Fibromyalgia: Simple Relief through Movement

by Stacie L. Bigelow

This caring and knowledgeable guide can

help you feel better--starting now

Fibromyalgia causes muscle stiffness and pain, debilitatingfatigue, and numerous other symptoms. Most frustrating of all,people with fibromyalgia syndrome don't look sick; standard testsfor injury or chemical imbalances often show nothing wrong. But ifyou suffer from fibromyalgia, you know that your disease is real,and so is your pain. It's natural to feel discouraged--but don'tgive up! In Fibromyalgia: Simple Relief through Movement, Stacie L.Bigelow--a motivational health counselor and FMS suffererherself--gives hope to everyone with fibromyalgia with a simpleprogram designed to help you benefit from the one thing that isknown to help: movement.

"The most important key to managing muscles affected byfibromyalgia," writes Bigelow, "is to keep them moving." Drawing onnew medical understanding of fibromyalgia as well as her patients'and her own experiences, she explains what the disease is and howto implement an effective plan. She shows you:
* Why traditional exercise programs are not for you
* Which activities will reduce your pain--and which might increaseit
* How to balance your daily needs for healing rest andmovement
* How (and whether) to use muscle conditioning to decreasepain
* How to stretch properly to reduce pain
* How to communicate your needs to family members, coworkers, andhealth care providers

Presenting clear and specific advice on how to use movement safelyand effectively to ease the pain of fibromyalgia, this caring,knowledgeable guide will give you an optimistic new mind-set aboutyour pain, your body, and your future.

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2000

Reviews

[Ani · Rating 1 out of 5]

No

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author, supposedly a Fibro sufferer herself, seemed entirely unsympathetic to what this disease does to its victims. Her demeanor seemed typical of a high school coach calling his football player’s all a "bunch of pussies" before the BIG game. If this was meant to be a positive motivation, it failed on me. Ignoring her presentation, her advice to keep moving is correct.

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book gives a great exploration of how to put your doctor's advice to work for you. Instead of just saying exercise and get more activity, she gives you guidelines for how to actually do that. She explains why exercise might hurt those with fibro more, as well as the difference in strength training for FMS patients and regular people. Most importantly, Ms. Bigelow lets you know there is a series of steps to go through, that jumping from not sleeping well to strength training will only derail your efforts. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to putting her ideas into effect.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the first actual books I read on Fibromyalgia, and it gave a good overview of the day to day changes one can make with sleep, activity, exercise, and relaxation to significantly improve a life with fibromyalgia. One quote really stuck with me; someone told the author, "Fibromyalgia is nothing but uptight." The whole concept of being constantly tense as the base reason for pain helped me see the condition in a new light. While the author sometimes sounded like she was trying to convince a wayward soul to follow the righteous path of movement, which lowered the star rating for me, it had good information about the ways to modify exercise for this condition.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been helpful like 6 years ago unfortunatly I found all this on my own