
your hormones change.
The second most disabling characteristic of fibromyalgia is
fatigue. Recent findings suggest that
the fatigue is due to a stage four sleep disorder called alpha EEG anomaly. During deep stage four sleep, the brain has
bursts of awake-like activity, so there is not enough undisturbed deep sleep
for the body to get sufficient rest.
In addition to alpha EEG anomaly, many FMS sufferers also
have sleep apnea, upper airway resistance syndrome, bruxism (teeth grinding
during sleep), limb movement and jerking and restless leg syndrome. All of these contribute to the fatigue of
fibromyalgia.
Again, this is how fibromyalgia sufferers describe their
fatigue.
“The fatigue is worse than the pain.”
“Some days going to the bathroom feels like a ten-mile
hike.”
“On bad days, all I can do is turn on the TV for the kiddies
and veg with them.”
Pain and fatigue are the most disabling features of
fibromyalgia, but there are other distressing symptoms, too. 40-70 per cent of fibromyalgia sufferers
experience irritable bowel syndrome or other gastrointestinal problems. Constipation and diarrhea, abdominal pain,
excessive gassiness, nausea and gastroesophageal reflux are common.
Many fibromyalgia sufferers are
distressed by associated mental and emotional problems that manifest themselves
alongside the physical ailments. Anxiety
and depression are common. It’s not
known whether they are independent factors, or if they are related to living in
constant pain and fatigue and the social stigma of fibromyalgia. People also complain of confusion,
experiencing difficulty thinking clearly and a reduction in ability to perform
mental tasks. This overall mental fogginess has been termed “fibro fog.”
Other symptoms of fibromyalgia include headaches, restless
leg syndrome, skin sensitivity and rashes, dry eyes and mouth, Reynaud’s
syndrome, and various neurological problems.
Fibromyalgia is an invisible disease. Sufferers look fine on the surface. However, under their outward appearance they
are often exhausted and in excruciating pain.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic illness that is, at its worst, incredibly
disabling. The symptoms have to be managed, and even then the pain and fatigue
wax and wane. It’s a difficult disease
to live with, but it’s not hopeless.
Medical care and lifestyle management can make a big difference in how
you feel if you are suffering from fibromyalgia.
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Saturday, September 10, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
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Thursday, September 1, 2011
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