Kinkatia :- Fibromyalgia Community -: Support Group

I totally haven't posted here in forever. I blame the senior thesis. And trying to...

Posted by Kinkatia

12 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Problems taking Vitamin D supplements? I totally haven't posted here in forever. I blame the senior thesis. And trying to...

Reply: Problems taking Vitamin D supplements?

Well, pharmacist says because I reacted to prescription AND OTC supplements, it's not...

Posted by Kinkatia

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Reply: Problems taking Vitamin D supplements?

I've had my symptoms since I was a kid, and I've had a D deficiency only for a couple of...

Posted by Kinkatia

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Reply: Problems taking Vitamin D supplements?

See, I do this. I'm always outside in sun and don't wear sunscreen. I get at least an hour...

Posted by Kinkatia

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Reply: Problems taking Vitamin D supplements?

I do take it with meals. The bottle says to do so, and so I make sure to listen to it. ...

Posted by Kinkatia

12 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Problems taking Vitamin D supplements? I do take it with meals. The bottle says to do so, and so I make sure to listen to it. ...

Reply: Combatting the Pain

ooh, this is a lovely question. I don't use medication at all. Long answer incoming: 1....

Posted by Kinkatia

ooh, this is a lovely question. I don't use medication at all. Long answer incoming:

1. Extremely thorough stretching first thing in the morning. I try to get all the muscles. It takes between thirty and sixty minutes depending on how well I can actually manage. Over time (I'm talking months) it significantly reduces general pain.

2. Low impact exercise. I'm fond of tai chi, mowing my lawn (I've got a non-motorized reel mower!), bicycling and short sprints with my dog.

3. Maintaining good sleep hygiene. (How I manage that could take up an entire other reply!)

4. Heat! Hot showers, hot baths, heating pad, hot water bottle, rice socks, wearing too many layers, snuggling under blankets, keeping the AC off in summer. For heat application, lots of people like to alternate with cold, but cold always worsens symptoms unless I've got a legit injury (in which case it helps the injury and worsens fibro symptoms).

5. Menthol or capsaicin topical creams and stuff for especially achy muscles. Be careful, they can be very uncomfy the first few times you use them.

6. Epsom salt soaks. I try to have a long warm soak once a week with epsom salt. It does wonders.

7. Be social regularly. Improved mood takes your mind off the pain, reduces stress. And less stress means less pain.

8. Physical therapy. I went once a week for three months. My therapist knew how to handle fibro patients and has been the single most helpful healthcare professional I've ever seen.

9. Massage. Exchange backrubs with a friend willing to be trained (tender points plus most amateur massage are a badbadbad combo) or see a professional massage therapist (I know a massage therapist. She's assured me they get trained for fibromites.) Massage relaxes the muscles and also helps get rid of painful muscle knots. I accumulate them like mad and I always feel so much better overall when they're gone, even if I'm sore for a few days afterward. (I am known to gain up to six inches in flexibility from knot elimination in my back. I'm serious.)

10. Watch your diet. I've found that a lot of preservatives and artificial food additives actually worsen my pain. And other symptoms. Eliminating problem foods and ingredients is immensely helpful.

11. De-stress. Stress makes you tense and being tense means more pain. Try prayer if you're faithful, meditation, mindfulness, etc. Cuddle your pet or borrow someone else's. Watch a funny movie. Take a forest bath (trees release chemicals that reduce stress! Go stand around them a while!)

12. This is something I discovered quite by accident: having another chronically ill friend who's *not* a fibromite to gripe with is lovely. Mine has POTS and we whinge at each other all the time and it really, honestly helps take my mind off my pain more than anything else does.

13. Make sure your shoes fit properly and aren't worn out. Same with the rest of the wardrobe. My shoes were causing me extra knee pain and too-big sweaters and shirts were actually giving me neck and shoulder problems. Go figure.

14. Keep moving. Look around once in a while. Stand up every now and then. I do what I can to avoid letting myself stay still too long and get stiff.

15. Listen to your body and rest when you need to. Overdoing it is the number one cause of more pain.

And I'm sure there's more but I really can't think of anything else at the moment.View Thread

Posted byKinkatia

21 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Combatting the Pain ooh, this is a lovely question. I don't use medication at all. Long answer incoming: 1....

Remembering to Laugh

I've got a hilarious fibro-fog story that I'm sure you'll all get a kick out of. It...

Posted by Kinkatia

I've got a hilarious fibro-fog story that I'm sure you'll all get a kick out of. It reminded me that as awful as the fibro can be, it does make life more interesting in dozens of funny ways, and that sometimes you just need to have a good old-fashioned laugh at yourself.

Last night I was hanging out in the other dorm building, in the flat of a friend who is a fellow chronic illness sufferer. It was great. Judgement free, happy place, really. We had a cooking party and watched some stuff on his computer and generally spent the evening geeking out together wondering why we hadn't been hanging out before this.

Then it gets late and I have to leave.

And I can't find my phone.

It's in none of my six pockets. Can't be in my shoes because I'm wearing them. I didn't bring a purse. Not on, in, or under the couch. It's not in the cabinets in the kitchen, not in the fridge, not anywhere on the floor, not even in the bathroom.

Absolutely vanished.

Friend called my phone. It went straight to voicemail, which it shouldn't have done because the battery was nearly full and I'd left it on. My ringtone had been a topic of conversation earlier, so I knew it wasn't on silent.

Not gonna lie, there was a bit of panic because I am prone to setting down my phone and not remembering where, and I really didn't want my phone to be lost forever. My plans for today would have all been derailed horribly without the ability to get in touch with several people via text message.

But I took a deep breath, decided it wasn't worth losing a whole night's sleep to, called my mother so she wouldn't think I'd died if she tried calling and I didn't answer, and went to my room. Started seeing if Verizon stores in the area were open Sunday mornings so I could use the upgrade I'm due for to get one of the freebie phones as a replacement. I've been having anxiety attacks this week, and if I could keep one more thing of the list of stuff to fret over, it was worth it.

Five minutes after I get back to my room, I get an email from my friend.

He found my phone!

In his bathroom. On the side of his sink. Under his sponge.

A damp sponge which made my phone shut off in self-defense after the LAST water-soaking in got.

I managed to hide my phone from myself under a sponge.

I think this is a new record for most bizarre place I've left something important. Now that the panic has worn off, I can't stop laughing every time I think of it. I am well impressed with myself.

If anyone else has any funny tales they'd like to share, go for it. After all, we all need reasons to laugh.View Thread

Posted byKinkatia

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Reply: Red Facial Rash

When you get referred to a rheumatologist, it might be a good idea to ask when you make an...

Posted by Kinkatia

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Reply: AM I THE ONLY ONE?

I'm going to jump in here with my tendency to recommend herbal remedies, and encourage you...

Posted by Kinkatia

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Reply: UNsupportive family

I'm so sorry to hear you're in such an unsupportive place right now. The first thing I...

Posted by Kinkatia

4 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:UNsupportive family I'm so sorry to hear you're in such an unsupportive place right now. The first thing I...

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