“The Suffering You See In Me Is Like An Ice-Berg”
I am 29 yrs old and a home maker. I would like to share my personal experience about how it is to suffer from fibromyalgia. I hope this small article helps the people suffering from fibromyalgia.
Well…study says among 10% of the population suffers from this chronic condition, fibromyalgia and unfortunately one among them is me.
As I can remember it all started with a mild burning pain on my upper back about a couple of yrs back. I expected it to get fine in a couple of days but it only aggrevated and after a point when I could no longer bear, I consulted the orthopedic and after all the x-rays the doctor asked me to consult a rheumatologist and after all the lab tests and x-rays the doctor came to the conclusion that it is fibromyalgia and prescribed some anti-depressants and painkillers along wit some physio therapies for a week and also told me that it can’t be treated or cured.
And so I decided to not take the prescribed medicines because I didn’t want to get addicted and dependent on these medicines because in the long run it would develop other health issues. And so I took some ultrasound sessions and other therapies like SWD and IFT i.e., when the pain was extreme, though the pain was always there 24\7.
Living with this chronic condition is a challenge. Thanks to my Physiotherapist, Dr. Kanu Kaushik who helped me deal with this by giving me right therapies like the aquatic therapy which relaxed my muscles and calmed down my stress levels and also did the dynamic taping which helped in bringing down the swelling and spasms caused because of the trigger points and nodules.
After suffering for more than a couple of yrs, I now realize three ways of coping with it,
Firstly, acceptance…yes, acceptance is the key, try and accept the fact that you have to live with fibromyalgia, because there’s no point running behind doctors​ to ask for the treatment to cure it. Trust me, I have done that enough and there’s no treatment or medicines to cure it. So just move on with it.
Secondly, try to manage your pain levels by a good diet like include some anti-inflammatory foods like ginger, garlic, turmeric, flax-seeds, green tea and anti-oxidant rich foods like prunes, berries, etc. Strictly avoid caffeine, soda, refined sugar, alcohol, simple carbohydrates like bread, potato etc., Avoiding these foods will not aggrevate your pain.
And lastly, deal with it…,If you can’t take physiotherapy on a daily basis than you may try some relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga and breathing techniques, morning walks etc, all this will calm down your stress levels as we know stress is the main reason for fibromyalgia. Like I have gone through extreme pain when in stress, so just try and calm down at that point, may be by trying some breathing techniques and by talking to someone your comfortable with and vent it out. Venting out is very important because the more you keep it to yourself, the more your harming yourself in the process. So just talk about it, because psychologically, once you talk about it, you can think on much clearer terms and in the process your stress levels are in control.
I hope this small information helps you live with it. So stay strong and be calm.
Thank you
Ritu Hirani
rituhirani88@gmail.com