This article is not intended as medical advice.
It’s my personal story.
I hope you enjoy it as I try to answer the question of are bottled energy drinks bad for people with fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia typically comes with chronic fatigue.
This is a horrible symptom, and it often strikes in the afternoon.
Sometime after lunch you have no energy.
You want to take a nap.
You want some rest.
You don’t feel like doing anything. (Plus your entire body hurts.)
So you pour yourself a cup or coffee or reach for an energy drink.
But please don’t.
That’s because MANY holistic health experts believe in something called adrenal fatigue. It’s not full-fledged adrenal failure. It’s subclinical.
Mainstream doctors typically don’t diagnose it.
But holistic healers do, arguably with anyone who walks through their door.
So I realize adrenal fatigue is a somewhat controversial diagnosis.
But it’s something I’ve been diagnosed with no once, but twice.
At my sickest, energy drinks would be off the menu.
Fibromyalgia And Energy Drinks
So what does this have to do with fibromyalgia?
A lot, actually.
Some holistic healers think that adrenal fatigue and fibromyalgia are the same thing.
The label you receive depends upon where you receive your healthcare. Whether you see a regular doctor or a more natural minded practitioner.
Regular doctors, in general, won’t diagnose adrenal fatigue because they don’t believe it exists.
They either see a perfectly healthy person. Or one with full-blown adrenal failure, a life-threatening condition.
What’s not acknowledged is the big gray area in between.
Before my second diagnosis I was a wreck.
My whole body hurt, especially my lower right back and hip. Sometimes I’d get muscle spasms so severe I could barely walk.
Pain traveled throughout my body, popping up in unexpected places.
My upper left shoulder would ache.
One finger would ache.
My wrists would ache.
I still have aches and pains. This is likely a lifetime condition. But I’ve learned to live with it.
After what can only be described as a lifestyle overhaul, my pain receded.
It hasn’t disappeared. But it usually doesn’t affect my life or get in the way of what I want to do.
During the day I also have plenty of energy, which starts to fade around 7 pm.
But given how sick I was I can’t complain.
So what does this have to do with energy drinks?
Are Energy Drinks Bad For Fibromyalgia?
Early on, I saw my condition as one of adrenal fatigue instead of fibromyalgia.
Given the choice, even though the two conditions can be pretty identical, I’d rather have adrenal fatigue.
That’s because natural healers believe your adrenal glands can become damaged, and sluggish. But it’s possible to restore them, at least partially, if you stop abusing them.
What needed to happen was my stress level needed to be taken down.
This was accomplished by cutting a number of toxic people out of my life, something I should have done much earlier.
There’s growing consensus that chronic pain may be triggered by narcissistic abuse and post traumatic stress.
I also needed to upgrade my diet.
Actually, this was one of the hardest parts because I didn’t want to give up the foods I liked.
But, in the end, it was the best decision I ever made.
While I was at my sickest coffee was off the menu. That’s because it contains caffeine, which is considered bad for people with adrenal fatigue.
Some bottled energy drinks also contain caffeine, so these would have been something I needed to avoid.
(Notice I’m not talking about smoothies or other healthy non-caffeinated drinks, which are often referred to as “energy drinks.”)
An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains about 95 milligrams of caffeine. An energy drink just a little less, at 74 milligrams per average serving of 8.4 ounces.
As difficult as it was, I gave up coffee for a couple of years.
Bottled energy drinks were something I never indulged in. But I’m writing this because I know they’re popular, and they contain a pretty whopping dose of caffeine.
Caffeine is believed to drive your adrenals even harder, when what they desperately need is a rest.
Do Energy Drinks Increase Fibromyalgia Pain?
Once again, please understand that I’m not a doctor or a medical professional.
Everything here is written as my personal experience only.
Discuss all health problems with your own medical team.
If your doctor isn’t open to holistic medical care, considering finding another physician to help.
A big part of my recovery was trying to give my tired adrenal glands a rest.
This was a multi-pronged attack to restore my health.
Giving up coffee and caffeine was just one of the MANY things I did to heal my overstressed adrenal glands.
The good news is that my pain level has decreased significantly. This took a lot of work and it took years.
The better news:
My body has healed to the point where I can drink coffee again and it doesn’t seem to hurt me.
Over the years I tried so many different healing techniques. Some worked. Some didn’t.
I stayed with the ones that worked and abandoned anything that didn’t. You can learn more about it here in my easy-to-follow online course called Natural Pain Management Strategies.
