Fighting Back Against Fibromyalgia PH148

<p style="text-align:center;">“‘Olivia, you're healthy.’ I held it in in the moment, but when I left the [doctor’s] office that day I cried. I had never had a doctor tell me I was healthy.” - Olivia Vollmar</p> <p>Diagnosed with fibromyalgia in July 2016, Olivia Vollmar started CrossFit four months later, despite her doctor’s reservations.  “He loved that I was moving, but he thought it was too much. He has friends that are avid CrossFitters and just couldn't see how someone with fibro could manage to do it.  Like any good patient, I completely ignored him and continued on in what I was doing.”  Olivia decided she would continue with CrossFit for three months, and if the negatives outweighed the positives, she would stop.</p> <p>One month passed, and Olivia found herself feeling better than ever.  Within two months, she was sleeping more regularly, feeling less fatigued, and her joint pain had decreased.  She no longer needed to see a psychiatrist from her anxiety and depression.  “CrossFit saved your life,” her therapist told her.  Within three months, she was completely symptom free, and living a normal life.</p> <p>Along with her new exercise routine, Olivia made dietary changes, following the general advice to eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.  When she returned to her doctor 10 months after her initial fibromyalgia diagnosis and just six months after starting CrossFit, he barely recognized her.  She had lost 100 pounds!</p> <p>Olivia discussed her rheumatologist’s treatment plan with her doctor,  and he ran through a series of questions checking on her pain, sleep, mental health and quality of life.  Olivia was stunned when, for the first time in her life, he pronounced her healthy.</p> <p>“When I was first diagnosed I had so many doctors tell me there was no hope in this disease. I would always suffer and always feel awful. I would never be free from medication and I would never live a normal life. One of my doctors told me to not pursue a career in