8 Easy Tips to Keep You in the Halloween Spirit!

If you love Halloween, as many of us do, costumes and parties are all

part of the Halloween spirit. But, of course, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue like to get in the way of fun. To help keep your Halloween ghoulish and frightful - we’ve shared a few tips with you on ideas to help keep your symptoms at bay.

1. Wear real clothes instead of costume clothes: The fabrics they use for costumes are too coarse and can irritate your skin. The seams and edges can be especially rough. As always, keep in mind the kind of clothes that

hurt and make sure you're thinking about comfort. If there's a costume you really want to wear despite the fabric, wear something soft under it to protect your skin and nerves.

2. Wear comfortable shoes: Take care of your feet even if it means compromising the costume a bit. Don’t wear shoes that are painful because they look great with your costume. You may be at a place where you cannot take them off when they start hurting and you may have to end your night earlier than expected.

3. Use regular makeup only: Costume-grade makeup itches like crazy, which can get symptoms riled up, and it's also a bad idea for anyone with sensitive skin. You’ll have much better luck with things like regular eye shadow, eyeliner and lipstick for doing up your face.

4. Skip the (colored) hairspray. Many hairsprays contain toxic chemicals and fragrance. Instead, find a great hat or wig at a secondhand store; or create a great hairdo with ribbons, barrettes and safer, non-spray hair products.

5. Don’t wear synthetic facemasks or teeth: Masks and fake teeth are made from a variety of synthetic materials that aren’t always labeled. Rather than covering your head with unknown, possibly toxic materials, make your own mask from simple materials or try a half-face, masquerade-style mask instead.

6. Relax: If you're planning to be in a noisy, crowded environment, be sure to plan ahead with calming supplements (such as Adrenal Calm, Calm Nature or Max Relax)or medications that work for you. Use deep breathing to relax yourself if you feel anxiety creeping up and take time outs in a quiet place if you need to.

7. Go easy on the sugar: As we all know too well, sugar can cause symptom flare-ups. Try to stick with dark chocolate or low calorie treats, for those of you with a sweet tooth, or healthy nutritious snacks when possible.

8. Rest and recover: Make sure you have extra downtime scheduled both before and after your Halloween festivities to give your body a chance to get ready and recover from your events.

Happy Halloween from Holtorf Medical Group!