My Journey with Fibromyalgia

According to the Mayo Clinic fibromyalgia is "a disorder characterized by musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues." Sounds like a lot doesn't it? Well for those of us that have fibromyalgia, it is a lot and can be life altering. I have had friends and family that have dealt with this disease and have seen how hard it is on them. Well, this past winter I was diagnosed with fibro. So began my journey into this disease, and it's life altering processes.

I started having issues the previous fall with not feeling rested, tired all of the time, sore all over, disorganized, and forgetful (which was highly unusual for me). I initially though it was because I was working to much and not eating right, so I worked on the diet and felt better to an extent but my hip and low back kept hurting and locking up leaving me on the couch for days. I spent most of the winter under a heated blanket and stayed sore, thinking at this point it was just arthritis. I was speaking with a friend of mine about how I was feeling and she suggested being tested for Lyme's disease.

After that conversation I made an appointment with my doctor and discussed my symptoms with him. After running to tests to ensure it wasn't Lyme's or allergies. The symptoms I was presenting with, fatigue, muscle soreness over 3 months, forgetfulness, anxiety and pain in the diagnostic points this confirmed fibromyalgia. With this diagnosis I began researching and reading about fibromyalgia and the inability for the medical community to agree upon a cause. Among the causes suggested have been SIBO, prolonged stress, PTSD, traumatic accidents, middle age, being female, obesity, and family history.

So if they can't agree on the cause of fibro, how do we find a treatment program? This began a whole different journey, the proverbial rabbit hole so to speak. From Dr. Mark Hyman to Dr. Alex Vasquez I have read and researched as much as I can get my hands on since this past February and have come to the determination that functional medicine and modern medicine are not in agreeance on how to manage/cure fibromyalgia.

Due to the broadness of this topic I am going to start a series of weekly blogs that will bring to the forefront both modern medicinal practices and functional/naturopathic forms of treating fibromyalgia. I'm looking forward to sharing the information I gather and how it effects us, hoping that this information will help us in our journey with fibromyalgia. Until next week, best wishes and know that we are in this together.

Resources:

Mayoclinic.org Fibromyalgia

Center for Disease Control. www.cdc.gov