One way that I've been able to continue gardening despite the pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia is to switch to intensively planted no till permanent raised beds. Over time we added wooden sides to some beds & flattened the paths so I could sit on a garden scooter. We moved last summer, so had the opportunity to redesign a fruit & vegetable garden for more accessibility with 3' wood chipped paths and concrete sided raised beds. So far we've enjoyed the way the blocks retain the heat & how easy it is to harvest produce. With straw mulch the greens stay so nice & clean plus the garden looks neat. The concrete retains heat plus the hoops with plastic really grew our tomato bed more quickly than in past years. My husband took this photo at the end of May. Our last frost is mid May with a long cool spring. We don't have reliable warmth until mid June for tomatoes. From 2014-05-23 The outer dimensions are 4.5' wide x 18' long and stacked 2 high. The middle two beds have flat capstones that also provide seats. Visible in the photo are the weeds I pulled to let dry out on the top of the blocks. Then I put them back in again as mulch. We had our spring garden planted in the middle 2 beds when I fell & broke my ankle on April 16 , so thankfully was still able to reach the gardens while seated in a wheelchair. My son built a 3rd bed that my husband and father filled with tomatoes. I'm back on both feet now with an ankle brace, so am so grateful that we have 3 beds in production.

That's sad. I didn't know about him and his research, but I'll look into it. Dr. Atkins died of a head injury, too. His work attracted a lot of controversy, but I think he made an important contribution. A start, at least. He was my physician in NYC.

Hi lindylou, I have both. Well actually, I'm IN menopause now, but its still a challenge. I'm thinking that perimenopause can cause fibro. It has gotten easier, but still has tons of surprises (and not the good kind).

Hi Lily - I read your profile . . . I live in a farmhouse of about the same vintage in Pennsylvania, too. Ah, sleep! I didn't get enough of it last night, that's for sure. Like many people with FM, I have a window of sleep opportunity each night. Some nights it's very small. If I don't get to sleep right then (and often it comes when I'm in the middle of doing something), I can't fall asleep later when I want to. When that happens, I've found melatonin often solves the problem. I highly recommend it! Last night, thought, I had stayed up late to finish a project that is due today, and even melatonin didn't help. Also like many people with FM, my nervous system is out of whack. I'm kept awake by the slightest disturbance, and "disturbance" could be anything. These days I have my ailing cat, Princeton, in my bedroom. This has not been good for my sleep. Sleep aside, one of the biggest things that has helped my FM is breathing. Proper breathing, that is. Abdominal breathing. I try to make a point of lying down each day and breathing deeply, even if it's only for 15 minutes. Sometimes I fall asleep. But even if I don't, I always get up feeling better.