Dealing with Fibromyalgia – The Wise Woman Way
Dear wife, “the voice of Grandmother Growth seems to float in the deepening twilight, echoing, reverberating, ringing in the ears.” Bring me your pain. Bring me your pain. Bring your pain to me. Bring your burdens. Bring all that you can no longer bear, can no longer bear, can no longer carry, can no longer bear, can no longer be responsible. Give it to me. Put it down. Let us pass in council together and listen to the stories your pain tells. Menopause is a journey that requires you to travel light. Heavy things – bitterness, regret, vengeance, clinging to pain – will make your journey tiring and you down. Take only the stories. Leave the rest behind. Burning pain in your hot flashes. Let yourself go. This is change. Let it change you, dear woman, you change. ”
Step 0: Do nothing
Dealing with fibromyalgia, women have less pain if they sleep in a dark room. If not possible, wear a sleep mask.
Step 1: Collect Information
Disorder in chronic pain I have called “all the ills on” when I wrote this article ten years ago, is now big news. Ninety percent of the 4 million Americans with this debilitating, frustrating condition – known as fibromyalgia – are white women, and many of them are postmenopausal.
Neither the cause nor cure for fibromyalgia is known. This is not a disease but a set of symptoms characterized by chronic widespread pain on both sides of the body, above and below the waist. (As one of my apprentices, said: “But I am not wrong in all these places at once. The pain moves. I never know where it will be next.”) Some women have a low fever in addition to pain. More than half of those who suffer from fibromyalgia also headaches, endometriosis, and / or irritable bowel syndrome.
The symptoms of fibromyalgia are quite variable, making diagnosis difficult. (Orthodox diagnosis is based on research of pain in trigger points). Fibromyalgia mimics aspects of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, hepatitis C, hypothyroidism, lupus, polymyalgia rheumatica, and early dementia. Many women with fibromyalgia, it is said, their distress is “all in your mind.”
It is not in your mind (alone). Menopause can leave the impression that you were beaten. Muscles respond to hormonal changes and feeling painful mood. Loss of sleep can make you pain. (Non-restorative sleep is a hallmark of fibromyalgia.) Lack of calcium (and other minerals) can make your bones pain. Whether you are facing these challenges, or the greater problem of fibromyalgia, why not give Wise Woman Ways a try? The remedies mentioned here have been remarkably successful in helping many women.
“People with fibromyalgia are not only sensitive to pain, but also find noises, strong smells, and aversion to light.” – Daniel Clauw, MD, director: chronic pain and fatigue Research Center, Georgetown University
Step 2: Engage the Energy
* Having a support group is one of the most important factors keeping fibromyalgia under control.
* Homeopathic Arnica is an amazing remedy for sore throat and muscle aches. Daily use of homeopathic Rhus Toxicodendron reduced pain by 25 percent in those with fibromyalgia.
* Make a list of things you have angina (anger, angry) about. Where do these things live in your body? With the help of an expert bodywork, loosen the scene. Women with fibromyalgia are very likely to be survivors of trauma (sexual assault or domestic violence, alcoholism).
* Return to your Mother. Floating in the ocean. Lie belly down on the earth. Naked. Let yourself ease. Let it heal you.
* Listen to a relaxation tape. Ask someone to show you how to do the yoga position called the “Corpse Pose”. Learn to put yourself in a deep state of mind calm and peaceful.
* Hypnotherapy can help you acquire a certain degree of mental control over their symptoms. Behavior of cognitive therapy is also useful.
Step 3: Nourish and Tonify
* The use of feed infusions, especially comfrey leaf and stinging nettle, instead of coffee, tea, soft drinks and is the only thing I know to effectively mitigate and overcome fibromyalgia.
* Gentle exercise – walking, yoga or tai chi practices – keeps muscles from weakening and increasingly painful. Experts suggest starting with as little as three minutes a day, and the gradual establishment of at least four sessions of five minutes each per day. Still, the reward is worth it.
* Regular consumption of yogurt also proves very useful for those who have fibromyalgia. Perhaps it is because yogurt to enhance the ability to feed and immunity, some suspect fibromyalgia is the result of a malfunction of the immune system.
* Magnesium is an essential nutrient for preventing pain in muscles and connective tissues. Legumes, whole grains, vegetables and feed the infusions – like nettle and Oatstraw – are the best sources.
* Moxibustion is also known as acupuncture without needles. Safe and easy to do at home by yourself, moxibustion gives fast relief from sore joints and aching muscles. It not only relieves pain but strengthens, the decrease in the future pain and gradually make a “cure”. You can buy a moxa “cigar” at a pharmacy or health food Oriental. Bring the glowing end of the moxa (after lighting it) near the painful area and move in small slow spirals until the heat becomes too intense. (This May take several minutes or more). Pain relief is usually immediate and often lasts for twelve hours or more.
Step 4: Stimulate / sedation
* Tinctures of willow bark or spirea (1-2 dropperfuls/1-2 ml is a dose) is strongly recommended that the green allies by women dealing with fibromyalgia.
* St. Joan’s wort tincture – not capsules, not the tea – is a powerful ally for women with fibromyalgia. He is one of the best muscle relaxants I have ever used. A 25-30 drop dose not only stops but also prevents muscle aches. I have used it as often as every twenty minutes (ten doses) when the occasion necessitated. St. Joan’s wort prevents pain when taken after exercise, and even better if taken before. I take a dose every hour while on an airplane to prevent muscle aches and jetlag.
* Regular massage from an experienced therapist stimulates the circulation of blood and energy, relieves pain, reduces fatigue and promotes rigidity. Avoid deep tissue massage, it increases the pain. The light and mild strokes Myofascial Release are most useful. Chiropractic manipulations are of little benefit.
* Massage with heated stones and other heat treatments work wonders for some women. For others, the treatments work better in cold (but not too cold, and not for too long, either, please).
* Ginger compresses, hot or cold, movement and encourage the mobilization of the body healing agents to act and to relieve your pain. I grate several ounces of fresh ginger into simmering water and cook gently for ten minutes, then soak a cloth in the liquid and use it as an application to the painful area.
* The National Institute of Health lists fibromyalgia as one of the few conditions that acupuncture can relieve.
* If an act of lying down to sleep the pain, slip into something relaxing: valerian, skullcap, or St. Joan’s wort tinctures, drops to a 1 ml of one, twice if necessary .
Step 5: Use Supplements
* A study has shown little interest from those who have fibromyalgia is taken SAM-e or 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan – a precursor of serotonin). Do not use 5-HTP if you are taking St. Joan’s / John’s wort.
* Lack of sleep can rapidly aggravate the symptoms of fibromyalgia. (See Step 0.) Confused If you sleep, melatonin at bedtime, the lowest dose you can get help in May.
Step 5b: drug use
* Oil of lavender was recommended by several women who have dealt with fibromyalgia for many years. Dilute with olive oil or jojoba and use as a rub.
* Orthodox treatment of fibromyalgia relies heavily on drugs, primarily antispasmodics, antidepressants and muscle relaxants. But Celebrex, Vioxx, Valteran, amitriptyline (Elavil), fluoxetine (Prozac), vanlafaxine (Effecor), trazadone (Desyrel), alprazolam (Xanax) and cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) can affect the liver and disrupt the system immune.
* Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen do not reduce fibromyalgia pain for most women.
* Tramadol (Ultram) is a drug that addresses both the modification of brain chemicals and the signals from the pain of those who have fibromyalgia.
Step 6: Break and Enter
* Beware of invasive diagnostic tests. Many women say sustainable endless series of tests to put a name to their pain, without success and at the cost of physical, mental and moral.
* The injection of lidocaine, a drug that temporarily numbs nerves, are effective in relieving fibromyalgia pain for some women. Injections of capsaicin (cayenne) relieve pain by destroying nerve endings
About the Author
|
Arthritis and Allied Conditions: A Textbook of Rheumatology (Two Volume Set)
$229.55
Established as the “Bible of Rheumatology,” this definitive two-volume reference is now in its thoroughly updated Fifteenth Edition. More than 200 of the world’s preeminent experts provide encyclopedic coverage of the entire field of rheumatology, including relevant basic science, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, and pathophysiology, diagnosis, and medical and surgical management of al…
|
