Fibromyalgia Podcast

Note: In the years since this episode was published, sadly, Recovery Love Box is no more. This episode, however, is still very relevant, as Liz shares her chronic illness story, including her diagnosis with chronic Lyme disease. Subscription boxes are a trend that's here to stay. They give you a great way to be introduced to new items with little or no risk. But are there any made for those of us with chronic illnesses? The answer is yes! Introducing the Chronic Love Box subscription service by Recovery Love Box — a subscription box designed for those living with chronic illness by someone with a chronic illness. Join Tami as she interviews Liz Lajoie about her journey with chronic Lyme disease, the idea that sparked the Chronic Love Box, and how a simple care package can help you feel more confident and in control of your health. Be sure to stick around after the interview — Tami does an unboxing of the most recent Chronic Love Box she received so you can see what all the excitement is about! Key Points Tho

Over the last few months, many parents are unexpectedly learning how to "homeschool" as kids are unable to attend school in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. If having your kids out of the house for school was part of your fibromyalgia coping strategy, you might be struggling right about now! In this episode, Tami interviews Julie Schiffman, a Fibromyalgia Coach-in-Training who has lived with fibromyalgia for over 20 years, all while raising three daughters. Listen in as Tami and Julie discuss the most important thing you can teach your kids, as well as tips to help you cope. Key Points Fibromyalgia is not the end. What’s really important is teaching your kids character. Your fibromyalgia can really teach your kids how to not judge people and be respectful of people who are different than us. We are really teaching our kids how to be better human beings. You really need to let your kids learn to care for themselves. There will be a time they need to — so why not start now? One of the tools we often help o

The 2020 Fibromyalgia Awareness Day episode is a special collection of tips pulled from a virtual event Tami hosted for her clients, coaches, and her coaches’ clients.  Tami asked coaches and clients alike to share their best fibromyalgia management tips, the thing that helped them the most on their fibromyalgia journey, and what it was like to work with a Fibromyalgia Coach. Listen in to hear our best tips to help you feel better. Key Points If watching the news stresses you out, have someone else in your house be the designated news watcher. Working with a coach on your goals provides needed accountability. If you don’t have a functional medicine doctor or a naturopath on your team, it can be really, really hard to make progress. You’re not in a sprint, you’re in a marathon… Don’t worry about time pressures that are put on you by society. Being willing to spend the money, time, effort, and brainpower to try some new things can really be a huge benefit to helping you get better. Educating your

We've all had those times where we're going along, we're doing fine, and all of a sudden, we've done too much. We've all been there! It seems like the line between "okay" and "too much" is so fine, you can't tell when you're going to crossover. In this episode, Tami shares her favorite energy management tool that will put you back in the driver's seat and in control of your own energy levels. Key Points Using a pedometer or activity tracker can help you manage your energy. If we want to get better, we need to budget some of our energy towards our healing. If you don’t feel good at your current average number of steps, you may need to figure out ways to decrease your steps. Don’t look at the number of steps on your activity tracker as the minimum to meet each day. Instead, it’s the maximum amount you can spend for the day. Pay attention to how many steps each activity costs you. Once you have an idea of what things cost, you can start making choices on how you want to spend your energy. Activity trackers give

Are you feeling more overwhelmed and tired than usual? If so, you're not alone. In this episode, Tami shares some thoughts on how you can use this pandemic to re-evaluate your choices on how you want to spend your time and energy. Don't feel like you have to do All. The. Things. Give yourself extra grace and compassion and tell yourself often, "It's okay. You're doing your best." Key Points We need to protect our own energy, emotions, and thoughts., especially if we are home alone or with others who are anxious and stressed. It’s okay if you feel overwhelmed. It’s okay if you are exhausted and tired and don't know how to handle everything. Give yourself extra grace and compassion right now. Don't feel like you have to do all the things. You do not have to use this time in any particular way. There is no right or wrong way to go through a pandemic. Everything you used to be committed to has stopped. It's an amazing opportunity to re-evaluate where you want to be spending your time and your energy. The Pause

Over the last few weeks, we have received many messages asking if fibromyalgia increases the risk of developing COVID-19, the illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 (aka, "the coronavirus"). Tami has interviewed several doctors to get the facts, as best as we know them right now. This episode contains the information we know to be accurate as of the time of publishing. Tami also covers things you can do to strengthen your immune system so your body is best equipped to fight off COVID-19. Key Points Fibromyalgia itself doesn't increase your risk of COVID-19. However, fibromyalgia patients often have compromised immune systems which does increase your risk. Your best protection is to avoid exposure to the virus by staying home. Make sure your body and immune system are as healthy as possible to fight off infections. If you have autoimmune conditions, you want to be careful about how you strengthen your immune system. Focusing on the positive strengthens your immune system response. Be gentle with yourself. This is not t

In this episode, Tami talks about the subtle difference between focusing on your fibromyalgia and focusing on your healing. In your brain, you have a reticular activating system (RAS). Your RAS is the gatekeeper for information entering your brain and tells you what you should pay attention to. When you keep thinking of all the ways your fibromyalgia is impeding your life, all you see are more ways fibromyalgia is impeding your life. If you can make the mental shift to focus on ways you can heal, your RAS will start seeing more opportunities to feel better. Key Points Fibromyalgia is simply where we’re starting. It’s where we are right now, but that’s not what the focus is. The focus is on where we're going: healing. What we focus on is going to grow and be pulled into our lives.  There's a very big difference between thinking, “I can't because of my illness” and “I’m choosing not to so that I can feel my best tomorrow.” It's less about what you can't do and more about what you can do. It's about moving you

In this episode, Tami speaks with ChronicBabe herself, Jenni Grover, about how ChronicBabe was born, what ChronicBabe continues to stand for, and the new work that is calling Jenni forward: her School of Creative Resilience. Listen in as these two babes discuss what it means to live and work with a chronic illness—and uncover the innate superpower we all have: Creative Resilience. Key Points Many pain specialists say that your resilience is the biggest predictor of how well you will recover from chronic pain. Creative Resilience is teaching people how to tap into their innate creative energies, which we all possess, and then build that inner resource and use it to boost resilience and joy.  Resilience about more than just getting back up when you fall down. It's also about learning how to adjust. It's having the flexibility and creativity to think of new ways of doing things. We're all born with the ability to make things and make connections and learn new skills. Sometimes, we just need help tapping into th

Thousands of fibro patients are dispelling the gloomy prognosis that once came with fibromyalgia. The good news is there are so many ways for you to start feeling better! With so many options to take back your health and your life, the new challenge is figuring out where to begin. Do you start with cutting out sugar? Adding a supplement? Improving your sleep hygiene? Trying new techniques for pain remediation? Relax. Now smile. Tami offers expert guidance with four simple questions. Key Points There are so many ways for you to start feeling better! How do you choose? Fibromyalgia is complicated and affects so many areas of your life. It can often be difficult to know where to begin on the road back to health. Learn four ways to approach finding the best place to start (or continue) your personal fibromyalgia healing journey. The four questions you should ask yourself to determine the next best step for you.   Links & Resources FibromyalgiaPodcast.com is the digital companion to this audio magazine, whe

Our body can feel like a battleground, like it's us against fibromyalgia, and this fight is happening inside of our body. Many of us with fibromyalgia “check out” from the neck down because we have to, just to get through the day. We're in so much pain. We're so fatigued. What if it were possible to fall in love with your body, right now, exactly as you are? Tami and her guest, Janet Farnsworth, offer this extraordinary gift in this special episode, which is our Valentine wish for you. Key Points Fibromyalgia, abuse, whatever may have happened to your body in the past, or whatever is happening now, you still can love the body that you're in. Because you have fibromyalgia, you have a special kind of wisdom, a gateway into more intelligence about your body and what it needs. When it comes to our bodies, and even our pain, there is so much to be curious about, and to build a loving vocabulary around. We have within us so many resources to repair and to get healthy, even when we have certain aspects of ourselves

We are told that exercise is good for fibromyalgia, but then we go out and do it, and we feel terrible. Rose was a dancer and competitive athlete until she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. In her 20s, she felt like she lived in a body that was 85 years old. Over the last ten years, she has learned to listen to her body and retrain herself into competitive condition. Her advice can help you ease into a routine that is right for you and your body, no matter how big or small your fitness goals might be. Key Points There are specific ways that people with fibromyalgia should approach exercise that may look a little different than the general population, but even the general population could benefit from a slightly more finessed entry into fitness. If you are starting a fitness program and have chronic pain, make sure that you know how to help your body recover from whatever exercise you do, and take baby steps all along the way. We may have to retrain our brain’s response to pain in order to progress. How to kno

We don't love New Year's Resolutions, but it’s that time of year. A lot of people are making resolutions, like: I'm going to get in shape, I'm going to eat better, I'm going to get control over my finances. Well, the ideas and intentions are good, but resolutions don't really set you up for success. In this episode, Tami will teach you how to create the foundation that you need, the support that you need, and the structure that is needed in your life to allow change to happen, and to happen easily. Key Points Why do so many of us fail at New Year’s Resolutions, even when we are desperate to see these positive changes in our lives? Goal setting is also a challenge, especially for those of us with fibromyalgia. Learn why even S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-oriented) are not enough to bring you success. Find out Tami’s super simple secret to make reaching your goals automatic. Set your life up in a way that it becomes easier to do the thing, than to not do the thing. Not

The experience of chronic pain can bring you to your knees. When our suffering is acute and unceasing, we often start asking questions that medicine and science can’t answer. Tami gently wades into these waters with us, offering viewpoints from a range of faith perspectives. Perhaps we can find a little solace in these true stories. Perhaps we can begin to develop and share a more robust theology of suffering and prayer. Some Unsettling Questions What did I do to deserve this? Why hasn’t God healed me? Did I not pray right or believe hard enough? What happens when my body won’t allow me to observe a fast or practice my faith the same way others do? What do you do when your faith family actually makes matters worse? Links & Resources FibromyalgiaPodcast.com is the digital companion to this audio magazine, where you can find full show notes, links to the studies referenced in this episode, submit your questions for Tami Stackelhouse, and schedule a free consultation with a Fibromyalgia Coach. Get a free

Jara’s daughter, Lexi was just beginning seventh grade when she fell and ended up with a very mild concussion. It didn't seem like a big deal. Soon after, she was in constant pain and fatigue. It took months to diagnose the cause and even longer to figure out how to help Lexi spring back to life. The entire family is affected when a child has fibromyalgia, but there is hope. Jara shares the tools and resources she found most helpful, and the keys that helped her daughter feel like a normal teenager again. Key Points When you have a sick child, your entire world revolves around them and their illness and helping them get better. With multiple children, we have to learn to manage our energy, to step back and focus on each of them specifically, and to create time and attention for all of them. There is no magic bullet. The key to feeling better with fibromyalgia is really a bunch of little things that add up together, the tools that we figure out for our toolbox. There are options for families with kids that ne

"Don't be sorry for me. Fibromyalgia is the best thing that ever happened to me." This may seem like a radical statement, and I know most of you aren’t in this space yet, but even small gestures of gratitude can make a big difference. A growing body of research shows that people who practice gratitude are more optimistic and have greater satisfaction in their lives. They have been shown to make fewer visits to the doctor and have improved immune system responses. More than just a Thanksgiving observance, counting your blessings and giving thanks can make a difference all year long. Key Points A growing body of research shows that an attitude of gratitude benefits our physical body. Where you place your focus is where your life will flow. This is a basic law of the universe. This is part of the law of attraction. We also find it in the Bible. It’s hard to count our blessings when fibromyalgia feels like an endless taking away of things, but we do have a choice. The three general guidelines for developing a gr

Dr. Robin Pfaff was in the closet about her fibromyalgia, working part-time as a psychotherapist and part-time recovering from the toll that work took on her. A big move in January 2017 caused a severe fibromyalgia flare that put her on the couch for months. It was here that she found coaching and the keys to getting her life back. Robin is now paying it forward as a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach, helping other women take charge of their life and health. Key Points Fibromyalgia coaching is a unique treatment option: one part life coach, one part health educator, and one part wellness coaching. The difference between counseling and coaching, and how to know which one is right for you. Research has found that a huge group of folks that have experienced post traumatic stress move forward through that and experience what they call post traumatic growth. The BEST approach to living with fibromyalgia: B for Body (or physical health), E for Emotional and mental health, S for Social Support, and T for Transcendence (

The holidays can be super challenging, no matter who you are. Often we invest so much of our time and moxie into the holidays that the celebration begins to feel more like obligation. Add fibromyalgia to that picture, and it's even more tiring and stressful, because we have limited energy to begin with. There is a way to make the holidays meaningful without all of the overwhelm. Follow the tips in this episode and see how your holiday season can a little richer, a little calmer, and a little less painful and exhausting. Key Points With fibromyalgia, the biggest way that you can improve your holidays is to feel better. Is your family already over-stuffed? Here’s how you can honor the season and the spirit of giving without accumulating even more stuff. Think about setting new traditions or doing things a little differently. Stepping outside of our normal way of doing things can actually make it easier for us. Don't end up over-committed to things that are less important. Focus on what really matters to you, a

An objective test for fibromyalgia will change everything. As a researcher, Dr. Jarred Younger’s mission to figure out fibromyalgia has led him to study neuroinflammation as a primary suspect. “What I think is happening in fibro is an overly robust immune response, an abnormal reaction to low level, daily insults to the immune system.” Having seen so much suffering with no effective treatment options, Dr. Younger has become driven to solve the mystery of fibromyalgia by scientifically uncovering the root cause. Key Points Could fibromyalgia be the result of inflammation in the brain? Find out what cutting edge science is discovering. A new tool for scanning and imaging the brain may help us finally pinpoint the pathology of fibromyalgia. The discovery of low-dose naltrexone as a treatment option occurred as Dr. Younger was testing his hypothesis on inflammation in the brain. Correcting inflammation in the brain can begin with simple (albeit difficult!) dietary and lifestyle changes. The hardest thing about r

How do you lose weight when you have fibromyalgia? Before we can answer that question, we have to back up a step. Tami suggests that a lot of people start with the wrong question. They start with the question of, How do I lose weight? because that's what we care about. That's what we're worried about. But if we don't understand why we gained weight in the first place, then we might not be doing the right things to get the outcome that we want. Key Points As fibromyalgia patients, our bodies are often stuck in “fight or flight” mode. The pain and fatigue we experience can make weight loss extra challenging. Many fibromyalgia patients also have thyroid and adrenal issues which dramatically affects our efforts to lose weight. The fundamentals of diet and exercise are only part of the equation. Cravings are not necessarily your fault. Cravings can be a very natural way that your body says, “Help! I am starving for nutrients!” Just two nights of bad sleep can affect the hormones that regulate your appetite. Studi

The technology for pulsed electromagnetic field devices (PEMF) has been around for 60 years and used in healthcare systems around the world. Oska Wellness has revolutionized this technology by producing a miniaturized version for personal use, the Oska Pulse. Tami interviews the founder, Greg Houlgate, about the history, the mission, the research, and his own personal use of this new product. Does the Oska Pulse belong in your fibromyalgia toolkit? Key Points The Oska Pulse is an FDA-registered, Class 1 medical pain relief device. While the Oska Pulse is a fairly new product, the technology behind it has existed for six decades, and there have been over 10,000 clinical studies on it. The Oska Pulse is clinically proven to reduce inflammation, increase circulation, improve mobility, and relieve pain. Users of the Oska Pulse have reported it being effective for reducing headaches and improving sleep, in addition to relieving pain. It has even been useful for pets, helping with issues like hip dysplasia. Get $5