Fibromyalgia self help

Tips to help yourself if you suffer from fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia can be a debilitating and difficult illness to live with. The effects of symptoms such as pain, fatigue and anxiety can take its toll on our emotional and psychological wellbeing, often making it seem as though there is no possible relief from these unpleasant side-effects. In this page, our muscle and joint expert Earle Logan discusses the self-help steps that you can take to ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia and improve your overall quality of life.

Ask our muscles & joints advisor Earle your fibromyalgia question.

An introduction to self help and fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a health condition that is said to affect up to 4% of people. Symptoms experienced include muscle pain, memory loss, poor concentration, excessive tiredness, digestive problems and sleep disturbances. For more information on fibromyalgia symptoms follow the link

People will experience fibromyalgia in different ways but almost everyone will complain of pain, tenderness and stiffness in muscles. These symptoms appear to come about because of an increased sensitivity in the nerves supplying these tissues of the body. For more information on what we understand to be the causes of fibromyalgia, go to our page on What is fibromyalgia?

As muscle pain is such a prominent symptom, treatment of fibromyalgia is often centered on alleviating these symptoms. Apart from using conventional pain-killers, many people reading these pages will be interested in the use of herbal remedies such as Arnica and Devil’s Claw to help relieve pain.

Before recommending any remedies however, naturopaths will always consider dietary and lifestyle changes. This page will provide you with information on self-help tips and what you can do to help yourself if you suffer from fibromyalgia.

Dietary advice

Naturopaths believe that pain arises as a result of a disturbance in how the body handles and metabolises substances such as minerals. Altering your diet from one with a tendency to produce acids to one which is more alkaline will be the first step you can take when helping yourself.

In general, keep your diet as natural as possible. Eat wholefoods (instead of refined processed, ready-made foods), fruit and vegetables. Reduce your consumption of dairy produce, caffeine-containing drinks, alcohol and animal proteins.

However, there are certain vegetables which you should avoid and these are generally from the deadly nightshade family – potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and aubergines.

General self-help recommendations for fibromyalgia

Reduce stressful influences as far as possible as stress worsens symptoms
Magnesium, a vitamin B complex and herbal stress relief remedies will help your body cope better with stress and relax muscles
Magnesium is also useful for reducing pain levels and improving sleep
Do regular breathing exercises - poor breathing habits contribute to many aspects of fibromyalgia
Get sufficient rest. Take a valerian based remedy if getting to sleep or staying asleep proves problematic
Try Arnica externally for stiff and painful muscles
Try Devil’s Claw to reduce pain in joints
Try Ginkgo biloba if your concentration, memory or circulation need help
St. John’s wort can be useful if you suffer from low mood
Drink a cleansing detox tea to help your body remove toxins
Supplement your diet with flaxseed or fish oils
Return to normal levels of physical activity slowly and gradually, as strenuous exercise may cause a relapse.

Breathing exercises

Many people with fibromyalgia will benefit from a few simple breathing exercises.

Muscle pain and stiffness, especially in the neck, shoulders and spine, limits movement and this in turn causes breathing to be short and shallow. Breathing better will also help oxygenate blood more efficiently, relieve tension in the neck and shoulders as well as reduce any anxiety experienced in the mind by relaxing the body.

Sit in a chair with arms and rest your own arms on them as comfortably as you can
Press down with your arms so that you are not letting your shoulders come up towards your ears
Breathe - ensure that your abdomen moves outwards at the start of inhalation (breathing in). This will guarantee that your diaphragm is moving properly and flattens at the end of each breath
Inhale through your nose only, counting slowly up to 2 or 3
Without pausing to hold the breath, exhale slowly through your mouth with your lips pursed (as when kissing), to a count of 4, 5 or 6. The breath-out should be slow and continuous
Repeat inhaling and exhaling. Eventually you should be able to make the exhalation phase last to a count of 8
Repeat until you’ve done at least 10 cycles. Do this for a few minutes every hour if you are anxious or if stress is increasing.

Don’t suffer alone with Fibromyalgia!

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Samantha — 20.09.2017 11:01
It is my 38 year old son that has recently been diagnosed and I am trying to find as much information as possible to help him. His doctor will not prescribe painkillers as he is a recovering alcoholic and although he has been 'dry' for over 15 years, she claims he has an 'additive personality' so he is at present living in pain.
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- Earle — 22.09.2017 06:24
  Hello Samantha Managing fibromyalgia is hard work, involved and rarely produces a miracle cure but there are a variety of small things to do that together can help a lot. No-one really knows of a magic bullet for fibromyalgia, whatever you take or do but we would very much hope that engaging in measures such as low impact exercise, addressing sleep quality and dealing with the IBS that is common to fibromyalgia would at least minimise its impact. Getting to the root cause is difficult, as it isn't really agreed. It is believed that there is reduced blood supply to the part of the brain that processes pain and perhaps to the affected muscles too, so a herb such as Ginkgo Biloba could hold some promise. Remedies such as Dormeasan could help mood, pain threshold and energy levels by improving the quality of sleep and water-based exercise, Tai Chi or Yoga can aid circulation and maintain flexibility. A recent trial comparing swimming and paracetamol for lower back pain found the swimming outperform the medicine. There's no way that the drug would help mood, energy levels, sleep quality, joint mobility, self satisfaction and overall health at the same time as easing pain, so please consider moving more when you're able to, as the medicines will never cure the condition and encourage people to become inactive. There is no drug cure, as you are probably aware and we know that those who retreat to inactivity see their symptoms worsen, so the best chances of recovery seem to be in those who find the determination to take action and keep active. Often the biggest barrier to doing so is that first 10 minutes, ie: getting changed and out the door, because depression can make it hard to find the motivation and pain makes the first few steps uncomfortable. He'll need to find a balance between the excessive exertion levels involved in moving heavy tables and doing nothing through fear of exhaustion and walking, yoga, Pliates or swimming tends to hit the spot about right for most. The worst thing he can do is to simply stop as joints and muscles only stiffen up further. I'd strongly advise arranging to see a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist to learn some pain management techniques. You can get 5x30 minute sessions for free on the NHS but that 2.5hrs total doesn't match the amount found in clinical trials to be of benefit, so contact a CBT practitioner for better results. As to what the future holds, no-one knows of a cure but it's most likely true that the answer doesn't lie in a single pill or measure. CBT, addressing sleep issues, the right amount of exercise and a bit of bloody-mindedness are the most basic requirements and something most people who contact me with fibromyalgia haven't even begun to try. Trials have shown significant benefits for each of these (well, perhaps not the bloody-mindedness) separately in Fibromyalgia, so there's a fair chance a comprehensive approach will achieve much more.
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