I was engaging today in an online conversation about pain management. I had reason to mention that there are no real treatments for fibromyalgia. Or at the very least, none that work for me.
Some patients do gain from taking gabapentin, which is an anti-seizure medication also used for neuropathy. I’ve tried it. It didn’t do anything for my fibro. Others find some relief from Cymbalta and other such anti-depressants. That choice makes me suicidal. Which is a shame, because it actually did help, before it didn’t.
Which brings me to the point of this post. Within the field of psychotherapy there’s an approach called “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” (ACT). Before today, I was entirely unaware of that therapy method. Apparently, this approach has shown some success in fibro patients. The results from the linked study:
Results: Significant differences in favour of ACT were seen in pain-related functioning, FM impact, mental health-related quality of life, self-efficacy, depression, anxiety and psychological inflexibility. Changes in psychological inflexibility during the course of treatment were found to mediate pre- to follow-up improvements in outcome variables.
The degree to which every fibro patient I have ever met accepts their condition is particularly interesting. It’s not like we were really ever given a choice. So far as I am aware, none of us have had formal therapy in this model. It’s just what you do when you live with a chronic pain condition.
You go on living your life. You can’t spend every moment dwelling on the pain. Sure, I talk about it a lot. That’s therapeutic for me. But most days, I ignore it. I do what I need to do. I borrow spoons from tomorrow knowing that I will pay a price ultimately. Yesterday was one of those days when it caught up with me. It wasn’t just the fibro.
I am burned out from fighting to survive in this ugly world I find myself in. I’m stressing over that upcoming surgery. My emotions are beyond raw. And hormonal fluctuations (PMS) are not helping. I will fight on. I always do. Because ACT is what I have, and what I do.
The journey continues.
An Aging Trans Woman 
ACT is used quite frequently in the treatment of addictions. Interesting to hear about it’s use in pain treatment.
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Interesting. The mind reels at the parallels between the two issues.
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i know……as now I can’t get those out of my mind. lol
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Hi Janet. As I started to read your post I was tempted to add my own experience with this and the medications for it I can not take. But then I got to the latter point of your post and realized there was something far more important for me to voice.
I am burned out from fighting to survive in this ugly world I find myself in. I’m stressing over that upcoming surgery. My emotions are beyond raw.
Dear sweet wonderful person, you have the soul of a warrior, yet every battle hardened fighter gets weary of the constant battle, the constant continuing next battle. I so desperately wish I had a way to make the world you live in less ugly. I hope the three authors on my blog help you some to find better mind places. If you ever need to vent or just get something off your mind that is bothering you please feel totally free to leave it in a comment, or send it to me at the email listed on my blog. Maybe all I can do is listen and share sympathy, and I am glad to be able to do that. But what ever I can do I will gladly do to help or be a sounding board for you. You are important to me. Hugs and great feelings of care. Hugs
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Thank you Scottie. You, and all of your team, have been wonderful, and incredibly supportive.
I was having a bad day that day, and writing about those days is one of my acceptance / coping techniques. And I hope, that by doing so, some other person who is hurting, or questioning, gets something of value. Maybe sees a glimmer of hope. That’s the big way I fight on. I be open about who I am, and the struggles that I face.
I greatly appreciate your offer of voicing my struggles to you, and on your blog. 🫂
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I actually take Pregabalin nowadays instead of Gabapentin and personally find that it works better. Although I’m having to up the dose now after a few years on it.
I know some that switch between the two, actually, once the one stops working as well. But that’s quite some hell, with the building off then building up and all the dizziness and brain fog that involves!
Me with EDS, and some Fibro symptoms (it seems to all meld together after a while), it’s pretty frustrating that so little can be done. I now have daily cramps and spasms in my legs, some pretty severe. When I wake up in the morning, it hurts to stand up. That’s why my specialist increased my Pregabalin (but I had already considered it myself). I’ve recently started taking a supplement called PEA, after suggestions in the EDS community, which has helped somewhat. But it had a similar effect when I started that the Pregabalin did, as I ended up sleeping so deeply I missed up to five alarms, even when all spaced out, and thereby missed two appointments!
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