Sunday Inspiration: Is there a cure for Fibromyalgia?

Evidently Donna over at FibroGeek is on a role, because once again she’s inspired me. Not long ago she posted her thoughts on the idea of recovering from or curing Fibromyalgia. This is a question that comes up a lot, Is there a cure for Fibromyalgia? Can you recover from Fibromyalgia?

I’d not really given a lot of thought to the differences between curing something and recovering from it before reading her post. I’d kind of lumped them together. I get annoyed at the claims we see online from people who say they can “cure” Fibromyalgia. Like Donna, I feel that those claims are pretty much just sales hype. I know of at least one “protocol” that claims to cure Fibromyalgia and quite honestly it’s so intense that I don’t know of anyone who has managed to complete it. Most people think it’s nothing more than just taking a bunch of pills, but the reality is that it’s much more and requires ultimate life changes in every single facet of your life, every product you use, food you eat, meds you take, etc.

I don’t believe that at this point there is a CURE for Fibromyalgia, but I do believe that one day there will be. After reading Donna’s post and giving it some thought, though, I do believe that we can recover from Fibromyalgia. And, I believe that in a large way that I have. Donna pointed out the Oxford definition of recovery:

Recovery:
1/ A return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength

This made me think, have I recovered from Fibromyalgia?

I think that I have in many ways recovered from Fibromyalgia. That’s not to say that I don’t still have bad days, but overall I live a normal life with a normal state of health, mind, and strength. I can do normal things. That doesn’t mean I don’t have limits, but really who doesn’t have limits? It also doesn’t mean that I don’t live that normal life without giving up a few of the things that used to be part of my normal life.

What have I given up to recover from Fibromyalgia?

The first thing is obvious, I’ve talked about the diet changes that I’ve made quite a bit. I gave up a lot of convenience with those diet changes. Because I no longer eat gluten, and avoid dairy, eggs, & yeast, I don’t eat fast food at all anymore. The one exception is Chick-fil-a. It’s the only place I can run through the drive-through and grab something fast that I can eat in the car. I don’t do it often, but when I’m without choices I’ll do it.

As hard as that change was at first I rarely ever feel like I’ve given up anything anymore. There are other things I avoid, things that cause me stress. I think that’s a big thing. I can’t avoid all stress in life and some things I choose to do still bring me stress, but I do my best to control the stress. And, the truth is that I can control most of the stress in my life, or avoid it altogether.

I pace myself. For the most part I know my limits now and I work within them. There are times when I overdo it in some way or another, but this is another thing that I can control.

I take a ton of supplements and a few meds.

I still hurt most days, but most days I can ignore it and live a normal life.

I’d love it if recovery, for me, meant that I didn’t have to see doctors regularly, or take meds, or change my diet or lifestyle. But, I don’t really think that’s possible. That would actually be a cure. A cure is when it’s all gone and we don’t have to think about it anymore, we don’t have to do anything special to avoid a relapse.

We may not be able to have a cure, but I do think that we can recover and we can live a normal life again. Even, if it’s a new normal.

Before I managed to get this posted I ran across another great post that I felt needed to be shared with this topic. The Wolf & Me had a great post on the many “false cures” and claims we see on the internet, and on staying safe when we read (and often take) advice. Her advice is great and something that I need to remember to say more often. Always check with your doctor before trying new things, you never know when a supplement might be bad to mix with your meds, or a treatment might cause your particular issue to be worsened.