The May edition of "Fibro Friday" features the topic of Energy Conservation and Pacing.
Many people diagnosed with Fibromyalgia had very active, full lives prior to being diagnosed. It can be incredibly difficult to transition to a slower paced life, even when your body is telling you that’s what it needs.
When someone with Fibromyalgia tries to maintain a higher level of activity than the body can handle, they enter a “crash”, meaning they end up bedridden, unable to do anything because of fatigue and pain.
Continually stressing the body with too much activity overall decreases functionality and impedes healing. I often encourage patients to complete an “Activity Log” daily, detailing how much and the quality of sleep they got, their activities throughout the day and their Functional Capacity rating every hour.
We then use this activity log to discuss where they were expending too much energy and not taking enough time to rest. We can use this information to schedule regular rest periods throughout the day to prevent energy and functional decline as the day goes on. As these pacing strategies become a more regular routine, energy and functional capacity begin to improve as more energy can be conserved and regenerated over time.
There are so many strategies that can be used to treat Fibromyalgia and different strategies work for different people. This is an example of a lifestyle change that can make a huge difference and doesn’t cost anything.
Want to learn more? Click here to schedule your Complementary Discovery Session and we'll chat about what's going on with your health and what can be done about it.