Fibromyalgia and Foot Pain

One of those little complications to having Fibromyalgia that myself and friends talk about is foot pain. Our discussion centers around how difficult it is to even walk with the pain in my feet and how much it tingles. It is so difficult that some of us use wheelchairs for mobility.

Surprisingly this foot pain or neuropathy most of us do not even have diabetes. Friends with diabetes know exactly what I am talking about. The first thing they ask is if I have diabetes. The verdict has always been no, even after having various tests at various times.

Neuropathy with Fibromyalgia and not having diabetes is surprisingly common among the women I know. Myself and others has gotten some relief with a variety of remedies. Arch supports in my shoes were very helpful when the pain was at its worse.

I also used warm foot baths before bedtime too. The relief I felt when I finally started asking other women if they had this type of pain was also extremely helpful. Most of them were just gritting their teeth and doing what they could.

The pain is many times present first thing in the morning. It even is at the point that I do not sleep with covers or socks on my feet at night. It feels like I have been on my feet for a 12 hour shift. In reality I just got out of bed.

Sometimes I use the electric cars at stores such as Walmart. Part of the reason is the pain in my feet. It was difficult to learn to use the cart at first. I was so grateful to be able to get groceries and shop with my children.

People do tend to judge you if you use the carts though, particularly if you do not look very old. Having children has been a challenge. I have difficulty doing the things I want and need to do with them. It takes a lot of planning and thought about how to do things now.

Another way I and some women with Fibromyalgia deal with the pain is medication. You just get so tired of medicine. Luckily the same medication, Neurontin that works for people with neuropathy from diabetes seems to work for me and some of my friends.

The flip side to that is that like many medications not all people can take Neurontin. The Neurontin worked best for me when I took it every day. It seemed to build up a cumulative effect over the days.

Myself and friends who have Fibromyalgia have this type of pain in other places than our feet. The pain can be in my arms, hands, fingers, and even face. Unfortunately when there is this type of pain in your feet the more you move around the more it hurts. When you do not move around much you do not get the gentle exercise that helps the Fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia: Beliefs

There are many different attitudes and thoughts concerning people with Fibromyalgia and even the disorder itself. At this point many people do not consider it an autoimmune disease. There are also those who do not believe Fibro exists.

Then there are the people who do believe it exists, but have no idea what to do about it or how to explain it. Some medical professionals and lay people consider Fibromyalgia to be a psychiatric issue.

There are many doctors who refuse to take patients who claim to have the disease. The question which can not be answered is why other medical doctors would actively treat people who claim they have it.

The good news is that not only is there a group of doctors who treat people with Fibro, but they have hundreds of patients. Their patients have similar symptoms in vastly different personal situations.

Logically it would be extremely difficult for that many people to study a textbook and successfully lie about it. Lie many times to many people. Most people who find a doctor who treats Fibromyalgia have told there story to many medical professionals before they got there.

Memory and Fibro Fog

One of the most annoying things about Fibromyalgia is the Fibro Fog. It drives me nuts. Some days I can't remember who I am or where I'm going. I'm always trying to come up with things that will help.

I was interested in reading that researchers believe that beta carotene may help with preventing memory loss and other types of memory problems. Beta Carotene is found in carrots and other bright vegetables and fruit.

I plan to add some more of these into my diet. I need all the help I can get. Please give me seconds of spinach, broccoli, apricots, sweet potatoes, and carrots.

Stress and Fibromyalgia

One of the things I have learned about my Fibromyalgia is that stress makes it worse. I recently read where stress inhibits new brain cell growth. I need those brain cells.

Especially when medical professionals tell me that the reason I feel the pain maybe due to mixups in the signals in my nervous sytem. That sounds like I need my brain...

Inflamation and the Brain

My drug of choice for my Fibromyalgia is ibuprofen. Of course I have things stronger but that is the first one that I reach for. Many times it is all I need to take the edge off so I can get to work or continue working that day.

One of the things that runs in my family is Alzheimers. I do not know if Alzheimers has anything to do with Fibromyalgia. I was excited to learn that my ibuprofen was one of the thing that may be preventative for the Alzheimers though.

At least some things are working in my favor! What about you what little things are you finding that are working in your favor?

Another Post About Green Smoothies

I'm afraid I have not kept this up as much as I should. It took several days before I noticed a difference. I never really noticed the smoothies helped with pain. I did notice when the pain came back.

I started buying some V-8 for the days I do not get to make a smoothie. I buy the ones with low sodium as I try to stay away from salt as much as possible. The V-8 has parsley, lettuce, spinach, watercress, and beets in them, among other vegetables.

These are all vegetables I do not get to eat on a regular basis. I have already started to notice the pain recede again. Oh yeah and I forgot, the smoothies had made the chocolate cravings more controllable. The craving came back but has started to recede again with the V-8.

I will let you know how this works. I really believe food can heal or at least take the edges off pain.

Portable Heating Pads

The other day I had a stitch in my side that just would not go away. I had it for several days. I decided to try one of those portable heating pads. Like the Thermacare, but really it was a store brand. You see I'm kind cheap or well frugal.

I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did it help my side but it helped keep me warm all over. Since keeping warm is one of the things that helps my Fibromyalgia, you can see why I'm so excited. I have some at home and some in my desk at work now.

They are not exactly a natural remedy but they certainly are not medicine either!