Living With Fibromyalgia

Women with fibromyalgia often worry that their symptoms will disrupt family life when they are unable to fulfill the physical, social, and emotional needs of others in the household. Missing important family events, such as a child's soccer game... Full Answer

Fibromyalgia often affects the ability to work. A survey comparing people with fibromyalgia to individuals being treated for other conditions found that 47% of those with fibromyalgia had lost a job because of the disease, compared with only 14%... Full Answer

If you have fibromyalgia, standard doses of vitamins and minerals are generally safe during pregnancy and nursing. It's important to get enough vitamins and minerals for your health and the health of your baby. Most pregnant women are prescribed... Full Answer

People with fibromyalgia have two problems that can make a conversation with their physicians difficult: first, most doctor visits are short; and second, your doctor may not understand how disabling fibromyalgia can be. Organizing the time you... Full Answer

Is poor communication about your fibromyalgia an issue between you and your doctor? At your appointments, do find yourself thinking: My doctor just doesn't get it when I try to tell him about my fibro symptoms. He has no idea how my life is... Full Answer

Approximately one in four people with fibromyalgia smokes. Using nicotine changes a number of important brain chemicals that affect pain, including endorphins, serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. These nicotine-induced changes in brain... Full Answer

When you have fibromyalgia, you don't need additional health problems caused by unhealthy lifestyle habits. Taking care of yourself by controlling your weight, getting sufficient sleep, eating right, and avoiding unhealthy habits such as smoking... Full Answer

Stress is an important trigger for many medical symptoms, including chronic pain. Studies in both animals and humans prove that reactions to stress can actually make us more sensitive to painful stimulation. When you're under stress, you may... Full Answer

A survey of 100 randomly selected people with fibromyalgia also found that those who were obese were: More sensitive to pain More likely to be out of shape More likely to have a poorer quality of life Losing weight should substantially improve... Full Answer

Ask your spouse or partner, “What are you afraid to ask me?” or “What are we not talking about that needs to be addressed? This is the all-important elephant-in-the room question where everyone present is ignoring an obvious truth and... Full Answer