FibroDiva

This class was taught by Gary W. Jay, MD, FAAPM, a pain medicine and management consultant from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

Dr. Jay began the class stating, diagnosis of fibromyalgia is not one of exclusion but based on clinical characteristics, the primary hallmark of which is chronic, widespread pain of 3 months or more in duration.

Walking has really helped reduce the loose skin on my inner thighs and doing wall push ups is helping reduce my bat wings. :-P Now I'm looking for some form of exercise to reduce my loose stomach skin.

I think that high repetitions, not necessarily high weight or high intensity is the way to go for me. I think the increase fluid and blood flow into the loose skin areas revs up the skin recovery process.

Here we go im going to try t get 30 min walking in

I start physical therapy for my Fibro on Monday September 09. Basically it will be the type of exercises needed to combat the sag. While here at the Cosmopolitan in Vegas for PainWeek 2013 I started exercising in the fitness center. My first day here I did 5 minutes of cycling on the recumbent bike. Now I'lm up to 18 minutes.

Strange thing, I'm zipping down the Vegas strip on my scooter taking in all the sites and guys are yelling, "slow down sweetie". Isn't it too early for the stumbling drunks to be tripping in front of my way?

I attended the Master Course on Fibro. Will talk more about it later, but for now, all I have to say is the organizers of PainWeek 2013 grossly under estimated the interest and need for updated health care provider education on this painful condition. There was standing room only for the first 15 minutes. Even though the instructor kept begging for more chairs, there was no s[ace in the tiny, dismissal room. Attendees were packed 2 deep along the walls and 4-5 deep out the door. Finally someone from the Cosmopolitan but us in a much bigger room.

My first solo trip sense surgery is going well. The only bump was TSA, who was so flustered by all my liquid meds, metal braces, cpap machine, & big A*& scooter that they let me through security with glasses on my & around my neck, & with a belt on.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel. This year's dates are Wednesday September 04 - Saturday September 07.

I'm a little over 4 weeks post-op. I'm walking and doing the stretching exercises suggested by my personal trainer. Now I'm in physical therapy for my Fibro and to strengthen my core so I'm ready to add arm exercises.

You can see the stretching and bicep exercises suggested by my personal trainer at http://www.verticals...rsonal-trainer/

Yaay,

yesterday I had some egg drop soup and it was oooooooooooooooo so gooooooood. :-)

Sounds like you might need a dilatation of your esophagus. Keep us informed and good luck. Linda

Thanks Linda,

I did end up in the emergency room. The reason, I can't stomach the protein shakes and I was taking my anti-nausea meds incorrectly so I got to the point that I could not drink anything and became severely dehydrated. They pumped me full of IV fluids and anti-nausea meds and now I am back to business.

I have a follow up visit with my surgeon and will ask about the dilatation of the esophagus.

That sucks that you are feeling so run down. I have no suggestion except try different foods, liquids to get the protein in. At threes weeks I could have soft foods. So it helped. I am 1 month out and I have to gag (I can't even handle the smell of them now) down one protein shake (30g of protein) a day to meet my goals. I do it and some days are harder than others. Sometimes I feel sick hours after one. Just know you are not alone in this struggle. Hang in there.

so besides shakes....what do you tolerate well? I'd try adding unflavored protein powder to it. Maybe yogurt? or crème soup? Just don't get the powder too hot. (140 degrees I think) if it gets too warm it'll clump...

unjury has a chicken soup flavored protein powder too...

Thanks for the advice. Nothing seems to be helping. I'm on my way to the ER to get checked for dyhdration.

Honestly I've been slacking with the water all of a sudden I'm not hungry

I know what you mean, I'm having a hard time these last few days making myself drink something. I'm having trouble with the protein shakes. I can't drink them. Pre-op I was drinking 2 to 3 a day, but post op I can't get a sip down. So I'm back on clear liquids. I'm very weak and can't even walk around the grocery store without leaning on a cart or using my scooter.

I want to go out with my son and walk the dog but I can't drag myslef out of bed.

For me, even if I get to the point that I really want something, I have a bite and I'm done with it. Keep up the great work.

I haven't gotten to the point where I want anything yet, but it is good to know that there's the possibility that I will be strong enough to stop after one bite.

wow, that's encouraging! As a pre-op patient, that's my biggest worry. Thanks for posting and congratulations. Feel the power!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. It feels good to know that someone out there might benefit from experiences and thoughts.

Very interesting I'm going to try it when I'm 4 weeks out bout today I'm feeling down I lost no weight in 4 days

Have you been sipping at least 64 ounces of fluid a day? My nutritionist said we have to stay hydrated or we will not see any weight loss during our beginning phase.

My insurance required that I see a personal trainer pre-op. They only required one visit and it was not covered by insurance. The personal trainer wasn't very helpful because she had not dealt with people with Fibromyalgia [pwf] before but she did give me an information packet on exercise.

I will upload the package here. Hope others find this packet helpful.



Page one is on stretching. The personal trainer recommended stretching before and after exercise.

Start slow fibro diva ...I want to start a squat challenge as well because I had great results before tight thighs and butt but it has to be done everyday

I like the idea of a challenge. I want to work on my bat wings and stomach as well as my thighs like joatsaint.

I haven't been able to start walking yet because of my other health problems, Fibromyalgia and arthritis of the knee. I saw my Rhuematologist today and she is ordering knee braces and support socks that should ease the pain of walking. Tomorrow I'm going to try walking around my condo complex with my son and dog.

Here's another link with the story and the video. http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=9207704

Thanks for joining the conversation elisa123. I am 12 days post op and have finally lost 18 pounds, the 15 of IV fluid gain and an extra 3 pound.

Keep up the good work everybody.

What I find interesting, is that many of these items on Simone's list, doctors have told me I have an allergy or sensitivity to such as:

Chocolate

Wheat, oats, barley and anything containing gluten

Peanuts

Peas, beans and corn

Anything containing monosodium glutamate (MSG)

and even some of the nightshades:

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Sweet & hot peppers

My allergic reactions range from dangerous anaphylactic shock to mild itching and/or rashes. Sometimes I might eat something containing one of these items and have no reactions at all.

One doctor said I have inflamation as an allergic reaction and thus am always experiencing some type of reaction even if there are no outwardly visible reactions.

I thought this might be interesting as an addendum to the nightshade post from yesterday. As I come out of the elimination diet and start adding foods again, I will post how these items make me feel.

Thanks to Simone of Behind Fibromyalgia.

Foods to avoid that may help alleviate some of your fibro symptoms.

Dairy products

Caffeine in any form

Alcohol

Soda

Chocolate

Sugar and aspartame (NutraSweet)

Wheat, oats, barley and anything containing gluten

Eggs

Bacon, sausage, hot dogs and lunch meats

Peanuts

Peas, beans and corn

Citrus fruit

All processed foods

Anything containing monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Food colors and dyes.

Have you eliminated any of these things ? Does it help? Simone

* I'm not a Dr. Please speak to your Dr first. Sick or not a healthy diet is important. *

Welcome maggie914,

I have had Fibro since 1992. I was a police officer and sustained a series of injuries on the job over a very short period of time. I'm on hydrocodone, cymbalta, and gabapentin.

Since surgery I have not taken the cymbalta because it is a capsule. I see my Fibro doc next week to determine if there are dissolveable or liquid versions of gabapentin and cymbalta or lyrica.

Check out www.needymeds.com to see if cymbalta is on their assistance lists, or, the manufacturer of cymbalta to see if they have a patient assistant program. Just remember cymbalta is not in a form you can take after surgery.

Talk to your Fibro doc. OH, make sure you get you post-op scripts filled prior to surgery so you don't have to worry about it afterwards.

Welcome MzO,

I agree about giving up that love affair with food. My mother was born and raised in New Orleans and my father was one of the original crew of the US Enterprise CVN 65. Thus my siblings and I were raised in a housedhold of wonderful, exotic, fattening food good for a grew of over 1,000 : )

I was in the hospital post-op for for days. 2 days after returning home, my family was posting pictures of familial delicacies on facebook and tagging me, go figure.

I saw my PA on Thursday and she said the same thing you pointed out rickyc, I'm dehydrated. HMM, cause the RN coordinatored said it's from all the fluids given via IVs.

mokee, don't be discouraged. Since August 5 I have lost 10 pounds. I'm still 5 pounds over preop weight

Thanks mojaleski.

I will be off line for about a week due to surgery