Curing fibromyalgia has been constantly on my mind for over 9 years. Here’s my personal journey on how I’ve been able to get better.
It took a couple of years for my doctor and me to realize that I have fibromyalgia but since then, curing fibromyalgia has been my focus. My husband and I even moved from NYC where it was really difficult to manage my health to Amsterdam, Netherlands where I became a full-time blogger, which allows me to manage the time around my health better.
My fibromyalgia used to be so bad that I’d be on the couch for 8-10 hours a day. I’d set up water and food for the day and only get up to the go to the bathroom.
My hands hurt too much to do the dishes, I couldn’t walk for more than 5 minutes without being in awful pain, and sometimes even taking a shower would hurt me.
Now I can proudly say that I can walk 40+ minutes on a good day and I help out around the house more than ever.
Nonetheless, fibromyalgia pain management is still a 24/7 job. It’s a huge part in curing fibromyalgia.
For me, it not only encompasses products and exercises I can do when my pain is flaring up but also involves having useful appliances around the house that manage my health overall.
Here’s all the tools I personally use at home to manage my fibromyalgia pain. Just so you know, these are what works for me and may not work for you since it seems like all fibromyalgia patients and symptoms are so different!
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Diagnosis of My Fibromyalgia
I did not get diagnosed with fibromyalgia right away.
In 2011, I pulled my back (or so I thought) and got sciatica in my right leg. I had sciatica before in my left leg so I thought it was sciatica.
I went to physical therapy for three months and the nerve pain just spread all over my body into my face, hands and feet.
I also started getting in a large amount of pain and weaker. Walking was becoming quite painful too, and coincidentally (or not), I started getting chronic acne too.
My whole body was shutting down.
For over two years, I got all different types of tests. The doctor checked my nerves, thyroid, blood, hormones, heavy metals, etc.
All that we found was that I had a lot of allergies, which were a huge contributor to my acne.
After all these tests, my doctor kind of “gave up”. With the symptoms I’ve had and everything I’ve gotten tested for, he concluded I had fibromyalgia.
Curing Fibromyalgia Naturally
Once I got diagnosed with fibromyalgia, doctors recommended me go on a couple of medications. But I read stories of people with fibromyalgia who went on medicine and just needed stronger and stronger medicine once their body got used to it.
I was also nervous about medicine masking the symptoms of fibromyalgia so I wouldn’t know if I was actually getting better or not.
Despite how painful it’s been, I’ve been generally focused on curing fibromyalgia naturally.
Since fibromyalgia can stem from both physical and mental issues, I have done a variety of these treatments in hopes of curing fibromyalgia:
- Acupuncture (multiple practices)
- Allergy immunization
- Physical therapy
- Pelvic therapy
- TMJ therapy
- Standard physical therapy
- Dry needling
- Myofascial therapy
- Shiatsu massage
- Haptotherapy (for psychosomatic symptoms) – LOVE
- PDTR
- Psychiatric Therapy
- Yoga – I highly Yin Yoga
I’ve also tried curing fibromyalgia with diet. I tried the Paleo diet, being vegan, histamine diet, blood type diet and keto diet. None have helped me but I can tell dairy and sugar really make me mucousy and can add to me being inflamed.
Through all these different types of therapies and diets, I’ve learned there’s nothing more important for curing fibromyalgia than to switch up your lifestyle.
Two Takeaways in Trying to Cure Fibromyalgia Naturally
I have two main things I learned in curing fibromyalgia naturally.
It doesn’t matter how many therapies or good food you add into your life; you need to take away the things that do not serve you.
Even if it’s painful to do so, you need to get some movement in your day. This really helped skyrocketed my health.
I used to be in so much pain that all I could do was sit, but sitting would make my body weaker, which would add more to the pain. It was an endless torturous circle.
Start slow with exercising. Walk for 3 minutes slowly around your house, or move your arms up and down 15x.
Do whatever you can do to get started with movement. It’ll really help you in the long run.
Managing Fibromyalgia in my Feet
I constantly have nerve pain in my feet, and if I’m standing or walking too long, my feet can be in a lot of pain. In my journey of curing fibromyalgia, my feet have been relentless.
No matter what I do I can’t get the pain to go away so I manage the pain at home with the following items that minimize how quickly my feet start to be in pain.
Essentially, they decrease the amount of pain I experience so some days I don’t have to use my pain management tools.
Crocs
I was NEVER into Crocs until someone told me to wear them at home for plantar fasciitis and woah, they were right. They are the best shoes to wear indoors.
I have the classic fuzzy lined ones but these lavender ones are such a cute color.
Check them out on Crocs’ site.
Emus
I have really weird issues with body temperature regulation. I get cold super easily (maybe because of the chronic muscle tension?).
For extra warmth at home, Mike and I both have Emus (a company like Uggs) glued to our feet. Our Australian friend told us that Australian wear these types boots at home, not outside as fashion, and it’s been a total game changer. We’re so comfy and warm at home all the time!
We have the Platinum Stinger Lo Slim for Women and Platinum Stringer for Men.
As you can tell, these are a great gift for any sex.
Anti-Fatigue Mat
I don’t know why but I keep calling these things an anti-gravity mat, but they’re called anti-fatigue mat. They’re great to have in the kitchen or anywhere you would be standing for a long time.
Of course, for us spoonies, a long time could mean a short 15 minutes, but you’ll find that standing on this mat will help you stand in one area longer (think doing dishes or chopping up dishes).
It’s basically a cushioned mat that “reduces stress on your knees, muscles and joints by 32%.”
Immediate Fibromyalgia Pain Management
Curing fibromyalgia feels like an infinite journey without an end. But I have a ton of tools at home that help with managing the fibromyalgia pain.
When I’m having a pain flare-up because of fibromyalgia, these are the home tools I like to take out and use asap. Generally, I find that these products help alleviate fibromyalgia back pain or leg pain simply because my usual muscle tension is heightened even more.
I hope these tools help you learn how to manage fibromyalgia pain too.
Theragun
In 2020, we got a theragun and I know the price tag is hefty, but wow, using it daily has softened my fascia layer. I can feel a huge difference in the movement of my arms and legs.
Anytime I have a flareup related to chronic muscle tension, I’ll pull this out and use it in the spots I need and it really loosens me up.
It’s actually solved some issues that I haven’t been able to get physical therapists to fix. Read reviews on it here.
Infrared Heater
An infrared heater helps in two ways. It loosens my super tight muscles, and for those days, when my hands and feet get unreasonably cold, it helps warm me up from the inside out.
In general, infrared heaters are supposed to be better for fibromyalgia pain because the heat really gets deep beyond the outer layers of the skin.
Foam Roller
Another tool I love for immediate fibromyalgia pain management is my two-in-one foam roller. I roll out myofascial knots and tight muscles with it.
On days when I am feeling extra sensitive, I use the smooth roller inside, but if I have intense knots, I will use the bumpy, myofascial roller.
This doesn’t do much in curing fibromyalgia in the long run but it’s necessary to keep my body running smoothly as possible each day.
Yoga Mat
Lastly for immediate relief, I’ll pull out my yoga mat and stretch! Even though all we want to do is sit on the couch because of the immense pain we’re in, I find that light movement actually helps ease my fibromyalgia pain, especially with stretching.
If you have a yoga studio that has yin yoga, I highly recommend this. It won’t help in curing fibromyalgia but it’s as gentle yoga that’ll really help keep your body limber.
Tool for Fibromyalgia and Sleep
If you’re like me, I bet you’ve had many sleepless nights because of the pain. This is where one of my favorite fibromyalgia pain relief products comes into play: the acupressure mat. An acupressure mat increases blood circulation, relaxes you and helps with muscle tension!
I lay on this with a bare back every night and fall asleep within 20 minutes. It’s a miracle for my fibromyalgia back pain. Then at some point, I wake up, remove the mat and continue sleeping through the night.
Normally, if you use an acupressure mat on a hard surface, you’ll really feel every bit of it on your back, but when you put it on the bed like I do, it’s a bit more gentle.
On extra sleepless nights, I will also take the supplement melatonin, which is a natural sleeping aid.
Tip: If your skin is too sensitive, then wear a thin t-shirt while using this for fibromyalgia and sleep.
Other Fibromyalgia Pain Management Products I Use
I’ve been actually curing fibromyalgia by targeting specific issues instead of looking at all of my symptoms as a whole.
For example, I thought I had a really weak immune system because of my fibromyalgia and was sneezing and coughing at home constantly. I’ve uncovered my allergies to dust mite, which led me to think about generally living in a healthier environment.
As a result, these are the products that I use for holistically living with fibromyalgia.
My body temperature doesn’t regulate itself too well. At nighttime when I’m sleeping and still, I get really, really cold, even during the summer when it’s warm. So I sleep with a bed heater so I can stay warm all night!
Because of my dust mite allergies, I use an air purifier to clear our allergens from the air and a de-humidifier, which decreases humidity. Dust mites like humidity, and since I’m allergic to them, this minimizes the dust mites in our home. Read more about how I manage my dust mite allergies at home here.
Once or twice a day, I’ll hang on my inversion table for a couple of minutes to stretch my whole body out. This really relieves my fibromyalgia back pain temporarily and is a nice way to maintain a lesser level of pain throughout the day.
My table is the YATEK inversion table, which is no longer available on Amazon UK, but I do recommend if you get an inversion table, spend a few dollars extra to get one that folds away. Even the folding ones take up quite a lot of space.
Lastly, I drink alkaline water based on the recommendation of a fellow fibro warrior. I have this water filtration system (available in the Netherlands) but for something more manageable available in the US, try this alkaline water filter pitcher.
Welp, there’s everything I use and have done in my journey towards curing fibromyalgia. I’ve been getting well enough to go traveling with fibromyalgia!
If you have any questions, ask away in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by, and hope this makes your fibromyalgia pain feel a teensy bit better.
xo, Sarah
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Caroline
Sunday 7th of August 2022
I whole heartedly recommend Gua Sha (DIY). I'm talking about doing Gua Sha on your body not so much the face. I ordered a couple of different Gua Sha tools online and some Chinese liniment. I picked up the techniques from You Tube and it's really useful to learn about the meridians. Seeing as you've had acupuncture you know what I mean. Gua Sha is really helpful to move the stagnation and pain from tight and sore muscles, fibro etc.
Diana
Wednesday 19th of January 2022
You should try a NUCCA chiropractor. I have fibromyalgia, lots of trigger points and found out my c1c2 was putting pressure on that nerve causing the issue. My neck had no curve to it, my neck leaned toward one side and my hips were off by three degrees. It effects your entire body being out of alignment. It takes time to realign a neck that’s been off for thirties years. I have improved fifty percent. He just puts his fingers on you neck and puts in back in place. It will pop out until your neck gets use to the normal position.