i am literally in tears -
i woke up without pain - i was able to do normal things like a normal human being today. i have more energy than i can ever remember -- the brain fog is gone! its been 10 years!? even my good days were never this good.

fm has had me struggling to get out of bed for so long - many days i didnt. i dreaded even to do the bare essentials to take care of myself. i dont care what i have to eat or not eat, i want to feel like this forever!

i caught myself dancing as i was cooking~ i wish that i could share this joy and energy with everyone with fm.

human again - with tears of joy,
simone

Simone,
Congrats! I love saying PAIN FREE. I don't experience it all the time yet but I know I am on the right road.
Happy LCing

Hi Simone

And a heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I know exactly what you mean, and its like the kind of miracle you almost can't handle... but wouldn't let go of for all the money in the world. Its very hard after all the struggling, battling, and failing to really take on board that it could have been this simple all along isn't it?

I'm 28... I've had ME (I know this is a UK term; essentially its like a vicious cross between CFS and fibromyalgia) since I was about 15. I lost the best part of my 20s to it. And I'd tried everything to get better. This time last week it was literally as much as I could do to sit upright without passing out...

One week of induction and I barely recognise myself! I've been ill so long I don't remember what "normal" felt like... but I'd be happy to lay money that I feel better, have more energy right now than any of the "normal" people I see around me!

It was my fiance who first suggested I try the diet... suffice to say he's a man who'll be sainted in my eyes for the rest of our lives! In just one week he's seen me go from to to to

I'll have to get a whole new set of friends... I appear to be exhausting them!

Long may it continue... for both of us. Welcome back to your life!

(Must dash... we're moving at the weekend and apparently this extra energy means packing is my responsibility! How harsh! )

Hi Simone,

I'm so sorry to hear how badly fibro's been affecting you. And I understand very well - I've been dealing with this since about puberty. (which I"ve heard before and makes me wonder if it's a trigger to the whole darn mess). That brain fog you mentioned is so infuriating! No one seems to "get" it. I've been learning to just REALLY enjoy the good days and hope all my exuberance (I'm with you on the dancing inthe kitchen thing! ) doesn't trigger something nasty
Sounds like you had an amazing day - and I hope you have MANY many more like that!
I see you're losing weight (Congrats!!) - have you noticed any change in pain as a result?
I'd love to hear from you!
~Tracy

Just wanted to encourage everyone to stay on the atkins plan....I h aven't felt this good in years....but had a flare a few weeks ago when I decided after 6 months to add carbs back...along with the carbs came all the bad lupus/fibro symptoms back...now back on atkins...feeling better again...it's the difference between night and day...

I HEAR YA, SIMONE~! Going through the same thing right now - i.e: FEELING ALIVE AGAIN~! Keep it up - enjoy yourself - keep dancin' -

Yours, in no pain, and with no gain~!
OX
Lena

How soon did most of you see the "No Pain" stage? I'm on day 4 and having a pretty bad pain day today. I think I overdid it yesterday though. I had major back surgery May 30th and went to my neurosurgeon yesterday for x-rays and 3 month check. X-rays look good, the fusion is starting to grow bone so he told me I could stop wearing my body brace and use my cane instead of the walker I've been stuck with. I was so excited about the good news that I wanted to go and go. We went out to eat lunch, took the car in for a quick tire repair, came home and sat at the computer for an hour and a half (haven't been able to sit up for any length of time since surgery without my brace) and then went to Walmart and shopped for over an hour. I could hardly walk by the time we got home last night. Today is pay back day I guess. I hurt everywhere, even my eyelashes hurt. I've had friends who don't understand make fun of me for that comment, but I know you all understand. It's hard to make people understand what an effort just dressing or taking a shower can be. I've been averaging around 25 gms of carbs a day. Should I cut back some? Calories are averaging around 1500 a day. I haven't weighed myself yet to see if I've lost anything. Thought I'd stick to once a week. My fibro flares sometimes cause me to put on 3 to 5 pounds or more of water in a day if the flare is bad, so my weight really can flucuate day to day. Anyone else have that problem?

I'm sooooo happy for all of you that are having pain free days! I am looking forward to that morning when I wake up and nothing hurts.

Thanks for all of the encouragement. I won't give up hope.

So you did all that when you'd only just had a back brace off and only think you overdid it???!!!

Ah the temptation's just too great isn't it? We've all been there one way or another...

I found it took me about ten days to start noticing more reliable differences, and then you have to be really careful not to over-stretch yourself. Take it gently and very gradually build up your activities...

By that I mean, add a fraction more and nothing else for several days until you're certain you're managing to take it in your stride. Then add a bit more... baby steps all the way. Small inputs = small mistakes, to steal a line from the diabetic low carbers!

I have ME, not FM, but if it helps any I'm on about 20g carb a day (can't seem to tolerate any higher) and around 1700-2000 calories. That seems to be keeping me very nearly symptom free...

Everyone's (not just FM/CFS, etc) weight seems to fluctuate by at least that much (I go up by 8lbs at that time of the month!); that's perfectly normal to low carbing, and nothing to worry about.

Hope that helps.

Hi UrbanGypsy!

I deserve that tease! It's just been so hard being unable to do anything. I've always been on the go and now to be unemployed (got layed off 1 week before my surgery after 25 years with the company) and so restricted in my activities, I'm going nuts.

LIke you said though, baby steps and I'll be better eventually. Thanks for the chuckle. Laughter is sometimes the best medicine, especially when we can laugh at ourselves.

Thanks,
Deb

Dear Simone,
I hope so

Isn't it great! I found out by accident how great low carbing was . I have had
Fibor for 17 years now and I decided I wanted to lose weight so I thougt Low carbing sounded like a plan I could stick with cause I like meat. I was amazed to find that staying away from wheat and potatoes was the key to getting rid of the pain and fatigue. I am just going back to low carbing after a 3 month
detour due to huge family stress but I am happy to say that just 3 days back on and I am feeling super again .I slept very good last night and am walking 10 minutes a day on my treadmill. Last week I did a pototoe test just cause I still can't believe an innocent little potatoe ( by the way my most fav food on the planet) could cause me so much damage. I can actually feel the affects of a bad food within 15 minutes. I start to get pain in my ankle joint and then my toes and bottom of my foot go numb. OUCH. I then have this pain for at least 24 hours and sometimes up to 3 days so you figure If I eat one bad thing everyday I just stay in pain all the time. THe fatigue is sometimes so bad I fall asleep at my desk so I am committed to the LC plan. I am as excited about feeling great as I am about losing weight.

Here's to your new found energy and may you be pain free!
Sincerely, Debbie

Glad to read these posts..sometimes I can't focus on the future, too busy dealing with the present...and the present is fatigue filled and painful. Off track for alost 6 months now..was amazed to see how hard it was to gain some weight back! But it did come back..I stsrted skipping meals and only eating once a day did the trick..so I gained 10 punds. I know when I started this thing I was feeling crappy and by reading my old entries I see that I DID feel better..I had almost forgotten...I do know that I spent alot of time reading these journals when i was doing so well...so back to what works..Thanks for being here everyone and sharing your selves with others..like me

I agree with all of you that feel better. This is my 2nd wk back and I cleaned a closet today........just because it needed it. I still find it hard to believe how this type of food can change the way I feel. I was sitting around doing nothing and still tired all the time.
I have a disease like FM. It is called reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Painful. I just read that some are experiencing less pain. I am going to pay more attention to my pain level thru out the days. This is usually the worst season of the yr for me.
I do go to water aerobics 2 x a wk. That has helped with my mobility and now with the wt.
I do like low carbing.

I need to add that yesterday I started back at the gym...only stretching in the hot tub and a few easy ;aps yesterday. Today I did the same but ended in the sauna on my back..awsome feeling..moist heat to my upper bnack and neck relieved most opf the tighness and pain! Tuesday I start with a trainer and should be ready for some cardio and light weights..I hope that everyone else can work with me in my goals..it's so hard to try to feel better when you feel like crap! I am like jelly right now with a wee bit of pain to my right upper shoulder and neck! Not too bad The funny thing is that I think my motivation to get moving came after a 3 day (cover your ears children) mini trip with my new guy...LOL He is very wonderful about my illness but the sad part is that I cam home sooo very tired and in major pain...not how I want to spend our time apart...So hopefully I will regain some energy and felxibilty that will affect my love life in a more postive way! He's low carbing too so we have some great meals out and alwasy give each other "attaboys" after doing good on the LC plan! ..Anita