Lifestyle choices

If you have made the decision to take charge of your own care, then you are ready to understand that the most dramatic effect on your health will come from lifestyle changes. Your best hope for reducing pain and having pain-free times is to change.

During the years before I had fibromyalgia, I got away with anything where my body was concerned. I could stay out late and skip sleep, eat anything I wanted, smoke, drink alcohol to excess, not exercise…..well, you get the picture. All the experts were dishing out advice back then, just as they are today. Back then, I had no adverse effects from anything I did, at least non that were immediate or perceivable. The difference now is that most things have an immediate, perceivable effect on my well being.

This fact is like a chasm between me and everyone else. My group might be making plans to spend the night in a smoky bar, drinking until 1:00 a.m. Nobody else will wake up in excruciating pain the next day unless they drank way too much. I will, even if I didn’t have a drop of alcohol. My spouse might want me accompany him on a five mile trek through the mountains or I might have a choice to work four 10-hour days a week instead of five 8-hour days. My manager might want me to give a speech to forty people next week. Deciding to do any of these things carries a price for those with fibromyalgia that others will not be paying.

Breathing second hand smoke (or smoking yourself), getting less sleep than you need, getting a great deal more exercise in one dose than you are used to, pushing yourself beyond your endurance, and experiencing stress are all things that will make you feel worse.

The best analogy I ever heard to explain how lifestyle choices affect fibromyalgia was to compare your health to a bank account. When you eat right, sleep well, exercise wisely, and avoid pain triggers, you make deposits in your account. When you eat poorly, miss sleep, etc., you make withdrawals. If you deposit more than you withdraw, you will do better. If not, you will certainly be in pain.

The heart of my message is that you will need to change your lifestyle in order to feel better. Unfortunately, everything is more complicated with fibromyalgia. Simple advice like getting enough sleep becomes a huge challenge because we don’t tend to sleep well no matter how early we retire or how long we stay in bed.

There is a great deal of information that can help you, but the most difficult thing will be taking action on that information. I think everyone has experienced how challenging it can be to change habits. If you’ve ever tried to quit smoking, lose weight, or even just promised yourself that you’d save more money, then you know that implementing your decisions isn’t always easy.

There is some good news here. Having fibromyalgia will actually help you to make the lifestyle changes that you need to make. The reason this is true is because you will feel better (or worse) depending on your actions. People who don’t suffer from fibromyalgia don’t have the same incentive. Fibromyalgia can be a brutal disciplinarian.

Having fibromyalgia causes me to take much better care of myself than I otherwise would.

Please take good care of yourself. It will make a difference in how you feel.