Cancer Survivor With Fibromyalgia

Hi there I'm sorry to hear that you've developed fibromyalgia on top of the other issues. It sucks, but unfortunately fibromyalgia does usually develop after either a major crisis or a long period of extreme stress. Recent research shows that some of us have a genetic predisposition to developing painful syndromes like FMS, which answers the annoying "Why me?" question.

And contrary to one of the other people who replied, yes, men do get fibromyalgia. There aren't as many men who have been identified as fibromyalgia patients, but that seems to be related to societal conditioning against men acknowledging pain rather than any real gender difference.

As far as getting relief goes, one thing you need to do is keep your other health issues, like the COPD, under control as much as possible. That nasty cough that racks your body has to hurt far more with the FMS, I know. I had bronchitis that wouldn't go away for over a year (and I've never smoked!), so I have some small idea of how that might feel.

Stress doesn't cause FMS, but it will affect the severity of your symptoms. Remove as many sources of stress from your life as you can, and do what you can to control the others. If there are people in your personal life who "don't believe in fibromyalgia" or who are negative or unsupportive in general, disassociate yourself from them. You can't afford to waste your energy on them.

Establish your home as a haven, and make at least one room in your home (I chose my bedroom) an absolute stress-free zone. No hard conversations happen there. Nobody but those you allow go there. You have absolute control of that space. It's set up to be as relaxing, easy, and comfortable as possible. You surround yourself with what you love there, things you can do when you feel like utter hell to keep your mind busy despite the fact that your body is not cooperating with you.

I find hot baths and showers to be helpful and relaxing, almost as much as being in a hot tub or sauna (oh, to have one of those at home!).

Trying to move, gently, as much as you can each day is helpful. I find that the more I stay immobile, the more pain I experience. If I push through to do SOMETHING, anything, even if it's just a bit of a stretch, or five minutes cleaning the kitchen, I do get tired and experience a little more immediate pain, but I feel better in the long run.

You should get a referral to a pain management specialist. I've found that to be invaluable, as other doctors are too worried about DEA scrutiny to prescribe truly effective pain medications. You may have to jump through some hurdles to get treatment from a pain clinic – for instance, they will ask about any kind of substance abuse history. Mine made me sign an agreement that says they can do drug testing at any time, although they've never actually done it. (I expect that would be to catch those who are doctor-shopping to get more drugs.) The hoops are worth decent pain relief, though.

Avoiding things like artificial sweeteners helps me, because they're a migraine trigger. I do notice some difference when I pay more attention to my diet – eat more whole foods, closer to the source, less packaged/processed foods, less junk, drink mostly water, cut out the caffeine, etc. But you can get that kind of advice from people better qualified than I am, and it's a pretty major lifestyle change. It helps you feel better overall, including FMS, but I admit that I'm not very good at keeping it up.

Unfortunately, there is an excess of pseudoscience and sheer quackery aimed at us because there isn't a cure for fibromyalgia. None of the snake oil various people will try to sell you is worth the time it takes to read their claims. Fibromyalgia is a neurological disease of hypersensitivity. Herbs, expensive cherry juice, colonic cleansing, meditation, – none of that is going to put our nervous systems back in balance. They will lighten your wallet, if you have an imbalance in that area, but that's it.

Good luck to you.