Fibromyalgia: Preventing Flares
Steps you can take now to prevent the pain of a fibromyalgia flare later.
While there's no definitive way to avoid occasional
fibromyalgia flares, you can be proactive and develop strategies to keep your symptoms in check, according to Sharon Ostalecki, PhD, a nationally recognized fibromyalgia patient advocate from Novi, Michigan. Ostalecki, who edited the recent book
Fibromyalgia: The Complete Guide From Medical Experts and Patients (Jones and Bartlett) has had this chronic condition for 15 years.
"Self-management techniques are key, because even if you have a great doctor, you can't call all the time," notes Dr. Ostalecki, who is also executive director of Helping Our Pain and Exhaustion, an organization that enhances awareness of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Preventing a Flare: Focusing on Self-Management
The techniques that Dr. Ostalecki believes work best to keep fibromyalgia symptoms in check include:
• Journaling: "Take ten minutes every day to jot down things like what activities you did, what medication you started, how well you slept, or if you ate something new," Dr. Ostalecki suggests. "Journaling is the key to discovering your flare triggers, so you can try to avoid them." She notes that it can take up to 48 hours for an event to trigger a fibromyalgia flare-up, and if it's not noted somewhere, you might not remember or recognize the correlation.
• Delegating and Saying No: "Many people with fibromyalgia are perfectionists and like to do everything themselves, from all the cleaning to all the cooking," says Dr. Ostalecki, who includes herself in this category. "But you have to learn to let others do things for you because even mild overexertion can lead to a severe flare-up."
• Stress Management: "Stress tightens you up, and when you have fibromyalgia, the muscles don't let go," Dr. Ostalecki explains. "Find something that reduces stress for you before it gets to that painful point. I like listening to books on tape, for instance."
• Standing Tall: Learning and maintaining proper posture is crucial to managing fibromyalgia, because posture errors that push the head too far forward or cause slouching can lead to muscle fatigue, followed by increased tension and pain.
• Proper Diet: Protein intake is vital to those with fibromyalgia "because it's the only macronutrient that builds and maintains muscle," confirms Dr. Ostralecki, who earned her doctorate in nutrition. "A diet low in protein results in more nodules, more pain, and consequently more exhaustion."
Preventing a Flare: Finding What Works for You
As the executive director of the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, rheumatologist Daniel Clauw, MD, studies both the medical and the practical aspects of living with fibromyalgia. He reports that to prevent flares people often try a variety of strategies, from
prescription medications to yoga and
herbal supplements. Among his golden rules for FM patients is to "do your own personal research for any new therapy you want to try," applying a simplified scientific method. "Try tested therapies before untested ones, and make sure any
treatment you try is safe," he cautions.
You can best assess whether a particular therapy is working by following these steps:
1. Start only one new treatment at a time.
2. See if you feel better when you use the treatment.
3. Stop the treatment, and see if you get worse.
4. Restart the treatment, and see if you improve again. If you do, you can be fairly confident that this treatment has a positive effect on you.
Preventing a Flare: Staying Positive, Outward Focused, and Upbeat
Finally, as hard as it may be, trying not to let fibromyalgia become the focus of your life is an important step in staying well and avoiding flares, says Dr. Ostralecki. "Find something that brings you joy, whether it's your dogs, your garden, your painting, or whatever," she advises. Without such an emotional outlet, "chronic pain will become all you talk about, and that will impact your relationships." Strained relationships bring more stress and likely more symptoms -- exactly the outcome you want to avoid.
By Gayle Turim of EverydayHealth.com
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