How to Handle Being Diagnosed With Fibromyalgia
- 1). Consult your doctor regularly for treatment. Medications prescribed for fibromyalgia are largely dependent upon the symptoms. Analgesics (such as Tylenol) are given to help ease the pain, short-term use of muscle relaxants (such as Flexeril) are taken to cease muscle pain and spasm, sleeping pills (such as Ambien) are prescribed to aid sleeping problems, antidepressants (such as Prozac combined with Amitriptyline) are administered to treat depression and promote sleep, anti-seizure medication called pregabalin (Lyrica) may be given to help reduce pain and improve body functions.
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Educate yourself regarding fibromyalgia. To handle your condition well is to know more about it. Try to join community groups and foundations (such as the Arthritis Foundation and the American Chronic Pain Association) that support fibromyalgia. Here, people share experiences, various types of treatment approaches and advices, which will help open your mind and widen your knowledge, about how to manage your own battle. Support groups will also provide you reassurance that you are not alone and that there are others who understand and feel the torment you are in. - 3). Learn to deal with stress. Always take some time to relax and ease your mind. You may want to attend cognitive and behavioral counseling or treatment programs that will provide you important methods and techniques on how to deal with stress-related situations. You can also search in the internet for some meditative DVDs or CDs that provide mind relaxing ways that you can apply to repel stress away from your system.
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Try to modify your way of life at work or at home. Learn to keep track of the factors that trigger the manifestations of your symptoms and that you can somehow avoid them. When you’re at work, try to handle stuff with ease. It will help if you make a list of what you are going to do on the days to come--and that everything will all be organized once you start working. When you’re at home, pamper yourself with a relaxing warm bath, watch some of your favorite movies or listen to your favorite music. You can also find relaxation by just cuddling or spending time with your loved ones or pets. - 5). Practice and maintain a healthy way of sleeping. You should discipline yourself when it comes to setting up a regular sleeping pattern. See to it that you get 8 hours of sleep at night in order for your body to undergo complete physical and mental revitalization. Establishing a regular sleeping pattern will also help in minimizing tiredness during the day and reduces the difficulty of going to sleep during the night. As much as possible also control factors that will hamper your sleep, such as limiting your intake of caffeine. Too much of this stuff may disrupt your sleeping schedule.
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Sustain a healthy physical and mental state by exercising regularly. Always start your exercise with gentle and controlled stretches to improve circulation and flexibility of your muscles, making it ready for workout. Low-impact aerobic exercises such as swimming, riding a stationary bike or brisk walking are considered the best activity for fibromyalgia patients. When you perform your exercises, it is best to incorporate it with rhythmic breathing to avoid shortness of breath while executing the activity. - 7). Find a relaxing spa clinic that offers soothing therapies such as massage and acupuncture. These methods are known to provide symptomatic relief on patients with fibromyalgia. It improves flexibility of muscles and increases overall blood circulation that relieves musculoskeletal pain, reduces stress, fatigue, anxiety and depression and improves patterns of sleep.
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Limit outside commitments and learn to change your lifestyle. If you are already busy at work, try to not to get into some added pressure by doing unnecessary events that will hamper your schedule. Keep in mind that you are modifying your life for your own good. If you and a friend are into bar hopping every Wednesday night back before your fibromyalgia occurred, try to change it now to best soothe your condition. Learn to say no. This may be difficult at first, but if you are determined to heal, little sacrifices must be made in order to make it happen. - 9). Eat healthy and drink responsibly. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is common among fibromyalgia patients. This is characterized by constipation, diarrhea, bloating and abdominal pain. Eating healthy high-fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables will help in providing the body anti-oxidants that will prevent IBS from happening. Also, drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to prevent constipation that only adds up to your pain.
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Keep track of your symptoms by writing a daily journal. This is a very helpful tool to make you learn more about the patterns of your condition. Record every fibromyalgia symptom that took place and what triggers it. During your regular checkups, you can show your journal to your doctor--it can serve as a good guide in formulating treatment specific for your symptoms. - 11
Maintain a healthy relationship towards others. Dealing with pain and fatigue is not an easy task; often times you may feel so irritable or resentful out of it. So it is advisable to explain and educate the existence of your fibromyalgia to your family, friends and co-workers to help them understand your condition. With them being aware of what is going on, they can somehow help you cope up with your healing process as you go by with your everyday life.
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