YEAST: Overgrowth of yeast(canididus) is a problem that I have had a problem with. Yeast is a normal product in our body but when good bacteria are reduced (sometimes by antibiotics) yeast can begin to overproduce. My personal feeling is that this is something that affects the entire body and that people with FM are at high risk of encountering this problem. Often people with yeast infections find themselves suffering from extreme fatigue(more so than the usual FM fatigue which is bad enough), craving sugar and once it develops furthur all kinds of interesting symptons you can look up elsewhere. Yeast is a fascinating organism which requires moisture, warmth and sugar to grow, so once you start shovelling down those candy bars for a burst of energy you've provided ideal breeding ground. I have to be really strict with myself in this area. I try to eat starches rather than sugars, I eat very few foods with yeast and I wear cotton and cotton blends as much as possible so that moisture is not held against my body. I also eat yogurt and at times take lactobacillus acidolphous capsules if I am having more problems than usual. I have been told of some very aggressive treatments for ridding the body of excess yeast but for me the cure sounds worse than the problem. Indeed these treatments seem to need to be repeated after a length of time and I would sooner go for a healthier diet. CAFFIENE:This is one of the things that doctors warn fibramyalgia patients about. I am a tea drinker and I like the occassional cup of coffee. I see a slight difference if I cut them out totally but I have decided that for me the comfort I get from a good cup of tea offsets that slight difference so I continue to drink them and have only tried to moderate the amount. I do try not to drink them in the evening because it does affect my sleep. DEPRESSION: When I first had fibromyalgia I was told depression was a sympton and I spent years trying to tell my doctor I was not depressed about my life in general only about the fibromyalgia and how it affected my life. It is so frustrating when a medical person will not accept that you really are the best judge of how you feel. Wouldn't they believe that someone with cancer was depressed by having the disease not that depression was just a sympton? I think they finally gave up discussing it in the face of what they saw as my stubbornness.Two years ago my specialist(who is really excellent even though we disagree occassionally) let me know that it was now believed that depression wasn't a sympton but a result of FM. Lately I've been giving a lot of thought to depression, not only how it makes a person feel but the ramifications for people around the depressed person. I've always believed that depression is a result of the fibromyalgia not a sympton. I work hard to think positive but sometimes I worry that my perception of reality has to be influnced by the dark imp that clings to my ankle. copyright© 2000, Mitsou. All Rights Reserved. Next page Sleep, Sense of Humor |