Trauma is the main trigger of fibromyalgia in many sufferers. Hence, psychological treatments may benefit fibromyalgia more than physical treatments. Cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective psychological treatment for people suffering from fibromyalgia and other chronic pain illnesses.
What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is based on the theory that our thoughts can be influenced by our behavior and feelings and vice versa. It is a short term psychological treatment which asserts that as we learn to manipulate our thinking we can change our actions and feelings.
CBT as a therapy is not one singular strategy but rather a combination of several therapeutic techniques that include mindfulness, journaling, relaxation training, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). ACT helps patients acknowledge their emotions for what they are and, by doing so, make a commitment to act according to what they deem to be their deeply held personal values.
CBT solves problems through a goal-oriented framework that has been evidenced to be effective for improving quality of life for persons with protracted illness. It has been found to be particularly effective for people suffering from fibromyalgia.
I have tried lots of meds including duloxetine this drug at first was great but after a couple of weeks I started to feel really poorly my gp did say she was worried about two much seratonium and gave me advice if I felt unwell go straight to the hospital I was taking tramadol quatiapine and hormone replacement therapy trazodone and lyrica (pregabalin) which I was coming off very slowly I decided to try duloxetine first at a lower dose then up to the higher dose which seemed to really help I felt great however that short lived and eventually started to feel sick. Blinding headache constipation dry mouth insomnia aggitation my appitite was poor I could manage a couple of spoonfuls that was it and once again weight gain. I went back to the doctors who had read my notes and after I told her how I felt and said I wanted to come off the duloxetine but keep the trazodone so she reduced the duloxetine to 30mgs but I still felt poorly after reducing I went back a week later still feeling my this point very agitated aggressive tearful and thinking what’s the point of all this suffering the next doctor then stopped the duloxetine and put my dose of pregablin up to 100mgs which now means u have to start reducing that again. Iam booked in with my own doctor this week and hopefully we can look at other alternatives however I will say I do not in any way say my doctor is to blame she is a very good gp. The other GPS should have looked at my records and saw what was written about the seratonium levels.I hope if you are reading this don’t be to eager to change any medication even though the article may say the drug is really good read the risks and other comments carefully before bring to eager and continue to read the articles on this website good luck everyone
I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 7 months ago. I can’t get any relief from the pain no matter what I do. So I started smoking weed and it helps some with the pain and I can go to sleep but wake up so stiff and sore it’s hard to get out of bed. I try to exercise and walk some everyday but afterwards I can barely sit up. People just don’t know what it’s like unless you have it.