With the controversy over Fibromyalgia, it can be hard to find a doctor who will diagnose you correctly, much less prescribe treatment options that will work for you. But thanks to secondary diagnostic options like the Internet and networks of educated and caring friends, treating your Fibromyalgia can be easier. One method of treating Fibromyalgia that many sufferers agree helps is changing your diet. While there is no ironclad recipe of foods to include and foods to avoid, you can use these tips as a starting point to easing your Fibromyalgia symptoms. The key here is remembering what works for some, doesn't work for all. It will take some time and some experimentation to figure out the right diet modifications for your Fibromyalgia.



• Try to balance your diet. While there is no consensus as to the best diet for treating Fibromyalgia, the first goal of any sufferer is to get the body in as optimum condition as possible. Cut down on fatty foods and try to eat more veggies and fruit. Drink more water to help flush everything through your system. Cut down drastically on junk food. It will be much easier to make any further changes in your eating habits once you've started eating right to begin with.

• Take in more protein and less carbs. Even if you don't suffer from Fibromyalgia, this is sound advice. Lean proteins, like skinless chicken, lean beef and fish, are an excellent and healthy way to fuel your body. They help keep energy levels high and can even help with hypoglycemia. The carbs, on the other hand, help the body to make insulin, which in small doses is good, but if your body makes too much, it can lead to your system storing fat. This isn't healthy for anyone and can be even unhealthier for those suffering from Fibromyalgia.

• Avoid caffeine and anything that has caffeine in it. This may be close to impossible when you consider the popularity of coffee and soft drinks today, but caffeine is a diuretic and can exacerbate IBS symptoms that are common with Fibromyalgia. This means no caffeinated pop and also no chocolate or coffee. If you simply can't live without these things, try to limit them the best you can or opt for caffeine-free varieties.

• Try to eliminate alcohol consumption. Not only can the combination of many common prescription medications and alcohol be very bad for you, even alcohol on its own can make symptoms worse. Alcohol can aggravate the stomach and digestive tract and cause increased bowel problems.

• Finally, try to reduce or eliminate refined white sugar from your diet. Again, this falls under the category of sound medical advice to anyone, but for Fibromyalgia sufferers, it's an especially good idea. Not only can sugar disrupt sleep patters if too much is eaten, it can harm your immune system and tests have shown that Fibromyalgia patients report fewer symptoms and less severe symptoms when they decreased their sugar intake.

Treating your Fibromyalgia can be a chore, especially when some doctors won't even admit it exists. But there are significant steps you can take at home to decrease your Fibromyalgia symptoms by changing what you eat for the better. While everyone may get different results, these tips will hopefully have you on your way to a healthier tomorrow.