“It’s all in your head!” “ We can’t find anything wrong with you, here’s the name of a psychiatrist.” If you are a woman suffering from fibromyalgia for any length of time, you’ve probably had a doctor, friend, or family member, say something like that to you over the years. Heck, if you’re a woman, you’ve probably had people say that to you for any number of reasons! Fortunately, the mainstream medical community has now recognized fibromyalgia as a genuine syndrome. Unfortunately, they aren’t looking at the causes of fibromyalgia like they should be.
Since today is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, we thought we’d spend some time on this mysterious condition. If you’re unfamiliar with fibromyalgia, it can be a very debilitating. There is no testing for it and the diagnosis usually comes about after a process of elimination. As explained in PubMed “Fibromyalgia is a common syndrome in which people experience long-term, body-wide pain and tender points in joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues. Fibromyalgia has also been linked to fatigue, sleep problems, headaches, depression, anxiety, and other symptoms.” Even though men can get fibromyalgia, it affects far more women, usually between the ages of 20 – 50. In addition to the chronic pain, some other symptoms of fibromyalgia listed in the PubMed article are:
- Fatigue and spleeping problems are seen in almost all fibroyalgia sufferers
- Headaches (either tension or migraine)
- Memory difficulties and problems thinking clearly
- Depression or sadness
- Intolerance for exercise
- Palpitations
- Irritable bowel syndrome with gas, and alternating diarrhea and constipation
Quite a mixed bag of symptoms, don’t you think? I’m glad the PubMed article mentioned that conditions like Lyme Disease and hypothyroidism can also mimic its symptoms. There is a great deal of controvery in the medical community as to whether or not people diagnosed with fibromyalgia actually suffer from Lyme Disease. Check out this article in CNN Health to see why the whole fibromyalgia vs. Lyme Disease is such a hot debate. You’ll see in this article from the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation that many people first diagnosed with fibromyalgia actually had Lyme Disease.
In addition to the Lyme Disease/fibromyalgia connection there are two other possible connections worth exploring. The first is the work of Dr. John C. Lowe’s pioneering research on the connection between thyroid issues and fibromyalgia. Dr. Lowe is also the author of the award winning book The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia. Dr. Lowe’s research reveals that fibromyalgia sufferers are either thyroid hormone resistant or are hypothyroid.
The other possible connection is yeast. You’ll discover in YeastConnection.com that fungal infections and candidiasis can play a significant impact on fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which have many similar symptoms. If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, you’ll want to dig deeper into the Lyme, yeast and thyroid connections.
Diet and excercise are also critical factors in managing your fibroyalgia. Intolerance to MSG and aspartame are cited in Nutritional Medicine, by Alan Gaby, MD and the Textbook of Natural Medicine lists solvents, pesticides, herbicides and other toxins, in addition to the heavy metals. You’ll want to avoid inflammatory foods and while excercising is painful for fibromyalgia sufferers, you don’t want to stop moving! Please seek help from an appropriate healthcare professional on how to excercise with fibromyalgia.
Lyrica is a popular fibromyalgia drug made by Pfizer, Inc.  It has it’s own set of side effects like; weight gain, headaches, trouble concentrating (Wait a minute! Doesn’t fibromyalgia cause headaches and trouble concentrating? Does the headache from the drug make you forget the headache from the fibromyalgia?!) If the prescription medications you’ve been on for fibromyalgia  are not giving you the results you want, Natural Healthy Concepts can provide some natural solutions to managing your symptoms. In this article in NaturalNews.com you’ll find an assortment of natural protocols, like detoxifying your body of heavy metals.
Several supplements some of our customers find helpful in managing their fibromyalgia are Wobenzyme PSÂ for inflammation, Ribose from Jarrow for muscle recovery, and Malic Acid & Magnesium from Douglas Labs.
Are you still looking for answers for your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or fibromyalgia?
Have you found a natural solution to managing your symptoms? Please, let us know!
Related articles
- How Exercise Fits In to Fibromyalgia Treatment (everydayhealth.com)
- Help for Fibromyalgia-Related Fatigue? (everydayhealth.com)
