Do you try to take care of yourself? Do you take your meds and/or supplements like you should, pace yourself, and do the things you know help ease your symptoms?
How well you do those things is called your self-efficacy. If you're consistent about doing the right things, you have good self-efficacy. If not, perhaps it's something you need to focus on.
You may be wondering, "Does it really make a difference?" According to research, yes it does. And it may make a really big difference.
A recent study published in Arthritis Care & Research says self-efficacy was the single biggest determinant of:
- Pain intensity
- Physical function
- Depression
Could your self-efficacy be improved? Learn more about it here: Essential Fibromyalgia Coping Skills.
Has good self-efficacy made a difference for you? Is it something you had to learn? Leave your comments below!
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I try to keep to a routine. I’m in bed to sleep by 10:30pm, and I wake naturally, between 6:30 – 8: am. My mornings are usually for an exercise class, unless I need a bath. That takes a few hours to recover from.
I eat the same diet most of the time. Consisting of organic fruit, yoghurt, nuts and berries, oatmeal, sardines for lunch or salad, and protein with vegetables for dinner or pasta.
I try to forgive the past, I take a pass on anything I’ve learned from and I don’t do “if onlys” anymore. It’s just not healthy for me.
I try to be grateful for the life I have. My exercise usually consists of Yoga, Feldenkrais, and Pilates classes. I have a massage twice a month and I rest at home in the afternoons. I don’t do housework or cooking anymore as my family pitches in.
I take meds, Xyrem for sleep, multi-vitamins and 50,000 icu of D once a week. Bone up for calcium, fish oil, and CoQ10. and I live in a happy marriage of more than 45 years. I listen to my body, and rest when I need to. I take a community college class to keep my brains sharp.
Fibro Suffer Losing Weight with Odds Stacked Against Me
I joined Curves because I am very over weight especially in the abdominal area. I have back problems and pain which continues to get worse. I have fibromyalgia, an autoimmune disease and many other health problems. So exercising is painful and exhausting for me. Plus I take many medications one being prednisone which causes me to gain weight! I have been a prediabetic for several years in January I was diagnosis with the first stages of Type 2 diabetes. So with the new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes looming in my future I knew I had to do something. I had heard that people with fibro had had good success with the work outs at Curves. I have terrible pain with just regular walking so I was really hoping Curves would be the answer. The Curves Ladies of Tullahoma were so wonderful they worked with me and were very encouraging. Even with the odds stacked against me I lost 14 pounds and 17 inches after my first three months of Curves work outs. That’s with taking my medications and eating as healthy as I can. When I went back for my second test for Type 2 diabetes it was normal. The weight loss from the exercise had worked I am now back to a pre diabetic stage. I will have to continue to exercise and loose weight or I will convert to a full type 2 diabetic it is in my future. The workouts at Curves do make me tired but I recover after resting. I do have discomfort but nothing like when I try to walk on a treadmill. The Curves program has been a lifesaver for me. In the last six weeks I have lost eight and half more pounds and four and half more inches. I am so happy I discovered Curves and that they believe in fibromyalgia and will help people with fibro reach their goal of weight loss
CDBTullahoma
Great article! Excellent advice about the hardest thing we must do.
Too true, it can be very tough at times! For the most part I am able to do what I need to (avoid certain foods, take my vitamins, pacing) but there are days that I just get so sick of being a ‘sick person’ that my self-care isn’t great because I need a break from it, which is okay. I just get back on the horse as soon as I can!
Since I am now officially “retired” I am able to take it easy most of the time and learned a LONG time ago to pace myself. I have had CFS for over 30 years and have learned that it is VERY important to keep up the supplements. Many times I thought that I should be able to cut back on some of them, but when I dropped the doses, I soon found that I had to bump them back up to keep them all topped up every single day.
I count out my supplements and meds EVERY evening and take them after every meal and at bedtime. I rarely forget to take the supplements and when I do, I usually notice more fatigue. I am lucky not to have too much pain, and I believe that several of the supplements are helpful to me in that respect. The thyroid meds are also helpful to keep the pain down and I try to make sure that the levels are optimized. I also found that optimal Vitamin D levels really helped my hip pain. My doc thought that I could decrease the D and when I did, I got that pain back in my hip. Just a couple of days back on my regular dose and the pain disappeared!!