1.
Pain News Network: Strict low-calorie diet reduces fibromyalgia symptoms
From the article: “After just three weeks on the restricted diet, nearly three out of four participants (72%) experienced symptom reductions of 30% or more, regardless of the amount of weight lost. Patients who showed little or no improvement had a higher BMI at the start of the study and were more likely to have had a diagnosis of depression.”
My hunch is the women’s improvement came more from cutting out foods that drive inflammation and pain (like bread/gluten) than the actual weight loss itself. Personally, I know I feel better when I am eating a clean diet that’s gluten, dairy and soy free. I also feel better when my weight is on the lower end of the scale, but obviously everyone’s experience is different.
Below are several articles that I’ve written over the years about diet and fibromyalgia:
How I lost weight with fibromyalgia and Lyme disease
How going gluten free may help fibromyalgia
5 lessons I’ve learned from going dairy free with fibromyalgia and chronic Lyme
2.
HealthRising.org: Multi-omics study links poor sleep to deficient gut bacteria in ME/CFS
From the article: “Gut bacteria proved to have a strong effect. The authors noted there was a strong negative correlation between the abundance of bacteria from the Faecalibacterium genera abundance and the number of awakenings during sleep; that is, the more Faecalibacterium present, the fewer the awakenings, and presumably the better the sleep.”
3.
National Fibromyalgia Association: Patients need patience
In this article, my Prohealth.com editor Karen Lee Richards shares two major pitfalls to avoid when determining if a fibromyalgia treatment is effective or not. Worth the click!
4.
Pain News Network: The devil in the details of revised CDC opioid guideline
From the article: “The authors of the revised guideline set out to deceive the public with the appearance of giving doctors more discretion in prescribing opioids. But that new ‘flexibility’ is overwhelmed by wording that subtly informs doctors that they may risk sanctions if they prescribe opioids to anyone, at any level above 50 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) dose per day.”
5.
Melissa vs. Fibromyalgia: The best way to plan your day using pacing principles
In this video, my friend, colleague and fellow fibro warrior Melissa Reynolds shares “the best way to plan your day using pacing principles. By using the principles of pacing we can work with what we have better and even create more energy in doing so.”
And an extra…
Red Kite Meditations: Daily detox supports healing complex chronic illness
From the article: “In modern life we are all exposed to bagillions more toxins than our grandparents were, from pesticides in foods to chemicals in cleaning products. In addition to choosing non-toxic products, there are some relatively cheap, easy and effective home detox tools you can use to support your body’s detox pathways on a daily basis. This post will go over a few of my favorites.”
Warrior of the Week…
The Fibromyalgia Warrior of the Week is Amanda Dent, a hairdresser from Grimsby, England.
Read more about her here: Hairdresser in agony from condition which could leave her in wheelchair
Product of the Week…
(This section contains an Amazon affiliate link.)
This week’s Product of the Week is the “My Paced Planning Journal: Productivity for Chronic Illness” by Melissa Reynolds. This is the journal that Melissa mentions in the video mentioned above (see #5). I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed lately about my ever-growing to-do list, so I’m tempted to buy this for myself!
Click here to access all of my favorite Amazon products for fibromyalgia!
I’m Donna, a longtime newspaper reporter, health writer and chronic illness thriver! Fed Up with Fatigue provides weekly news, research, treatments and more to help you live better with fibromyalgia and/or Lyme.
As Steve commented, I too appreciate your posts. My son is in his early forties and besides dealing with chronic fatigue, also struggles with schizophrenia. Do you have any information that these two illnesses could be connected?Years ago one of his doctors was suspicious of this possibility. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Sincerely,
Cathy
I don’t have info on a link between fatigue and schizophrenia but …. has your son had a GOOD test for Lyme disease? By “good” test, I’m asking if he’s had iGenex testing for Lyme, NOT the testing that’s available at places like Labcorp and Quest since that testing can miss around half of all Lyme infections. The reason I ask is that chronic Lyme and other associated infections have been linked to mental health disorders, and chronic Lyme would also cause fatigue. It’s an avenue worth exploring even if he doesn’t recall a tick bite and even if you don’t live in a state where Lyme is prevalent (see myth article linked below).
Some links:
https://fedupwithfatigue.com/lyme-disease-and-fibromyalgia/ – I discuss standard testing and iGenex testing in this article
https://fedupwithfatigue.com/fibromyalgia-lyme-myths/ – This one explores common myths about Lyme. I always send people this one b/c people will often say, “It can’t be Lyme b/c ….”
I did a quick search of LymeDisease.org, and they have a few articles on the link btw schizophrenia and bartonella. Bartonella is a common infection that’s often transmitted by the same insects that carry Lyme and also by cat bites/scratches. The symptoms are very similar to Lyme, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.
https://www.lymedisease.org/?s=schizophrenia+
Also, this is a general article about bartonella and its symptoms: http://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2020/02/01/health/bartonella-infection-everywhere-but-we-don-t-know-about-it/
Hope this helps in some way!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the effort you put into this newsletter. You sometimes write about subjects that I share with my pain management doctor who is an anesthesiologist at a university hospital in Charleston, SC. Because they are so informative. I’ve had Fibromyalgia for about 12 years and have learned to manage it somewhat. I do force myself to go out almost every day and I have noticed the worse I feel, the more colorful I dress.. I go to the same local market almost daily and buy just for that nights dinner so I know almost all the employees. I find that talking to people face to face makes me forget how miserable I might be feeling, I don’t talk about myself, instead I try to talk about the other person. Being iinterested in them I forget about me.. no matter how badly I feel, I always put on a smile when in a store, it’s not the salespersons fault that I hurt, they may be hurting too, I don’t take my pain out on them. I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who is understanding, I can vent to him and when home I sleep a lot. Here it is, 4:00 a.m. and time to try to go back to bed. Sweet dreams fellow warrior.
I think that’s a great strategy to help distract from pain, and of course research shows regular social interaction also helps us to be happier and healthier overall!
Many thanks for your posts. I suspect people who never contact you here still appreciate your work.
Have you read about MedBeds?
Are there any reviews?
what do you think?
I’m sorry but I’ve never heard of that brand.