About the natural remedies

I, like I'm sure many other fibro sufferers out there, am keen to find as many natural remedies as I can to manage my symptoms. Since my initial diagnosis, I have gone from taking one tablet each day to taking 5 - I'm sure that's much less than for a lot of people but I can only see it getting worse.

Here are a few natural remedies I have discovered (some I have yet to try) which may help us to battle this illness much more naturally:

1. Diet.

Diet is a very natural method for reducing the symptoms of fibromyalgia but arguably the most difficult as it affects our daily lives. The key elements to a diet that is supposed to be kind to a fibrofighter are lots of vegetables and fruit, dairy alternatives and gluten-free foods as well as foods that are high in protein such as eggs and chicken. Excess alcohol and caffeine can be detrimental to fibro sufferers. I myself don't drink caffeine after midday and I don't drink alcohol on a regular basis. I have also recently switched to oat milk and this has made me feel healthier, particularly for my IBS symptoms.

2. Vitamin supplements.

This is something I have been really keen on since being diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I take vitamin C and D every day to try and manage my pain. Magnesium is also said to help manage pain relief symptoms. It can also improve sleep time and efficiency. Spinach, bananas and pumpkin seeds are also excellent sources of magnesium. Fish oil can also help to reduce inflammation and pain. I will be adding magnesium and fish oil supplements to my array of tablets I take in a morning as a natural way of managing my pain.

3. Regular exercise

The one we all hate because sometimes it seems incredibly difficult to motivate yourself to do it when your body is in so much pain from the daily activities. When my symptoms are relatively normal and I am not in the middle of a flare, I try and do Pilates once a week and dance once a week and I do really feel that this helps my symptoms. However, there have been many times recently when this has just not been possible due to my pain. It is at this point that I feel my body needs rest more than exercise.

4. Stress-relieving activities

I have tried to incorporate more of these into my daily life since my diagnosis. I try to read more often and take my mind away from a screen/social media. I have also got myself a colouring book which I thoroughly enjoy doing. One thing I haven't been so good at is taking part in mindfulness as sometimes I really struggle to take it seriously however I think it's important to tackle things that challenge us and so I'm going to endeavour to do 5 minutes of mindfulness every day using the Headspace App.

5. Healing creams

I use a Beauty Sleep Concentrate by Neal's Yard Remedies every night which helps me to relax and has made my ability to go to sleep improve. I also use a Hemp Body Butter from the Body Shop which does help to reduce my knee pain. I have also found a MyPainAway Fibro Cream which uses Arnica and Echinacea to help relieve pain and I am considering giving this a go too!

6. Heat and electricity

My electric blanket has become my saviour recently. Whenever I am really suffering I use that and almost instantly feel better. Hot baths can also help and I am going to be using some bath salts soon to try and ease my symptoms. TENs machines can also be useful although I am yet to try this out but I have heard that the pulsations can really ease the pain.

I hope this blog post proves useful for people, especially those newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia.