Aching joints!

Hi Sarah, well FMS is more a muscle, ligament, tendon and fascia thing!! All of these are affected by Fibromylgia and thus causes the pain and stiffness that goes along with Fibro, so can affect your knees and hips but also ankles, feet, elbows, wrists and hands. The pain can be pretty grinding and unrelenting, I have been put on Nurontin (gabapentin) which has helped, with the deep pain, also amytriptaline, but it really is trial and error with meds, what works for one won't work for another, but hopefully you'll find something that does work for you!

Hello- i think the worse thing about Fibro is that there is no definitive test to diagnosis this condition and because the pain is so random it is even more confusing. I have flare ups which particularly affects my shoulders, arms and back. I also have knee, ankle and neck pain.

I started taking Tumeric 3 months ago and have recently started noticing improvement in the stiffness in my hands and other joints. I don't like generally to make any recommendations but I do think the Tumeric has made an unexpected improvement.

Good luck.

Hi Sarah, it seems the big problem with Fibro is that there is no test, there is no actual cause and no one really understands what it actually is. I notice you said you're trying a keto diet and I wanted to say "well done" as the general thinking seems to be that, whatever has started your (or anyone's) Fibro off, it's probably going to be what you actually put into your body that will make the difference to how it goes. People are beginning to suspect Fibro and CFS/ME, along with many other chronic problems, seem to be to do with mitochondrial dysfunction (our mitochondria are what create the energy in each cell - our minscule powerhouses). Various things we 'collect' as we go about our lives can either cause or add to dysfunction including toxins from the environment and many pharmaceutical drugs, lifestyle habits and known or unknown genetic deficiencies from birth. We have plenty of spare capacity in our mitochondria but once our accumulated problems (or "insults" reach a certain level we start to notice problems such as aches and pains, lack of stamina etc. The various manifestations are given various names (e.g. Fibro, CFS, ME).

Many 'alternative' doctors have written about the link between diet and mitochondrial dysfunction (easy to find more info about this) although the mainstream medical ethos is to treat it with lots of painkillers and "brainkillers" - various pharmaceuticals. If you look on other discussions in this FIbro section I believe you will come across keto diet many times, also suggestions for more natural supplements.

Just out of interest, do you have any idea of any medication you took in the year before you first noticed your symptoms? Did you perhaps have some kind of trauma, accident or infection that needed antibiotics perhaps or other treatment? Sometimes this is the kind of thing that kickstarts Fibro symptoms, so finding a beginning might help you to realise there could be an end.

By the way, I love the fact you're optimistic! Stay that way, find out what you can about nutrition and diet and hopefully you will gradually start to beat this thing.

P.S. I'd reach for turmeric over gabapentin any day; at least you can just stop taking turmeric whereas it's not so easy to stop the gaba (or it's near-relative pregabalin).