Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It's OK not to be OK!

I have to admit, I stole this line from someone else. A new friend I've just found who is so much like me it isn't funny! So now you know I'm a thief with fibromyalgia. And migraines.......did I mention the migraines? Well I've had one for 3 months now and there's no relief in sight. So if I write something stupid I'll blame it on the migraine.

But back to our topic........
What a blessing it was to hear this statement. Here I've been lamenting under the delusion that life has to be good, if not perfect~ but now I find out that I'm ok just being who I am. Seriously! What a load off!!!
See, my life with fibromyalgia is a living hell. I hurt at all times of the day, whether full body pain, partial body part pain or migraines. My brain barely functions any more.......I forget what I'm doing, I forget what I'm supposed to be doing, and sometimes I just forget I am. Some days are worse than others of course. Take for example today and this whole week actually. We're in the midst of having major thunderstorms every night for a week. Actually, it's raining now and it's 8:00 in the morning. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the rain. I love how it sounds, and the smell afterwards. It's soothing to me. BUT, my body does NOT like the rain, or the humidity, or the electrical activity in the air. It all causes me extreme pain. Last night I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room because of the bodywide pain. It was unbearable! And not much better today, I might add. And I must admit that I was feeling pretty depressed about it all. I lament over not being able to play with my little girl, or not being able to cook supper, or not being able to clean my house. It forever plagues me. I feel like a loser (and I'm not talking about my diet now), a real loser. Because I can't do the things that "normal" people can do.
But what a pick me up it was to hear that statement, "It's OK not to be OK!". How much simplier can it be? All this time I'm struggling to be "normal" when really I'm ok just the way I am. I realized that there are more important things in the world than cooking supper, or cleaning house. Just spending time with my daughter is enough. I may have to be creative because I can't sit in the floor & play or go outside a lot of times, but it's going to be OK. At least she'll know i love her and want to be with her. And the dishes and house can wait. It'll still be there when I get around to doing it.........if I get to it. Many times it's my husband who gets to it. Thank GOD for a cleaning husband!!!
But I'm just now realizing that I'm not 2nd rate just because I'm sick. I still have lots to offer to this world. Lots to offer as a wife and mother, even if I'm not the best there is.
So as you go about your day today, and you're not perfect either, just remember, "It's OK not to be OK!"

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Goodbye Little Blue Pill

This last February I finally got desperate enough to try Elavil for my fibromyalgia. I hesitated for a very long time because of the high occurrence of people that gained weight while on it. But the pain from fibro was just getting to be too much so I decided to try it and promised myself I would stop taking if I gained any weight.

At first, it felt like the Elavil was helping with my pain. I had the best February and March that I've had in years. (Typically February and March are my worst months).

I also loved how deeply I slept while taking Elavil. I didn't have one bad night of sleep while I was on that stuff, not even around the time of my period when I usually experience a few nights of insomnia. I even started sleeping deeply enough to start dreaming again. It was great!

The Elavil also seemed to improve the fibrofog. I had a few mildly foggy days but no days where I absolutely couldn't function. That in itself made the Elavil worth taking.

But I started gaining weight. In three months, I gained six pounds. I tried getting back on The Flat Belly Diet which had worked for me in the past. There was no way. I was starving all the time. And I was too groggy to exercise in the morning like I usually do.

I realized I was feeling pretty lethargic all the time. Walking the dog became a horrible ordeal. My hip started hurting way worse than it ever had before. My muscles kept getting tighter and tighter because I couldn't take muscle relaxers with the Elavil. (Taking the two together caused a major drug hangover that left me unable to function until about 2:00 pm the following day). Also, the Elavil seemed to totally kill my sex drive, something that my husband wasn't appreciating.

So, I started weaning myself off them. Now that I have the Elavil out of my system, my hip and trigger points are better (maybe because I can take Flexeril again), I have more energy and I'm feeling less...distant.

But, boy, do I miss that deep sleep. Now I'm back to feeling jittery and wired at bed time, jumping at every noise, and waking up really early in the morning. I do miss those little blue pills that knocked me out for the night.

by Trisha

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A blog to follow

Here's another blog you may want to follow: Dannette is the found of Fibrohaven Support Foundation and her blog, Fibrohaven, has many interesting articles and links. Check it out! You can get to her blog by clicking HERE.

Whey Protein to Boost Your Immune System

Do you seem to catch every virus that is going around? I used to and I'd be sick for weeks every time. Recently, I realized that for the past two years, I've only had two colds per year. And this last winter, the two colds I had only lasted three days each. This is a huge change for me and I can only think of two things that I've been doing differently. One is taking an Emergen-C packet every day and the other is making smoothies with whey protein powder.

I had no idea whey protein was an immune booster until I saw it on my canister of protein powder. I looked it up online and, sure enough, it is known to support the immune system. You can read an article that explains the how and why of it HERE.

Making a low-cal fruit smoothie with protein powder is easy. I put one cup of fruit in a blender, add a teaspoon of sweetener (I use fructose but I'm trying to switch to Stevia), 3/4 of a scoop of whey protein, a tablespoon of almonds (for some healthy fat) and about a half cup of water. You can also use milk or soy milk if you like your smoothies creamier. It's a delicious way to boost your immune system and it's good for your muscles too.