Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia

A chronic pain condition affecting the soft, fibrous tissues of the muscles, tendons and ligament. They linger and torture you like a house guest from hell. If fibromyalgia has taken up residence in your body, you may feel deep muscle soreness or burning, throbbing, or shooting pains. 

 

You may ache all over and/or have extreme tenderness at specific spots-called myofascial trigger points – located in your neck, shoulders, lower back, elbows, and knees and beneath your buttocks. Pain and fatigue may be your constant companion or come and go, flaring during times of stress or when you are exposed to draft. 

That is the cruel irony of fibromyalgia: It makes you so tired and achy that you can barely move, but inactivity leads to poor sleep; which in turn makes your muscle ache more. You become so trapped in a pain-fatigue-pain loop that you may stop moving altogether. 

REST A soak before bedtime in a tub laced with ½ cup of Epsom salts is the most heavenly way to prime your body for deep, restful sleep.

KNOCK OUT THE KNOTS

The conventional treatment for FM all aim to reduce pain and increase sleep, but they can leave you with bothersome side effects. At best, the standard treatments work for only half of those with FM. That isn’t to say, though, that here’s nothing you can do. A broad range of non-drug remedies can help release the knots, free your pain and stiffness, and promote a good night’s sleep- without grogginess or other, more trouble-some side effects that you have to deal with the next day. Here’s where to begin:

·         MOVE –BUT SLOWLY

When even a wave of your hand can be excruciating, exercise may be the last thing on your mind, yet it should be the first thing you do after you get your diagnosis. Studies show that non-impact exercise can minimize pain and tenderness in just three months. Start by gently stretching your arms and legs to the point of resistance. Work up to holding each stretch for a minute. Then begin a walking or water exercise program.

·         TRY TOUCH THERAPY

Common massages can dampen pain, stiffness and help you snooze more deeply.

·         GO LIGHTLY

If even a gentle massage is to much for your tender muscle try craniosacral therapy. To enhance mobility and release tension, a craniosacral therapist uses barely noticeable, rhythmic movements of the bones at the back of the head and bottom of the spine and of the connective tissue system.

·         MAXIMIZE MAGNESIUM

Talk to your doctor before trying it. A magnesium deficiency can literally leave you weak. So, eat leafy greens, dried beans and lentils.

·         LOAD UP ON CoQ10

Antioxidant that also provides the spark that fires up ATP in your cells-which means less pain, more energy and better sleep. It’s abundant in spinach, sardines, albacore tuna and peanuts, but ensure to get enough, look for capsules or tablets in oil base.

·         TURN ON THE HEAT

Applying an over the counter cream containing capsaicin- the ingredient that gives chile peppers their bite to your most painful areas reduces soreness because capsaicin helps tamp down chemicals that transit pain. Look for it in drugstore or health food store.

·         GET NEEDLE

In one study, people with FM who tried acupuncture reported less pain and depression after just one month of treatment. It boosts endorphins, the body’s morphine-like painkillers. Ask your doctor for a referral to a reputable acupuncturist.

·         BE SURE TO GET B

You can battle weakness and fatigue by eating foods rich in B vitamins such as cereals, eggs, poultry, shellfish and milk. You can also take B-complex supplement.

AN APPLE (OR MORE!) A DAY…       Just may keep FM pain away. Researches have found that taking up to 6 tablets a day of Super Malic (200mg of malic acid found in apples) and 50mg of magnesium helped squelch pain in people with FM. It takes about 2 months to work.

Fly, Fly

There you are lying on the grass,

But now it just feels like glass,

You used to run up to me,

You’re like a stray I can see.

You greeted me in front of the gate,

How can you have so much love and not hate?

THEY took you in, but didn’t take care for you,

Not now, not then and not even when you were new.

You waited for me to get some food,

I thought I’d do something good,

You know the cue when you saw me,

Then, you ran happily towards me.

You gave lives for eight times,

THEY didn’t care; they care for his dimes,

When you became tired and weak,

You were sick and that was the peak.

Fly, fly to the place where there’s no hurt,

Play nice and you can now roll in the dirt,

No more worries, no more pain,

I know you are gone when I saw you in the rain.

How cruel can you be?

I love checking my friends' status in Facebook; that is my confession. Some posts are funny, others are not and then, there is one that broke my heart. It is an update from SSPCA (Sarawak Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) . There are a few pictures that would and should make people sad. The dogs were crammed in one small cage and they were once pets. Just because the festive season is here, it is not right to remove your pets as if they are rubbish. YOU CAN'T SPRING CLEAN YOUR PETS!!

How can it be so easy  and convenient for you to just dispose them? Don't you feel sad seeing them forced into a cage and taken away? Obviously, the answer is no because no human who loves their pets would do such a horrible thing. I think the more appropriate question is how can you just sit back and watch your pet  breed and breed and breed?Then, when the festive season is here, you asked the council to dispose them. After that, history repeats itself. How cruel can you be?

A few things you can do to decrease the population is to neuter. Neutering your pet is not a difficult task. Make an appointment with your veterinary. Fast your pet for twelve hours. Bring your pet to the vet and leave him/her there while the vet do the neutering. Your pet can go home on the same day. That is all. The best time to neuter your pet is when he/she is about three months old. I know for some people it seems cruel, but wouldn't it be worse to bring unwanted puppies/ kittens into the world? They will be strays and the victims to road kills and cruelty.

In this case, it is not the dogs or cats' fault to populate. All this points back to human for not being responsible. Dogs are not only meant to look after the house and cats are not only to chase mouse. They are more than just that. They need love, care and companion. Once you've decided to be a fur parent, it means that you have a huge responsibility on your shoulder. You need to be able to provide your pet from food, drink, shelter to all the medical bills. If not, then what's the point of having pets?

WHY MAKE YOUR PET'S LIFE A LIVING HELL?

Allergic to para-phenylenediamine (PPD)

This incident happened about three months ago...

 (Thursday)
 I looked into the mirror and realized that i had lots of white hair. I knew it was time to dye my hair as the last time i dyed it was before Chinese New Year. So, without much hesitation, i went to the salon to dye it. 
I hate sitting in the salon because i feel isolated. After choosing my colour, the process started. My scalp started burning but that was normal for me. I dyed my hair all the time and i knew that it had to burn a little. It wasn't a big deal at all. I walked out of the salon with a new hair colour and i felt great. That night, i learnt that beauty has its price to pay. 
My scalp was still burning and itching at the same time. I decided to sleep it off thinking that it was nothing. 

(Friday)
 I woke up the next morning and had trouble brushing my knotted hair. I felt bumps on my scalp and the sensation that i felt the night before was getting worse. The last time i felt that way was so many years ago when i dyed my hair at home.I washed my hair hoping that the water would soothe my scalp, but i was wrong. I rubbed my scalp every once in a while and became really irritated with everyone around me. When i started sweating it became worse. I had another early night. 

 (Saturday)
 Nothing changed the next day and the situation became worse. I didn't want to go to the doctor because I was embarrass. After my shower, i had breakfast. All that i can feel was thousands of ants trying to pick out my scalp. I rubbed my scalp again but this time, i realized a numb sensation on my face specifically, my forehead. I panicked and my brother called my father. We went to the Emergency Room to get the treatment.The doctor didn't seem helpful as he looked like he was in a hurry to get back to his laptop. He prescribed medication and an injection. I wasn't afraid of needles, so it wasn't a big deal. The nurse told me i would be drowsy. We went and have lunch but there was no effect from the injection. I wasn't even drowsy! When i went home, nothing much changed. 

(Sunday)
I woke up to find out that i was still feeling the same. The medication and injection didn't work at all. My dad took me back to the hospital, but the same doctor was on duty. So, we decided to go back in the evening. By then, my head felt really heavy, numb and the pain was just unbearable. I started coughing and having headache too. We went back to the hospital and luckily there were different doctors. I had a fever and my blood pressure was spiking due to the pain i was feeling. The other doctor observed my scalp and sure enough i had an allergic reaction to the hair dye. I was given two injections through the vein in my hand. One was steroid and the other was to help me sleep. No fever by the time i reached home.

(Monday)
The pain and burning sensation was mild. My forehead was still a little swollen.

It took about another three days for everything to get back to normal. That hair dye experience was a bad one and costs a lot. I was never allergic to hair dye and this came to me as a surprise. This taught me a lesson to do a test behind my ear or inner arm for skin sensitivity in the future. But, i don't think I'll go back to the salon to dye my hair anytime soon. I'll just have to accept my ever-growing whites! 

*I'm writing this to share my experience and to educate everyone about allergic reaction to hair dye. If you are like me, it means that you are allergic to para-phenylenediamine or PPD which is in the hair dyes. Do go to the hospital as soon as possible if you have the allergic reaction after dyeing your hair. This is serious because this allergy has claimed a few lives. 


 

Food that i will not eat

One of the foods that i stopped myself from eating is shark fin soup. I have been taking this soup since i was a child during special occasions such as Chinese New Year. Although one small bowl of shark fin soup can costs up to a few hundred ringgit in my country, i don't think that it is worth taking it. This soup is like the most expensive soup and there are some benefits in it, but still i wouldn't take it. This is because of the fining process. Shark fin soup obviously means the shark's fin. I thought that they kill the shark and then take the fin, but i was wrong. They cut off the shark's fin and let the shark die. Without it's fin, the shark can't swim; resulting in drowning. Some people say sharks are cruel because they eat human and deserve to die,anyway. I agree with the first part, but not the second part. No living things should die that way. Do you cut off a murderer's hands and legs and let them die?I mean, they kill someone too. So, i will not eat this delicacy because of its inhumanely killings.









Another food that i grew up with and eating it in restaurants are roast suckling pigs. I stopped eating this cuisine when i hit puberty because of my thoughts. When this cuisine is served, the roast suckling pig is served with its face and even tail on a big plate; the whole thing!It puts me off because of the thought that such a young creature is being taken away from its mother to be slaughtered and roasted. A suckling pig in culinary is taken away from its mother around the age of two to six weeks. In my head, i have the image of a huge man slitting the throat of a newborn, cutting it open and roasting it. Since this image, i stopped eating this dish. It just gross me out especially with the teeth which is visible. So, that is another dish that i would say, "No, but no thanks" when it is offered to me.

Foot reflexoloy

If you want to unwind after a long stressful day, you might want to try out foot reflexology. I've tried out foot reflexology since my university years. I was in a shopping center, alone and tired of walking. I didn't want to go back to my hostel yet as it was a lonely place for me. So, i went to a foot reflexology shop.

The man asked me how long i wanted it so i said an hour because i had no idea what it was. I took off my shoes and put on the soft slipper and he guided me to a big arm chair. The lights were dimmed and there was elevator music playing in the background. After a minute or so, the man appeared with a big bucket of water.

I was asked to soak my feet in it. To my shocked it was hot water. It was REALLY HOT!! It was later that i found out; it is best to bear with it as it will disappear quickly. The hot water is used to clean your feet and open up the pore on your feet. I soaked my feet for about three to five minutes before the man took the bucket away.

When he came back, he wiped dry my feet with a towel. Then, he put some lotion on one of my feet and started massaging it and putting pressure on each points. It is believed that those points are our organs. If it hurts when the pressure is on certain point, then that organ or body part is not healthy. Sometimes it hurts and the best thing to do is take a deep breath and exhale. The whole process is similar with the next foot.

After that, the man took a wet hot cloth and wiped off the lotion so that it is possible to walk properly. When you go for a foot reflexology, you will feel relax and you will have a better sleep that night. Some people started sleeping as soon as the massage begins!

Ever since, I've been to a few foot reflexology center once every few months. So the next time you feel stress out, instead of lighting a cigarette or thinking of doing something silly, try foot reflexology. The atmosphere is welcoming and calming. Just close your eyes and relax.

How rude!

It was about 6.30pm, when daddy and I went to the the last shop before heading home. It is a great day, not only because it is a cold Sunday but everything felt right. Daddy and I was picking out some eggs and talking in Hokkien, when a lady in her fifties listened to our conversation.
"You talk in Hokkien?" she asked my dad to make conversation. I don't know why. I just smiled thinking how awkward to barged in on our conversation.
"Is this your daughter?" she asked daddy again.
"Yes," daddy replied.
"Ooo...what is her name?" In my head i was thinking, What am I, INVISIBLE?
"Carina," daddy and I replied at the same time.
She smiled and walked towards me.
"Last time when you were a kid, you were thin. Now, so fat," she said.
To my surprise, I wasn't angry or sad at that comment. Normally I would be furious and ashamed but not this time. Have you looked in the mirror, lately? I thought with a smile across my face. I don't know where this attitude comes from but I guess I am sick and tired of people judging me by just looking at my size.
I've been slagged off by many strangers and this ends today. You can't hurt me anymore by saying that I am fat because I know who I am inside. I am not perfect and neither are you. My flaws make me human while your mean comment makes you rude.
For all the haters out there, who hates big and fat women, we are not the problem; YOU ARE. Don't be jealous because we have fuller boobs and butt. Only plus size women know how to enjoy our lives because we are not afraid of eating and putting on weight. My thought; if I don't eat and enjoy the food that I love, then, when will I enjoy it? Will it be when I am six feet under? Why should I starve myself or take slimming pills or drink weight loss tea? Why should I force the food I devoured earlier out from my stomach? Why should I step on the scale and wish that I am lighter than an hour ago? Why should I exercise until I can't feel my legs? Why should I cry myself to sleep and wish that tears would help me burn some more calories? Why should I go to bed with an empty stomach? Why should I do any this to make you say that I look good when I am dying inside?
I don't need your words, nor your advice because your words are meaningless. I don't need your words of praise because I know that I am beautiful inside and out. If you still have a problem with this, I have just two words for you...SCREW YOU!