This is going to be the last entry for my ‘High-functioning Fibromyalgia’ blog series! Thank you, Lord! So let me tell you how I escaped from a devastating condition called Fibromyalgia. For those who hadn’t been reading my previous posts, fibromyalgia is a condition which made my entire body simultaneously in pains. There are days when the aches and pains are so great, I have to stay in bed all day with no energy, brain fog, and the worse part is the inability to communicate effectively (I was scrambling for words pretty much every second I get. English being my second language doesn’t help it either). The presence of this condition in my life has definitely changed me from the person that I knew. People around me who knew me noticed how much I have changed and unable to speak in an articulate manner.

In my own journey of managing fibromyalgia, I met at least about three people in my life who are currently still suffering from fibromyalgia. It broke my heart to see how common this condition is amongst New Zealanders.

This life experience had been an inspiration for me to study the condition even more. It angers me to see so many Fibromyalgia patients are not getting the treatment they deserve. They are not even promised with a way out of their predicament. Nobody I’ve met who have described to me their fibromyalgic symptoms predicts or even have any form of suspicion that this condition will hit them later in their life. For the most part, I have met the most proactive, productive and generous people who are now battling their way out of fibromyalgia. So, it became clear to me how crucial my mission help these people has become.

If you want to read more about my journey of living with fibromyalgia. Here are the quick links:

Part 1 – The reckoning.
Part 2 – The daily interventions.
Part 3 – The management. (part 1)
Part 4 – The management. (part 2)

If you feel moved by my story and want to get involved in the design process for creating a technology that can help fibromyalgia patients, please get in touch with me here.

Love,

Herb Robert

This fantastic weed-like plant is called Geranium Robertianum or commonly known as Herb Robert. I thought very little of them when I first discovered these in our garden, I tend to pull them out and throw them into the compost. Little did I know, this wee fella has more healing properties than over-the-counter anti-inflammatory tablets at the pharmacy. They grow wild and very tough on whatever the weather throws at it.

The other benefits if this beautiful herb is for treatments like diarrhea, kidney stones, and even a mouth wash. The active ingredient of Herb Robert is used to prevent the formation of kidney stones while improving the function of your liver, gallbladder, and kidney.

I had a terrible mouth ulcer during Christmas time last year. I know, what a timing, right?! Well, needless to say, I wasn’t able to enjoy most of the food served to me on that day, I was gutted. Then I remember my introductory lesson to the herbs at our garden with my lovely in-laws and I was eager to try it. So I picked on the leaves and the flower and chew on it the next morning. By the afternoon I was already stuffing my face with the most delightful Christmas feasts without a pain. Even my throat was so swollen and painful before that, which makes eating very unpleasant. After eating a small amount of these fresh herbs, I noticed the difference straight away.

So, next time you do the gardening, see if you can spot these guys. You might save yourself from going to the doctor for getting a decent anti-inflammatory medicine.

How to serve: I researched how to best consume them and get the maximum benefit out of it. The first one is to dry them out and brew them as tea. They aren’t very aromatic, unfortunately, so I tend to mix them with other loose leaf tea or honey. You can also consume them fresh by adding the leaves and flower buds onto the salad.

Feverfew White Bonnet

Another brilliant natural medicine I was introduced to was Tanacetum Parthenium or Feverfew White Bonnet. I hear you say, it looks like Chrysanthemums or Chamomile? It is simply because they are from the same family. They also have a very similar scent to the chamomile. The word “Parthénium” in Latin translates as “virgin” or “virgin goddess” because of its known health benefit on women.

These lovely herbs are famous in the 18th century as the world’s natural Panadol on patients who suffer from arthritic pains. On even earlier time, the Greek doctors prescribed Feverfew for treating menstrual cramps, irregularities and labor pains. The name Feverfew derived from the Latin word “febrifugus” to address its healing property relating fever symptoms. Today, Feverfew is used to treat migraines, nausea, cramps, dizziness, relaxing the nerves, and vomiting.

How to serve: The active ingredients of Feverfew can be utilized as a tea or tincture. I like to dry them and brew them on hot water along with other tea or by itself.

Lemon Verbena

Last but not least, Aloysia Citriodora or Lemon Verbena which came from the Verbenaceae family which can be identified easily from the beautiful citrusy aroma. They grow easily in full sun on cooler areas and semi-shade in hotter climates. Unfortunately, a subzero climate can easily kill them. In that case, you might want to grow them in a glass house to prevent them from frosting.

Lemon Verbena has an anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-oxidant, digestive, and sedative property. It has also been used to treat anxiety, reduce fevers, Insomnia, boost immunity.

How to serve: The Lemon Verbena aromatic property makes the best tea infusions. Its versatility makes it perfect for baking, cooking, alcohol drinking, and even in a salad. One way to get the best out of its flavor is by adding mint leaves and infused them in vinegar for a lovely light salad dressing.

Until next time.

Love,

Salt water bath

Recently I stumbled on an article about the “floating therapy” and how it can help Fibromyalgia patients from chronic pain and sleepless nights. Floating Therapy is also a great way to wind down from daily stresses at work. The downside of this treatment is that it is not cheap. They charge for about $90 per hour every session. I went and did research on what makes it the so-called floating therapy. Floating therapy is done using bath pods filled with salted water. The saltiness in the water that creates buoyancy, the same effect you get from swimming at the Red Sea in Israel. The salt contains in the floating therapy water is not just any ordinary kitchen salt, but sea salt. The kind that had been used for healing inflammations or blisters in the old times due to its unique mineral rich composition and healing properties. The nutrients including magnesium-chloride, potassium-chloride, calcium, Sulfur, Iodine, sodium, and bromide.

Now, the question is, where do we get these sea salt from. And the answer is, the supermarket! Yes, fortunately, we can get Epsom salt from the supermarket these days. They are not located in the normal seasoning isle because it isn’t for consumption so you will have to go to the beauty and cleaning product isles instead. Also, you can get them from the pharmacy or in any of the local organic shop. I got mine from Pure Nature. Apart from providing a large range of essential oils, Pure Nature also sells a myriad other wonderful organic ingredients.

Here is my favorite bath salt recipe:

1 cup of Epsom salt

1 tsp of dried lavender petals

1-2 tsp of mixed essential oils (I prefer Lavender, ylang-ylang, orange sweet/citronella, and chamomile infused oil

1 tbsp of sweet almond oil

1 tsp of goat’s milk powder

1/2 cup of ground oats

Soak in for at least 30 minutes to an hour. (Yes, it is a long time but for these nutrients to be absorbed into your skin, you need to allow some time. With that said, this can be the perfect opportunity for you to start a book reading or listening to a podcast! There are so many productive things you can do, it’s amazing!)

Do this once or twice a week and see if you can tell the difference. My sleep has certainly improved since the first time I dipped myself in the salty bath. I hope it can help you too.

Note: You don’t have to have the extra ingredients like I have done here, but soaking in salt water can dry your skin, which is why I added sweet almond oil, milk powder and ground oats onto the recipe.

That’s it for now.

Enjoy your blissful bath!

Love,

so I thought I should show you the Mgsupplement of my choice for a reference. I am not saying that this is the best one out of all, but I want to show where to look when deciding which Mg supplement product you are after. I particularly have digestive issues since I was little so Nutra-Life’s Mg is by far the best choice for me.

While discussing on the choice of supplements, I was advised to try the CoQ10 enzyme supplement also. Though there hadn’t been a lot of study behind it, it is by far one of the nutrients which Fibromyalgia patients seems to have deficient from, along with iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B, D and many more. The staff kindly handed me a couple of CoQ10 samples for me to try at home. It is known that the effect of CoQ10 takes about 5 days when taken daily with food. So I will report again next week on this.

I must also indicate the importance of consulting your supplement dosage with your doctors. Taking too much Mg can result in stomach upsets and change in bowel movements, so please be advised.

If you live in New Zealand, make sure you take advantage of this great promotion at your local LIFE pharmacies. Don’t miss out on their BUY 2 get 1 FREE sale on either Nutra-Life and Go Health products, you can get them at the store or through convenient online shop here.

Read more about CoQ10 on Fibromyalgia patients here.

That’s it from me for today.
Take care everybody.

Love,

I haven’t been blessed with perfect facial skin. I battled with a severe acne from a young age. It is certainly not a pleasant experience going through youth with a terrible acne problem, especially for a girl. So, yes, I totally understand how other people feel about it. I hope that by sharing this extensive list of the most commonly used essential oils, people can find the confidence to whip up their very own elixir at home! It certainly is a very useful skill to have, plus you can save lots of money from not buying those expensive skin products that don’t always help.

First of all, let’s have a look at the various uses of essential oils:

1. Bath
   Mix 5-10 drops of essential oil to carrier oil/body wash and pour into bath water
2. Aroma Diffuser
   Add 5-10 drops
3. Beauty & Bodycare
   Add 1-5 drops per 10 mg cosmetic base
4. Compress
   Add 3-5 drops to a bowl of hot water
5. Steam Inhalation
   Add 2-5 drops to a bowl of hot water
6. Room Freshners
   Add 2-5 drops to a mixture of dried flowers, oil burner or wooden ornaments
7. Aromatherapy Mist
   Add 10-15 drops to 30 ml water
8. Topical Use
   See dillution guide below. Make sure to add essential oils to carrier oil for a proper dilution

Great options for Carrier Oils: Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, Argan Oil, Olive Oil, Rosehip oil, and many others. Let’s not forget also, Witch Hazel and the wonderful Aloe Vera extract . Check out this link to learn more.

Dilution Guide for Essential Oils

Number of drops per ml

Recommended dilution:

• Toddlers: 1%- 2%
• Children: 1.5% – 3%
• Adults: 2.5% – 5%

Healing Properties of Essential Oil

Scroll/‘touch and drag’ side ways to see more. You can also filter your search by name.

Staying Positive

How do I deal with the condition, you ask? Well, I’ve learned how to listen to the pain and instead of feeling defeated by it, I found a way to channel my “quiet days” into something productive. For example, due to the aches and pains in most parts of my body, I would sit upright on my bed and read a book or listen to music. I call it the “quiet days” because some people I know who suffer from this condition liked to call it the “bad days”.  I personally think that calling it something so negative is not going to help you stay positive. Being positive about your down moments are the best medicine. If you are like me and are easily stimulated by smells and temperature, then I would recommend an essential oils burner. I would have it going for a few hours and sit with my hot water bottle while reading. Some of my favorite “quiet days” activities are drawing, crocheting and doing research.

I have found that winter can the hardest time to manage the pain. Therefore keeping myself warm at all time is crucial. I kept my mind active and entertained with things such as drinking aromatic tea like the Lady Grey or Jasmine Green Tea while reading or illustrating. My all-time favorite tea actually comes from my home country, Indonesia. They call it the “bottle tea”, I guess it is the same generic name that we use for “gumboot tea” here in New Zealand. Its aroma would fill the kitchen and it helps me stay positive throughout the day.

Exercises Regularly

Although I haven’t mentioned anything about exercising doesn’t mean that I disregard it completely. I have to be very careful here when advising a fibromyalgia sufferer to set a workout regime. I found that different people have a different capacity that only they themselves know. As I mentioned earlier in the previous post, I have tried just about anything from walking, running, to a low-level workout such as yoga. I know a few people benefit from yoga, myself included (Carville et al, 2007). Though, you have to be careful not to overdo it. This is my ongoing challenge, to recognize my limit, when to push on and when to stop. When I do about 10-15 mins walking, I feel fantastic for 3 days. Then when I thought I would notch it up to a 5 mins running, my body starts to feel worse. When I do about 10 mins of yoga and felt great for weeks, but when I do 20 mins, my body suffers for weeks. So, if you ask me, I don’t think I can give you a definite answer as to what type of workout would be best. As it is different for other people who are struggling with the same condition. It is up to them to find out where their limit is and how they can commit to sticking with it. This is it’s own physical and mental discipline. Don’t give up, finding what works for you is liberating and totally worth it!

Massages

I personally think that massage is one of the best treatment in dealing with “quiet days”. I wouldn’t recommend the hardcore Asian massage therapy. They would do anything to get rid of those tight knots in your tender points. I have tried them myself and I can assure you, it doesn’t help. In fact, you will feel like you’ve been bruised and battered for days afterward, which is the worse feeling you can have. So, last year, I bought myself an electric TENS therapy unit. I use it on the back of my neck, the lower back, and legs. Studies have shown that Fibromyalgia sufferers have a significant benefit from this treatment (Dailey et al, 2013) (Noehren et al, 2015) (Vance et al, 2014). Sometimes, when the pain gets too much, I attach the electrodes on my body before going to work, and activate them on my break time. 10 mins on the machine is all I need to ease the pain and get back to work again.

Medications

Studies have shown that anti-depressants have a role in treating the nervous system of Fibromyalgia patients. My doctor prescribed me two anti-depression drugs that target different parts of the symptoms. First, I was prescribed Fluoxetine (also known as Elavil) for 6 months. I noticed my mood was definitely improved but the pain remained. Although it may seem like a superficial fix, I certainly felt much better. It gave me the energy to stay positive and the ability to manage the pain significantly. Then 6 months later, the doctor put me on Amitriptyline (commonly known as Prozac), which is usually used to treat people with chronic pain, however, this drug specifically helps my sleeping pattern (Goldenberg et al, 1996) (Millea & Holloway, 2000) (Moret & Briley, 2006). I have taken both of these drugs at night an hour or two ahead of bedtime. Occasionally, I would take one Magnesium tablet to help assist sleep even better. I also found, taking a regular Vitamin B complex and Vitamin D has also significantly help me to get through my days at work, I take them together with Omega-3 tablets with breakfast. Although these medications sound like a lot for one person to take I personally have benefited from them all.

You may not be a big fan of this one, but I have found a significant improvement from consuming Apple Cider Vinegar. I know, it doesn’t taste great but you can mix it in a juice or honey or tea. You also don’t need a lot, just one teaspoon mixed in your drink twice a day, one glass in the morning and another before bed. It also comes with an added benefit like weight loss! Double bonus I’d say.

Now, I want to be clear that I am not a doctor or certified medical professional. If you are a Fibromyalgia patient reading this and considering these medications, you MUST seek advise through your doctor first! I cannot stress enough the importance of having proper medical advise that comes from a proper channel.

References:

1. Carville, S. F., Arendt-Nielsen, S., Bliddal, H., Blotman, F., Branco, J. C., Buskilla, D., Da Silva, J. AP., Danneskiold-Samsøe, B., Dincer, F., Henriksson, C., Henriksson, K., Kosek, E., Longley, K., McCarthy, G. M., Perrot, S., Puszczewicz, M. J., Sarzi-Puttini, P., Silman, A., Späth, M., Choy, E. H. (2007). EULAR evidence-based recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia syndrome. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 74 476-476. http://doi.org/10.1136/ard.2007.071522
2. Dailey, D. L., Rakel, B. A., Vance, C. G., Liebano, R. E., Anand, A. S., Bush, H. M., Sluka, K. A. (2013). Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) reduces pain, fatigue, and hyperalgesia while restoring central inhibition in primary fibromyalgia. Pain, 154(11), 2554–2562. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2013.07.043
3. Goldenberg, D. et al. (1996) A randomized, double-blind crossover trial of fluoxetine and amitriptyline in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Arthritis Rheum, 18521859. https://www.jwatch.org/jp199701010000018/1997/01/01/fluoxetine-amitriptyline-or-both-fibromyalgia
4. Noehren, B., Dailey, D. L., Rakel, B. A., Vance, C. G. T., Zimmerman, M. B., Crofford, L. J., & Sluka, K. A. (2015). Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Pain, Function, and Quality of Life in Fibromyalgia: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial. Physical Therapy, 95(1), 129–140. http://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20140218
5. Millea, P. J., Holloway, R. L. (2000). Treating fibromyalgia. Am Fam Physician. 62(7):1575-82, 1587. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/1001/p1575.html
6. Moret, C., & Briley, M. (2006). Antidepressants in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 2(4), 537–548.
7. Vance, C. G., Dailey, D. L., Rakel, B. A., & Sluka, K. A. (2014). Using TENS for pain control: the state of the evidence. Pain Management, 4(3), 197–209. http://doi.org/10.2217/pmt.14.13

People suffering from this condition are likely to stay in bed all day without having a restful sleep regardless of the hours they spend in bed with their eyes closed. Medical professionals would advise the sufferers instead of “giving up” to the pains, they should get up and start exercising. The challenge to this is that your pain becomes worse after having “too much” exercise. So at one end of the spectrum, you have fibromyalgia sufferers who won’t do any exercises because they can’t bear the pain, while on the other they felt completely defeated by pain after workouts. So, how do we solve this problem? Well, you can’t unless you are a sufferer of Fibromyalgia yourself, then you’ll know when and how to balance exercise and rest.

Many of you must be thinking, “Well, surely you don’t have to do like a crazy CrossFit type of exercise when you have Fibromyalgia. Why don’t you try walking or Pilates or even yoga?”. My answer to that is “You’re right!”. In fact, I have moved to walking and yoga for 10-15 mins sessions on good days. The problem of living with the constant aches and pains remain, however my management of it has improved.

Rewind back to 2013, when I was inspired to join the New Zealand Army. I had put myself onto a strict workout regime before and after class (I was at University, studying Dental Technology then). I would wake up early in the morning to have half an hour run, then back at home I would do 20 push-ups and then go in the shower and ready for class. After class finished in the afternoon, I would go to a park nearby and do sprints and squat jumps. I did this everyday for 5-6 months in hopes of passing the 16 weeks of basic training in the army upon the completion of my Dental study. I was fit as a fiddle, I would climb Mt.Cargill with my boyfriend in the weekend. Three hours up and three hours back. We would do various other tracks around the Dunedin area just for fun. I even did a 60 km bike ride in the North Island of New Zealand on a NZ$100 K-mart mountain bike. (Yeah, crazy right? I did it in 4.5 hours).

Little did I know, what started off with just a nagging pain in my right jaw would turn into something that crippled me to this day. I had a suspicion that the pain might have originated from the last unimpacted wisdom tooth. So I underwent a surgery to get it removed a year later. However, the pain persists. In fact it got worse. My right ankle also started to ache. I can hear my ankle clicking when I walk. That’s when I thought things had gone really wrong with me. I went to the doctor, but they thought I was mentally unstable or a hypochondriac. So I had to move to at least 5 different doctors until I finally found one who would take me seriously. At this point, it was already too late, I was in a very bad shape. I found myself in bed for three days in a row without food or drink because it was too sore to even move my head. I was living on my own at that time, though I was very lucky to have friends and a boyfriend who would check up and looked after me when the worst hits.

A year later, I graduated from the Dental school and landed a job at the hospital. Though I was constantly surrounded by medical professionals, my illness remained unanswered. The Rheumatologist had finally diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia in 2016. At this stage, my health was like a yo-yo, I would have 4-5 good days with manageable aches and pains and then 2-3 weeks of severe aches and pains that would prevent me from going to work. My attendance doesn’t look good at all. Yet, before I suffered from Fibromyalgia, I had never taken a sick day ever! One day of stress leave, yes… but that was because people at work made me go home when I went through a horrible breakup. This whole ordeal was far more heartbreaking than that breakup! And the worse part of it all is that people don’t actually believe that there is such a thing as Fibromyalgia. To them, I looked fine and functional, but there are days when I came to work, sitting quietly in the office, making the whole place smell like tiger balm because of how much I would use.

Want to know more about Fibromyalgia?

• Fibromyalgia 
• Fibromyalgia – Symptoms, and causes
• Fibromyalgia – Diagnosis
• Fibromyalgia, the misunderstood chronic illness
• What is fibromyalgia, and is it real?
• Fibromyalgia – Bone, joint, and muscle disorders
• Polymyalgia vs fibromyalgia