Winning at Fibromyalgia – Détails, épisodes et analyse

My patients often ask me: How do I know whether what I feel is my old fibromyalgia or something new and serious? in this episode I share my own recent experience after developing new symptoms of numbness tingling in R hand and R foot, how it freaked me out and what helped me feel better. The story is still evolving :-)

In this episode I give you suggestion on how to handle situation when you experience acute on top of chronic pain of fibromyalgia.

Episode 37: Weaving the threads (of Winning at fibromyalgia philosophy) together

Hello friends.

In the past few episodes I discussed individual pieces of the Core Winning at Fibromyalgia program. Today I am coming on here for a sweet short episode to recap, and emphasize the most important pieces and what I am doing about it.

I do strongly recommend listening to prior episodes to learn more about the individual steps.

In summary, they include:

• The Neuroplasticity concept – the principle of this is that our central nervous sytem/brain can produce pain that is felt in the body, and more importantly, that it does not have to stay that way. Our brain has an amazing, incredible capacity to rewire itself, with a little bit of help.
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• The concept of Belief - in own’s body ability to heal, in our brain capacity to rewire, in ourselves, and our ability to get better.
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• Letting go of the attachment to the outcome. In short it means we can want something very much (to reduce our pain and improve our lives) but it can create a lot of pressure on our brain so it helps to feel certain lightness about our desire and journey to pain reduction. More curiousity and self compassion.

• The work – mindfulness based techniques that incoude somatic tracking, self compassion, healing emotional wounds from the past.

The most important pieces, in my opinion and the common denominator in all success stories are the belief in one’s ability to get better, to heal, to be pain free or with significantly less pain AND fierce self -love.

I have found on my own journey and from listening to the many women who got better – they believe and they love on themselves. Self-love can be hard to recognize as self love because the societal norms tell us what we “should” and should not do. And we put that pressure on ourselves. Some of the examples of the opposite of self love is:

• Putting others’ need ahead of your own – repeatedly. Many many moms do that. Every day. I just spoke to a good friend of mine whose husband took their kids to his parents for a weekend. For the first time in a long time she had 3 days to herself. She did not know what to do with herself. It was like a vacation. ALL MOMS need that. IF we don’t get our cups filled first, we cannot be tehre for other people, our subconcious brain detects a threat and boom, low level fight or flight reaction/stress response is on.
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• Working long hours just to be a good employee or feeling loyal to your employer. I am guilty of this and I am working hard on resolving this issue for myself. Many physicians and non-physicians in health care suffer from this condition – feeling responsible for the patient’s outcome so putting in extra time, extra mile to get things done. And many times that is appropriate and even desirable. But not every day, not all the time. The same applies to other industries.

• Staying in a toxic relationship or seemingly happy relatioinship when our intuition is screaming at us that we should get out.

We only have ONE precious life. We have to treat it like gift, we have to treat our health and our bodies as gifts.

What we feel, what we are going through matter. We should not be miserable at work or in life every day.

So here is what my team and I are doing.

Starting at the end of September,

I will be hosting weekly calls,

For women interested in supportive community and more knowledge about fibromyalgia and what to do about it.

We meet and talk about a topic each week

I share ways to assess your fibromyalgia and then

Prompts to do the tools

Or simply answer your questions

Being part of the supportive group where everyone knows what the other might have gone through thanks to fibromyalgia is priceless.

Support is the other key factor in becoming successful at winning at fibromyalgia. Support of people who know what you are going through, who hear you, see you AND believe in you.

That’s what I will be doing for you guys.

There will be a small fee associated with this activity, paid monthly, it will be a close knit and private community to get us started.

We will get to know each other story well, to whatever is each of you feeling comfortable,

And we share our knowledge and stories and tips every week

I will moderate it and it will be a positive, private, and confidential type of setting where everyone participating will feel comfortable and safe.

www.winningatfibromyalgia

admin@martinaziegenbeinmdcoaching.com

facebook name: martina lenartova

You might wonder why we need to talk about self-compassion in pain reduction in fibromyalgia. What does it have to do with alleviating physical pain? Well, it turns out, a lot. Self-compassion is a way of soothing the over-agitated nervous system, that is amplifying our pain sensation on constant basis. We may not be directly to the part of our nervous system that amplifies the pain. WHen we practice self-compassion, we are addressing our suffering, whatever is the circumstance, and that soothes the nervous system as a whole - including parts that cause or amplify the pain.

enjoy, leave me a review or comment, appreciate hearing from you :-)

Martina

www.winningatfibromyalgia.com

Today we talk about somatic tracking as one of the core techniques on pain reduction.

in episode 32: I talk about embracing the concept of neuroplasticity - the fact that the brain can determine what hurts, how much and can also make it better/we can rewire the brain neuro pain pathways.

ONe of the hallmarks of neuroplasticity is also the fact that the brain is wired for any sign of threat/danger. When it finds it, it can increase the sensitivity to pain and the pain perception itself.

It does not have to stay this way, and it never does. The pain can increase, or decrease, depending on our ability/on our brain's ability to increase or decrease activation of messages that turn off the pain.

enjoy :-)

Episode 31: Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast

Well hello my friends!

It has been a while! I have been MIA a little bit, for a good reason and I am back  I met someone special, his name is Greg and he has swept me off my feet, that’s all I will say for now.

I am coming on today to introduce you to my new, simplified version 2.0.1 of my Winning at fibromyalgia method. It is very powerful and I am very proud of it.

For those who don’t know me, I am a board-certified rheumatologist and work almost full time at the Rheumatology office in Cape Cod. I am an expert fibromyalgia coach where I teach women with fibromyalgia tools to reduce their pain, and win at fibromyalgia.

The principle 4 steps are:

1. Believe (in the power of your own body to heal, in the power of your mind and nervous system)
2. Embrace (the concept of neuroplasticity)
3. Let go (of the expectations to get results fast) and
4. Do the work – mindfulness based exercises/techniques to bring peace and sense of safety to your nervous system that eventually reduces the pain

Rinse and repeat 

I want to start with the power of Belief today.

I cannot stress how important belief is. I truly cannot.

Believing my women can achieve pain reduction is #1 item I work on with my patients and clients alike. I want to tell you why it is so important.

I want to tell you this because I found out the hard way. I LACKED belief myself – until I took the Whole health medicine institute course led by Dr. Rankin. Going through her program made me realize I lacked belief in my body’s ability to heal. I was able to uncover where it was coming from, and then changed it around. It did not happen overnight. But I did it. And I now am sharing it with you, my listeners and clients.

I want the same for you.

SO first of all – why do I even talk about Believing?

There is an undeniable body of research supporting the notion that our thoughts and perceptions affect our physiology. That our mindsets can MEASURABLY affect physical healing. In research studies it is called placebo effect – meaning, taking a sugar pill has positive, measurable physiologic and physical effects (improvement in depression, mood, or asthma). There is even such thing as placebo surgeries! – when doctors opened up a patient/made an incision but did not do ANY instrumentation on patients knees and people felt better!!!! Can you comprehend this?

Fascinating research from Yale – IDENTICAL milkshake given to TWO groups of people with TWO different labels – one that suggested more “indulgent” or calorific drink triggered REAL body responses suggestive of having consumed more calories!! But they have not! That’s all our brains/minds at work!

Neurobiological research has shown that the placebo effect, which stems in part from individual’s mindset and expectation to heal, triggers DISTINCT BRAIN AREAS associated with ANXIETY and PAIN that activate physiological effects that lead to healing outcomes. The placebo effect is mediated by the release of neurotransmitters, consistently impacts certain areas of brain and even mirrors the action of of pharmaceuticals on human physiology.

In clinical trials it is actually NOT uncommon for the placebo to BEAT the active drug, especially in the studies on anti-depressants! Do you know what this means?? This means that our minds can produce the effects of a medication as powerful as an antidepressant!

This means that the mind is capable of great feats in healing the body. This should not come as surprise given that the body is an infinitely intelligent organism. Humans have been healing themselves long before the invention of modern medicine techniques. Indigenous shamans have been facilitating healing for thousands of years. They gave patients hope, and through expectation, the mind initiated the changes in physiology for the body to heal.

The question is not whether there is placebo effect (power of belief in healing) but WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?? How can we consciously deliberately harness that affect??

We don’t seem to know how to produce it on demand in health and medicine. We spend enormous amount of money developing meds trying to OUTPERFORM the placebo affect. How silly!

Mindset about treatments SHAPE treatment outcomes (antihistamine prick and cream test)

Placebo effect is the power of belief, and is related to multiple psychosocial factors. One factor is expectation, which relates to a reduction in anxiety, or in expectation of reward.

The placebo effect provides insight into the complexity of consciousness and how little we really know about the mind and its ability to heal. The scientific evidence is accumulating and points towards the possibility that the mind has an unlimited healing ability.

You heard me right – UNLIMITED healing ability. ALL WITHOUT OUR, HUMAN precious mind.

This makes a complete sense but skeptics don’t like common sense until the science proves it.

Where do the mindsets come from??

The placebo effect is a mind-body phenomenon that starts in the brain, results in clinical improvement and is intimately related to the ritual of the therapeutic act. This ritual involves things such as people in the room, spoken words, syringes or other devices and even the color of the pill.

One of the most important factors that trigger expectations and believe is a verbal suggestion. Verbal suggestions are frequently given in clinical studies of the placebo effect, and these words as part of the therapeutic ritual have powerful effects on the body. This is an important concept to remember because YOUR OWN WORDS BASED ON YOUR INNATE BELIEFS ARE part of your own therapeutic ritual every single day of your life.

The placebo effect emphasizes the importance of belief in overall health and wellness. BE positive in what you say and be discerning about what you believe. YOUR MIND-BODY IS listening.

More useful questions-  what is the best mindset to have, when diagnosed with fibromyalgia?

Answer” the one that empowers us. The one that enhances our belief in our body’s and mind’s ability to heal, to improve the pain. No matter what caused it.

The opposite is true also – injury to the body and negative thoughts can lead to stress, depression, anxiety and even to fear about getting injured again.

Standford University researchers found that what patients think and expect about treatments can influence health outcomes.

YOUR MINDSET CAN AFFECT YOUR RECOVERY.

Researcher Alia Crum, a psychologist at Standford describes her experience when she was 10 and broke her ankle while doing gymnastics but did not know it was broken first. She iced and taped it and competed the next day and qualified for nationals. Then she found out her ankle was broken. She basically MENTALLy overcame her injury.

Fibromyalgia CAUSES REAL pain but there is no injury. What a gift.

It is an invitation to us to utilize our brain, nervous system and mind healing potential to sway the course of the pain.

My entire coaching program is based on the premise that our brain has the power to alter the pain we feel in the body.

Once you start believing it can. And embrace the neuroplasticity as a real cause of pain, you have won.

Our brains usually need love or encouragement, sometimes both.

Our primitive brains are also wired to look for danger. Maybe in some of us the wiring is stronger than others.

What if our job was to provide reassurance to our primitive brains that we are safe, that we are strong, taking care of ourselves, attending to our needs and that things will be ok? And I am not talking about gaslighting and claiming everything will be fine if we are in real physical danger. I am talking providing our minds and nervous system reassurance and reassuring messages of safety when we are, in fact, physically ok, nobody is shooting at us or attacking us physically. Because short of physical danger, most of the time, we are ok.

The first step is to BELIEVE that we can get there – to the part where our nervous system is at peace, and we truly really believe we are ok. And that we can feel better. Things start changing then.

You can change your mindset.

The brain is NEUROPLASTIC – meaning neural networks can continue to grow, change and reorganize throughout the lifespan. By challenging yourself with new experiences and perspectives, you can FORM NEW NEURAL CONNECTIONS – OR MINDSETS – at ANY POINT in life.

I invite you to do the following exercise:

I am powerful.

I have the power (to change my neural connections).

I have the power to change my perception of pain.

I am strong, I am healthy, I am resilient.

I am learning to harness the power of my brain and nervous system

I believe in my body’s ability to heal and in my own ability to choose my own thoughts.

Episode 30: With Dr. Saloni Sharma on Solutions for back pain

I was so excited to talk to Dr. Sharma about back pain. Back pain is one of the most common problems of humans in general, and it does frequently bother patients with fibromyalgia. Dr. Sharma is a dual certified in Physical Medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and Pain management. She is medical director of the Orthopedic Integrative Health Center at Rohmans Orthopedics and specializes in the NON-operative care of musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. She recently wrote and published a BOOK on back pain called THE PAIN SOLUTION and she CAME TO MY PODCAST TO TALK ABOUT IT! You are in for a treat.

In addition to the above qualifications, she studied Lifestyle medicine, Functional medicine and Integrative medicine through the Andrew Weill program at the Univ of Az. She had studied yoga and meditation, mindfulness and acupuncture!

We talked about:

• How she went from being traditionally trained pain medicine and Physical medicine and rehab specialist focused on physical causes and meds/interventions to Integrative realm where ALL modalities coexist in harmony AND WHOLE person is treated
• WHOLE person integrative approach is what allows for more effective approach to pain
• The exposure to yoga and meditation is part of her Indian culture and heritage
• A lot of patients ASK about non-traditional things BEYOND the injections and meds!
• She formed the integrative health center where she spends more time with patients and addresses all aspects of their life and health
• The book PAIN SOLUTION came out of desire and necessity to help our patients with chronic pain more
• The Relief 5R pillar plan:
  • Refuel (nutrition) – microbiome, fermented foods, sugar drama (answer – moderation)
  • Recharge (sleep/rest) – “build a sleep cave” (cool, dark and comfortable)!; “bedtime revenge procrastination” – avoid if you can (no screen time for 90 minutes before bedtime) BECAUSE I DESERVE IT (screen free time, mindfulness)
  • Re-vitalize (exercise): start small, literally even 5 minutes is better than 0!
  • Refresh (stress reduction) : “adult time out” – whatever gives us joy
  • Relate (relationship)
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• What is microboost
• Microbiome: PAIN GUT connection, PAIN J
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• OINT connection
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• Few words of advice:
  • Take small steps, don’t beat yourself about setbacks.
  • There is no one single cure rather pieces of puzzle that just need to fit right, you have to figure which out works for you.
  • Set a goal, Write it down, commit to it. Your goal, you own it.
  • Track your progress and pat yourself on the back, give yourself praise.
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• IN a way ALL OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE US BETTER ARE ALL COMMON SENSE.

https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Solution-Relieve-Prevent-Medication/dp/1608687937

https://www.salonisharmamd.com/

https://www.instagram.com/salonisharmamd/

https://rothmanortho.com/oihc