Help For Fibromyalgia???

[Jskell911]

Has anyone heard anything about the use of Magnesium Malate for the relief of muscle aches associated with Fibro? I have been doing a lot of research and the answers seem to be encouraging.

Also, those of you who have this diagnosis (it's pretty new to me), how do you handle it on a daily basis? I have a fairly demanding and active job, so by the end of my day I have had it! I am sore all over, brain fog, and everyday headaches!!!!!

Any input would help!

I have started a small ritual that seems to relieve some of the symptoms a bit. I make sure I have 1/2 hr before bed with my heated neck massager on and a cup of Sleepy Time Herbal tea.

[Nishu]

I take slo-mag but I've forgotten what kind of magnesium it is or how much magnesium is in it. I usually only take one a day, which is a pretty small amount. I'm still breastfeeding so I don't take a whole lot of anything. I have read great things about it as well. I can't say for sure it's helping, but right now my symptoms aren't that bad at all so something has to be helping. I think my flaxseed oil and/or fish oil supplements have helped as well.

As far as day to day living, I've found that just trying to keep a positive attitude has helped a lot. It's still hard for me not to worry when I'm in so much pain, and I still wonder if there's not something terribly wrong. That kind of worry just makes it sooo much worse.

I've heard of people finding relief by eliminating things like wheat and/or dairy, but I don't try to confirm it. You may have noticed that those two things get blamed for everything. Also, things from the nightshade family apparently have something in them that contributes to inflammation, so a lot of people avoid those.

I think that exercise helps too, though I haven't been that great at keeping up with it. In the short term obviously it's going to kick your butt.

The benefits to your mood and sense of calm though are really worth it.

[Jskell911]

Thanks for the input. Haven't tried the fish oil, bit was looking into the flax. I feel like I take a pharmacy full of pills - Paxil, painkillers, muscle relaxer, vitamin, Evening Primrose (for menopause), estrogen (patch), magnesium....... Yikes!

My job is pretty stressful, esp now in this economy. But I've been there 12 yrs so I'm used to it.

[GFNancy]

Look into celiac disease or non-celiac gluten intolerance. That's what happened to me. I had fibro type pain for several years before I took gluten out of my diet.

If it is gluten-related, magnesium fits in as well because if your body is reacting to gluten, you're not absorbing the nutrients you eat, which leads to vitamin deficiencies, magnesium being on of the most common ones.

When I took gluten out of my diet, my pain went away within days.

I see that you have an autism awareness ribbon. You've probably heard that taking gluten out of the diet helps some kids who have autism.

This is something I'd really encourage you to look into because celiac and other gluten-related issues have a strong genetic component. One of the reasons doctors have a difficult time diagnosing gluten-related illnesses is that there are dozens of different symptoms and just about everyone has a different set of symptoms.

Take my family for example -

Me - Fibro-type pain (I could barely walk and was on my way to a wheelchair), IBS (D), brain fog, slurring speech, migraines, my hair was falling out. I also had what I used to call "brain buzzing" insomnia and horrible nightmares. Just all sorts of stuff. It was awful. Between the pain and the IBS I was nearly housebound. I heard that gluten might help the IBS and it turned out that not only was the IBS caused by gluten for me, but so were all of the other things I just listed. After I took gluten out, it was like somebody flipped a switch and I was fine. The most bizarre thing ever.

Daughter - Stomach aches, panic attacks, clingy, nightmares.

Son - He had just turned 2 when we figured out the gluten connection for me. After we tried it for my daughter we went gluten free in the whole house because it was easier. Normally he was very quiet and just kind of did his own thing, which was great because my daughter was going from one panic attack to another. Having my son just be so mellow, doing things like organize toys and line up his shoes was a relief to me. He didn't even talk yet. The only time he really showed emotion was when his sister would get loud and he'd start screaming. Which was all kinds of fun for me because of the migraines.

After we took gluten out of his diet just by happenstance of taking gluten out of the house he completely changed into a different child. He went from being a quiet, distant, non-involved child to being a normal goofy, silly 2yo boy within a couple of months. The first time he ever kissed me was when he was 2.5. He still didn't start really talking until he was over 3, but he was engaged and happy. He also started making eye contact. It wasn't until after he made these obvious changes that my family told me that they had been concerned about him having signs of autism, but since he was so young they were just waiting to see if he got better. It turned out I was the only one who he made even brief eye contact with. He didnt' connect with anyone else at all. My husband was actually getting concerned that he was deaf or hearing impaired because he couldn't get much of a reaction from him at all.

Now, he's 4 and he acts like a completely average 4yo. He's playful and friendly. He's loud and goofy. He climbs all over me and uses his hands to turn my head toward him when he talks to me so he can look me in the eyes.

So anyway... Look into it. It's worth a shot for both of you.

Nancy