Recently diagnosed. HELP PLEASE Exercises and Revision...

Other than walking most of my exercise I do is in water. Love water arobic's.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease and to be honest most of the doctors do not know what causes the ailments; most of the medication they prescribe is muscle relaxers but that doesn't help at all, instead of become more active you star to depend on pills for your well-being and that is simply unacceptable. The best thing you can do is make your body stronger, an option I've seen is that people who are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia incorporate daily yoga sessions as a part of their everyday routine. All changes are obviously part a of a process but since most exercises are high-impact if you try traditional exercise your body will feel tired most of the time and chances are you won't be able to endure the whole workout, so you should focus in performing stretching exercises and yoga positions that strengthen your body. 

Thank you, I have some yoga DVD's that I will experiment with and see which I can do. Of course since I've been pretty much sedentary for almost a year ( since my first big flare ) I can't imagine I will make it through a whole DVD but I'm going to try it tomorrow morning when my husband leaves for work. Man do I wish I had office skills so that I could go to work. It hurts standing for long periods, to the point that I don't even go into the store if it's going to be a long shopping trip. I usually leave the store half way through shopping and have my husband fini**** I spent three hours cleaning and going through stuff today and I'm paying for it now. I have so much to do before friday when my son comes home and I just don't know how I'm going to get it done.

That is something you are going to have to change is pushing so hard because you will pay for it and that just causes more stress and the probabilility that you will flare again. You have to teach others that they have to do for themselves now. You MUST start everything slowly and work up to more strenuous things and your son may have to start doing things for himself. Your life is forever changed with this diagnosis, you can no longer do things that you are used to doing or you will just make it harder on yourself. You have to learn to baby yourself! Best of luck to you!

Tia chi is also something that my arthritis dr told me to do for my fibro. Haven't tried it, I HAVE POOR balance. And didn't have the room to do it in my old place. But getting married, and moving I am going to try doing the Tia or Tai Chi here at home and yoga at the ymca. I have a service dog, and the Y is/has to allow her to join me in some/most areas that is possible. I believe she sill lay right next to me while I do my yoga, I can hook her to my waste, keep her from roaming, yes once in awhile she thinks she can get away with that. But that seems to be the best thing for me. I am starting to work on some of the yoga ground stretches. So any ways. Tia/Tai Chi is also something to consider

.Starr my Shih Tzu service dog. her face trimming is needing attention in this photo, but as her groomer, it has to grow out some so it can be clipped.

Tumeric and curcumin might help with the inflammation and pain, hubby has neuropathy and he says it seems to help him.., he takes it three times a day...get a good quality one.... there is a fibromyalgia relief formula that swansons sells, and he said it helped some as well.about 10$ a hundred, so not too expensive to try.. definitely take it slow and easy, be sure to do stretching and cool downs, these may minimize the injuries to your muscles. So how did your new job go? dh

I have had fibro since 1994. It is quite disabling. I used to work in a factory, eight hours a day. I have gained about 150 lbs., gone on disability, and have tried to have a "normal" life. I have a wonderful husband who supports me, even with the mood swings that I have. ? I would like to encourage new ppl with Fibro to, #1 get a good GP, who will let you try what works for you as far as exercise, pain management, food. #2 Go to other forums and learn as much as you can about your condition, and #3 do what makes you feel good, and donty get discouraged by family who don't understand fibro. (And discouragement in yourself is inevitable, but you didn't ask for this condition and its NOT your fault!! Find friends on the computer highway who will support you no matter what. Good luck.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 20 years ago. I am a 57 years old woman. I have found a career that has flexible hours and enables me to move around or rest as needed. This enables me to work full time with my condition.

Always stretch before and after exercise. With your condition, you may need to stretch MUCH longer than someone without fibromyalgia to release the muscle tension. As others have mentioned Yoga is wonderful as it includes stretching and low impact movements. Many people with fibromyalgia also have other issues, besides pain. Digestive, weight, back and neck problems, fibro fog, as well as the other items mentioned by the other postings. Combining multiple treatments can help. As there is no known cure. I've tried multiple treatments. The most effective were less radical treatments in combination with diet, getting adequate sleep, keeping active, gentle exercise and stretching. Note: I also have TMJ, whiplash, back alignment and joint issues (knee, elbow, foot, wrist and shoulder), mild depression and obesity.

Here is a list of what I have tried that was NOT EFFECTIVE:

• Long term antibiotics (prescription)
• Long term anti fungal/yeast treatments (prescription)
• Acupuncture (works for some people)
• Active exercise (low-impact aerobics)
• Duloxetine - Generic Cymbalta

Here is a list of what was EFFECTIVE in my situation:

• Massage
• Chiropractic
• Yoga and stretching exercises
• Physical therapy (Gentle muscle building exercises)
• Medications - Muscle relaxants, Cymbalta, anti-inflammatory (Advil, Aleve, aspirin), Amitriptyline (made me crave sugar!)
• Weigh****chers (but only to maintain weight, unable to lose)
• Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation - the brain machine, helps with depression and pain (hoping to use this to reduce prescriptions) 
• Non-prescription sleep aids (melatonin, 5-HTP, various herbs and minerals)
• Diet (avoid diet sweeteners, carbonated beverages, some acidic foods, sweets, and nightshade vegetables, increase healthy protein intake, lower "bad" carb intake, etc.)
• Sleep Cycle App (wakes you up in a natural way) & napping for an hour each day (too much cuts into your nighttime rest
• Hypnosis (I use an app, but still looking for a better one)
• Heat or Ice - Although a hot bath will NOT work for you, try Thermacare pads, a heating pad, rice/bean heat/rice packs  or ice packs (usually alternate heat and ice for extremely painful muscles) 

There are some issues with all of the treatments, many can be costly and not all are covered by insurance. Cymbalta worked great for me for years, but when switched by insurance to the generic, it is less effective. Muscle relaxants feel WONDERFUL, but cause your metabolism to slow. I gained 60 lbs on a combination of a anti-depressant (to help me sleep) and muscle relaxant in two months. But as I mentioned, it felt WONDERFUL.

To manage your pain, try combining multiple treatments that work to some degree for you. Try the NON-Prescription items first, give each treatment at least a week or two before deciding their effectiveness. This will help limit the amount of pain medication needed to function, and limit side effects. 

Wish you the best in your search for reducing pain.