Fibromyalgia and Fatigue
Fibromyalgia and the fatigue associated with it can range from mild to debilitating. There can also be muscle fatigue after exercise or exertion of any kind which makes it difficult to do normal activities, even to lift a glass of water, in its extremes.
The fibromyalgia fatigue that occurs when you wake up more tired than when you went to bed is caused by a lack of deep, restorative sleep.
Dehydration is a major cause of fatigue. Caffeine in the form of coffee and soft drinks dehydrates us further. Try keeping a glass of water at your side at all times. Get into the habit of drinking a lot of water. Your skin will improve and so will your fms fatigue if chronic dehydration is part of your problem.
Toxins that have built up in your system can be a source of fatigue. Please see my page about Fatigue and Toxins for more information about this.
Muscle fatigue experienced after exercising often lasts for 1-2 days. This inability to recover may be due to lowered testosterone levels. Even women have a need for testosterone, although the levels are about 1/7th that of testosterone levels in men. I suggest finding a doctor who will perform a saliva test to see what your hormone levels are.
See more about this by visiting the Fibromyalgia and Hormones Page of this website.
If you typically have low blood pressure such as 100/60, some salt with iodine, preferably sea salt with iodine, added to your diet may help. If your fibromyalgia fatigue is worst in the afternoon, you may find that if you put a little salt on your lunch, it could help your energy.
Iodine found in fortified salts is essential to your well-being. You can also find iodine in some kelp (sea weed) tablets.
Speaking of iodine, it's a very important nutrient for the thyroid gland. If you are constantly fatigued, dry-scaly skin, cold hands and feet (cold all over for some), or the outside 1/3 of your eyebrows have disappeared, hypothyroid disease may be your problem.
Ginseng has long been used as an energizer. Look for Asian Ginseng. The active ingredient is ginsenoside. There should be about 20mg of ginsenoside in about 200 mg of ginseng in a quality supplement. First, check with your doctor as this form of ginseng is potent and can be wrong to take with some other medications or conditions.
The ginseng product that I use also contains cordyceps (a mushroom) that helps fight everyday fatigue by promoting more efficient use of oxygen in the body. It also contains antioxidant phytonutrients found in green tea.
Try having green tea (this does contain some caffeine, but not in the larger quantities like coffee) and ginseng in the morning instead of coffee. Combine this with some fruit and protein for better energy.
It can take 1-2 months to get all the caffeine from a daily coffee routine out of a woman's system, so you have to give this a good long try. For some reason, coffee can be more detrimental to women than it is for men.
If you smoke cigarettes (and I know how hard it is to quit! and of course quitting is better), try smoking all natural cigarettes with no added chemicals or even better is cigarettes made from organically grown tobacco. I found in the past that if I smoked Natural American Spirit brand cigarettes (they sell everything additive-free and also have an organic cig), I had less fibromyalgia fatigue which I attributed to putting less toxins in my body.
Co-enzyme Q10 is necessary for energy in every cell in the body. This supplement may be able to help your chronic fatigue. It helps your body utilize oxygen for energy. Look for a supplement that is in an oil base for better absorption. The quality supplements of CoQ10 will be pretty expensive. The product that I use contains 30 mg of CoQ10, but is absorbed like 100 mg of other supplemental CoQ10.
There's another newer tea out there called Chai or Chai Latte. It's a tea with milk and spices. There's something in this tea that really stimulates me. It could have something to do with the spices. I feel warm all over after drinking it, even if I drink it cold.
This goes along with the Aruvedic form of medicine that is thousands of years old. This puts food into categories of tastes and each person does better on certain tastes. The categories are sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent, and spicy.
I think Aruvedic medicine is rather complicated to figure out and practice for yourself. A lot of people are a combination of two types, and there's an art to diagnosing needs. But what I suggest is that if eating something makes you feel better, in the short and long term, it may be that it's good for your body.
Some studies show that cayenne pepper is good for fibromyalgia fatigue and other symptoms. I believe that if you feel better after eating cayenne pepper, then you should make an attempt to eat it more and see if it helps.
For some, it is the sweet taste that their body needs. This does not give them free reign to eat all the sweets that they want, but a sweet onion sauce makes them feel better than an oil and vinegar dressing (bitter taste). You have to experiment for yourself.
I hope these suggestions can get you on your way to less fibromyalgia fatigue.
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Health Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. The statements and products are not intended to diagnose, cure, prevent or treat any diseases. The information here is not provided by medical professionals and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your physician before beginning any course of treatment.
