If I sleep well, cognitive difficulties are rare. This is true of most people with fibromyalgia, if not all. Another very important component to my well-being. The effect on me of failing to exercise is truly dramatic. If I stop, within a few days my pain level starts to climb and I start to feel depressed.
Endorphins are the brain's natural painkillers and also metabolize into serotonin.
Low serotonin, a characteristic of most people with fibromyalgia, is associated with depression and also with a high level of the neurohormone Substance P, the brain chemical that signals pain. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that morning achiness is a trap, trying to keep me from exercising, but if I don't exercise I feel much worse than if I do. Some days I am easier on myself than others in the number of reps of the floor exercises that I do and the amount of resistance on the cross trainer, but even on my worst days I do some aerobic exercise. But instead of that kind of body work, for about 18 months I took lessons in the Alexander Technique of body mechanics. This is a very gentle way of learning to hold your body for maximum mechanical advantage and minimum pain.