One of the Best Gifts Ever Received

A few years ago, before my diagnosis, my back began to hurt. A sweet friend saw this Mobile Folding File Cart in Office Depot. She thought of me because she knew that doing laundry was one of the hardest parts of my day. She bought it, wrapped it up and gave it to me with her vision. What vision! Her idea was for me to put the lid on the box and roll it down the hall with my laundry on top. I have the tall laundry baskets so it's even easier for me to fit down the hall. Then when I get to the machines the basket is at a good height. I can roll my clean clothes right back down the hall and put the laundry away straight from the basket, again at a great height. I gotta say, that it changed my life. I've used this cart to bring groceries in the house, carry photography equipment to events, tote my scrapbooking supplies around. It is so versatile. It folds up for easy storage. It's only $20. Get two, one for your home and one for your car. I hope that you find it as life-changing as I did.

Almond Crusted Tilapia (for the Candida Diet)

Ingredients:

Tilapia, no skin, thawed if frozen

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Lime zested

Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour

3 Eggs, beaten

Oats

Sliced Almonds

Ground Flaxseed

1 teaspoon Tumeric

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Bowl #1: Lime Zest

Bowl #2: Flour

Bowl #3: Eggs, beaten

Bowl #4: Finely chopped almonds, oats, flaxseed and all other spices.

Directions:

Keep fish cold until ready to cook. In small skillet, put just enough EVOO to cover the bottom of the pan, heat over medium to medium-high. For Bowl #4 use a food processor (I use the Magic Bullet) and pulse the almonds and oats, separately, until finely chopped. Combine all ingredients for bowl #4 so that you get the consistency of bread crumbs. Pat fish dry and coat in bowl #1, then #2, then #3, then #4. Place fish in hot oil and fry about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Tips: To make preparation easier you can omit bowl #4, combine bowls #1 & #4 into a ziploc bag. Dip the fish in the egg mixture and then roll in the ziploc bag.

**all recipes should be adjusted to meet your specific dietary needs, please consult your physician.

http://thisismyfibro.blogspot.com/2010/03/candida-diet.html

Candida Diet

I've read lots of reviews that the Candida Diet works well for Fibromyalgia. Coincidentally, I've got a friend with systemic yeast infection who is on the Candida Diet. For a couple of years now I have been creating recipes for her. I wanted her to be able to enjoy food without the boredom that can accompany the diet. I am not recommending the Candida Diet to anyone, I am just providing fun recipes for those who are one it. You should always consult your physician before making restrictive changes in your diet. I will begin publishing some of those recipes here and hope that they bring others some enjoyment and relief.

Are the Chinese Curing Fibromyalgia?

I recently read National Fibromyalgia Association's article about how cooling and warming foods can acerbate or alleviate your Fibromyalgia and fibrofog. Read it here and let me know what you think.

Boppy Not Just For Babies

I recently read an article on how to make everyday things a little easier. Read it here. I have a lot of shoulder pain from sitting in chairs and in the car. Their solution was to use a microbead neck pillow, place is around the waist so that it went under the arms for support. I've found these smushy pillows don't provide much support. So I decided to get a Boppy pillow at Target. I've been using it while sitting on the couch and it's already helping. I don't drive very far from my house so it's not practical for me to tote it to the car every time I go somewhere, but I do plan to use it on any car trips out of town. This will probably be a $35 well invested.

"My Future's So Bright. . .

. . . I gotta wear shades." My sensitivity to light has become increasingly burdensome with instant nausea and migraines, not able to drive at night, etc. Evidently it is a common side affect of the Fibromyalgia. I recently had an appointment with the opthamologist. She first asked if my Lyrica was helping the sensitivity to light. I guess not because it seems to be getting worse. She said that many times in cases like mine they will actually prescribe Lyrica. But I'm already on it. She said that we could put me on a preventative migraine medicine to help. But before putting me on yet another medication first we'll try glasses. My vision is 20/20 but I still got glasses, two pair actually. I have sunglasses for the day with polarized lenses and some kind of special tint. And I have a pair for cloudy days and nighttime that have an orange tint to help block out the most blue rays and polarized. I don't really understand what all this means I just hope it works. She also gave me some eye drops that I put in about 30 minutes before I go out at night. They are supposed to keep my eyes from dilating and therefore not let in as much light. If those don't work she has another kind that I can try later. The bad news is that we waited until after the New Year so that we could get me on the vision plan. Well, because it associated with the fibro, they ran my appointment through health insurance. And because my glasses didn't require a vision prescription my insurance would not cover them. They suggested that we try to cancel my vision plan and ask for a refund. She was nice enough to give us a 20% discount, but they were still pretty expensive. But since there isn't a prescription they should last a really long time. I know I'm going to be a little self conscious because my lenses are orange. But when I was picking out my frames I found these cool ones that have the stem on the bottom instead of on the top. I figured if my glasses have to be weird looking then I might as well get some cool ones too. Notice the stems in the picture? It kinda makes you want to turn them over. My sunglasses came back first. When I was leaving the office one of the girls said "enjoy that sunshine." It really struck me at that moment. Now maybe I can enjoy the sunshine. I used to, but I've been hiding from it for years now. I look forward to not getting sick with every bit of light that shines my way. I did get a little nauseous on the way home with the adjustment to the glasses, but I could already feel the eyes trying to relax. I could literally feel the strain trying to let up. This could change my life. So how do you like my new glasses?