Freedom from Fibromyalgia

I posted this over at LifeHacker this morning, and thought you’d like to see it too….

Folks with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue are always looking for ways to overcome the overwhelming tiredness. This Guide to Never Feeling Tired Again is excellent, especially the advice on breathing.

At a three-day workshop I was at in Michigan, each of the participants was given their own nasal cannula (a thin plastic tube that goes over the ears and has nozzles that fit loosely into each nostril). Then any time we felt our brain going into information overload, we could belly up to the Oxygen Bar and enjoy a few minutes of flavored oxygen. Sounds crazy, but most of us loved it!

To bring more oxygen into your Body/Mind, here’s a suggestion: Find several common daily occurrences and use them as a trigger to remind yourself to breathe deeply.

For instance, the phone rings. Before answering, you sit up straighter and take a deep breath or two. Same thing when you sit down to eat a meal. Even better, use the moment you put the key in your ignition as a trigger to breathe.

Aaah! That’s better….

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If you didn’t catch the recent webinar by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum on a promising new treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, recordings of the seminar are now available online.

You can choose from the full two-hour session, a condensed 50-minute version, and the live Q&A.

I tried to get on the live call, but apparently they had technical problems, so I’m glad to have to the opportunity to hear it now.

Here’s the presenter’s description of the event:

Finally! There is effective treatment for chronic fatigue, pain, and fibromyalgia. Dr. Teitelbaum discusses these conditions in detail and how those suffering from them can now reclaim their vitality and be pain free! Dr. Teitelbaum will also summarize his latest study on the effects of a natural 5-carbon sugar called D-ribose. In this study, he found that 2/3 of CFS patients showed improvement after only 12 days of therapy.

Dr. Teitelbaum’s presentation will last approximately 2 hours and will include a Q&A session at the end.

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My grandmother Jenny was born in rural Nova Scotia in 1890. Her father was a blacksmith and the family had many children, not all of whom lived.

I often wonder at the difference between her lifestyle and our own.

While still a teenager, Jenny left home and took the train out West to become a teacher. After a few years, she married my grandfather, Thomas, and he began to farm in southern Alberta. They had five children. (My Mom was the youngest). Growing and cooking and preserving food was a big part of each day.

They didn’t need to call it ”organic” back then. 

Today, though, we all consume a frightening amount of what I call “fake food.” I am certain that the way we’ve been eating for decades is a huge contributor to this “epidemic” of conditions like fibro and chronic fatigue.

So one of the ways back is to educate ourselves about food and to make better choices. But, honestly, so many writers on food and nutrition take themselves so seriously. Now along comes Michael Pollan, who’s fast and funny on food. Take a look:

Avoid even those food products that come bearing health claims. They’re apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best. Don’t forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim that it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to give people heart attacks.

When Kellogg’s can boast about its Healthy Heart Strawberry Vanilla cereal bars, health claims have become hopelessly compromised. (The American Heart Association charges food makers for their endorsement.) Don’t take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health.

 The excerpt is from his book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which was chosen by the editors of ‘The New York Times Book Review’ as one of the 10 best books of 2006.

For more of Pollan’s prescriptions, visit the GI News blog (GI stands for Glycemic Index) or read the reviews at Amazon.

And while you’re there, watch the video interview with Michael Pollan on Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher. Very cool.

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“It was a dark and stormy night…”

Truly it was dark and stormy, that night several months ago, as I stood outside the locked door of the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, waiting for the doors to open for my first yoga class since moving to the Coast. Alas, the doors never opened. But I’ve since found many other yoga classes hereto choose from.

While many people with chronic conditions report that exercise makes them feel worse, instead of better, they’re usually referring to intense aerobics or gym workouts.

Instead, consider kinder, gentler forms of exercise, like yoga, qigong and tai chi. Keep in mind, though, that there are many forms of each of these disciplines.

Last year, for instance, I took a wonderful class in Dru Yoga. Although some of the poses are a little tough for someone with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue, the Dru Yoga philosophy is to happily teach simpler versions of any “difficult” pose.

Dru uses what is called a “soft body” approach, and is often spoken of as “the yoga of the heart.”

No Dru Yoga near you? Look for classes with titles like:

• Restorative Yoga
• Transformational Yoga
• Gentle Yoga

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On Thursday, April 26, 2007, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers, will present a free online seminar entitled: “Effective Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia — Exciting New Research.”

Dr. Teitelbaum is intimately familiar with CFS. In fact, he dropped out of medical school for a year to recover from his symptoms. He has now dedicated his career to finding effective treatments.

From the enrollment page….

Finally! There is effective treatment for chronic fatigue, pain, and fibromyalgia. Dr. Teitelbaum discusses these conditions in detail and how those suffering from them can now reclaim their vitality and be pain free! Dr. Teitelbaum will also summarize his latest study on the effects of a natural 5-carbon sugar called D-ribose. In this study, he found that 2/3 of CFS patients showed improvement after only 12 days of therapy.

Dr. Teitelbaum’s presentation will last approximately 45 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A session.

This event is a webinar, or web-based broadcast. You need internet access and working speakers and sound cards  in order to view and listen to the presentation on your computer.

The seminar is hosted by a privately held life sciences company, Bioenergy.

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One of the toughest things about having a chronic illness is the perception by some of our Nearest and Dearest that “it’s all in your head.”

The hard part, to my way of thinking, is not that they’re wrong, but that in some circumstances, they could actually be right.

So then the real downside of this lack of sympathy from the outside world is that — to protect our own self-image — we might reject any treatments that focus on the emotional components of our condition.

One such treatment is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). I’ll have a lot to say about EFT in future posts, but for now I want to share with you a brand-new case history posted today on the EFT website.

The client in this case was a British woman who was housebound with CFS or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (often called ME in the UK) … and that’s quite enough initials for one sentence, don’t you think? Anyway, the woman was afraid to go  downstairs more than once a day, so as not to become exhausted.

This story of her initial improvment is even more interesting because the therapist, Sarah Marshall, herself experienced CFS for five and a half years, and has been fully recovered for the last three years.

EFT founder, Gary Craig, enthusiastically offers his Getting Started eBook to all site visitors at no charge. Definitely worth a look.

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Author Jon Gordon is a self-confessed addict. An energy addict, that is.

To celebrate the launch of his new book, The Energy Bus, Jon is leading a free teleseminar on Wednesday, February 7th at 8:30 pm Eastern / 5:30 pm Pacific.

On the call, Jon promises to share:

• Strategies to overcome fatigue, fear, stress and negativity
• A simple way to deal with Energy Vampires at work and home
• Tips to heal energize anyone dealing with adversity, rejection and challenges

If you like Jon’s style, you’ll also find at his site free, downloadable inspirational posters, with titles like “Too Blessed to Be Stressed” and “My Positive Energy is Greater Than Anyone’s Doubt.”

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I’m a big fan of David Allen’s GTD (Getting Things Done) system. Think of it as productivity principles on steroids.

So what if we were to adapt a few of the GTD concepts to a fibro recovery plan?

Here’s a taste of Allen’s thinking, from his best-selling book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity:

The key ingredients of relaxed control are (1) clearly defined outcomes (projects) and the next actions required to move them toward closure, and (2) reminders placed in a trusted system that is reviewed regularly. This is what I call horizontal focus. Although it may seem simple, the actual application of the process can create profound results.

Okay, let’s translate this to a Fibromyalgia Wellness Plan. Let’s say that your top complaints are: muscle pain, waking up tired, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and poor concentration. Here’s a simple GTD plan for you:

Defined Outcomes

In 2007, I am reducing or eliminating the fibro symptoms that bug me the most: poor sleeping, muscle pain, IBS and fibro fog. Today I give my symptoms a subjective severity rating of 8 (out of 10). By year-end or sooner, I’ll be at a 3 or less.

My Next Actions

1. Make a list of all the treatments and lifestyle changes I’ve been thinking about trying but haven’t yet taken action on
2. Call the Community Center to ask out gentle yoga classes
3. Visit the health food store and ask about 5HTP (for better sleep)
4. Use acupressure on 5 trigger points a night, while watching TV

Reminders Placed in a Trusted System

I will keep this list in my “Tickler File.” I will review it and re-commit to these actions every Friday afternoon.

Alright! You’ve started. You’ve taken responsibility for your own recovery. Well done.

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Whoops! I’ve gone and made a total elf of myself!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to have more fun … and that includes more dancing.

I’m getting a head start here. How about you?

My warmest wishes for a wonderful Christmas (or your own favorite holiday) and a joyous New Year!

Cheers, Sheila

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Sometimes the commotion and expectations of this time of year can send us spiraling downward into stress and exhaustion. At such times, I’ve always been grateful for the gentle reminders on the side of my “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” coffee mug.

Here are a few….

• a quiet mind is the foundation of inner peace
• fill your life with love
• don’t forget to have fun
• be happy where you are

So it comes as a great shock to learn that Richard Carlson, the author of over 30 books, with more than 26 million copies in print, has died of cardiac arrest.

If you’ve got a moment, read his Holiday Message, posted on his website just 10 short days before his death.

And give a hug today (real or virtual) to everyone you love.

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