Wellbeing

Can Water Help with Fibromyalgia

Water is not the answer to everything, but it does go a long way to helping in many of todays’ diseases and problems. To some extent, it is a magical potion, and should be treated with respect and gratitude, particularly in the UK where our own tap water is second to none.

Fibromyalgia can be such a debilitating disease that can seriously affect your life, your temperament, and the ability to enjoy life to the full.

If you have not heard of fibromyalgia, some of the main symptoms are:

  • Intense muscle and joint pain, muscle spasms
  • Headaches
  • Disrupted sleep (usually caused by pain)
  • IBS (irritable bowel syndrome/frequency to urinate
  • Feeling exhausted, or sometimes chronic fatigue
  • Lack of energy, even after a good nights’ sleep
  • Impaired cognitive function (‘foggy head’, lack of thought clarity)
  • Facial tenderness, pains in the jaws
  • Tingling and stiffness
  • Difficulty in movement after sitting or lying down
  • Depression or anxiety

Some sufferers also find that certain conditions can exacerbate the problem, such as cold or icy weather, bright lights, extreme fatigue, over-exercising and of course, anxiety of tension – it is a vicious circle.

Medical practitioners may prescribe pain killers, muscle relaxers, anti-depressants and other inhibitors that affect the neurological aspect of your body, any of which should obviously be taken with caution, and only if nothing else works to ease your symptoms. With this can come the danger of becoming dependent on such drugs and chemical potions. However, help is on hand by just turning on the tap. It is not going to make your painful symptoms disappear, but it certainly will help. Many adults in the UK do not consume enough water – they may think they do, but in a lot of cases, they are nowhere near drinking enough.

One of the most important things when considering fibromyalgia is to keep your body free of toxins – an overload of toxins will definitely cause pain in almost any part of the human frame, particularly in the joints and muscles and eventually your immune system could face interruption. Any form of dehydration will also cause headaches, disturbed sleep and irritability – that’s another few to knock off the list by simply drinking enough water.

It would also be useful to check your zinc and magnesium levels – insufficient quantities of these two elements in your body will also affect fibromyalgia.

There is a school of thought by a range of scientific studies that excess fluoride in the body can also exacerbate fibromyalgia – there is such a thing as ‘fluoride poisoning’ which manifests itself with almost identical symptoms. The answer to this is to watch what you drink and when you drink it – patients taking part in the most recent studies felt an increase in joint and facial pain first thing in the morning and last thing at night – perhaps the fluoride in toothpaste and water has an effect? Is it worth trying to eliminate fluoride?

Based on these principles, this is how you should hydrate to help ease your symptoms:

  • Adequate quantities of water per day (at least the recommended amount for your weight, if not more if you sweat a lot)
  • Avoid diuretic or caffeine based drinks as these do create a higher fluid loss in your body.Caffeine is also active in negating the magnesium levels in your system. If you do drink coffee, drink more water (double the amount of coffee) to keep hydrated and to remove toxins
  • Cut down on alcohol, or at least, see if going without it helps your symptoms (alcohol, of course, is another de-hydrant)
  • Try a high alkaline diet – (raw fruit and vegetables as much as possible). Alkaline-rich foods will help reduce inflammation and ease painful joints as well as being excellent for health and hydration
  • Drink alkaline-ionised water in your HydrateM8 bottles. Ionisers can be fitted to any tap in the house (a PH balance of 9.5 is ideal). Users have experienced quite stunning results from just this one change.

Not one isolated change will be likely to bring huge relief to fibromyalgia sufferers. Start slowly, change some foods in your diet, and above all – DRINK WATER!

Please be aware that this article is by no means a reason not to visit your GP – if anything they will assist in trying to make life more bearable if suffering from fibromyalgia – however, all the tips are well worth a try, as they are natural and not chemical based.

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