Wow, time has honestly flown by for me. It's been over a year since I was officially diagnosed with Firbomyalgia (May 2016, initial Diagnosis, August 2016 Confirmation of Diagnosis by Rheumatologist). Like always, I've spent much of my time reading medical journals and searching for treatment options. Below I will list all that I've learned in this last year about how to treat the pain and other symptoms of Fibromyalgia. A few of them I have tested myself and there's one that I can honestly say is my absolute favourite so far.

CBD Oil
This is a big one amongst the "all natural" crowd. However, even those who don't care where something comes from rave about it. Cannabinoid oil is an oil derived from the cannabis plant that can contain little to no THC (the ingredient that makes you high) while providing extensive pain relief and acting a sleep aid.

(I have yet to try this one out myself as I'm waiting for the Cannabis Act to pass next summer, but you can find out more from WebMD, the US National Institute of Health, and CBD Oil Review.)

Low Dose Naltroxone
This one I have only really heard rumors about in my fibromyalgia communities. I think more research needs to be done, but from what I hear it is provides both pain relief and alleviates the symptoms of depression.

(Here is a study on the effectiveness of LDN on fibro patients and here is an article breaking down said study.)

TENS Machines
Did you ever think that electrocuting yourself was a good idea? Yeah, I didn't either until I learned about using TENS units for muscle and nerve pain. I originally was looking into getting physiotherapy, but then I found out that many physiotherapists use TENS units on their patients and charge $80/hr. I could buy my own unit on Amazon for less than that and use it whenever I wanted! So, I did just that.

After owning one for over a year now, I have to say I don't regret that purchase one bit. The TENS unit sends little shocks to your muscle in rhythmic patterns to help loosen them and get them to release any tension. On some of my worst days, I've found it to really help the cramping in my arms, legs and back.

(You can learn more about it here or check out the ones available to buy on Amazon.)

Trigger Point Injections
I saved the best for last as this is currently my favourite treatment out of everything I've researched. After the intial diagnosis from my doctor, I asked to be referred to any specialist who specifically treated Fibromyalgia. It took seven months of waiting, but in December of last year I was finally allowed to join a special pain clinic in my area called CHANGEPain. They offered classes in fibromyalgia and how to live with chronic pain as well as a variety of treatment options. After my introductory class, I was recommended to start the trigger point injections. This is basically a Western medicine version of acupuncture that the BC government has recently agreed to cover under their provincial insurance plan.

Now, I know. The name of the treatment sounds a bit scary. It does use needles, which concerned me. But when you're struggling with chronic pain, the desperation for relief can push you through any fear. Either way, it isn't as bad as it sounds. Trigger point injections are a simple procedure, often performed by accredited Anesthesiologists, occasionally general practitioners may offer the service in more remote locations. The treatment is really basic: the doctor will take a small dry or slightly medicated needle and poke it into the fascia (the tissue surrounding your muscles) to decrease pain and release tension in the muscles. While yes, the experience can sting, I have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I get the needle treatments about every two weeks now, and I have definitely seen improved function and movement. My quality of life has improved drastically since I began TPIs. This is something I recommend all Fibromyalgia patients try to see if they too can improve their every day ability.

(To learn more about trigger point injections, are two studies (A & B) as well as an article discussing how TPIs can help.)

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These are all of the new treatments I discovered this year and hopefully this list can be helpful to other fibromyalgia patients out there who may not know about all of their options. Next year I hope to try even more treatments and I will report back on whether they've turned out to be helpful.

Dana~


"Have you tried any of the above treatments? How did they work for you? Do you have more suggestions for treatment options? Post down in the comments below to let me know what you think!"

What on earth am I supposed to do with myself?

I'm asking honestly here. My partner and I haven't been apart for more than three days prior to this and him being gone six days for a conference seems like an eternity. We aren't very co-dependent, we tend to do our own things, but generally we're just around each other or in the same space when we're both home. My schedule also tends to revolve around his since I don't work much due to my illness. I go to bed when he goes to bed, I wake up when he wakes up (maybe I go back to sleep after, but he's like my first alarm for the day. I know it's morning when he's up and moving.), and I plan to eat/make dinner around when he gets home from work. While I'm super excited that he gets to go abroad for this conference (all the way to Sweden no less!), I'm also a bit beside myself as I have no idea what this next week is going to look like.

Kissing him goodbye this morning was surreal and I felt nervous. I'm going to miss him and worry about him like crazy, but this is something I should get used to doing. He may have to go on more business trips as time goes on. For now, I'll just settle in and do things on...my schedule? Ugh, that sounds weird. I'll just keep busy by watching dramas I need to catch up on and working on my partner's crafty Christmas present.

And yes, Netflix, I'm still awake. Please play the next episode, I'm trying to see how many it takes until this week is over.

Dana~


"Have you ever struggled being apart from your significant other? Do you like it when they go away on business/personal trips? Do you go with them every time they travel? Leave me a comment below!"

For almost 7 years, I have viewed the world the same way. After a certain point people started to question my choice. "How have you not changed your mind yet?" or "Don't you get tired of it?" The answer was always a resounding "No," to anyone who asked. Then, just a few weeks back my partner finally urged me to make the change.

"You know, it's really time to try something new. It's been years!"

I pouted. I pleaded. Then I plodded around all mopey. I didn't want to change. I liked everything the way it was already.

My partner booked the appointment and I nervously went along with it all. He was right, it was time to make a change, but that didn't make me feel any better. I was really anxious about it because this had been a part of who I was for so many years. Seeing a medical professional about it only made the situation feel heavier.

After the initial exam, I spent some time trying to pick what I wanted off a shelf of hundreds that all looked alike.

"This doesn't suit me. I'm not a 40's-something-business man."

"That works better for a child, not a grown woman."

"Why is there nothing that looks like mine? Has my opinion really fallen out of fashion?"

Finally, I decided on something that was almost the opposite of my old faithful style. It had some similarities to my current point of view, but it felt entirely different once I tried it on. At first, my reflection didn't look like me. The shadows it cast created new lines and hid old ones. I tried different angles, different lighting. It wouldn't be the same no matter how much I wanted it to be. There was no going back though, it was time. As we forked over several hundred dollars at the register, I tried to understand how on Earth I was going to adapt to this. I nervously chewed on my lip while we walked out of the shop. There was whole week I had to wait and stew over this choice before it was ready.

The days crawled by, and I felt more and more anxious. When the time finally came to retrieve it, I was a ball of nerves. Setting aside the old and replacing it with the new was certainly an experience. The face looking back at me was different, but after seven years, I was a different person. Maybe it was time to accept my growth and that way I have changed. I wasn't 17 anymore. I'm almost 24-years-old.

Hopefully, my new glasses reflect who I feel I've become.



"What was it like for you when you made a major change to your everyday look? Was it new glasses? A new haircut? How did it make you feel? Let me know in the comments down below!"

Well, it's been a few months since I began using Lush's face routine. I also reviewed the routine at the one month mark which you can read in part three of my skincare adventures. Now, as time went on, the routine changed a little bit here and there. I started to notice certain things working and other things just not working at all.

Over the summer, with a lovely heatwave and subsequent drought, my skin went through quite a bit. There was a lot of sweating and harsh temperature changes as I went from hot outdoors to cool air-conditioned rooms. It was interesting to see if the Lush products would withstand this test. Not all survived and those losers happened to be in the morning routine.

Now this is a bit sad to report seeing as I really raved about Kalamazoo and Enzymion in my last post. However, I found that over a period of a few months both those products left me feeling super oily and gross during the day. Also, a few weeks after my last post, I noticed I was starting to develop even more acne and these spots only seemed to appear in the afternoon. So as sad as I was to do it, I scrapped Kalamazoo and Enzymion from my routine and made my night routine a twice a day event. This helped clear up some of the new acne problems I developed and I started to feel a little cleaner during the day.

However, after 4 months of use, I'm still not seeing any major improvement in the original issues I had. My acne is less, sure, but not by very much. I still get pretty oily by mid-day, and my pores are still damn huge! Overall, for the money I spent I'm pretty disappointed by my results. For now, I will continue to use Coalface and Grease Lightning until I figure out my next routine in this adventure.

The updated score for the Lush routine is 5/10.

Dana~

Love is definitely in the air as wedding season has already started. I was packing for my trip to a friend's wedding in Manitoba when I got the news that another friend was engaged. Yet another pair of our friends had also gotten married during the spring. It seemed like that time of my life was beginning where everyone around me was getting married and it brings me such joy! I do enjoy seeing couples in love and it makes me snuggle my partner that much more.

This month I got to fly out with my partner to one of his best friend's wedding in Winnipeg, MB. This was my partner's college stomping grounds and a part of Canada I had never visited, so I was super excited. I also finally got to meet all of his college friends in person instead of over voice-chat while we all played video games together. There was some mingling and sight-seeing before the wedding, and I truly loved it all. Winnipeg was not how I expected it to be at all, far more historical and artsy than I was lead to believe, and the families of the bride and groom were super friendly and welcoming.

When the day of the wedding arrived, I even felt nervous. It was a big event, I think there were over 300 people attending. My partner was in the bridal party so he had extra duties to attend to and I had to be on my own during the ceremony. This was fine as since the wedding as in a Catholic church, I got to spend some time reconnecting with my spiritual side as while I'm agnostic that doesn't mean I'm totally against having faith. I was also raised with Christian values since my father was Catholic so I felt comfortable in the space. The only awkward parts for me were following along during the ceremony as the guests would sing hymns and recite prayers, I did my best to keep up despite not knowing the verses very well. It was such a beautiful ceremony and watching our friend and his lovely bride get married moved me to tears. The bride was stunning and witnessing how much they both loved each other made my heart swell.

Afterwards there was a short break for pictures and then it was off to the hall for the reception. I sat amongst strangers, but we had delightful conversations about the surprisingly good food (steak AND chicken on the same plate, I felt spoiled!) and how we got to know the couple. There were speeches and family concerts (the groom came from a very musical family) to begin the night, as well as a slideshow of pictures of the couple from when they were kids. I even helped operate a computer at one point during someone's speech as there was a lot going on all at once.

After the formal part of the reception was over, the dancing begun and I got to reunite with my partner. We danced, chatted with friends and enjoyed the open bar. It was a lively evening and I had so much fun. I can only hope that one day when I get married that I can have such a wonderful time too. If this is the beginning of a long line of weddings and celebrations of love in my life, I welcome it all with open arms.

Dana~


"What was it like when all your friends started to get married? Did you enjoy the celebrations? Do you even like weddings? What was the funniest thing you saw at a wedding? Tell me all your stories in the comments below!"

My skin has slowly recovered from my last foray into cleansing products but it took almost a month of just plain water washing to get it there. The stress from my move did not help, and let's just say it's time to tackle my acne once more.

Now after the issues I had with heavy duty cleansers like Neutrogena and OXY, I figured it was time to try something a little more natural and if I was going to go that route why not turn to a great local company? Of course, my choice was going to be Lush. Since I moved to Burnaby a couple months back, I've been spending more and more time at Metropolis at Metrotown. This means I end up passing by the beautiful smelling Lush store on the regular and it's really hard not to follow those lovely scents into the shop. Well, about a month I go I ventured into the Lush store and decided to ask for some help finding a skincare routine to deal with my acne.

One of the lovely ladies in the soap section happily sat down with me and demonstrated several products for me. We went over my needs and she showed me a variety of things that could help. I also ended up a learning a thing or two about what my previous routines have been lacking. Turns out, moisturizer is a thing. Also, it should be used daily. I felt a little hesitant (oh, god the oil slicks!), but I was assured that moisturizer is necessary for every skin type.

Anyways, at the end I walked away with a bar of Coalface, a pot of Kalamazoo, a pot of Enzymion, a pot of Dark Angels, a tub of Cup O' Coffee, a tall bottle of Tea Tree Water and a little bottle of Grease Lighting. This was an expensive trip, but I felt determined at this point. I had a whole routine and it was supposedly much better for my skin than the harsher drugstore products.

Now this routine was a bit complex for me, the person who balks at washing her face twice a day. So a typical day in the life of this routine was a bit long. In the morning, I'd wash my face with Kalamazoo and put on the moisturizer Enzymion afterwards. If I showered, I would put Cup O' Coffee on for 15 minutes prior to getting into the shower. If it was the end of the week, I would skip Cup O' Coffee and instead use Dark Angel in the shower and let it sit while I washed my hair.  If at any point during the day I felt oily, I was to spritz some Tea Tree Water on and let that sit on my face while dabbing anything that dripped off my chin with a tissue.  At night, I was supposed to wash my face using the Coalface bar. Afterwards, I would then apply Grease Lightning to any spots on my face.

Did that seem like a lot to you? It certainly felt like a lot to me. I gave up on Cup O' Coffee within about a week. Showering was already a chore for me as the warm water and standing were painful due to my fibromyalgia, so working up to having a shower finally and then having to wait another 15 minutes was just not worth it. The Tea Tree Water also fell to the wayside. It felt a little gimmicky and I didn't really enjoy sitting around with a wet face.

Overall though, I really liked the face washing routine. Kalamazoo in the morning, followed by Enzymion and Coalface at night followed by Grease Lighting seemed to be working. My acne was lessening and I noticed my pores felt a little tighter, maybe even smaller.  The Enzymion and Kalamazoo smell amazing and I loved smelling citrus-y in the morning. My partner loved the scent too. Using the Coalface bar was a strange experience, I didn't like the scent (I mean, who likes black licorice anyway?) and it was strange to actually rub my face with a bar of soap. The Grease Lighting though was the fun part because after about five minutes it felt like my face skin had been clamped with clothes pins on either side. It was quite the silly feeling, but I think the night routine as a whole was having the biggest impact on my acne.

I'll give this Lush routine a 7/10 for now. I'm going to continue using it over the summer and I'll post an update as part four of this series.

Dana~

I know I'm a little old to be moving out for the first time, (and if you count my time in England, this is actually my second move) but I feel like everything's going to change and I'm both excited and a little scared.

I can totally do this. Paying bills, grocery shopping by myself and all that jazz isn't a problem; I've done that. The packing and moving of furniture, with the help of friends and family, also isn't the hard part. I think leaving my parents home for, what I assume will be, good is a bit scary. I love them to death, and being apart from them while abroad was really hard. They are my support system and I worry about them a lot. Coming downstairs to tell my parents something new I learned or to discuss the news I just read was something I really enjoyed. Dinners where we all sat down and watched a movie on demand or holidays where we decorated to the nines are some of my best memories. The thought of giving that up hurts.

To be fair though, I'm not giving it all up really. I still get to see my parents a couple times a week as we're only a half-hour's drive apart. I can call and talk to them whenever as well. We can go over to each other's house for coffee and tea. We can still visit for holidays. Somewhere deep down though, I know it won't be the same. However, that's okay. I'm moving on into a new chapter in my life. I'm moving in with my partner and a group of friends closer to the city than I've ever been. The SkyTrain is almost on my doorstep and I can now do things my way instead of the method my family prefers. There's a lot more freedom in this new chapter and with it comes more opportunities for discovering new quirks about myself. I get to grow and develop in new directions that I never even considered.

This will be a good change for me, but I'll still always miss and be grateful to my Mom and Dad.

After my initial test of washing my face with water, I decided it was time to move onto the tried and true methods. For my next test, I wanted to try out a routine that I was familiar with as a teenager. Ooh, can't you just smell the salicylic acid already? Yes, that's right I tried Neutrogena and OXY. Most specifically, I used Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Cleansing Cloths and OXY Deep Cleaning Medicated Acne Pads.

Now, the Neutrogena cloths I remember using as a kid because my mom bought them to help clean up my acne. They came in a deep blue box back then and I hated them. It was just another chore to me and I wasn't about to do that. (Sorry, Mom.)  Anyways, now they come in this lovely orange box and I almost missed that deep blue box that eventually came to hold my pencils and other knick-knacks.

The OXY pads on the other hand were not something I used, but had been recommended to me by my partner as he used them growing up. They had a much stronger smell than I was expecting and came in a stark black and red little bottle. I figured from the way they were presented that the OXY pads would be the stronger of the two products.

My basic routine using the cloth and pads went like this: I washed my face twice a day using the Neutrogena cloths and a little bit of warm water. Afterwards, I would dry my face with a towel and then I'd apply one of the OXY pads to my skin. It was pretty simple to follow and hard to mess up.

After trying them for a month, I learned a fair bit about my skin and what it likes. It did not like this

Yes, my acne appeared to get a little bit better. I had less super large pimples, but breakouts still occurred and they didn't seem to go away any faster either. My pores were still huge and the blackheads never went away. The only major change was that I was no longer oily! Nope, no more oil slicks. Just so much dryness. My face became the Sahara, and I was not impressed. Honestly, I think I need to go back to just a water cleanse for a while before I try a new product.
routine, not at all. Now I don't have dry skin, not even close. However, while using this routine, my skin decided it hated moisture and began to flake. Yuck! That was not what I was expecting at all.

I'm going to give the Neutrogena cloths and OXY pads a 4/10 for lessening the acne and killing the oil-slick, but it created a whole new dryness problem that I now need to find a way to fix.

Dana~

While I would usually jump into something with both feet, I felt like throwing everything at my skin right away was a bad idea. So the first thing I decided to try was washing my face with... (wait for it!)... water. Yes, you heard me. Plain water. This idea was less of a whole routine to try, but mostly to get a baseline for my skin and for my rating system. As far as I know, I have oily skin which is why I get so many zits. Hopefully, even a little cleansing will nip that in the bud.