Fibromyalgia - Life stresses and my emotional reaction to same seems to increase my pain levels and?

29 Dec 2011

Stress adds greatly to fibromyalgia pain. You don't need to opt out of everything is my experience, I cut back on a few, as I got more control on my fibro and the right meds for me that helped a great deal. Now I'm back in up to my neck in everything and then some but don't suffer as much or as frequently. Weather, such as rain and the barometric pressure also contribute to fibro pain. Maybe journal and make note of days and times and the activity your doing and then you will have a log of what you can trace back to your triggers

29 Dec 2011

I just think you need to try to limit the stressers. I can tell that too much stress, weather changing, too little sleep, and catching an illness even as small as a cold or virus can all wreak havoc on my body. I would like to hear more about the kinesiology. Can you tell me what it is and how it has helped?

29 Dec 2011

Hello sholloway3... Life's stresses , weather changes , and life's anxieties all commonly lead to increased pain levels and/or increased awareness of the pain levels.
Opting out of everything stressful is not an option. Stresses , both negative
and positive, are parts of being alive.
The key thing is to develop better control regarding the nature,
magnitude, and duration of our reactions to stresses. We have to develop
a means of sort of " rolling with the punches " or " going with the flow ".
This is part of stress management. There are numerous books and
articles related to stress management. I suggest that you study some
of these stress management books and articles and find a stress
management approach that works best for you.

29 Dec 2011

I agree hun.. keep a journal about when your symptoms are the worst, what hurts,scale it from 1-10, time of day, ect. I know for me..this is how I realized what my triggers were. Now that i know..I can work around stuff and avoid things that cause a flare up. Stress is a major trigger. I wouldn't completely stop everything though. I'd Try the journaling first for a month. I wish I had've done this years ago. Sometimes you totally miss a trigger that you don't know how you missed. But until it's in front of you..you don't see it. Try to keep your life as "normal" as you can..you don't want to totally stop everything..but by all means avoid the things that don't help and or trigger the FM. I wish you the best..and I hope you get things figured out.

30 Dec 2011

There are positive stressors too - things that cause stress, to be sure, but also are fun and make life worth living! It's not likely that you'll be able to get rid of all the negative stressors in your life, but do try to eliminate as much as you can and if you're going to do something that's going to make you tired/hurt, then at least let it be something you enjoy, are passionate about, or do with someone you love. Make that time up and moving count! I've found that distraction is an incredible pain medicine. When I get caught up in something that I enjoy, the pain melts away for a time. Yes, it comes back, but those good times make it all worthwhile! Best wishes to you - ElizaJane

18 days ago

Just wanting to state that I've been reading these posts and you've all offered some really useful and wonderful insights!!! AnnieBHappy