How to Live With Pain: You Don't Dwell On It...You Keep Movin'

The reason I started this blog was to detail how to live with chronic pain in a joyful manner. I have not achieved that. Well, people think so, but I know the truth.

I have been trying to figure out what the answer is to handling the long-term psychological impact of chronic pain. I realized just this week the strategy I use most is distraction. I was about to blog on it and then...

I heard this quote by a Chopped contestant, formerly homeless Sammy Davis. Jr. He said, "Since I was a kid I just learned to live with pain. You don't stop to dwell on it. You keep movin...And that's just how it's got to be in my life."

This is really surprising to me, in a way. I never imagined that you could deal with emotional and physical pain in the same manner, but this makes so much sense. It's essentially what I've done. Sometimes to my detriment, in fact often.

But I just kept movin' too. I didn't stop playing the violin (for many years), I didn't stop traveling. I didn't stop  skiing (for many years), dancing, or exercising. I didn't stop going out. I didn't stop to sit down much in my house. Literally, I found the way to manage pain was to keep movin'.

So much so that my boyfriends have been annoyed. I just don't sit still. My cat is even annoyed! He now jumps up off my lap if I so much as cough, because he knows I don't sit still for more than a few minutes. The pain gets too annoying.

So I keep movin', and keep myself distracted.

That is the answer to living with pain. I have finally found it. Not ideal, but an answer. Not a solution, but still, it is.

An answer. Finally.

Is what you eat getting on your nerves?

I have researched further (because that's what I do ;) the link between digestion and FMS nerve pain. And the latest research is amazing. It shows the link between FMS and SIBO, as I mentioned in the previous post. In case you are interested in reading it, here are the links:

Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome And Endotoxemia

In lay person's terms, it seems to say that for people with FMS our digestive lining is compromised, so toxins leak out during digestion that shouldn't. A chemical is released and activated that connects with our central nervous system, creating systemic pain. The Arizona Advanced Medicine website describes it like this: "We may ingest a food which causes inflammation in the intestinal tract, sending signals to the brain, which are then expressed as diffuse pain in the muscles."

Anyhow, because I was so amazed by this guy's findings, I have already started the raw organic garlic treatment. He talks about it here:

Why Raw Garlic May Be Your Gut’s Best Friend

I have been using it about 2x/day, because I have appointments to keep. But if I don't notice all the results I would like, I will cancel everything and try it for a week.

This guy's research is amazing because he sounds the most plausible of anyone. Ever. And he explains why more women than men get FMS.

In another topic, I have also been reviewing gluten and its disastrous effects on the body. I just got off the phone with a friend whose pain from arthritis has been significantly lowered through a gluten-free food plan. So I guess I might be trying that also...The Arizona Advanced Medicine Center also claims: "One of our patients had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia since 1996. In 2007 he came to us. One week after we took him off gluten, his pain was completely gone. Gluten, the protein in wheat, is notorious for creating chronic inflammation in many people."

Because I am still researching this, I will not say more on the topic about my experience except that I am feeling better with the use of the treatments I mentioned in the previous post. That means that I have established a clear connection between my digestion and FMS. We will see what is needed next...