Having fibromyalgia can be tough. The lack of energy during the day and the painful nights make it very difficult to get through each day. On top of that, the medication often leaves you feeling out of yourself and disoriented. You start to wonder if there is anything you can do that can improve your circumstances and make your life a little better. The good news is that if you decide to follow a fibromyalgia diet, while it won't cure your condition, it can certainly make you feel better.

While there have not been many studies on how food affects fibromyalgia patients there are some things you can do with your diet that can help to improve how you feel.

Pay Close Attention To The Foods You Eat:

Most people with fibromyalgia have some sort of food sensitivity. However, since no two people are the same, identifying the foods you may have a reaction to will likely be a process of experimentation. Some may find that they are more sensitive to additives like MSG and preservatives while others may have a problem with eggs. According to a survey reported in Clinical Rheumatology, 42% of patients with fibromyalgia reported that their symptoms actually worsened as a result of eating certain foods.

To find out which foods are causing a reaction in you, it is recommended that you keep a daily food journal for a minimum of about two weeks. Write down all the foods you eat and how you feel after eating them. Many symptoms common to those with fibromyalgia will start to appear like headaches, fatigue, and indigestion. While you've probably experienced these symptoms before you'll begin to see a pattern emerge and you'll start to associate one or several foods and connect them to your symptoms. This information can be very useful in helping you to prepare your own fibromyalgia diet plan as you will know which foods are helping your condition and which ones are causing you problems.

Start The Elimination Plan:

To test your findings from your food journal, you can start eliminating these foods one at a time. If you've concluded that eating chicken is causing some of your symptoms, remove it from your diet for around two months. Still keep your journal and observe whether your symptoms get better or become worse in that period of time. If they improve, try adding the food back into your diet and then observe how your body reacts to it. Because the foods have been completely eliminated from your system, if you have any reactions from it, the results will be pretty easy to spot if the symptoms reappear. The reaction will likely be stronger than you remember.

Talk To Your Doctor:

If the symptoms return or increase, then there's a good chance that you have a food sensitivity to it. Your next step will be to discuss your findings with your doctor and follow his guidelines in continuing to build up a personal fibromyalgia diet that you can use to help ease your symptoms and boost your health.