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<v Speaker 1>This texture, asked Mandy, how did you cure your fibromyalgia?

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<v Speaker 1>Let me talk about this for just a couple of minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>Number one, about five years ago, was before COVID. I

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<v Speaker 1>started having horrible, horrible, horrible crippling pain in my back,

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<v Speaker 1>in my hip. I missed work from it. A couple

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<v Speaker 1>of days. I had to call in sick because I

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't get out of bed. It was horrific, absolutely horrific.

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<v Speaker 1>And thus began my visit to I feel like every

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<v Speaker 1>specialist in the history of specialists. I went from doctor,

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<v Speaker 1>structural doctor. First, I saw hip doctor, orthopedist. Everything's fine,

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<v Speaker 1>back doctor. He actually said, we don't see spines that healthy.

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<v Speaker 1>And in the meantime, I am in crippling pain. And

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not really a baby about pain. I mean, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>pretty good about pain. But it was crippling pain, the

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<v Speaker 1>worst pain I'd ever had in my entire life. And

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<v Speaker 1>so finally one doctor says, you may have rheumatory arthritis

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<v Speaker 1>that runs in my family. I go, great, Finally I

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<v Speaker 1>was excited that that could be it. I was like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I'm not wanting rheumatoid arthritis because I know

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<v Speaker 1>what it's about But so I go to a rheumatologist

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<v Speaker 1>and he does all these tests, more tests. At this point,

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<v Speaker 1>I've had like gallons of blood taken out and have

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<v Speaker 1>X rays of every part of my body and nobody

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<v Speaker 1>can tell me why I'm in crippling pain. And I

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<v Speaker 1>go and he says, well, the good news is your

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<v Speaker 1>inflammation markers are very low. You don't have rheumatoid arthritis.

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<v Speaker 1>And at this point I am crying in the doctor's

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<v Speaker 1>office because there's no answer to what is going on.

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<v Speaker 1>And he says, but I think you have fibromyalgia, to

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<v Speaker 1>which I responded, that's not a real disease because I

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<v Speaker 1>just thought it was whiners. I'm just I look back

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<v Speaker 1>now and I'm probably was like judge some people harshly

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<v Speaker 1>because I really was just like, suck it up, Buttercup,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, this is come to find out. And that

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<v Speaker 1>doctor was very very nice, gave me a diagnosis, but

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<v Speaker 1>didn't really give me any help. Didn't really he gave

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<v Speaker 1>me some information, it was just really outdated and old

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<v Speaker 1>and didn't seem to be helpful at all. So I

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<v Speaker 1>did what I did I do, and I went on

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<v Speaker 1>the internet and I started looking at medical studies around

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<v Speaker 1>the world, and I found a guy in Mexico City

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<v Speaker 1>who had been studying fibromiologia specifically for thirty five years.

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<v Speaker 1>And after thirty five years of all these different hypotheses

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<v Speaker 1>of what causes this and all these different issues, he

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<v Speaker 1>had come to the conclusion that fibromialgia is a stress

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<v Speaker 1>related illness, and as a stress related illness, there's nothing

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<v Speaker 1>to treat except the underlying stress. And this was me.

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<v Speaker 1>I was like, well, I'm not stressed. And then I

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<v Speaker 1>had to come to terms with the fact that, for

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of reasons that have to do with my

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<v Speaker 1>personality type, my childhood, I was one of those people

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<v Speaker 1>that was never going to let you see me sweat.

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<v Speaker 1>I think if you asked people in my past, have

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<v Speaker 1>you ever seen Mandy freak out about anything. There's been

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<v Speaker 1>one time where I freaked out, and that was when

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<v Speaker 1>my dad had a stroke. I freaked out, but luckily

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<v Speaker 1>I was at home, so I could freak out at home.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't freak out. I don't panic. It's like when

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<v Speaker 1>things start to get crazy, I'd drop into a lower

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<v Speaker 1>gear and then I'm just like, nope, we can work

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<v Speaker 1>this out. It's the vulcan side of me, or at

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<v Speaker 1>least I thought. Then I started going, well, wait a minute,

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<v Speaker 1>what if I'm actually just not allowing myself to admit

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<v Speaker 1>that I am having stress, I am not recognizing that stress.

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<v Speaker 1>What if all of these things, What if I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>handling stress at all, and by not handling at all,

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<v Speaker 1>I've made myself physically ill. Now that was something to

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<v Speaker 1>wrap my head around, because there's a big part of

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<v Speaker 1>me that's like, that is not a real disease. But guys,

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<v Speaker 1>I am not exaggerating when I tell you that. The

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<v Speaker 1>next day, when I woke up and said, Okay, if

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<v Speaker 1>this is a stress related illness, I'm willing to try

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<v Speaker 1>anything else. If they had told me I needed to

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<v Speaker 1>go on fifty medications, I would have absolutely done it

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<v Speaker 1>if it made the pain go away. So I said,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm just gonna figure out how to do this. I

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<v Speaker 1>doubt this is again how I roll. I downloaded podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>on how to manage your stress. I listened to other people,

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<v Speaker 1>I read books. I read books on stress related illnesses,

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<v Speaker 1>which I did not realize were as common as they are,

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<v Speaker 1>very very common stress related illnesses. And I started when

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<v Speaker 1>I started to feel stressed instead of blowing it off,

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<v Speaker 1>and Chuck probably got sick of this. I would walk

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<v Speaker 1>into my husband and I would say, here's what I'm

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<v Speaker 1>stressed about, and I would list off whatever I was

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<v Speaker 1>stressed about. But for me, just saying whatever it was

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<v Speaker 1>was a big part of stress management, just recognizing that

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<v Speaker 1>I had stress. And within a week all the pain

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<v Speaker 1>went away. And then I started thinking, well, maybe this

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<v Speaker 1>is the placebo effect, right, Maybe I've just convinced myself.

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<v Speaker 1>But then I thought, if I can convince myself not

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<v Speaker 1>to have pain, perhaps my body convinced itself to have pain.

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<v Speaker 1>And just so you guys know, and part of my

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<v Speaker 1>medical study reading on fibromyalgia, they have done multiple studies

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<v Speaker 1>where they actually are doing a functional MRI on people's

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<v Speaker 1>brains while they are actually having a fibromalagia attack, and

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<v Speaker 1>their brains are lighting up in the same exact way

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<v Speaker 1>that someone experiencing horrible physical pain from an injury does.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's not your brain is really creating that response

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<v Speaker 1>in your brain and it manifests itself in a variety

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<v Speaker 1>of ways, and stress related illnesses are one hundred percent

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<v Speaker 1>of thing. And now I tend to go to it

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<v Speaker 1>first when people say I've got this. Whenever anybody says

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<v Speaker 1>the doctors can't figure out what's wrong, then I'm like,

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<v Speaker 1>have you considered that it might be a stress related illness?

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<v Speaker 1>Because I am now beyond a true believer in this.

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<v Speaker 1>I absolutely feel it when I am in the middle

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<v Speaker 1>of something, or if I'm having a challenge that I'm

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<v Speaker 1>working through in any way, shape or form. If I

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<v Speaker 1>don't catch it, I start, the pain starts to come

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<v Speaker 1>back between my shoulder blades and then it moves down

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<v Speaker 1>into my spine and hip. And I'm telling you, guys,

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<v Speaker 1>it is like being in a car accident. That's the

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<v Speaker 1>only way I can describe it, and not knowing why

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<v Speaker 1>was making me absolutely in I mean good gravy, absolutely nuts.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's the story. I mean, it's for me, it's

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<v Speaker 1>been a stress related illness. I've now shared this with

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<v Speaker 1>other people who suffer with fibromyalgia, and some of them

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<v Speaker 1>have had great success in figuring out how to manage

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<v Speaker 1>their stress. And everybody manages their stress differently. You just

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<v Speaker 1>have to find a healthy way to manage your stress

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<v Speaker 1>and not rely on ignoring it or self medicating or

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<v Speaker 1>any of those other things. That we normally do for

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<v Speaker 1>managing stress. So here's how I manage stress really quickly,

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<v Speaker 1>and then I will never talk about this again. I

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<v Speaker 1>have to exercise every day. I must get some form

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<v Speaker 1>of exercise every day. Yesterday I didn't get to work

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<v Speaker 1>out in the morning. I went home yesterday afternoon, and

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<v Speaker 1>Rake leaves because I'm telling you, Rake and leaves that

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<v Speaker 1>that counts. That counts. And then I have to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure I get as good as sleep as I can get.

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<v Speaker 1>And when something causes me stress, I say, this is

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<v Speaker 1>really causing me stress, which for me is enough. So

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<v Speaker 1>there you go. That is how I cured my fibromyalgia.

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<v Speaker 1>And I realized there's a lot of people out there

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<v Speaker 1>that spent a long time not being believed for this.

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<v Speaker 1>And I hope just by having this conversation, if this

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<v Speaker 1>happens to someone you know, at least you will go

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<v Speaker 1>maybe this isn't a figment of their imagination, because I

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<v Speaker 1>live through it and I'm here to tell you it

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<v Speaker 1>is no joke. I mean no joke.