Treatment alternatives for Fibromyalgia
When looking for treatment for fibromyalgia, you may be confused as to what to do to help your condition. The medical community, at least in the western world, has been skeptical of the condition and only began to recognize it as a medical condition in the early 1990s. In fact, at the time of this writing, there are very few drugs approved by the Federal Drug Administration to treat fibromyalgia; Lyrica and Cymbalta are two of them. But the condition is real and people have worked on solutions themselves to control the pain and reduce the strength of the outbreaks.
If you suffer from this condition you will already know the pain associated with it as well as tender spots on areas of the body. You may have trouble sleeping at night because of the pain, as well as fatigue throughout the day. In order to reduce the severity of your symptoms you need to get your fibromyalgia under control. The condition is difficult to diagnose for most doctors and once you are diagnosed, there is no clear path for treatment. However, there are many methods and techniques that have worked for others and you need to experiment with what works best for you. Many people with this condition have been able to lead quality lives after finding a treatment that works best for them.
Obviously choices to reduce pain include over-the-counter medicines that work through reducing inflammation such as ibuprofen as well as popular pain relievers such as acetaminophen in its various brand name manifestations. But these pain relief medications have their limitations, and a person can build up a tolerance for them very quickly. Use them sparingly to get the maximum benefit.
Prescription medications can include various anti-depressants to fight against the feeling of fatigue that is so common with fibromyalgia. Other medicines in this category may be used by your doctor to help you sleep better at night. You will need to talk to your doctor thoroughly before deciding on these pharmaceuticals for treatment for fibromyalgia. The bottom line is that they are only used to fight the symptoms and it may be best to take a more natural approach to treatment before putting chemicals into your body. In extreme cases, medication may be needed. Always discuss options with your doctor.
The first approach to helping your condition is through diet. Unlike conditions such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, there is no specific diet related to reducing the symptoms of fibromyalgia. However, each person with this medical condition will notice that there are certain foods that will make a symptom worse. Perhaps a certain food makes it more difficult to sleep or makes your pain worse. A specific food may give a person a migraine headache, but have no effect on another person with fibromyalgia. The trick then is not to eat a specific diet, but learn which foods to avoid. Just like allergies, what aggravates your fibromyalgia will be different for you than it will be for another. Pay attention to what you are eating and how it relates to your symptoms. Start making a list of foods that you must avoid.
There has been limited research, but intriguing results associated with several herbal supplements and the effect they have on fibromyalgia. Acetyl l-carnitine has recently shown remarkable test results specifically with sufferers of fibromyalgia. Mucuna pruriens comes from the velvet bean and has been helpful to some for pain relief. Chlorella is a green algae that has a variety of health benefits and has help some people get relief from their fibromyalgia.
In general a healthy diet and exercise are beneficial, but of course they are beneficial in general to everybody. However, people with fibromyalgia do need to make sure they are getting the vitamins and minerals that the body needs. This will help boost the immune system and will help to fight the symptoms associated with this medical condition. Fibromyalgia strikes at the central nervous system, and it is here that daily exercise will benefit a person the most. A moderate amount of exercise will work to fight sleeplessness. More sleep will mean a boosted immune system for your body, and less fatigue during the day.
Remember, your treatment for fibromyalgia begins with you taking the steps necessary to help yourself.