Like many people who suffer from food intolerance, fatigue and joint pain (or other health problems), I have put on weight. I think it's safe to say that I have gained 15 pounds in the last year.

Since my concussion in Dec of 2004, my health took a nose dive. Incapacitating migraines, vertigo, severe fatigue, joint/muscle pain and loss of strength. I have improved since last year, but I still wrestle with these things now and then. Just last night I couldn't lift the laundry basket. I reached down to pick it up, and I couldn't budge it. I stared at it in awe, as if the laundry basket had acquired magic powers and had willed itself to the floor. I tried to lift it again, knowing that it was only filled with socks and sweaters, not cement bricks. I SHOULD be able to lift it.

These are things that make me pissed off. Not as much as before, but now and then I utter to an empty room "You've GOT to be kidding me".

I've been reading books and websites on Fibromyalgia. I was diagnosed in November of 2005 (still waiting for my official certificate and club jacket). My rheumotologist's advice was nothing I hadn't heard before, and he pretty much was at a loss when it came to suggestions of how to get well. Hence my reading.

Just like food intolerances, people don't know anything about Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. SURE there are loads of books out there, but just like with food intolerances, no one can seem to agree on what you should do to get better. It makes it hard to start on that road to health.

And just like food intolerances, I've approached this like I did when I realized food was making me sick: I read as much as I could, talked to people on forums, and started trying out different approaches that everyone seemed to agree with and that just felt right. This is my advice to those of you who are also struggling. Knowledge and experimentation (with approaches, not with drugs, though at some point I need to blog about the idea of using pot as a medicinal aid. That will have to wait for another blog..besides, I think it will just make me gain more weight ;) ).

Dan the Avenger