Distraction is the Best Medicine

So someone asked me the other day how I deal with the constant, unrelenting pain of Fibro, and I really had to stop and think. I'm not taking any medication at the moment (the Cyclobenzaprine was doing some nasty things to my digestive tract and not helping the muscle cramping at all). This now brings the total to somewhere around $900 in wasted meds over the last 6 months that haven't done a thing but make me sicker, the pain has been getting worse over the last 2 months, I'm absolutely broke and stressed and really sick of the whole situation.
So Pain Management? Not really. Pain distraction? ABSOLUTELY!! The only way I've found to manage the pain, not to mention the whole host of other symptoms that come with this disease, is to distract myself. Here are some of the things I do:
1 - I love to cook and bake to suit my many food allergies, and I've now started a blog called Low Allergy Kitchen, you can find that here at: www.lowallergykitchen.blogspot.com and my aim is to help others manage their food sensitivities too. I have a cookbook that I am trying to get published, or I'll do it myself, again to share the knowledge I've gleaned while trying to ignore my Fibromyalgia.
2 - I also love to make jewellery. Since I've been unable to work since November 2007, I've started selling my jewellery as a business, not just a side-hobby/obsession. I have a website where I sell my jewellery at www.littlestudio.ca or you can read my jewellery blog at: www.meglittlestudio.blogspot.com where I describe the methods and inspiration behind the pieces I make.
3 - I love to read. Fantasy is great (LOTR, Inheritance, Harry Potter), Crime is awesome (Dick Francis anyone?), and of course, Non-Fiction is just superb (Cookbooks, Gardening, Jewellery, you get the idea).
4 - I love to garden. Though I can't do as much as I used to, being in tune with our planet is very humbling. Seeing birds grow up in my backyard and return year after year is incredible and puts things into perspective - sure I'm sick, but I don't have to hunt for food, travel thousands of miles each year to get to a warmer climate to survive, build a new house every six months, fight for my life every second of every day, and procreate whether I want to or not (I think my species will still survive if I don't). Makes me feel almost lucky.
5 - I love to exercise. Sure, it's painful, and there are times I'm crying on my exercise bike, but it helps the pain. There are days I can't exercise. There are days I can't even think of exercising, but when I can, I do. It's incredible how yoga makes me happy. I'm still a stark beginner, but yeah, I'm hooked.
Distraction really is the best medicine. Nothing else works anyway! I try to stay positive and distract myself as much as possible, and if that doesn't work, I'll sleep! Or watch Katherine Hepburn or Humphrey Bogart movies - they're always awesome!
Take care, I send you happy thoughts!
Meghann