Fibromyalgia and Weight Loss

If you suffer from fibromyalgia, there is a good possibility you’ve noticed managing your weight is more difficult than it once was.   Well, for me, I’ve never really managed my weight.  I’ve been overweight since I was 3 or 4, however, in my adult years I have lost and gained the same weight over and over again.

This has been especially difficult in the past 15 years I have had fibromyalgia.  Today I read an article on everydayhealth.com which stated,“Fibromyalgia patients have a 25% lower metabolism, on average, than someone without fibromyalgia of the same age and body weight.”  That is aprox 500 calories a day on average we are not burning off.

In addition to the lowered metabolism, the article states, “When you have fibromyalgia, the appetite-signaling hormone leptin may be out of sync. That sends inaccurate hunger messages to the brain, making you eat more”.

Then there is the medication we are prescribed, many of which list increased appetite and weight gain as side effects.

So, we hurt all over ALL of the time, sometimes to the point we cannot function at all, we have lower metabolisms, and are more prone to have severe food cravings.  What is a person to do?

This is where I am, right now, today.  My husband and I started a weight loss journey at the first of the month, both of us with some success.  Then I started having severe symptoms I don’t recall having before.

1. Headaches.  I rarely have headaches, typically it is my neck and jaws that hurt worse, but now severe headaches that would not allow me to sleep, and made me sick.
2. Fatigue.  With fibro comes fatigue often so severe you cannot get out of bed.  This is a norm for me, however, the fatigue became much wore and more frequent.
3. Feeling dizzy.  Fibro can make us unsteady, and the medications we often take do as well, but this was a new dizzy, like I am about to pass out dizzy.
4. Low blood sugar.  I started taking my blood sugar and noticed it would dip down into the 60’s (possibly causing the headaches, and dizziness) – but when I was dizzy or light headed I would take my blood sugar and it would be normal.
5. Severe cravings for carbs – bread – pizza – noodles, etc.

These prompted me to start researching what to do.  A few years ago I lost 100 lbs. by doing a low carb diet with exercise.  While I did have fibro I also was taking Norco (Hydrocodone/Tylenol).  The Norco gave me a lot of energy, eased my pain, and as a bonus it killed my appetite.  So why did I stop taking it?  Well, I felt a lot of pressure from my family and friends that it was too strong, too addictive, and dangerous.  The news and internet concurred, so I stopped taking the Norco.

So now, I’ve gained back half the weight, and want to lose it again.  For the past four weeks I have reduced calories, carbs, cut out sugar, only ate out a few times, and sadly the weight is not moving as well as I would like.  I have lost 10 lbs, but that is not how quickly I lost it before (only a few years ago).  I know the difference is the exercise I was doing.  Without the medication my bad pain days have skyrocketed, and with the reduction in calories my energy is even lower than normal.

So what is the answer?  I am trying to find out.  So, for now, I have cut out processed foods, added back some complex carbs, and am following a mostly vegetarian diet minus the bread.