Fibromyalgia

[gettinfit@42]

Does anyone here suffer from fibromyalgia? What type of diet do you follow, and what exercise works best for you?

 

[Jane Royse]

Hi! Yes, I have fibromyalgia. I've tried different diets over the years, but really never found anything that helped or hindered (I've tried no caffeine, no sugar, etc.). I was working out 5 to 6 days per week (3 days weights, 3 days cardio), but I think I ran myself into the ground. When I started back, I decided to do just weight work, 3 or 4 times per week. I find that if I stretch a LOT more than what Cathe shows in her stretch segments, that that helps a lot. I was doing a day of yoga in there, too. If I don't do anything, I'm in a lot more pain than if I do work out. I'm in a check-in titled One Day At a Time - several of us have different issues with pain, etc., over there, & you are certainly welcome to join us!
Gentle hugs to you!

 

[backpackingmom]

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and some fibro (most RA people do). I mostly follow a vegan diet. Meat and I do not digest very well and it's been this way my whole life. I eat LOTS of raw and cooked veggies and fruit, lentils, hummus, and sometimes I do eat Greek yogurt. I try to do the 80/20 diet thang. 80% healthy and 20% of whatever.

I have tried the Raw diet for 6 months to see if it would help my RA but it did not. I also tried paleo (my friends are all paleo crossfitters and have begged me to try the paleo diet). I hated it though. I am not a meat lover and I didn't go to the bathroom for a week on paleo! Back to mostly vegan for me.

As far as workouts I modify any exercises that will hurt my knees. Push ups will never happen without handles because my wrists suck!! When my RA is bad I will do more weight workouts like upper body etc. when my RA is under control I will do more of Cathes HiiT workouts or step.

Hope you feel better soon. !

 

[gettinfit@42]

Thank you both for your responses. I truly do need to lose a significant amount of weight, and I really struggle with that. I also find strength exercise helps me so much more than cardio, and my cardio is hit and miss because of triggering pain (even walking sometimes!!).

 

[bethj]

I agree that you have more pain if you DON'T workout. You are going to have pain either way, so it might as well be from exercising. And there is no actual disease of the muscles or joints with fibro-its a neurological pain disorder. So don't be afraid of hurting inflamed joints like you would with RA.
What works for me is 2 days of weights and 2-3 days of cardio, never doing more than 5 workouts per week, and never doing more than 3 days straight without a rest or deep stretching yoga day. Another highly beneficial activity is swimming or water aerobics. I also have pain from just WALKING and I don't know why that hurts so bad but it does. But then I can do Crossfire. Crazy.
I found that the STS program was the best thing I ever did. I have increased my strength tremendously with that. I can now get off the floor without using my arms! But I only do one upper body and one lower body per week-couldn't handle the 3 days a week, so I just did the program slower.
As for diet, I haven't found a single thing that makes any difference whatsoever with regards to pain. But keeping my weight down does make a difference. I weigh about 133 now and I felt better at 122. So any diet that helps you lose weight is a good one.
Best wishes for your journey...
Beth

 

[RapidBreath]

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and some fibro (most RA people do). I mostly follow a vegan diet. Meat and I do not digest very well and it's been this way my whole life. I eat LOTS of raw and cooked veggies and fruit, lentils, hummus, and sometimes I do eat Greek yogurt. I try to do the 80/20 diet thang. 80% healthy and 20% of whatever.

I have tried the Raw diet for 6 months to see if it would help my RA but it did not. I also tried paleo (my friends are all paleo crossfitters and have begged me to try the paleo diet). I hated it though. I am not a meat lover and I didn't go to the bathroom for a week on paleo! Back to mostly vegan for me.

As far as workouts I modify any exercises that will hurt my knees. Push ups will never happen without handles because my wrists suck!! When my RA is bad I will do more weight workouts like upper body etc. when my RA is under control I will do more of Cathes HiiT workouts or step.

Hope you feel better soon. !

I don't have that particular disorder, although I do recall that my grandmother (who probably suffered from undiagnosed Hashimotos) did best on a vegetarian diet and that it really helped her to avoid beef. Something about it set off her arthritis to the point where she was bed ridden. She did find that green beans really helped. I don't know if that would help.

One of my close friends does have fibro and she also found out that she has other food allergies. You might want to do an elimination diet just to make sure there isn't something in your diet making things worse. It turned out that my friend is allergic to wheat, rice, and lactose intolerant. Eliminating those did help. For me personally, its avoiding molds that includes no commercial breads (mold grows on wheat easily), peanuts (another moldy one), and just being vigilant about checking everything. I'm also sensitive to cheese (mold?), chocolate (aw man!!), and rice. I guess I'm just trying to say it varies. I know that was a lousy answer.