Answer:
Self-care is critical in the management of fibromyalgia.
* Reduce stress. Develop a plan to avoid or limit overexertion and emotional stress. Allow yourself time each day to relax. That may mean learning how to say no without guilt. But try not to change your routine completely. People who quit work or drop all activity tend to do worse than those who remain active. Try stress management techniques, such as deep-breathing exercises or meditation.
* Get enough sleep. Because fatigue is one of the main characteristics of fibromyalgia, getting sufficient sleep is essential. In addition to allotting enough time for sleep, practice good sleep habits, such as going to bed and getting up at the same time each day and limiting daytime napping.
* Exercise regularly. At first, exercise may increase your pain. But doing it regularly often decreases symptoms. Appropriate exercises may include walking, swimming, biking and water aerobics. A physical therapist can help you develop a home exercise program. Stretching, good posture and relaxation exercises also are helpful.
* Pace yourself. Keep your activity on an even level. If you do too much on your good days, you may have more bad days.
* Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthy foods. Limit your caffeine intake. Do something that you find enjoyable and fulfilling every day.
Complications
Fibromyalgia isn't progressive and generally doesn't lead to other conditions or diseases. It can, however, cause pain, depression and lack of sleep. These problems can then interfere with your ability to function at home or on the job, or maintain close family or personal relationships. The frustration of dealing with an often-misunderstood condition also can be a complication of the condition.
Risk factors for fibromyalgia include:
* Your sex. Fibromyalgia occurs more often in women than in men.
* Age. Fibromyalgia tends to develop during early and middle adulthood. But it can also occur in children and older adults.
* Disturbed sleep patterns. It's unclear whether sleeping difficulties are a cause or a result of fibromyalgia — but people with sleep disorders, such as nighttime muscle spasms in the legs, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea, can also develop fibromyalgia.
* Family history. You may be more likely to develop fibromyalgia if a relative also has the condition.
* Rheumatic disease. If you have a rheumatic disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or ankylosing spondylitis, you may be more likely to have fibromyalgia
Nevertheless, the medications listed in this chart have shown effectiveness in randomized clinical trials of people with fibromyalgia. These include the antidepressant medications, such as amitriptyline (Endep), duloxetine (Cymbalta), fluoxetine (Prozac) and paroxetine (Paxil); muscle relaxants, such as cylobenzaprine (Cycloflex, Flexeril) and certain analgesics, including tramadol (Ultram). The combination of 20 mg Prozac taken in the morning and 25 mg amitryptyline taken at night also has shown effectiveness in easing symptoms throughout the day and helping to ensure sleep at night.
Recent studies using anti-seizure medications, such as gabapentin (Neurontin) and the drug pregabalin (Lyrica), demonstrated promising results in helping to ease pain, promote sleep and relieve fatigue.
take care and good luck
First, try to find a support group. Maybe if you call the local hospitals, they can put you in touch. Or maybe in the community section of your local paper. Second, you have to keep moving. Even if it is gentle and for short periods. Third, a lot of people are skeptical about this disease. Find a doctor who treats it and believes in it. Then, I personally think Tylenol is of little use. Aspirin seems to help, but you have to monitor the various health considerations of using it. Stress and depression seem to make the symptoms worse, so work on those areas of your life if there is a problem. Get enough rest. Do something every day that unwinds you and you enjoy like a game or reading or swimming or a movie, just for you. Good luck.
Well hun, you are the 2nd person that I know that has this. My daughter for one. I know she is seeing a Dr. for her problem. I'm not sure what meds. she is on. That girl takes so many different things. It seems part of her problem is also caused do to Anxiety.
Im sorry, I do know Fibromyalgia, has a lot of causes and is hard to treat. the first step in helping you, is getting you to a stage 4 sleep. A deep deep sleep. I had it. I own a Lupus, fibro, autoimmune message board, with many fibromyalgia paitents. I do get a bit of that Fibro feeling when I loose sleep. My dr gives me dalmane a sleeping pill, I swim, it helps with the pain, better then land exercises, and stress makes it worse. see a dr about helping you sleep. I have Lupus so I need stronger meds, but maybe they can try Ambien, or the other hundrad sleep aids. there is also melatonin which you can purchase over the counter talk to pharmisist if you have any other health issues please, and they somtimes perscribe antideppresents that help with sleep patterns (trazadone, is a good one) even if you don't suffer from deppression, they put you out. But I was always told, fibro has a lot to do with diet, sleep issues, sometimes stress and deppression, and is under consideration as an autoimmune disease or a partial one.