Welcome to The – So Is Fibromyalgia Real? What I Know Is Real – Blog Resources section, a list of books I have found to be excellent reads, highly knowledgeable, uplifting and inspiring, encouraging and motivating, raising my spirits and giving me pick-me-ups to KEEP THAT SPARK DEEP INSIDE ME LIT by helping me to attain the kind of thinking I need to manage key triggers for my symptoms, stress and sleep while also combating depression, so that every day I can GET UP and KEEP MOVING THROUGH LIFE with fibromyalgia.
I have read every book recommended on this page and only books I find to be truly inspiring in their affect on me and my fibromyalgia journey are included here…only books that I get a life-changing take-away from that is sincerely helpful-to-my-life-with-fibromyalgia would I be compelled to pass on.
And of course, only books that supplement my blog are included because that undoubtedly remains my main focus…relaying my insights learned through twenty-two hard fought, trial and error years of experience living with fibromyalgia…relaying everything I can possibly think of to help others on this same fibromyalgia journey.
Before you take a look, an important disclosure:
Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that I have read all of these books, and I recommend them because they have been and continue to be helpful and inspiring in my long battle with fibromyalgia and my life in general, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these books unless you feel they may be of interest to you in your own battle with fibromyalgia or your life in general.
And a little background:
Why books?
Of all the possible things to recommend to someone battling fibromyalgia? Not massagers or heating pads or special mattresses or special vitamins etc. etc.? Well, for one thing, I don’t use any of those…not to say that anyone else shouldn’t, not at all…it’s just I wouldn’t be the person that knows enough about any of them to recommend them.
But books!? Really!?
So let me explain.
I guess it dates back to my first career, earlier in my life, well over a decade pre-fibromyalgia, working straight commission sales in a high energy, fast paced environment. We used to say we needed to be a ten out of ten every day. I was working long hours, very independently, in a highly competitive industry; I had to be totally self-motivated, a self-starter, if I was going to survive in it, much less thrive.
I learned to look for uplifting, inspirational, motivating…articles, books, fortune cookies …anything, really. And naturally I found books to be a phenomenal source of inspiration.
I found often just one take-away from a book could be life changing for me and made the book more than worthwhile.
It has turned into a way of life for me, keeping my eyes open for new and uplifting ways of thinking…applicable to everything in life…I guess I kind of like finding new ways to look at the world and harness my own personal power to enjoy my everyday life to the fullest…and it has been instrumental in helping me to be a self-starter and able to draw on my own inner strength to propel me forward in mostly everything I’ve done, first my career, then a stint as a stay at home mom, later a business owner, to name a few.
And also…you guessed it…to battle chronic illness…first through ten years of endometriosis earlier in my life and now through over twenty-two years of fibromyalgia. As I’ve talked about in many posts, I’ve found a key thing in battling my fibromyalgia (if not THE key thing) is keeping stress in check; it’s quite possibly the main trigger of all my symptoms, that and poor sleep (which is also affected by my stress level).
And as I explained in my post about stress, “I always realize that, more often than not, it’s not the actual circumstances or events going on in my life that are causing me the stress…the stress is coming from HOW I’M THINKING ABOUT THEM.” I can’t always change the circumstances in my life, but I CAN ALWAYS change the way I think about them.
So if I feel stressed or not, no matter what is happening in my life, usually comes down to my ability to think in ways so as NOT to LET these life circumstances stress me.
It’s what I’ve been doing my whole adult life…finding ways to think, to latch onto, to stay positive (and sometimes just not be depressed) and inspired and motivated. I guess it comes down to shaping my mind-set to be able to handle (well) whatever life throws at me and just be happy overall. My ability to keep upbeat, well, it helps life with fibromyalgia feel much nicer, and when I get off track on this (and I do at times!), this ability I’ve been building over the years, well, it helps lead me back to a place where it’s much nicer again.
While I’ll keep constantly gleaning these little gems to shape my mind-set from anywhere I can…articles, fortune cookies, wherever…because, well, it’s what I do…now that my kids are largely raised, I finally have more time to sit down and enjoy full books again for that extra boost, and yes, even sometimes a long lasting life changing inspiration.
And I’ll share them with others…with you… and relay what I believe their value could be to someone battling fibromyalgia…what their value is to me and my fibromyalgia…as an added dimension to my blog while I continue to write my posts that share insight of my own almost twenty-two years of experience living (well) with and managing fibromyalgia.
As I said earlier, often I may get one or two key take-aways that are life changing for me…I consider that totally well worth reading that book.
But don’t get me wrong, if I do share a book and include it here on my site, I thoroughly recommend the entire book, or else I wouldn’t even be mentioning it here. And who knows what each person’s take away will be from a book? Yours could be very different from mine. Whatever jumps out at you, resonates with you, your take-away, depends on, well…YOU.
What I know is real is that no matter what’s going on in my life…the mental side of how I’m dealing with it is by far the most important…and this is no truer than with my fibromyalgia!
And now on to what I consider:
LIFE CHANGING READS
Herein is a brief description of each book. In each book description I’ve linked to a post that more fully relates the awesome and inspiring, superb and motivating nature of the book and what its unique value to those of us with fibromyalgia might be.
Happy reading!
Richard Carlson’s “DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF…and it’s all small stuff” is a total gem of a book, an ongoing little couple-pages-a-day stress support system, my everyday pick-me-up, my every night little escape-to-nice-thoughts before I drift off to sleep.
CLICK BOOK TO BUY
It’s such a phenomenal little “life” kind of book for anyone…very specific, simple yet powerful strategies…laid out in super short, easy, insightful and supportive-to-read, mostly one and a half page “chapters”…things one can start doing immediately…positive illuminating things…things that help one respond to life more calm and stress-free.
Stress-free!?…that always sets off my radar and grabs my attention…because I absolutely know less stress can only be a good thing for my fibromyalgia…a very good thing!
Read more in the “DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF…and it’s all small stuff and Fibromyalgia” post.
Claudia Herbert’s “OVERCOMING Traumatic Stress 2nd Edition A self-help guide using cognitive behavioral techniques” is an amazing self help guide that has given me a totally renewed perspective, some incredible insight and depth to my understanding of traumatic stress and some new tools I am excited to be trying.
CLICK BOOK TO BUY
And above all, the message that came through loud and clear to me as I read this book is…
I’m not alone.
What I’m experiencing is normal for the circumstances that happened to me.
It’s not my fault.
But there IS something I can do about it.
The book’s aim is to help those in the grip of trauma make sense of their situation by understanding why their reactions are happening under their circumstances (through no fault of their own!). Then it gently guides them to find the confidence and courage within themselves to start or continue their journey to manage their traumatic stress, to reconnect to their strength again and finally, to take control of their recovery process.
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And because I initially read the first edition a few years back and still find it to be an excellent option for those who would like a bit less extensive (and less reading), but still comprehensive guide on overcoming traumatic stress, I’m including a link to it as well…“OVERCOMING TRAUMATIC STRESS A self-help guide using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques” by Claudia Herbert and Ann Wetmore.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, by its very name, is a stress…and as I’ve talked at length about in a post, stress, any(!) stress, is a leading trigger for most if not all of my fibromyalgia symptoms, so as someone with traumatic stress in my background, this self-help guide has been eye opening and life changing for my journey of overcoming and healing.
Read more in the “OVERCOMING Traumatic Stress…Fibromyalgia and PTSD” post.
Chris Winter’s “THE SLEEP SOLUTION Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix it” is a compelling and eye-opening sleep self-discovery guide that reinforced and explained what I’ve been seeing playing out in my body for close to two decades now with fibromyalgia.
See, I’ve been getting my life back these last five years…my full life…particularly my energy…my time…my feeling of well being. Ever so slowly, but surely, it’s all coming back.
And the major thing I changed?
Sleep.
I FIXED MY SLEEP.
That’s what I attribute it to.
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And with respect to fixing our sleep, I’ve noticed that once you understand the inner workings of our brains and bodies with respect to sleep and then see the solution laid out in front of you, it always amazes me, how easy it is to pinpoint your specific sleep issue and what you are doing wrong, how much sense these solutions make, how incredibly doable they are and how you just know they will work once you now understand!
This is exactly what this solutions-oriented book does. The book makes this complex issue of sleep especially easy to understand, giving all the knowledge you need to discover what is preventing you from sleeping well, then translating that knowledge into the creation of real, actionable, easy to implement solutions.
Sleep problems demystified…and solved.
And for those of us with fibromyalgia, I can’t think of anything that could be more helpful than this encouraging and reassuring book showing us that achieving healthy sleep IS possible while also showing us how to make the most of the sleep we DO get!
Read more in the “THE SLEEP SOLUTION…Fibromyalgia and Sleep” post.
Sanjay Gupta’s “KEEP SHARP: Build a Better Brain at Any Age” is an enlightening, encouraging, optimistic and rather comforting powerhouse of a book aimed at giving us all the knowledge and tools we need to “BUILD A BETTER BRAIN”, starting tomorrow. I was captivated by the book’s optimism right from the start and was not disappointed as I came away more hopeful than ever about my fibro fog with exciting new knowledge and very doable new suggestions to add into my routines.
He details “simple interventions all of us can make right away that can have a significant impact on our cognitive function and long-term brain health”. He debunks all those myths we’ve all heard and replaces them first with a comprehensive review of the science and latest cutting edge brain research, followed by concrete, practical actions that WE can be doing THIS MINUTE to think and be sharper.
CLICK BOOK TO BUY
Not only did I find the book exceedingly promising in terms of helping to improve my fibro fog, I discovered so many more possibilities for improving the quality of my life with fibromyalgia within the pages.
It turns out building a better brain also helps us to withstand ongoing trauma, stave off depression, retain cognitive memory, improve resilience, have a more optimistic attitude, improve physically, increase our pain tolerance, decrease our need for medications, accelerate our ability to heal, be more productive, feel less overwhelmed, and navigate life with ease and joy!
And having had fibromyalgia for over two decades now I found this vast amount of possibilities for improvement to be both eye opening and reassuring, but especially motivating, to get using all these new tools from the book to help continue my fight, confident in the knowledge that I am on the right track!
Read more in the “KEEP SHARP”…Fibromyalgia and Our Brain post.