The first three months of fibromyalgia

Variety of Body...



It has been three months now since I received the diagnosis, and the good news is that things still seem to be tickety-boo symptom wise. At my first monthly check in with my doctor, I had half the number of trigger points than I did from my previous appointment! Personally, I think cutting dairy out of my diet had a lot to do with the decrease in pain, as did a different dosage of muscle relaxants.

The results of my sleep study showed I have mild sleep apnea. Phooey. I so do not want to wear a mask in order to get a good night's sleep! Because I was so reluctant to get fitted for a mask, my doctor offered me the option of trying to lose some weight before my next appointment. If I can get my weight down enough, I may be able to avoid the dreaded CPAP! This means that my next battle to face is exercise.

Trying to lose weight while you are dealing with chronic pain is NO FUN. Not to mention REALLY HARD. Walking at a pace fast enough to get my heart rate into the weight losing range caused some minor flare ups. Even walking at my own pace wasn't working. Impulsively, I decided to get in touch with the trainer I had used before Turtle was born.  I've had one session with her so far, and I think I'm finally on a track that will work for me. For cardio, I'm trying one session of aqua aerobics a week. For other cardio workouts I am using an elliptical trainer and recumbant bikes as they can get me moving without any impact on my joints. I'm continuing with my daily morning stretches, and I want to add some yoga at least once a week, if not more frequently. I certainly haven't been pain-free with this increase in activity, but I have managed to avoid flare-ups. I even managed to take Turtle to an open swim session -she was thrilled that I got in the water with her! It was so nice to do a bit of exercise without slapping her into a child care room, or hauling her across town for my mom to babysit her.

It is really weird, but I'm actually beginning to look forward to my work outs at the gym. I am liking pushing my body hard enough to work up a sweat, and still having energy to do other things afterwards. Maybe it is the mega-dose of Vitamin D I am taking. Or maybe I'm just growing up a bit.