My name is Tracy. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 7 years ago. That day was a huge blessing to me. I know that sounds weird but it was. You see I had been in extreme pain for years and no one could figure out what was wrong. When I was diagnosed finally I was only 21.
Then the reality of my diagnosis set in. It became one of the hardest things I have had to deal with. My whole family thought I was crazy, lazy, and very melodramatic. They did not understand what it meant to have Fibromyalgia at all. My family believed that if something was wrong with you; you just powered through it and worked hard to overcome what was going on. Finally they started to talk to their friends and would mention my diagnosis like it was a joke. Until one day one of my family members was asked by a friend if I was in a wheelchair. They had asked this because one of their own family members had Fibromyalgia as well. And they had it way worse then I did. This friend was able to explain how the pain was constant and never really went away. Their family member had to travel to a large city just for treatment and couldn't even walk some days because the pain was so bad. This changed everything for me.
All while this was going on I was researching what I could do to manage my condition. My Dr. prescribed some medication for me it helped take away some of the pain. However the side effects were awful. We changed prescriptions about five times before I finally said enough. I was able to function better without the meds. While trying the meds I learned that food played a role in dealing with the pain. For me the biggest trigger was anything with more the 2% of caffeine in it. That meant no more chocolate and no more lattes. I was devastated as a woman who absolutely loved chocolate and my lattes that was a really hard blow to me.
So I started to make some new life choices. I stopped consuming anything with caffeine. Some days were not good and I paid the price in pain for consuming caffeine. I started to feel better and so I did some more research and learned that people with Fibromyalgia should eat whole foods because of the nutrition and that preservatives could cause pain issues as well. For a few years that was my life dealing with pain and trying to watch what I ate and take OTC painkillers when needed. They only helped me a little.
Then two years ago I had a bad episode with my Fibromyalgia and it came on really strong and what not get better. I went back to my Dr. and all she could tell me was lets try those meds again. There was a new one she wanted to try. I agreed to try it. I so wish I had not. I ended up have such severe migraines that I could not even get out of bed and threw up if it was louder than a whisper in my home. With having my son it was not possible. I stopped taking the new meds as when I called my Dr. about the migraines I was told there was nothing they could do to help me with them. Before the new meds I could at least get out of bed and do some things. So I quit taking them.
I was always researching for any new ideas about how to mange my condition. Then I cam across the idea of a holistic approach. I went to my local GNC for a good multi-vitamin. What I found was an amazing woman who ran the GNC. She had Fibromyalgia as well. She was a godsend to me. We talked for awhile about what my problem areas were and she helped start me out on some vitamins that had helped her. I bought those and have been doing much better since then. I now take some other vitamins and Aleve everyday and it lets me live my life with Fibromyalgia.
