Can diet and physical activity affect fibro this much?

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Beckycm1971
Beckycm1971 Posts: 40 Member
I have found that sugar and/ or caffeine and/ or working out really intensifies my symptoms. I have been feeling better ( though never back to where I was before) like maybe I have been in a year long flare up that's progressively gotten better the last three months but no matter how much better I feel if I over do it with these things then its all worse again. Is it possible that all of a sudden a year ago my body just decides it doesn't like these things. Or can they really have this big of an impact on fibromyalgia?

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  • dixiech1ck
    dixiech1ck Posts: 769 Member
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    I am in half marathon training mode again and yes, the symptoms and flares intensify with that much exercise. I have to be careful and do my runs on Saturday (long runs) because I tend to sleep the day away on Sunday. I haven't started to create a trigger foods journal yet and am switching rheuma's next month because my current one doesn't treat me, the patient, just the symptoms, which he is awful at in itself. I'm still in blaring pain and he gives me pills that don't work.

    We should keep this dialogue going.. I'm sure there's other answers out there.
  • Beckycm1971
    Beckycm1971 Posts: 40 Member
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    Good for you doing marathons!! Yes I agree we should. I can find many places that talk so much about the pain and symptoms but not food and exercise.
    I am in half marathon training mode again and yes, the symptoms and flares intensify with that much exercise. I have to be careful and do my runs on Saturday (long runs) because I tend to sleep the day away on Sunday. I haven't started to create a trigger foods journal yet and am switching rheuma's next month because my current one doesn't treat me, the patient, just the symptoms, which he is awful at in itself. I'm still in blaring pain and he gives me pills that don't work.

    We should keep this dialogue going.. I'm sure there's other answers out there.
  • dixiech1ck
    dixiech1ck Posts: 769 Member
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    I did a small research stint on Friday on yeast and fibro. There's some interesting concepts out there stemming from having too much yeast in the system from antibiotics, excess sickness, etc. Going to bring this up with my rheuma next month.
  • Beckycm1971
    Beckycm1971 Posts: 40 Member
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    I have looked into the yeast aspect, read lots about it. When I began to really notice a huge change in my body was right after I had a bad yeast infection I didn't know I had. I thought the things I was experiencing from it was just the way it was when going into hormonal changes, I lived with this infection a good year at least, it seemed to wreak havoc over my body. I had 3 or 4 different areas of my body affected. Course my doctor doesn't believe in the intestinal yeast infection, but its when all that occurred that I started having all my digestive issues. I got medicine for it when I realized I had a bad yeast infection and it cleared up least skin and vaginally,, but it takes nothing for me to start having issues again.I have had so many issues, I can't seem to determine what came first. I really try to stay away from all this "bad" stuff though, and I have tracked things, and there just is no rhyme or reason it seems. I thought I was feeling better, then my dad ended up in ICU on life support, i flew down to Reno for a week (there were so many things going wrong there he could have died ten times over) then not 15 hours after I got back my sister in law was in ER for complications from MS, we thought but found she has lung cancer that has aggressively spread to lymphnodes, brain and liver in three months. SO I spent a week in hospital with her, taking her to radiation and all. The first two months of this year we had my husbands store burn down, and then my sister had tumor the size of a lemon in her breast, I had just been to Reno a week before for this when my dad almost died. So this year so far has been pretty bad. As things began to settle down some in my life, the migraines have come back again with a vengence it seems. I hadn't had them for a couple weeks, where as the last year its been almost non stop at some level or another. So stress must definitely play a huge part, (I also got a cold sore as the migraines hit which has always been a sign of stress for me) So frustrating cause working out helps with the stress, but makes the issues worse. Seems a catch 22 most of the time.
    I did a small research stint on Friday on yeast and fibro. There's some interesting concepts out there stemming from having too much yeast in the system from antibiotics, excess sickness, etc. Going to bring this up with my rheuma next month.
  • jyojodancer
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    I ate some wings and pizza last week, I'm still reeling from IBS and fibro flare...
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I haven't noticed sugar or caffeine making my symptoms worse. But, I have read several places where people with fibro say that those things do make theirs worse. I think for those two things it might be an individual thing. For me what I have noticed is that dairy makes the IBS part of my symptoms go crazy. I cut meat out of my diet a little over a year ago and that seemed to help with the joint pain, until February, now that is back with a vengeance. I really think it all varies from person to person and even with a person I think the symptoms can be triggered by something one day and maybe not another. Which IMO is what makes it so hard to come up with a comprehensive treatment plan and/or a cure. .
  • tanyab222
    tanyab222 Posts: 16 Member
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    I get chronic yeast infections and they FOR SURE DO make the Fibro tremendously worse. I officially have chronic candida and have to take antibiotic meds (fluconozale) once a week for a month or two and then once a month for a month or to. For me, it doesn't take much for me to get an infection either. Anytime there is a diet change of any kind, it gets bad. So too much sugar and carbs really triggers it too. Since I've reduced my sugar intake with using myfitnesspal (still go over the recommended sugar amount), I don't get them as often but I can definitely tell when its building up in my body. I do have coffee every morning and that isn't too bad. But I have to be careful no doubt. I also have IBS and possibly R.A.
  • divone1
    divone1 Posts: 75 Member
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    I too find sugar to be one of my trigger foods along with splenda and things with white flour which could be a yeast thing too. I find I must exercise or the pain and stiffness is much worse. I'm not sure what, if anything, helps with the tiredness.

    Yes, stress is a bad trigger always!