My First Post, What Has Helped Me and a Positive ANA Screen

For my first post I thought I would repeat some answers I have found for me, from my "About Me", because my hope is that perhaps this will help one of you.  I am so hopeful and excited to read your posts and learn from you!  I can trace symptoms of Fibro back to my 20's, was diagnosed mid 30's and am struggling a bit more now that I turned 40.  Ouch.  I'm old and it hurts.  Today I got results of an ANA screen.   This is a test for autoimmunedisease.  I was positive.  That means I might be on the road to Lupus or Sjogrens, but I read once that Fibro can give you a positive ANA.  Is anyone out there well versed in this chapter?  I had a hard time finding what my test results meant on the web, and the Rhuematologist's nurse was too busy to answer my questions.  "That's all I can tell you," she kept repeating.  My Sm RNP Auto antibody was the highest at 3.8, normal is <1.0.  I don't know yet if that's terrible, but the doc told the nurse she was worried about me having the beginnings of lupus.  I have all the symptoms of Sjogrens, but she didn't read the tests as me having that.  Weird.  Tests should always be repeated, I guess,  and in March I'll do it again.  

  I was exercising better the first half of last year and was achey if a storm system came through, but other than that I felt great!  Looked pretty good, too.  I've gained 10 pounds back, and am not exercising much now, ate way too much sugar through the holidays and that did me in.  When I'm sore, I eat sugar to feel better, but like any addiction, you end up feeling worse in the end.  I'm shifting to organic sugar if I HAVE to bake, and will I am committing in this journal entry to use more stevia, a natural sweetner that has little effect on blood sugar or acids in the body.  I'm also committing to scheduling times to exercise or it won't happen!  Seeing if family membership at a gym is financially within my reach.  $ is tight now.  We're replacing an engine in one of our vehicles.  Fun times.


Here is the entry from "About Me" in case this may help any of you.  
My answers so far are basic, but for me, crucial:

1.   For comfort and guidance, when you are miserable and when you don't know what to do, no medicine, no person, nothing compares to praying to Heavenly Father, or to what you acknowledge as your higher power.  The more often you do this, the better you get at it.  Build a relationship with Him who can truly heal the heart, mind and body.  Your book of scripture is also a very powerful tool for God to communicate with you.  Have a little faith and let the book fall open to where ever it does.  I have been given answers to my questions countless times this way!  It is powerful, peace bringing and HEALING to the soul to feel that kind of love, and no human being we rely on can deliver love quite the way He does.  Any kind of spirituality will give you peace. reduce stress and will heal.

2.   Exercise positively effects every system, organ, and process in our body!  Even if you are disabled, have had surgery, are in pain, or are obese, there is some form of exercise you can always do, if only rehabilitation.  Even just stretching daily is wonderful.  It lifts our mood, helps us sleep better, lengthens tight ligaments, builds muscle, helps digestion along, too.  Exercise can prevent most disease and even heal some diseases.   After you get past the 1st two weeks of daily stretching, daily tai chi, daily strength training, daily walks, daily pilates or yoga, kick boxing or hippity hop dancing, or whatever you can do, you'll start looking forward to your workout for the endorphins alone.   Exercise really is the cure all of all cure alls!

3.  Eat the best foods, and take medicine and supplements wisely:  this is KEY.  Do your research, go to clinical specialists and naturopath doctors, take a class, read books and med journals. and gather info from other sufferers.  For me, I discovered healing occurs when I stay low on the glycemic index.  This isn't hard.  It just requires some knowledge and a proper shopping list!  The most amazingly energetic breakfast is an apple with peanut or almond butter, and diluted lemon juice water (this gets digestion going and cleanses body of toxins).  For lunch, high fiber, low fat, low sugar meals like whole oatmeal with fruit or steamed veggies with a little lean protien keep you from feeling sleepy and tired in the afternoon.  For dinner, complex carbs, some protien and dairy are great.  Low carb yogurt is one of the best desserts!  Carbs get your serotonin flowing and get you ready to sleep well, and calcium and magnesium do too, and are absorbed best at night while you rest.   Good fats from avocados, nuts and seeds (especially sesame and pumpkin!), olive oil, or any that is liquid at room temp, Omega-3, Flax seed, Borage or Primrose Oils are worth supplementing for the mood they give, and quality coconut oil can be used as butter in baking-- and sometimes we MUST bake. . .  This, and not eating refined flour, refined sugar or bad sweets (agave and stevia are natural sweetners you can research and try), and drinking lots of water, make me feel SO MUCH BETTER!  Much less pain.  It takes a few weeks though, and I suffer if I don't follow this plan.  Holidays are killin' me!  Bad flare up. . .

4.   Fourth, when you are miserable, in pain, or having a pity party, doing something for someone else, however small, can help begin to pull you out of a flare up.  Even a shut-in can call someone who is lonely, write a note or poem for a loved one, donate to a worthy cause and follow it up, listen to a child's report of what happened at school, listen to a teens' problems, dream up what to give for another's birthday, or any manner of things to delight those within your circle of influence.  Here, you can provide an encouraging post or advice to one who is newly diagnosed.   I know first hand that life is so difficult when we're sick, but the truth is that everyday we are alive is another divine opportunity to GIVE.  THAT is what life is about.  Take great care of yourself, but then don't dwell on the pain.  After you see to what you need, forget yourself and go do the amazing kind of work that loves you back.

5.  We heal when we decrease stress, and increase fun, happy, good thoughts and feelings, but remember we can only control ourselves. Be kind, loving and patient with yourself, your loved ones (even with their issues, even if they are difficult), and all you associate with.  This is difficult when you are exhausted, in pain or depressed, but WRITE IT DOWN AS A GOAL and work toward kind thoughts about yourself and others, then your words and actions will follow.  Managing ANGER is important, because we all have it, whether we let it out or no.  This can be done by exercises such as a deep breath and mental reminder to control your tone of voice, counting to 20, putting what you're angry about on a sticky note in your shoe and go for a stompin' walk, and learning the very "adult" way of saying to one you're angry at, "Terrie, when you ("are 30 minutes late", "call me a name like that", "ignore me while watching TV") I feel ("really irritated", "so angry and hurt", "invisable and forgotten") so I need you to ( "call me if you're more than 10 minutes late", "know you can not do that anymore",  "acknowledge me when I get home, and really listen when I speak to you and get TEVO so you can pause!")   You often only get what you want when you ASK for it.  Expressing what you want is claiming you have worth and personal power.  This is a "must have" habit that helps us get closer to the goal of being kind, loving and patient, which seems so impossible to me sometimes with four children, one a 13 year old girl, and a hubby, who like me, is less than perfect.  If I want to heal, I must DEAL!!!!   <3  <3  <3  <3

Prayer, exercise, eating wisely, giving to others, and managing all those emotions and stress with good habits: these are my philosophies for healing and having a happier life while I'm on the very bumpy road to health.  Does this mean I can do all these perfectly all at once?  No.  I know I can't, however, I can keep track either mentally, or much more effective, keep track by journalling goals, where I am in these areas.  I fail often in one or two areas and that's okay.  It lets me know where to focus, while keeping the other principles in the back of my mind and I don't worry too much about slippage.  So, don't you either.


Anywho, if anyone wants to post me I would LOVE it!  If you are familiar with autoimmune, post me.  From what I understand about Fibromyalgia, there is some controversy whether it is an autoimmune disease.  Last I read, it was not considered a true autoimmune disease, but could  give a positive ANA screen.   Seems contradictory, so I am still researching