What non-medical items have helped you with your chronic pain?

I don’t have fibromyalgia, so I can’t really imagine what you are going through. The only chronic pain I have is my back. I have had a really bad back since I was a teenager. My back can “go out” by doing the most harmless things, like picking up a piece of paper. It might cause weeks of near sleeplessness and walking around like I am 95 years old.

First of all, mindfulness meditation has been shown to be somewhat effective in reducing pain. I have personal experience with this.

Also, I highly recommend that you investigate a better mattress. In my experience, a good mattress can be life-changing. It’s all very personal, however. You’ll need to find out exactly what type of mattress will work for you. Take your time and spend as much $ as you can. I spent years thinking that all I needed was a softer mattress, only to discover that I needed a mattress a bit softer than pavement in order to free my back from pain.

Go to an office supply store and try out tons of chairs. Again, a small investment might make a huge difference in your quality of life if you are spending 10 hrs/day sitting in it. For the record, to me that chair you are currently using is indistinguishable from any number of medieval torture devices. My back is hurting just thinking about it.

Yoga…the older I get the more I rely on yoga to keep my aches and pains away. It really works…no pills needed.

I’m a little partial, but- massage. I have plantar fasciitis (and probably heel spurs) and massage to my calves and feet are essential to every day relief.

There are people who specialize in fibro massage. If you’re having a particularly sensitive flare up you might not want to jump into it, but try it between episodes or with a mild one first. I can ask around if you’re interested. And cost of massages is always an issue, so Protip: Many chiropractors or physical therapists have massage therapists on site that your insurance will cover. There are individual MT’s who take insurances, but they’re harder to find.

I hope you find something that helps you. I wish I could just cast a spell on you and make it all better. :(

Massage therapy would probably help you a lot. Definitely look into that.
Making sure your diet is excellent– not eating things that come in a box or a bag, and eating mostly vegetables, fruits, and grains
Try taking a glucosamine supplement every day
Exercise is also important. Yoga is great.
Last but not least, check your emotional and mental health. I’ve read that psychological issues can encourage fibro pain.

I don’t see how you stay so chipper, Auggie. When I’m in pain, like today, I feel like destroying shit.. Love that about you

I have an acupuncture clinic down the hall from me. I have clients that swear he’s helped them. And his office is always full.

“A healthy and active lifestyle may help you decrease your Fibromyalgia symptoms. Studies show that second to medication, the actions most likely to help are light aerobic exercises (such as walking or water exercise to get your heart rate up) and strength training.”

” * Start slow. If you’re moving more today than yesterday, that’s progress
* Listen closely to your body. It’s important not to overdo it. Don’t increase your activity too quickly
* Start with just a few minutes of gentle exercise a day. Then work your way up
* Walking is a great form of exercise
* Track your progress. Note the exercise you’re doing and how you feel both during and afterward
* Stretch your muscles before and after exercise
* Post-exercise soreness will decrease over time. But respond to your body’s signals and pace yourself”

“If you find that you are sleeping poorly, you’re not alone. With Fibro, pain and poor sleep happen in a circle. Each worsens the other.”

“Stress plays a big role in how you respond to different situations, both physically and emotionally. Stress can have a significant impact on your ability to do the things that are important to you.

There are many different stress management techniques to try that are easy to learn such as

* Meditation
* Deep breathing
* Visualization exercises

You can also simply allow yourself time each day to relax. That may mean learning how to say no without feeling guilty. But it’s important to stay active and keep to a routine you can manage.

A type of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy has also been found to be helpful. Studies show it can reduce pain severity and improve function.”

Source

A gluten free diet. I know it’s the “new thing” that everyone says they’re eating gluten free… but even if you’ve got a minor gluten sensitivity, you’d do well to cut it out or at least cut way back on the amount you consume.

There are studies which confirm that gluten sensitive people have a chronic low grade inflammation when consistently exposed to gluten/wheat products.

If you haven’t already, get yourself tested for the allergy or just do an elimination diet and remove all wheat/gluten products from your diet for two weeks and see if you improve. (it can’t hurt!)

ditto @Cruiser. Some aroma therapies might also help. Eucalyptus, wintergreen, camphor, peppermint, Blue tansy, German chamomile, helichrysum and osmanthus are what is in my favorite pain reducing blend.
I also love my Tempurpedic bed. :-)
It sounds like you spend more than ⅓ of your life in an office chair, so you might as well invest in one that feels great!!
I am the type of person who will be uncomfortable for hours and get all cranky and not understand why. I have been known to drive hundreds of miles without adjusting the car seat for me. I have found that having people around me that say, “Isn’t that uncomfortable?” reminds me to be mindful (as @tom_g said) and causes me to make adjustments more quickly.

Definitely get a new chair. I have to get the name of mine. It is very expensive, but the difference is huge. There ergonomic desks where you sit semi-reclined and the keyboard is sort of up in front of you, like if you took your whole sitting position and keyboard and went back 45 degrees. Not sure if they still make them? Then your back is completely supported.

When I had back pain sleeping on a harder mattress helped me. Using a back brace helped also, but I don’t know if it applies to your condition. I thought about buying more corset like bras for more support for my back muscles, but never did.

For my all over muscle troubles the best help has been iron supplements and knowing the best numbers for my thyroid, not the number my doctor typically likes to see people at.

Have you tried Dr. Scholles shoe inserts? They have helped with my back pain tremendously. Also, if your back is your main problem, go to Dollar General Store and purchase a rolling pin. Rolling the pin over the most painful areas of your body, seems to break the cycle of pain and it works. Doctor has me taking Lyrica and I guess it helps. Also, muscle relaxers have also helped.You are sitting in a chair that needs to be replaced and you need to move around a lot more. All of us are different and some of these suggestions may or may not help you. I sincerely hope that one will work for you. Living in pain greatly reduces your quality of life and I know you know this.

Thanks guys. A couple of clarifications… I don’t have any insurance, and really can’t afford massage therapy anymore. I used to get them once a month, and that really did help. I do have my husband and daughters stretch and pull and squeeze on my sore limbs from time to time, but it’s not quite the same.

I’ve tried CBT, and it doesn’t work well for me. Any of the CBT methods I try work for a couple of days or a week at the most, and then never again. I’ll give meditation another shot, though. If I can get my mind to shut the hell up, that would be a relief in many ways!

I have tried several OTC shoe inserts, including Dr. Scholl’s but they don’t seem to help, which is why I was wondering if I should try custom orthotics.

Exercise. Ack! I am very, very bad at this. I know it’s good for me. I just find it so hard to do when I’m already in pain. Must get better at this.

I’m thinking the desk chair is probably the main thing, followed closely by our mattress. At this point, I sleep better on the couch than in my bed. Of course, they’re the two most expensive things. :/

@Facade I’m more of a baby… I tend to cry and sleep a lot when I’m in bad pain. Being mad might be an improvement!

@augustlan Maybe try to focus on what activities occupy your mind enough that you have time pass without being very aware of the pain, and try to do those things more often. I know that sometimes it is I possible to ignore the pain.

Custom orthotics helped several people I know. Do you have pain in your feet? Or, are you thinking about it for back troubles? Or, you have all over pain?

Have any of the vitamins and minerals seemed to help?

@Augastlan, I have fibromyalgia as well. My “nonmedicals” have been actual Dr. Scholl’s sneakers, mentholated bath salts, and my hi-dow. That is a muscle stimulator that sends electrical jolts to your muscles. It’s nice because you control how strong the frequency is & how long to use it.
I also drink and if it is so bad I can’t move, I smoke pot. These last two really do help. I’m not just saying that so I have an excuse to do them. I am not a pot-head as anyone who knows me would not tell you otherwise.

@JLeslie I have pain all over. Pretty much every square inch of my body, from the neck down. It always hurts, every day (Well not every day… I’ve probably had 5 pain-free days in the last 14 years), and most days I can ignore it and carry on with my life. I just have to pace myself and take my meds, but other than that, those days are not the biggest deal. Then there are the days that I can’t get out of bed, and sleep for 19 hours. (That amount of sleep actually helps a lot.) I’ve just noticed that if I’m on my feet a lot, it’s worse. Lately I’ve been having more pain in my heels, too. Thinking orthotics might help overall.

When I was on the mega dose of Rx vitamin D, I felt the best I’d felt in years. Still in pain, but a lot better than usual. Now I’m just on a maintenance dose, but can’t afford to get the blood test done to see where I’m at. I’m thinking I’m still low.

@size7 I have a pretty strong resistance to narcotic pain meds, they just don’t seem to work on me. I can take morphine and be up and walking around! I’m guessing pot and alcohol wouldn’t do much for me, either. I do have a beer or two from time to time, but never noticed any less pain (I just don’t seem to care about it as much!). Pot makes me feel too weird, too “out of my head”, so that’s not an option for me. I’ll look into the shoes, though. Thanks!

Do they prescribe Neurotin or Elavil for FM? Seems like those would be logical, and I think they are older drugs, so might be very inexpensive. Just brainstorming. But, Elavil can make people extremely lethargic.

@augustlan The pain is much worse when you use the muscles? Cramping?

The main drug they prescribe these days is Lyrica, which is astronomically expensive, so I can’t take that one anymore. The one I’ve been on for years, and enables me to live a fairly functional life is Diclofenac. It’s basically a super strong Rx NSAID.

Not really like a muscle cramp. More of a deep, deep ache. Throbbing, but not cramping. It’s really hard to describe.

@augustlan The two I named work on the nervous system. I think Lyrica does too. I don’t know these drugs very well, like I would other drug categories. NSAIDS are working on the muscle and inflammatory response. Diclofenac is a drug for arthritis isn’t it? Do you perceive your pain as the muscles or the joints? Do you actually have any swelling? Sorry to ask so many questions. I worry sometimes doctors don’t use old drugs, because those reps are not visiting anymore. Or, if the doctor is young they are less familiar. The older drugs are much cheaper.

Diclofenac is an old drug, and works to reduce inflammation, yes. I frequently have unspecified inflammation show up in my blood work (white cell count, maybe?), but no visible swelling on the outside (mostly). Fibro does seem to come with something called ‘subjective swelling’, that is, it feels like I’m swollen, even though it doesn’t look like it. Sometimes my fingers feel like overstuffed sausages, but aren’t actually swollen at all. I also take Effexor/Venlafaxine, (I take it for anxiety and depression, not specifically for fibro, but it’s thought to help that, too.) I think that’s similar to Elavil? I have taken Elavil/amitriptyline long ago, and it made me a zombie. I’d never take that one again.

Also, forgot to mention earlier, I have been tested for the gluten problem, and it was negative. I’m supposed to get that re-tested, too. One of these days, I’ll have an extra $500 bucks or so, and get all my dang bloodwork done again.

Edit: The pain isn’t in my joints, it’s in the muscles and ligaments. In all the ‘connective tissue’ stuff.

They use Elavil as a sleeping pill more than anything these days.

@Judi I hated that drug. Makes sense it is a sleeping pill. One doctor tried it on me, they threw all sorts of drugs at me. But, that is a different story having nothing to do with my current muscle pain.

@augustlan My pain is all my muscles, not my joints. I believe it is my tendons also, near the joint, or, that is how I perceive it. I have been diagnosed by a doctor with FM, but I don’t accept the diagnosis. I never feel inflamed. Interesting.

So, I am curious, do you regularly get tetanus shots? I had a bad reaction to my last one, given when it was unnecessary and close to a previous one, and my titer is very high even 20 years later. I always wonder if there is some relationship to my troubles. Sorry to ask so many questions.

One odd thing I noticed is if I really tax my muscles, exhaust myself from doing to much, within a few hours I get an all over anxiety feeling. If I do very little physically I am not anxious at all. And, I am not talking about mental worry, just the physical feeling of shakiness sort of, not to the extreme of panic.

I know I have said this to you before, the thing that helps me most is keeping my TSH between 2–3. I keep bringing it up because I know so many people who improved their back pain and foot pain, and sleep needs by finally getting their thyroid in order. I don’t remember your status with that, because I suggest it to so many women.

Can you get disability Medicaid and get the medications you need?

I have arthritis and receive research articles. One of the recent ones had studied green tea and found something in it effective against inflammation. So, I’ll try it. Winter is a time for tea anyway.

@JLeslie I keep my thyroid numbers on the high side as well. Can’t remember the specific number, but it’s towards the over-active end of the scale, because that’s where I feel better. I’ve been dealing with the thyroid thing since I was a teenager, though, so it seems unrelated to me. I’ve never had a problem with a tetanus shot, and can’t even remember when I had my last one. My doc offered to classify me as disabled years ago, but since I was a stay-at-home mom for so many years, SS says I don’t qualify. :(

@augustlan Overactive would mean low TSH probably .5, which increases my pain also, but would leave me with a pounding heart, fast pulse, feeling spacey at times, difficult to sleep more than 6 hours, along with the muscle problems. I do find it interesting that you have had the thyroid troubles so long it seems unrelated, interesting for my own information and puzzle regarding myself.

Is your potassium very low? That is common for FM patients and low blood sugar. Mine are always perfect.

I wonder if pot would help? As someone mentioned above. You could grow it for cheap probably? Not sure what the laws are in your state.

Oh, about the bed. Maybe you can get a hospital bed, adjustable. They sell them used I think. At home patients sometimes use them for only a few months (unfortunately because they die) and the beds are very new, and you can buy a brand new mattress for it.

@JLeslie I kept meaning to come back to this, but kept getting distracted. Sorry!

I’m not sure if I’ve ever even had my potassium checked. Add that to the lab work list! Pot makes me feel too ‘out of my head’... I don’t like the sensation at all. I would really rather not sleep in a hospital bed. I was just thinking a Tempurpedic or something.

Just out of curiosity, why do you not accept the FM diagnosis? I was all pissed off when I was first diagnosed, because at the time, I didn’t even believe it was a real thing.

@augustlan I am 100% sure you have had your potassium checked. Probably they ordered a CMP, which is a panel of tests including electrolytes. Actually, now that you are taking D it is important to get your calcium checked periodically and that is on the CMP also.

I don’t have FM symptoms in my opinion. If they lump me in with FM I will never get diagnosed. I don’t wake up in pain, or really have any pain unless I use my muscles, tax them. The doc did the thing with checking if I have sensitive pressure points, and of course I do in those areas, because every single muscle in my body will cramp if you push on it. My muscles fatigue fast, but they recover fast. I can be shaking like parkinson’s if I try to pick something up after working my arms and hands too much, and then two hours later be completely recovered, I never hear FM patients say things like that. I can get a charlie horse in my bicep from holding my phone to my ear for a few minutes when I am really bad, and not be able to straighten my arm in tears from the pain. I don’t hear that kind of complaint from FM patients either.

I believe FM is a real thing, but I also think there is a real cause they haven’t figured out. I am almost never willing to believe bodies just go haywire. I also think the diagnosis is kind of a we aren’t sure what’s wrong with you, so we call what you have FM. Same with IBS diagnosis, and some others I can’t think of right now. I completely believe the symptoms women describe, don’t get me wrong.

Ok, that makes sense. I wonder if you have a build up of lactic acid in your muscles? I was reading a little about that here.

@augustlan That article confused me. It says lactic acid does not cause soreness a day later, which I have always thought was the cause of next day muscle soreness, but then later in the article does cause tenderness and loss of muscle stregnth 24–72 hours later. Is that how you understood it? Mine is immediate. Begins to happen during the exercise. Well, if I only exercise a short time I have no ill effect.

I read it to mean that while delayed soreness does happen, it’s not lactic acid that causes it. I was thinking maybe it might cause the ‘right after’ pain, though? I honestly don’t really know much about the whole topic. ;)

@augustlan It was confusing. I probably really should read more on the topic. Ugh, the idea that I have to read about to figure it out exhausts me. If there is an answer, a medical answer, how come the doctors I have seen don’t know? Seriously annoying. I know a lot about medicine, but this is something I know very little. Deep down I feel like even if I knew what was happening there is no cure, nothing that can be done. Do you think I should change my outlook on that and actually try to find a reason, a diagnosis? Have I just been beaten down so much by the medical establishment that I don’t try? I would have to say yes.

I feel your pain, girlie. No pun intended. I still have this feeling that all the different things that are wrong with me have one root cause, beyond “auto-immune”, you know? That if the docs (or I) could just figure out what that cause is, there might be a way to fix it. To make me better, damn it. I go through spurts of research intermingled with long periods of “meh, what’s the use” thinking. I don’t really know what the answer is. :(

@augustlan That is how I have been with my chronic GYN problems. Spurts and then months sometimes years of just dealing with it. I completely believe there is a cause that can be treated for FM not discovered yet. Autoimmune to me is just scientists have not figured out the cause yet.

Exactly. I mean, yeah, I get that it’s my own freaking body turning against me, but what makes my stupid body do that? Fibro hasn’t even been classified as an AI disorder (yet), but since every other damn thing that is wrong with me is AI, I kind of feel like fibro must be, too, you know? Or at least somehow related. I don’t know.

Living with ‘minor’ health problems (as in, one that isn’t going to kill you) that can’t be fixed is very depressing. I think the best we can do sometimes is just stay occupied with other things. Every once in a while, we can do some research to see if something new comes up, but we can’t let it take over our lives. {hugs}

Update: I got myself a new chair! It is butt-ugly, but very comfortable so far. I have 14 days to return it if it doesn’t meet my needs.

Next up, surprisingly cute Crocs tennis shoes. Several of the reviewers have fibro, and said they really helped. Wish me luck!

Congrats on the new chair @augustlan! Keep returning within your 14-day window until you find the perfect chair.

Update: I pulled out my back real bad. I have suddenly aged 40 years.

Oh, no! Hope it gets better quickly.

I know you said non-medical, but I also suffer from chronic pain, called Central Sensitization. It feels like someone mowed a lawn for about 3 hours and put a hot lawn mower on my lower, left abdominal area. When it’s bad, it radiates through my lower torso and causes me so much pain, I violently vomit, sweat, dehydrate, go into shock and have to either use emergency meds, like Dilaudid and Phenergan suppositories or go to the ER. They have it under control with a tricyclic anti-depressant called Nortriptyline, aka Pamelor. They also use it for people with migraines. I wonder if that could help you too?

@augustlan , There is an 8–0 year old woman in my yoga class that had severe fibro. She said her skin hurt whenever it touched anything. Even clothes. She swears that easy restorative yoga cured it and has now advanced to level 1 yoga. (after 18 months of restorative.)

@spykenij That sounds awful! I’m sorry you have to go through that pain. I’ve been on a similar tricyclic anti-depressant in the past, and hated the way it made me feel (or more accurately, not feel). I’m not willing to risk it again, but thanks for the suggestion, anyway.

@Judi Still haven’t tried the yoga, but I do hope to soon-ish.

Also, got the Crocs tennies the other day, and it’s like walking on marshmallows! I think I might be a Crocs convert.