Fibro Warrior Wednesday – Toni Dawn (The Girl in Yoga Pants)

My interview this week is with Toni Dawn of Bristol, TN (not too far from me). She was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in May of 2012, at the age of 38.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your life.
I’m married. My husband is active-duty military. His work is three hours away, so he is rarely home. My mom has lived with us since she was medically retired due to osteoarthritis. I have three children, ages 19, 11, and 2. The oldest two are girls (“Little Tiger” is the oldest and “Little Dragon” is the middle), the youngest is a boy (“Tater”). We have two dogs and three cats.

I used to work as a pharmacy technician and an adjunct professor at a local college. I also taught group fitness classes and did personal training until I was 8 months pregnant with Tater.

What I most enjoyed before I got sick was weightlifting and taking kung fu, aikido, kickboxing, and tai chi 4 days a week, 3 hours a day until I became pregnant with Tater. I haven’t yet gotten well enough to go back. I’ve since learned to enjoy more relaxing activities, such as writing, graphic design, watching movies, reading more, and walking in nature.

What lead up to your diagnosis (symptoms, dr visits, etc)?
A bunch of stress in my work and personal life, followed by a difficult pregnancy. I suffered a lot of physical damage from the pregnancy. My abdominals and pubic bones separated. Then I tore my abdominal muscles trying to carry a bag that was too heavy. The pregnancy also left me with endometrial hyperplasia (thickened uterine lining due to low progesterone levels) and a prolapsed bladder.

After Tater’s birth, I kept waiting for my energy to come back, but it never did. My exhaustion was much worse than the normal new mommy fatigue. I had to wait six months for the abdominal tear to heal before exercising. I put in an exercise video and couldn’t even make it through the warm up. My muscles burned like they were on fire and I felt like I had mono (which I’ve had four times). I thought I was just severely out of shape. Then, my body started hurting all over and my muscles got so stiff that I walked with a limp. My skin felt bruised, my feet felt like I was walking on needles, I had random muscle spasms all over, especially my hands, and I couldn’t tolerate temperature changes. My doctor diagnosed me a few weeks later.

I spent my days home alone with the baby most of the time while the oldest two were in school. My mom spends her days out and about. I haven’t yet gotten well enough to return to work.

How did your family initially handle your illness?
They knew I’d had a difficult pregnancy, but thought I was exaggerating how bad I felt, so I didn’t get the help or support that I desperately needed. They thought I was either depressed, being lazy, or just wanting attention. It’s better now.

What do you feel is the most challenging aspect of Fibro?
The fatigue, weakness, and lack of stamina.

Do you have any other co-existing conditions? If so, what are they and how do they impact your Fibromyalgia?
I have adrenal fatigue, hormone imbalance (estrogen dominance, low progesterone and testosterone, really high DHEA), endometrial hyperplasia (thickened uterine lining due to low progesterone), irritable bowel syndrome, non-diabetic reactive hypoglycemia, a nontoxic multi-nodular goiter on my thyroid, attention-deficit disorder (inattentive type), and I just lost my gallbladder a few months ago. The impact is that I’m beyond exhausted. I also have to be very careful about what I eat and how stressed I let myself get.

What (if anything) have you found/ done that has improved your symptoms?
Vitamins, by far, have been the biggest help. I’m on several high-powered vitamins, several times a day. Plenty of rest, warm showers, stretching, walking, meditation, eating my veggies, and getting off the processed foods also helped. I try to keep my stress level as low as I can.

How open are you with friends & family about your illness & symptoms?
I’m pretty open about my illness if somebody asks. I try not to start conversations or go into detail anymore, though, since someone told me I “moaned and groaned” too much. If anybody asks how I’m feeling, I just say if I’m feeling well or not.

Do you blog about your illness? If so, what inspired you to do so?
I write The Girl in Yoga Pants blog. I named it that because I wear yoga pants a lot. My inspiration has always been to motivate people get healthier. I started the blog just a month before my diagnosis. I had originally intended it to be a health and fitness blog, as well as a place to document my weight loss after having Tater. Ironically, I ended up gaining a bunch of weight due to my illness and side effects of medications.

I’ve lost 60 pounds despite fibromyalgia, gotten off a bunch of medications, and started getting healthy again. I just write about my journey in hopes that it helps or inspires other people.

What is the best advice you’ve received about Fibromyalgia?
My rheumatologist told me to forget the drugs and let food be my medicine. For me, that was the best advice ever. The drugs were causing major side effects. My condition worsened on them.
What was the worst advice that you followed?

I made the mistake of falling into the drug trap. The more drugs I took, the worse I felt, and the more weight I gained. It was a bad cycle. Turns out, my body needed better nutrition and a lot of rest, instead.

What is your favorite way to cope with your life as a spoonie?
I love writing my blog and connecting with others who struggle with this, too. I also love reading, music, *happy* movies, and warm showers.

What is one thing you’ve learned about yourself since your diagnosis?
Fibromyalgia has taught me what’s important. I appreciate things now that I once took for granted. Just being alive is a gift. I’ve been incredibly unkind to myself over the years for not doing enough or being a certain way to please other people. I’ve never had a clue about how to relax properly or how to manage stress in a healthy way because of this. After all this time, I’ve finally learned that I don’t have to do or be anything. I am enough just because I am. That doesn’t mean I’m not still striving to be better; it means that I’m doing it because I think it’s a good thing to do for me, not anybody else.

What is the most important piece of advice you would give to someone newly diagnosed with Fibro (or even still seeking a diagnosis)?
Don’t make the mistake of relying solely on prescriptions to manage your Fibromyalgia. Living with Fibromyalgia requires lifestyle changes, such as eating better, engaging in proper exercise, and getting plenty of rest. Too much stress and poor nutrition will aggravate everything you have.

Two books I recommend reading are The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum and The Wahls Protocol by Dr. Terry Wahls. Terry Wahls writes about beating multiple sclerosis with her diet, but she also discusses how the diet can also help Fibromyalgia (and many, many other conditions). Food really is medicine.

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