Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that leaves you feeling lethargic and in pain seemingly 99% of the time.
Fibro makes everyday tasks challenging, such as getting out of bed, taking a shower, or even getting dressed.
Never mind playing with the kids, driving them around and to work, working, standing up for long periods, cooking, cleaning, and everything else you do, super mama.
Therefore, it’s imperative to have a few Firomyalgia hacks for pain and fatigue up your sleeve.
This post is a compilation of the very best hacks for Fibro so you can beat the pain and navigate through your fatigue without letting it get the best of you every time.
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Best Fibro hacks for pain and fatigue
Most of these hacks I use myself, so I know they work and bring relief.
Others I’ve learned from Fibro mamas who hail ’em as worthwhile and effective.
I know you’ll find these hacks helpful too.
Happy hacking!
1. Laundry basket on wheels
Stop carrying heavy laundry baskets and straining your already achy back, legs, and knees.
Instead, use laundry baskets with wheels to do the heavy lifting for you.
This one is sturdy plastic with wheels and a lid to hide any unsightlies.
You could also use a foldable farmer’s market cart and insert a mesh hamper to keep smaller clothes from falling out.
Wheels aside, I’ve found that the horizontal laundry baskets are easier to carry with a full load than the long vertical ones.
2. Shower stool
If you don’t have Fibromyalgia, you don’t know how much energy it takes to simply shower.
Use a shower stool so you can sit when you need to, like after a long day of standing or walking. Or even simply wading to the bathroom from your bed.
This way, you won’t use up all of your precious energy.
3. Hot brush instead of a blow dryer
I’ve never been much of a hair dryer kind of girl, but I know how much arm strength it takes to blow dry your hair (I definitely was hooked on the hair straightener from middle to high school).
So to save on strength and spoons, use a hot brush instead of a blow dryer.
A hot brush saves you time and energy because you’re blow-drying your hair as you’re brushing it smooth.
This hot brush had great reviews on Amazon for its lightweight and ease of use.
(On a side note, I’ve found that blow-drying can my hair can hurt my scalp, so I usually avoid it. You may want to consider the blow dryer as a potential aggressor if you deal with this pain)
4. Tiny handheld vacuum
Vacuums are darn heavy.
Fibromyalgia makes carrying even your own body feel like 1,000 pounds.
So lugging a heavy vacuum around is a surefire way to sap your energy and tack on the pain.
I’ve gone through days-long flares because I decided I felt good enough one day to clean the house.
Apparently, I overdo it sometimes – a common mistake of even seasoned Fibromites.
Even though in the moment – even going to bed the day of your accomplishment – you may feel okay for once.
Yet, the most consistent thing about Fibromyalgia is its inconsistency.
So vacuuming is sometimes best avoided.
Yet living in a house of squalor is not appealing.
So what you need is a handheld vacuum.
A small handheld vacuum gets the crumbs from the kids without you lifting 15 pounds, about the average weight of a vacuum. This way, you’re bare minimum during a flare is enough to help keep the house clean.
Your little tikes can even help out too!
I love the Shark cordless vacuum because it’s easy to swipe under the coffee table and by the baseboards without much effort.
And my kid can do it without getting tangled in cords or a toe crushed by a heavy hunk of plastic.
5. Programmable coffee machine
On a scale of one to 10, how difficult is it to get out of bed in the morning?
You’re stiff.
Exhausted, even if you got 8 hours of sleep.
So use a programmable coffee machine!
You can use the timer setting to have your coffee brewed and ready when you want.
It’ll help you snag a little more snooze time and have a gentler start to your morning.
This Capresso 5-cup Mini Drip can be set to brew your best cup of coffee whenever you want.
How perfect for busy mornings is that?
And it’s relatively cheap for a programmable coffee maker at $40.
Our coffee machine doesn’t have this feature, but maybe yours does.
It would totally save a trip to the kitchen – so helpful when you’re stiff as a board.
6. Cleaning robot
These little gadgets are little lifesavers.
You push a button, and they’ll do the sweeping for you.
No more twisting, bending, and pulling a heavy vacuum or annoying broom. And they’ve even more hands-off than a cordless handheld.
And You do not have to shell out hundreds for a “good” cleaning robot.
I heard you internally scoff when you read the heading because right – who has the money for that right now when grapes at $7 a bag?
Around the holidays last year, my husband found this one on Temu for under $60 bucks.
It picks up way more dirt and crumbs than I thought it would, and it even has a mop function.
I run it twice a day so I don’t have to run the heavy vacuum and further hurt my back, knees, and everything else.
Be sure to use my code afh13606 to receive a $100 off coupon bundle!
To use, enter the code in the search bar.
7. Hang your clothes instead of folding them
Instead of taking time to fold your clothes, which can exacerbate hand, arm, neck, and back pain, you can drape your clothes over a clothesline or clotheshorse.
8. Sit on a bar stool while you cook
Some days your legs just. Cannot.
You can’t stand standing.
To help with this, use a bar stool or chair.
You can sit at the stove or take breaks when needed.
Probably one of the simplest hacks for pain and fatigue you have!
9. Get your groceries delivered
I used to pick up our groceries from Walmart, but now I’m spoiled with getting them delivered.
I don’t have to stress about making the pickup window (between pain and fatigue and a little one, it’s a lot) and can do whatever as I wait for someone else to unload them into my garage. It saves me so much work and energy, and time!
Most importantly, no painful trips in the car – even with our nearest Walmart, a short 7 minutes away.
Some days my hips or back are screaming in pain from sitting and having to move my foot between the pedals, so I’m thankful I have the opportunity to skip that.
If you want to skip the painful car rides and long walks down crowded, noisy aisles, too, use my code to get $20 off a future order when you try Walmart+.
Use this code for your $20 credit: http://share.walmartplus.com/emily79827
10. Opt for meal kits
Many with chronic pain are turning to meal kits because they offer easy-to-assemble, portioned meals.
Ingredients are prepped and packaged for you, so all you need to do is add them together and keep an eye on the time.
Which you can do while seated at your bar stool if needed.
We haven’t used a meal kit yet, but here are some popular options:
Most offer vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and keto options.
11. Use laundry baskets to unload groceries
Instead of using so many spoons to take your groceries into the house, use laundry baskets.
Laundry baskets with handles make it tremendously easy to carry cumbersome bags of groceries in fewer trips.
Keep a few in your car trunk to carry groceries, your kids’ stuff over to Nanna’s for a sleepover or to the beach with towels, toys, and food, for example.
Target has $5 laundry baskets that are a great bang for your buck.
Keep reading for more hacks for pain and fatigue.
12. Meal plan and make your meal board visible
Meal planning takes a lot of work in the beginning, but once you get into the habit, it works like a well-oiled machine.
Because a lot of your mental energy gets eaten up by figuring out what you’ll – and the picky kids – be eating tonight.
I start by brainstorming meals and sides.
Then I’ll take those meals and add them to days on a calendar, which I’ll usually draw on a piece of paper.
To make things more streamlined, I devote certain days to certain meals or variations.
Like pasta is usually on Monday. Wednesday is fried rice and muffins (a weird combo, but it works).
Thursday is French toast, pancakes, or waffles.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are for frozen meals when we’re too tired to cook or something “fun” and possibly labor intensive, like veggie burgers with creamy scalloped potatoes or homemade vegan pizza.
Then I’ll sprinkle in a day or two for takeout.
Bottom line, planning out your meals (I do it for the entire month ahead) will help you save time, energy, and money.
And making it visible for the family to see will stop those “what are we having for dinner?!” q’s from the kids.
13. Use a heated seat pad
Heat makes sitting for long periods way more tolerable.
I see many Fibro moms say that they use heating pads to sit at their desks longer to relieve pain and tension on the tailbone.
14. Sit with lumbar support
So many people sit at a desk the wrong way.
After all, it’s easy to slouch or hunch around the keyboard or on your phone.
However, having the proper lumbar support while sitting will greatly reduce pressure on your spine and alleviate sciatic pain and fatigue.
This is because your body gets tired faster from doing more work to support you.
This lumbar support cushion for a chair has over 4 stars on Amazon and comes with a washable cover – perfect for Firo moms of kids and kitties alike.
15. Ask your child to help you more
Encourage your kids to help out more.
This is one way you can get things done around the house and not use all your spoons.
Plus, you are teaching your kids how to operate a household, be responsible, and take care of others.
And they’ll feel proud once it’s all said and done; intrinsic motivation works that way.
They’ll feel like big kids and that what they do matters and contributes to the running of the household.
16. Use an at-home cup set for pain
If you’ve never had cupping therapy done, then you’re missing out!
An inexpensive way to reap the benefits of cupping therapy is to buy an at-home cupping set.
I regularly use a set from Lure Essentials.
I can easily put it on my back to help relieve back pain, and it can be used whether I’m sitting down or walking around.
I also put it on my legs and arms to decrease stiffness, but I found that it works best at easing back discomfort.
They have many options, but I have the Advanced set.
17. Stock up on disposables
Those damn dishes. There are always so many.
And sometimes, your pain will not let you stand for more than two minutes.
One easy way to avoid dish duty is to use paper plates, cutlery, and bowls.
This stuff is pretty expensive right now, but sometimes it’s worth the splurge for those inevitable bone-tired days.
18. Rest
It’s okay if your 30-minute catnap turned into a two-hour snooze fest.
Doing less helps your body heal faster.
I think so many of us guilt ourselves unnecessarily when all we want to do is rest.
Or when we don’t listen to our bodies and push through the fatigue and pain – because sometimes we have to! – even when our bodies are screaming at us to stop.
For the love of God, slow down!
So rest when you need to rest.
It’s important to listen to your body if you want to get better at managing your Fibromyalgia symptoms.
Because a little bit of rest means you can have a lot more energy later on.
19. Brush your teeth in the shower
I’ve seen many moms say that they brush their teeth in the shower.
You won’t have to bend over the sink and hurt your back, legs, or knees….
I don’t do this, but it makes sense to me!
20. Take 2-minute breaks
Little breaks provide huge body benefits.
They help you stay focused and accurate and work with less stress and fatigue.
If you’re standing, go lay on your back and put your knees to your chest for 10 seconds, then uncurl. Repeat for 2 minutes.
Or if you’ve been sitting, stand up and walk around for 2 minutes.
If you can, do a yogi squat, toe squat, or lunge to take some tension off your spine and hips.
21. Wear a shelf bra tank
Bras can really suck, especially when they feel like they’re digging into your skin, and your allodynia pain just makes you want to scream.
So one way to combat the bra pain is to wear a cami with a built-in shelf bra.
This way, you’re still supported without the touchy restraint.
I like Sonoma (at Kohl’s) cami’s because they are uber soft and stretchy.
22. Listen to something via earphones
Listening to music, meditation, or a podcast via earphones is a great way to focus on what you’re doing and drown out whatever other noise is going on around you.
(Whether it’s your kids, your talkative husband, or the robot vac humming about).
It’s also a great way to stop your ruminating thoughts (like on your pain and seeming lack of self-worth due to said pain) because the noise is right in your head and makes it hard to think hard about much else.
23. Relax and visualize with meditation
Visualizing and meditation is another great way to combat fatigue and pain.
Laying on the ground or laying in bed for 5-20 minutes makes me feel like I took a long nap.
Even listening to it while folding the laundry or making dinner is calming.
One of my favorite channels to listen to is Rising Higher Meditation.
You can find her on YouTube and Spotify (it’s great when you don’t want advertisements cutting in).
24. Consume less news
I read an article in Better Homes & Gardens saying that the type of news you watch and the frequency that you watch it affects your health.
That seems like a no-brainer, but it’s so easy to get trapped in the cycle of endless news consumption – especially when there are so many bad things going on in the world, and you also want to be in the know and so as not to be a globally ignorant citizen.
So be choosy about the stories you read, the time you consume your news, and the frequency.
(Nothing sets you up for a bad day like a sad story at 6 am.)
25. Dry brush
Do you wake up feeling incredibly stiff in the morning?
If so, dry brushing is one of the best ways to loosen up your skin and muscles and get your blood flowing.
Brushing your skin with a dry brush helps increase blood circulation, slough off dead skin cells, and decrease pain and fatigue.
I love this $7 dry brush and use it almost every day before my morning shower.
If you already enjoy the benefits of a dry brush, make sure you routinely clean it.
26. Wear Crocs
A friend got me a pair of Crocs last year for my birthday, and I am hooked.
They are so comfy and roomy – way comfier than the tight-ass Nike’s I’ve conditioned myself into buying since high school.
And I can easily take off and put on the Crocs without having to bend down – a sweet perk when you’re in a flare and feel like cement.
The brand also makes adorable sandals that are perfect for a date night or anytime you want a casual yet chic way to dress up an outfit.
So if you’re in the market for comfy shoes, get a pair of Crocs!
27. Take magnesium
Many people with fibromyalgia are magnesium deficient, so adding a magnesium supplement to your diet can help with pain and fatigue.
Magnesium is important for maintaining healthy nerve function, staying energized, and keeping a healthy heart.
But you don’t want to take just any supplement for magnesium.
You want to look for a magnesium supplement with the best absorption rate because some types of magnesium are not easily absorbed and, therefore, barely help you at all (like throwing money out the window).
In addition, some types of magnesium are very hard on your stomach.
What you want to look for in your magnesium supplement is magnesium taurate, magnesium glycinate, and/or magnesium malate.
Studies show that these forms of magnesium are best absorbed by the body, and magnesium glycinate is best for people with chronic pain.
The magnesium supplement that I have been taking for over a year is Natural Rhythm.
28. Get noise-canceling headphones
Like Adam Sandler, sometimes you wish you had a magic remote that could turn down all of life’s loud ass and annoying noises.
While that Click magic remote hasn’t been invented yet, Loop earplugs have.
Loop earrings reduce sound up to 18 decibels (for their Experience earplugs and 27 decibels for their Quiet set.
Take a nap, cook dinner, or do some work with less stimulation.
Maybe you’re lucky and don’t feel this way, but when I get overstimulated, everything starts hurting more, and I feel like I’m five seconds from imploding.
29. Do legs up the wall
My last hack for pain and fatigue is to rest for a few minutes with your legs up the wall.
Literally. Lay on the floor with a clear wall, or even on your bed, and scooch your butt up as close to the wall as you can get, with your legs up in the air against the wall for support.
That’ll send blood rushing throughout your body and give you a little energy boost.
I also like to doze off while I have my legs up the wall.
If you want to see a demonstration of this restorative pose, see the Yoga With Adriene video below:
Your takeaway
You need to have effective hacks for pain and fatigue, especially because Fibromyalgia makes those debilitating symptoms nearly constant.
Start by using everyday items around your house, like laundry baskets to unload groceries more easily, a chair pulled up at the stove to take breaks, and headphones to focus and cancel out over-stimulating noises.
Another big tip is to call in your child for help with light-duty stuff, like folding laundry, unloading the dishwasher, and vacuuming up all of their zillions of crumbs from lunch.
What hacks for pain and fatigue are in your Fibro tool kit?
Share below!
2 replies on “Best Fibromyalgia Hacks For Pain And Fatigue”
There are some great ideas here for hacks to make your day with fibromyalgia easier. I agree with the shower chair but often I find it easier to have a bath. Dry shampoo is also your best friend when you have a chronic illness as is cutting your hair short!
In terms of cleaning I make sure that I delegate tasks to my husband and don’t do too much. I have a perching stool in the kitchen and share the cooking with my husband.
My final hack is using a hot water bottle
Ooh how do you use the hot water bottle? On sore muscles?
I’ve def contemplated cutting my hair short before, but never follow through.
And thanks for chiming in. It’s *so* helpful to have a supportive family who’ll take on the chores. My husband and I share cooking days too.