Fybromyalgia

Last summer, I noticed that quite often towards afternoon I was getting achy, like I was coming down with a fever.  Most days I could take a nap and then feel better.  However, it came to a head the week school started.  I just felt lousy.  I decided to take advantage of the fact that at that time all my kids but Scooter were in school, and I had a down week, hoping I could get over whatever sickness I seemed to be getting.
Unfortunately, it just got worse.  The hubs eventually told me it seemed like a chronic problem, and I should go see a Dr.

I made an appointment and started doing some reaserch.  I learned that there is a condition called fybromyalgia that I had a surprising (to me) number of symptoms for.  Therefore, it was not a huge surprise when the Dr suggested fybromyalgia.  She ran some blood work, but told me if everything came back normal I probably have fybromyalgia.  She said the way to treat fybromyalgia is with a good ballance of sleep, exercise, and antidepressants.  I already took antidepressants, so she told me the best I could do is keep myself active and make sure I get enough sleep.  She said if I am too sedintary, it could also make it worse.

Well the bloodwork came back normal.  Therefore as can be best diagnosed, according to my Dr, I have fybromyalgia.

I lived through the next number of weeks trying to determine exactly what my triggers were.  We got Sparky at this point, which helped me to be more active.  I also went to a Zumba class a couple times a week.  This helped.  Then one day we went as a family to do a fun outing.  We started by going to an ice cream parlor.  I shared a huge banana split with my girls.  After that we went to a children's museum.  By this time, I was feeling so sick and lousy.  I didn't want to play with my kids at all.  I just wanted to sit there doing nothing.
I felt that this was brought on by the ice cream.
I wasn't sure, but probably due to some other experiences, I really felt this was the case.  I hadostly given up sugary treats before when I was pregnant with Spike, and had really liked how it affected my body.  I had considered giving it up again, but let's face it, I love sugar and sweets especially chocolate.  After feeling that the banana split had contributed to the flair I was experiencing, I knew I needed to try giving up sweets again, but I also knew I couldn't do it on my own.  So I prayed.  I asked my Heavenly Father to help me give up the sweets so I can be there for my kids.
I started right then.  Anytime I was given an option of a sweet, I would either turn it down, or have a really small serving.  It did wonders for me.  I also tried to eliminate processed foods from my diet.  All of this combined helped me feel a lot better physically, and emotionally.  Before too long sweets and candy lost their appeal.  If I ate some it just tasted gross.  I did develop a taste for dark chocolate however, and it doesn't seem to set me off.  I experimented one time when my family had ice cream.  I had a small scoop, and it did set me off.   Scooter has a dairy intolerance so we happen to keep dairy free ice cream in the house.  I had a small scoop of that a different time, and it didn't set me off.  I figured it was either the sugar or the dairy, or maybe both.  But after more experimenting I learned that the combination of the two together really sets me off.  Sugar will set me off too, but not the way ice cream does.
Since I changed my diet last fall and eliminated most sweets from my diet I have lost around 20 lbs.  I feel great, most days.  Sometimes I still flair, and don't know why, but I am doing much better.
So if I