Drug # 3 - Looking for drugs to ease Fibromyalgia pain?

For me, one of the worst Fibro symptoms is the muscle spasms. Mine feels like a monster's rhythmically squeezing bony fingers into my back, ribs and stomach. It's the one thing that makes me feel like I'm going crazy.

Have you ever felt that way? Like you could go crazy from pain?

That's when I bring out the big guns.  Not actual guns - I'm talking about Cyclobenzaprine. Also known as Flexeril. The sunny little pills and my heating pad are the only things that bring relief when that monster starts squeezing.

I need to assure you that I'm not a big pill lover. On the contrary, I generally avoid drugs when possible. But my pain path has covered almost every kind of food restriction and alternative therapy available.

Almost... I haven't tried acupuncture yet, but I will (and I'll take pictures.)

On my trip to Israel, I took a pit stop at The Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on earth. It has a high salt content and is famous for its mud, because people claim it has healing properties for arthritis and other ailments. I don't know about that, but I will say it's tons of fun to sit in a slippery mud hole with 20 non-English speaking people.

The sea is so salty that nothing lives in it and the water can blind you if it gets in your eyes. Also, once you get in chest high water or pick your feet up, you start to float. It's an amazing sensation!

So now, I've bathed in healing waters and touched Jesus' burial stone. Those are two very alternative treatments don't you think?

If you're looking for alternatives, here's a great post by Healthline.

While I wait for healing, I'll keep writing, trying new things and taking my drugs. Life's too awesome to be miserable!
                               
                                        Now that I've shared, tell me what works for you?

Are there levels of faith and does yours measure up?

On Sundays, this space is reserved for God stories. As one of the redeemed, I'd like to share just some of the many things he's done in my life. I hope you'll be encouraged by them!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story - those he redeemed from the hand of the foe. Psalm 107:1-2

Last week I was in Jerusalem for the Easter and Passover holidays.

I've always considered myself to be a faithful person, but then I visited Church of the Sepulchre, which is believed to be the burial place of Jesus.

People come to pray and worship, and it was packed with Easter pilgrims.

I watched the women as they prayed. I watched their bodies as they bent and reached and kissed the Stone of Unction, which is the stone Jesus' body was placed upon after he was taken down from the cross.

This is where the "American me" kicked in. As they were kissing and rubbing it, I thought about germs.

I'm not kidding.

But, I still wanted to touch it, so I squeezed in that open space next to the lady in blue.

I thought it was crazy to come all that way and not touch it, so I laid my hands on it and prayed that Jesus would heal my body and my husband's.

And the lady in blue,  really got in my personal bubble space. She was moving back and forth, gently bumping me. She was "washing" the stone... with holy water or something. She had a bag full of folded notes and clothing and she would rub and pray. I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I looked.

Gosh - I think I look irritated in the picture, but I wasn't - I was just curious. Ok, I kind of was irritated that she was hogging the holiness out of the stone and not taking turns. I looked in her bag and realized...she had clothing in there.

                                                  She was rubbing underwear on it.

Many things run through my head about this, but the bottom line is that this woman was faithful.

She came to the stone with work to do, and nothing was going to stop her from praying over her notes and clothing.

I came and left empty handed and wondering about my level of faith. The Lord told me not to compare, because to him there's no such thing as levels. What matters to him is the heart and the belief that lies within it.

I'm curious. How do you come before God in prayer?

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Heb 11:1