How I Beat Fibromyalgia

Fibro warrior

Fibromyalgia is a complex condition and a diagnosis can change your whole life. You have no control over what’s going on in your body and it’s really scary. 

Back in 2010, my health started to slide. I had chronic pain, fatigue, migraines, and chronic insomnia. I cut back my workload, luckily I could, but it didn’t make any difference. I lived on autopilot, getting up, going to work, and just existing. 

My GP had no idea what was going on. His advice? “Just take something for the pain and something to help you sleep”. I felt lost, tired, and hopeless.

One Sunday morning, while reading Body & Soul, I spotted an article that caught my eye: ‘Fibromyalgia- the invisible illness’... it was like reading my own health story. I turned to my partner and said, “you need to read this”, and when he did he was amazed, he totally agreed.

Fibromyalgia is an ‘invisible’ illness and when it strikes it can put everything on hold. The constant pain, fatigue, and depression that can accompany this condition are enough to send anyone into a tailspin. 

Armed with this information from Body & Soul, I jumped on Dr. Google. Cue information overload. Specialists, Facebook groups, and more. Someone recommended a great Rheumatologist in Adelaide, so I marched off to the doctor and demanded a referral.

This was it, I thought, I had the answer to my health challenges and the specialist would have the solution. Or so I thought. 

The specialist's solution? “We can try this drug and if it doesn’t work we can try another until one does work”. And when I asked him what else I could do I was blown away by what he said. He actually got out a piece of paper and wrote on it, ‘Google Fibromyalgia SA’. 

Google! As if I hadn’t spent years Googling!

When I asked what else I could do, he said, “there is nothing else you can do, you just have to live with it for the rest of your life”. 

Needless to say, I walked out and felt deflated. I spent six long months believing I had no other options. This was September 2011.

In January 2012 my oldest son turned 30 and we’d planned a big birthday party to celebrate. By now I had three grandchildren - suffice to say I felt like death warmed up! I lasted about 3 hours at the party and then had to go home. 

The next day one of my son's friends posted a photo of me on Facebook. I looked like I felt—about 70 years old, but I was only 47!

It was then that I realised that I had handed over control of my health to the doctors....that somehow I’d made them responsible for my health issues. 

Taking back control

So that day I decided I had to take responsibility for my own health. I joined support groups. I went to workshops and learned all I could about Fibromyalgia.

I read endless books and watched hours of content on YouTube. I was on a mission to find the answers. Everybody had well-meaning advice. I got so sick of hearing people say, “you just have to eat better and exercise, that will fix it”. Everyone was an armchair expert. 

I saw a naturopath; sitting with her and discussing my issues was a relief, I was so tired of it all. 

“You need to start with your diet, cut out gluten, dairy, sugar, coffee, and alcohol,” she said. 

“And what about your toxic load?”

My toxic what? When I told her I had been a cleaner for 20 years, she stared at me in horror. Who knew about toxins in cleaning chemicals, and personal care products, in water, and the air? Hell, they were everywhere.

So that’s where I started, I looked at my toxin exposure and changed to natural cleaning chemicals, natural shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant. I convinced hubby to put in an expensive water filter system and I became hyper-aware of what might be in my environment that could harm me.

I stopped drinking alcohol and cut out sugar (easy...not!), and just tried to stick with fresh unprocessed food. I started feeling a bit better. By now, I was only working 20 hours a week and dutifully taking the medication the doctor prescribed to help with the pain and insomnia.

Slowly but surely things started to get better. Most of the time. I still had migraines that at times meant I ended up in hospital and at times I couldn’t sleep unless I took something to help.

Then in 2014, when I was driving to work one day, I heard an ad on the radio...“would you like to study nutrition? Come along to our open day this Saturday and find out more”. 

I was intrigued. Maybe I might get a few tips or ideas about nutrition that could help me, I thought. So I trotted along and within five minutes of listening to the speaker I knew this was it.

The solution was clear.

I could study and find out the real reason I was sick and I could heal myself. 

So, I signed up on the spot and then on the drive home I said to myself out loud, “what the hell have you done?”. I hadn’t studied since I finished year 11 in 1980 when I was 16 (Side note: I do that a lot, maybe you do too? I am my own worst enemy and I talk myself into and out of stuff all the time). 

So by now it’s August 2014, I had the big ‘50’ birthday and girls trip planned for November, so I enrolled to start my first two online subjects in December. I was excited and scared all at the same time, wanting to prove to myself and my family that I could do it, but also hoping I could truly find the answers I was looking for that would help me heal and get my life back. 

The rest of 2014 sped by. I started my online subjects and I felt like a fish out of water, but I kept going, looking forward to my first on-campus subject in term 1.

And then the proverbial sh*t hit the fan.

In January 2015, I ended up in the hospital for two weeks with diverticulitis—which basically means I had a seriously infected gut. Something had been brewing for years and had just imploded. 

As if life could get worse, I thought. 

2015 was just about to show me how bad things could get. The trip to the hospital revealed I was also severely anaemic. I had a large fibroid and a prolapsed bowel. YAY for me.

So while still studying, I had a hysterectomy, a colonoscopy, and a bone marrow biopsy to check everything out. Then I had a precancerous lump in my breast that meant more surgery. And by the way, my diverticulitis and prolapsed bowel needed to be fixed, so that meant more surgery. 

I couldn’t take a trick, but I persisted with studying, getting extensions on assignments, and deferring exams, but I got through it all. And despite all of that life was pretty good.

Studying was the focus of my world while trying to manage to work around lectures, exams, and family. Meanwhile, we became empty-nesters; my 20-year-old baby girl left home. I was really sad, people asked why and I explained. I’ve had kids in my house for 33 years, I moved out of home and within a year I was a mum. I would actually have to talk to hubby now- HA HA!

So I continued to plug away at my studies. Some subjects were easier than others. I did fail one subject along the way, but that’s not bad for a middle-aged mum and nana. What I learned about the human body was truly amazing and gave me the life-changing tools to truly set me on the path to healing and taking control of my own health. 

One of those life-changing tools was an understanding of genes and how genetics impacts our health. I couldn’t help but wonder, what if? What if all my health issues and those in my family—mental health, autoimmune, cardiovascular, respiratory, hormonal—what if there was an underlying genetic connection? 

I lost my Dad way too young in 1992. He was only 59 years old and suffered a massive heart attack. What if? I couldn’t get my dad back but I could improve my health and that of my family, so I continued to dig deeper. 

In 2017 I bought a DNA test kit from 23andme and had my genes tested.

I didn’t understand genes, and the raw data was just numbers and letters and a whole lot of technical stuff. So I got them interpreted and WOW! I had so many gene variations, it was like comparing a black labrador with a dalmatian. So many SNPs (dots) you couldn’t count them all. 

It was life-changing—right there and then. And it gave me the direction to follow. You see, when you have gene variations it doesn’t mean that you will get a chronic disease, because it is your everyday lifestyle choices and your environmental exposures that can switch on or off those gene variations and impact your health. And mine were lit up like the lights on a giant Christmas tree. 

After four years of study, I finally completed my Bachelor of Health Science—Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine degree in November 2018. The same year my hubby retired after 44 years in the corporate world.

It was a wild ride, with many highs and many lows—health and study-wise. I met some amazing people, some of which are now my best friends. I lost my mum, and a few friends too, sometimes life is cruel, it takes away some of the best way too soon.

I never had any intention of starting a nutrition business. My study was about learning and healing myself. But there was a moment— one of those ‘ah ha’ type moments—where I again asked myself, ‘what if’?

What if I could help just one person feel better? Help just one person get their health and their life back? I realised that day that I had a mission. I wanted to help others understand that their health is truly in their own hands. 

I’m happy to say I’m well and feeling awesome again. Life is a roundabout, it has its swings and turns. Sometimes you find yourself on a straight road, sure of your direction and destination. Sometimes life crashes and burns, and you have to pick yourself up, clean off the debris and keep going. You just never know what’s around the corner. 

There are many moments that stand out in my life so far. I have an amazing man who is my rock, a great family, and work I love doing.

My dad always used to say—when the going gets tough, the tough get going—JUST DO IT! I used to think I wasn’t very strong, but my fibromyalgia journey has been long and hard and it took a lot of strength to get through the hard times.

I just know that life is a journey, not a destination. It’s not easy to take the road less traveled when you are standing alone rather than taking the highway like everyone else.

But I challenge you to do this one thing, the most crucial thing of all…look forward, not backgrounds, and know that you have control.

YOUR HEALTH IS IN YOUR HANDS! 

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