Tag: labour with fibromyalgia

Why I’ve Gone as Natural as Possible Fighting Fibromyalgia while Pregnant

Posted on by melissanreynolds

Let’s start this conversation off right, some medicines definitely necessary, I’m not anti medicine, I’m just pro natural options first, for myself. Especially during pregnancy. Especially because I already have two medicines I need to take to survive.

After two pregnancies with wildly under treated pain, I was determined this one would be better. Plus I had a four year old, a one year old, a job and a blog.

Yoga and meditation have been my mainstays for a long time. I’ve also paid $60 a fortnight for physiotherapy for several years now because I’d rather skimp and take that than utilise the heavily subsidised medicine I’d have to take instead. New Zealand has a public system and for some reason they will subsidise medicines but not physiotherapy for Fibromyalgia.
why i've gone as natural as possible fighting fibromyalgia while pregnant. options for pregnancy with fibromyalgia

A note to remember

Let us just remember, as I mention a lot in my pregnancy diaries videos that I am super thankful that low dose naltrexone (LDN) is helping me so much that I don’t need pain relief other than the occasional Panadol and the things I mention below. I don’t take this for granted and I remember well from my last two pregnancies the pain levels that can occur. I also know that in the event the symphysis pubis disorder gets worse, I may need to stop so that I can take other pain relief (codeine is contraindicated with LDN) and everything would change in that case.

What I’ve been researching for pregnancy with Fibromyalgia

For the last few months I’ve researched essential oils, herbs and other more natural options and more recently, for pregnancy.

Essential oils in pregnancy is something you’ll want to personally research and hopefully have a practitioner you can speak with, here’s a webinar and article about using essential oils for pregnancy, nursing and babies.

Here’s my posts for Natural Pain Relief Options

Here’s a round up of what I’ve been using for pregnancy with Fibromyalgia this time:

Affiliate notice: Please note that some of my links are affiliate links and I may make a small commission if you make a purchase using my link at no extra cost to you. Every little bit helps me to keep creating resources.

Essential Oils

Peppermint – headache and nausea
Ginger – nausea
Lavender – pain relief

Supplements

Magnesium oil – people with fibromyalgia are generally recommended to take magensium oilmagnesium but in pregnancy this is especially helpful for leg cramps.
MSM – I have read the research and had a discussion with my doctor and chosen to continue taking it as it’s the only thing to help with my finger and wrist joint pain.

Other

Morning Sickness bands – these work on acupressure points in your wrist for nausea.
Arnica cream – arnica cream has been recommended as a natural option for pain relief.
If you want to learn even more information about pain relief during pregnancy, then Pain Managementmicro coursecheck out my 15-page printable PDF Pregnancy with Fibromyalgia Micro Course Workbook. It goes through the existing information about pain relief during pregnancy, my experiences, a list of natural pain relief options, a list of further reading, a template to make your own pain relief plan (pregnancy edition) with space for notes and the brand new Advanced Pain Relief sheet with links to research about medicine use in pregnancy. I have gathered the information and created these printables to make it easier for you to make the best decisions for yourself- it took me years to get it all together.

Looking forward to labour with Fibromyalgia

I’ve been reading the Spinning Babies website for daily and weekly activities to help baby with natural positioning (I’ve had both prolonged labours and a posterior baby). There are stretches and inversions and all sorts for good positioning and to relieve pain in the back and pelvis.

I’m also looking at using a Rebozo scarf for later pregnancy comfort and during labour, which you may read about on the Spinning Babies site.

The peanut ball is also something I am considering for use later in pregnancy and inpeanut ball labour – especially if the symphysis pubis disorder gets worse and makes my plan to birth on all fours and without an epidural disappear. You can lie on your side (with or without an epidural) and place the peanut ball between your legs for good positioning and comfort. I am learning lots from this YouTubing delivery nurse.

My swiss ball will also feature heavily in my pelvis care plan – sitting on it in generally is good for you, but also hip circles and tilts on the ball are very helpful for keeping things moving. It is also useful from week 36/37 when I want to start getting baby down (bouncing gentle on the ball).

I hope this gives you an overview of what I have been looking into to help direct you in your research for managing the fibromyalgia while pregnant.

For more information:

Come and join the Fibromyalgia and Pregnancy group on Facebook to chat through pregnancy, parenting and fibromyalgia.
Pregnancy and Fibro eCourse
Check out my course Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia for five full modules about managing Fibromyalgia while pregnant – and how you can access it for free.