Fibromyalgia treatment overview

Episode 3 Fibromyalgia treatment overview.
 Fibro symptoms are due to the brain processing problem. To help the brain to learn how to process pain in correct way you to rewire the brain using three pillars or columns of fibro treatment: education, self care and pain control. Although medications may help, fibro treatment is not that simple. 
You can see the full transcript:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1890983/9621860-how-is-fibromyalgia-diagnosed

www.rheumcoach.com - my website

www.rheumcoach.com/FibroCard - Download your free copy of the "Fibromyalgia is real" postcard to share with your family & friends

www.FaceBook/com/rheumcoach - lots more information about fibro 

Transcript

0:13  
You're listening to the MIND YOUR FIBRO Podcast, episode number three. I'm your host, Dr. Olga Pinkston, a board certified rheumatologist, and we're talking about fibromyalgia. In the last two episodes, we talked about fibromyalgia, what is Fibro who gets it,the symptoms and how it is diagnosed. This episode will be an overview of the Fibro treatment. 

0:39  
When I started discussion about fibro diagnosis with my patients, there's often a lot of crying. Tears are one of the most common reactions to the fibro diagnosis, tears of relief that there is an answer, tears of joy that they don't have an autoimmune condition like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, tears of disbelief that the way that six to eight months to see me just alone they have Fibro.  tears of anger, the diagnosis is not what they expected or wanted,  tears of defeat after learning that they may have a lifelong condition or tears of disappointment because no pill can get you feeling better. There is not a simple solution. Regardless of the cause of this tears, one thing I know, my patients want to feel better, you want to feel better. I know patients with fibromyalgia do not feel well, the pain, the fatigue, the stress of not being able to do things you want to do or need to do, the anxiety, the depression, the misunderstanding of others. It's complicated. 

1:41  
But I want to offer you hope, it is possible to get your life back, it is possible to get to the state of remission, to have your pain controlled to improve your fatigue, to downgrade your sensitivities It is possible for you to control Fibro, and not let Fibro control you and your life to improve your quality of life. But you have to wrap your mind around the principles of fibro treatment. 

2:08  
Fibro pain originates in the brain. It is a brain processing problem. The brain and the symptoms that you feel are real. They're NOT imaginary. They're not all in your head, but the original pain is in your head in the sense that the symptoms come from your brain. The symptoms you feel are due to misswired brain, the brain cells that created the faulty connections and send signals of pain and discomfort all over the body. This is why you feel the pain all over or it moves around. Or it can be burning or stabbing or throbbing the stiffness or pressure, you have sensitivities to smell touch lights. This is why there are so many fibro symptoms. When there is a faulty circuit, it produces a random and variable output. For example, if your home's circuit breaker is damaged, it may shut off electricity to the whole house, or just your bedroom or the outside lights, or may not allow you to use a microwave in a toaster oven the same time, but you don't replace the appliances or all the light bulbs in your house,  just because the circuit breaker is broken. You fix the common problem, the circuit breaker. Your brain is a circuit breaker of your body, the captain of the ship, the conductor of the orchestra. So when you have the fibro symptoms with pain all over random black pain, arm pain, tingling headaches, IBS or restless legs need to go after the circuit breaker the brain because the fibro symptoms, even though felt in the body, actually produced in the brain. It is a brain processing problem. 

3:49  
So you need to focus on the orchestra conductor, not replace the cellos or the violins of the orchestra. It sounds like an overwhelming task, but it will try to make it simple. Although I don't have the fibro fog, I'm a mother of four kids with a full time job. I need to simplify things to function. I'm sure other moms can relate. So I want to tell you a story to illustrate what I mean. When my oldest child was in kindergarten, and he was learning how to read his young younger siblings were three and four years old. They were fascinated with reading and wanting to learn how to read just like him. I was in medical school in between classes of studying and managing the household full of kids and chores. Teaching toddlers how to read was not on my agenda. We try the popular reading program with DVDs and workbooks and practice books and flashcards. I can tell you what that system is not designed for busy mom, especially working busy mom. He was too involved too complex for my tired brain to follow. Without planning or daily practice. I felt overwhelmed, defeated and frustrated. I needed something simple, not a multi step multi book system, something I can do without lesson plan or significant use of my brain power. So then I found the reading lesson teach your child to read in 20 Easy Lessons. That was it's a book on Amazon. It was a book combined with lessons and practice designed for parents with easy to follow instructions. The beauty of this book was it was only one book, no DVDs included or practice books and whatever. All in one solution, the instructions the practice, the introduction of sounds based on frequency of use, practice with games, an incremental approach that could that could be done in a few minutes per day. Without additional planning or accessories. Do as little or as much as your brain allows. In less than three months, my kids were reading. 

5:50  
So when I think of fibromyalgia, I imagine a patient faced with an overwhelming task of research planning, managing medications, the doctor visits welcome constantly feeling exhausted and pain and stressed out. And what about your job, family or kids balancing life while faced with a chronic pain condition, with flares in random symptoms, brain fog that makes following even the simplest instructions difficult and frustrating. 

6:17  
When I think about fibromyalgia treatment, I think of the three pillars or three columns, think of the Greek house with columns, so the Roman Palace, with a pointy roof and columns, the bigger the roof or the load, the more structure you need to hold the load properly. The longer you had Fibro, the heavier the load, it is a balancing act to construct and maintain this columns are the pillars, the three pillars of education, self care, in pain or symptom control. If you think about this method, it is actually not that unique in use in many other conditions. For example, if you have diabetes, youth education to know what diabetes is, how to read the blood glucose meter, use self care to practice diabetic diet, and work on weight loss. You need to control your diabetes symptoms with not only medications but also regular eye exams, food exam, blood pressure control, etc. Patients will only focus on medication to control diabetes, for example, use pills or insulin, but then eat what they want. Not limiting sugar, for example, because they're already in medication. Ultimately, they will require more medications and will end up with complications. 

7:29  
So three pillars, three columns three parts of fibro treatment, our education, self care in pain in symptom control. The first part of fibro treatment is education. Understanding fibromyalgia is essential to successful treatment. Patients with fibromyalgia are often referred to several specialists in undergo numerous tests before and after the diagnosis. Knowing the fibromyalgia symptoms in the origin helps to stress reduction in treatment plan. You need to know that your pain comes from your brain to manage the brain properly to reduce the symptoms. Knowledge is power, but it has to be organized, simple, be a guide to your treatment, not passive accumulation of facts. The facts don't serve the purpose, other than increase your anxiety. 

8:23  
The second pillar is self care that needs to be expanded and consistent. Using nutrition to repair digestion, reduce IBS symptoms promote healthy weight is essential part of the fibro treatment. Better quality of sleep in increased movement improves both fatigue and pain, eliminating emotional and environmental pain triggers. Balancing daily activities and stress are also part of this treatment. Self care includes self love, self compassion, it is not as simple as eat better and exercise -I cringe when I hear this. 

9:00  
The third pillar, or the third part of the fibro  treatment is reduction of chronic pain and other symptoms. Unfortunately, treatment of fibromyalgia pain is not as simple as taking an aspirin. Some patients will benefit from appropriate pain medications in therapies, but they often provide a limited or incomplete or temporary result and have side effects. I have seen many patients who come to see me on many medications and still have pain. They may be on oxycodone, hydrocodone, Tramadol, Gabapentin or Lyrica, Cymbalta or other anti depressants, potions and rubs in they still have pain because those medications treat the pain receptors in the tissue, not the brain processing problem. All pain regardless of origin produces a brain response. So unless you go under complete anesthesia to shut off your brain, you need to find a doable method that will turn That amplifier, the brain speaker that increases the perception of pain. So understanding that your brain is complex and the wonderful that it can heal and get better, that you can rewire it to produce a different result is truly empowering. 

10:17  
My goal is to teach you how you can rewire your brain how you can reduce your symptoms by reducing the pain processing problem. How to mind your fibro when now know more about brain than we did 20 years ago, we're learning something new every day. The progress of science and technology has exponentially grown in recent years, and we're starting to reap the benefits. I know many of our patients don't want more pills, rubs or potions. I think we as a society are finally getting the message that sometimes appeal is not enough to fix a complex problem. We now have many types of therapies that aid with pain reduction, cognitive behavior therapy, pain reprocessing therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, relaxation techniques, mindfulness, stress reduction, they all reduce pain and improve quality of life processing the trauma, childhood, or more recent trauma needs to be addressed. 

11:23  
So you really need all three parts to treat fibromyalgia, you really need all three columns to support the load of fibro, focusing on just one of them on nutrition, or only education or only using pain medications to cope with pain will create a shaky foundation. However, if the three pillars for myalgia treatment are built correctly, they will support the fibromyalgia load and improve your symptoms. Gradually building all of them consistently and deliberately will produce a lasting effect, balanced and supportive. It will improve your pain and your quality of life. The three pillars of fibro treatment, education, self care, pain and symptom management are designed to simplify and provide clarity to treatment. For larger treatment, while has many parts does not have to be overwhelming. Focusing on products that provide the biggest impact on the quality of your life is a key. Being systematic, consistent and deliberate, will create a lasting result that you need. So let's summarize. Fibro symptoms are due to the brain processing problem. To help the brain to learn how to process pain in correct way you to rewire the brain using three pillars or two columns of fibro treatment, education, self care and pain control. Although medications may help, fibro treatment is not that simple. We'll all learn how to read. It will end it was a slow and frustrating process for both the reader and the teacher. Think of the fibro treatment in a similar manner. Learn the foundations or the alphabet. Be open minded to receive instructions. Do not jump ahead in practice, practice, practice, work daily on small, realistic goals and you will be rewarded. Now that brings us to the end of this episode. If you enjoyed this show, please subscribe rate and review this podcast and be sure to come back next week for another episode. Until then, this is Dr. Olga Pinkston in don't forget to M