<p>Is anyone here familiar with or diagnosed with fibromyalgia? My Dr. Is investigating it as I have a lot of the symptoms (depression, anxiety, trigger point pain, chronic fatigue and more) </p>
<p>What happens once you’re diagnosed? What’s the treatment? Does it help? Does insurance typically cover it? </p>
<p>Thank you all in advance! </p>
<p>I am no expert, but I can share with you how a friend handles her fibromyalgia. She exercises, does yoga, takes supplements, and does her best to manage stress. For her, the yoga is huge — it has improved her health, her outlook, and her ability to cope when the pain pops up despite her best efforts to keep it at bay.</p>
<p>Insurance does generally cover pain medication, which can help.
But is not a panacea and have side effects.</p>
<p>Improving your diet can help also, but more nutritious food isn’t covered and quality food can be more expensive.
I have fibro as well as osteoarthritis & a touch of rheumatoid arthritis.</p>
<p>Improving the quality of your sleep and exercise are probably the biggest pieces to improving quality of life.</p>
<p>Are you double jointed? There seems to be a connection between joint laxity and other connective tissue disorders.</p>
<p>Stress can increase perception of pain.
Meditation helps a bit.
These books may be a place to start.
<a href=“http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12518014-freedom-from-pain”>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12518014-freedom-from-pain</a>
<a href=“Comparing Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Syndrome”>http://chronicfatigue.about.com/od/copingwithfmscfs/gr/Book-Review-Figuring-Out-Fibromyalgia-By-Ginevra-Liptan-M-D.htm</a></p>
<p>Thank you so much! I already do yoga and practice mindfulness, my doctor gave me a referral to a physical therapist to see if they can help. </p>
<p>Several years ago, a local hospital started offering water exercise classes for people with fibromyalgia. A different hospital has a “wellness center” that also has water exercise class for fibromyalgia. It follows a class I usually take, so I stay for it as well. The exercises are similar, though we work all the muscles in the fibro class, even touching fingertips. My classmates are not very different than myself, though some have tried to start conversations with me as to why I’m in that class. What’s wrong with me. I just tell them I’m old and I love to be in the water, so I enjoy the class. As part of my work, in the legal field, I have often encountered people with fibro, or doctors that treat fibro. I remember that at one time, it was dismissed as nonexistent, but once the hospitals started offering water exercises for treatment, it became more accepted. I know many of the medications used to treat fibro are also used for other maladies, so they may be serving a dual purpose. I am happy that today’s fibro patients are getting out of the house and doing even low impact water aerobics, rather than staying home and feeding the depressive symptoms of the disease.</p>
<p>I started water aerobics classes a year ago this past January, when I could barely make it around the block with a cane.
My orthopedic surgeon had assured me I was too young for a knee replacement, and the lack of mobility made me very depressed.
However, the water does such a great job supporting you, that you can do things like running & jumping which you may have given up on. Which gave me enough encouragement to find another surgeon and Im going in for my one yr check up next week. 
Talking to the other women in the class that had hip/ knee replacements also gave me the courage to take the plunge.
Warning: exercise in the water is so painless & fun, that it is VERY easy to overdo it.
Many nights I was in quite a bit of pain, but I kept going three or four times a week.
( I still go, but Im also looking for a bike to increase strenght even more)</p>
<p>I might have some of the problems describe in the original post since my early 20s, I notice I always have a hot bath in the morning before I can go to work, it makes me feel 100% better. However, I was never diagnosed with fibro, my friend was and she seems to give up. Not me. I did some yoga, and some posture correction exercise, regular massage, some accupuncture which helps with my back and neck. I used to not be able to sit more than 2 hours continuously but now I don’t have any problem, I can sit as long as I want. I also drives and commutes daily about 1.5 hours each way. So overall my body has improved significantly without taking any medicine and vitamins. I pay attention to what I eat, stay out of sugar or things that turn into sugar in my body. I used to swim weekly but lately that activity is absent due to time spend in the garden doing hardscape. That’s right, my husband and I are doing our own landscaping in our ripe old semi-retirement age while the younger neighbors spend $50K-60K for other people to do it. But the bottom line is some of the pain has come back at night when I go to sleep, not excrutiating, but I do notice it. When I take Vitamin D, it seems to lessen, so I make sure that if I remember to take it. Sometime, I just plain forget.</p>
<p>I did our landscaping too. But the only hardscaping Ive done is put in a few rock walls to hold in the soil that was removed when H dug out space for a tool shed.
My husband removed our English holly/laurel hedges, and I removed all the sod. Front back & side yards.
No wonder I needed a knee replacement, cause I didnt use any power tools!</p>
<p>@emeraldkity4, It’s hardscape too as in cementing, lifting heavy cement block/pavers, 18x36x2 inch in concrete cement. Yeap, I put on my back belt and boots and we managed to do them. But it takes much longer to do by ourselves, but it’s fun and we feel like we accomplish something.</p>