Topic: AC: Fibromyalgia - Is a whole life illness ?
CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
Fibromyalgia - Is a whole life illness ? Subodh Jain
September 9, 2007
Fibromyalgia is a whole life illness, and it requires a whole life solution. There is no magic bullet to ``fix'' fibromyalgia, but for those that are willing to target their condition from a number of different angles, there really is hope. For those of you who have tried to go the route of conventional medical treatment, you have probably hit a lot of brick walls in your search for help, and it is hard to believe anyone who is outside of that realm who tells you that there are solutions to your condition. This is a debilitating, life destroying illness, and you deserve help with your condition that you are not receiving. Doctors have told you that you have an auto-immune condition, and that there is no real help for fibromyalgia, except for symptom management and the use of anti-inflammatory steroids. For pain management, the only thing that conventional medicine has to offer are painkillers that often barely touch the extreme pain of fibromyalgia. These painkillers can also leave a person with the additional major problem of addiction, because most of these substances are highly addictive opiates.
In my experience, fibromyalgia responds best when it is treated as an infectious disease. Dr. Garth Nicholsen, M.D., head of the Institute for Molecular Medicine, has done a lot of research on this issue. There is a lot of evidence pointing to the likelihood that fibromyalgia is caused by an infectious pathogen called a mycoplasma. Others with fibromyalgia may also have undiagnosed Lyme disease, which is caused by the spiral shaped bacteria, borrelia burgdorferi. These conditions are difficult to test for and diagnose properly because these pathogens have forms that do not have a cell wall (and therefore don't have the typical markers most tests look for that sit on a cell wall) and they can hide inside the body's cells. They frequently do not travel in the bloodstream. When fibromyalgia is treated as a condition caused by a stubborn, difficult to treat infection, people tend to improve much more rapidly than when they are treated through other approaches.
The pathogens involved can attack your nerves, your brain, and your muscle tissue. They can cause heart irregularities. They can affect your hormones and throw them entirely out of whack, mess with your metabolism, and cause symptoms in the brain that are similar to Alzheimers. No wonder you feel so lousy. And people have been minimizing your problem and treating you like you are exaggerating. That is truly tragic and unfair.
In my experience, recovering from symptoms of fibromyalgia myself and treating people with this condition, there are a number of effective therapies that can help you get your life back. Recovery is a slow process, and people have temporary symptom aggravations as they get better called Jarrisch-Herxheimer reactions, or herxing for short. Many people can feel a significant improvement in quality of life within three months, and continue on to have a steady improvement that leads to a much more normal life within a year. Different people respond differently because they have different constitutions and immune systems.
One of the cornerstones of the protocol I used to help myself was the use of essential oils. Essential oils are very potent natural substances, that have a wide variety of properties. They can be anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, and hormone-balancing. These substances can also cross the blood-brain barrier, where they can potentially address the brain problems that people with fibromyalgia have. They can also improve oxygenation and blood circulation in the body and especially, to the brain, which can really benefit energy levels. Improving the condition of the brain, can also relieve the crushing insomnia that many people with fibromyalgia experience. The area of the brain that controls sleep-wake cycles often gets really disrupted by fibromyalgia. Applying the essential oils to the area of the head where that sleep center is located (the back of the head just above the neck) can improve sleep. The oils can also address pain issues that are not easily improved by other methods. My theory is that it kills the pathogens that reside in the area of the pain. If this is true, it removes the root cause of the pain, instead of simply masking it.
Essential oils can also potentially benefit symptoms of chemical sensitivity that many people with fibromyalgia experience. My theory about these chemical sensitivities is that certain aspects of liver functioning and the body's natural detoxification process get disrupted. Again, I believe this is because there is a pathogen that has not been properly detected that triggers this disruption. This is based on my experiences treating myself with essential oils, and on what I have read about the possible causes of this condition. When I applied the oils to the area over my liver (the lower right rib cage area) regularly, my chemical sensitivities disappeared. This seems counter-intuitive, because essential oils are aromatic substances that those with these sensitivities try to avoid. But that has been my personal observation of how essential oils may benefit this condition.
Other aspects of a holistic protocol for fibromyalgia include herbs that are antibacterial, and herbs and nutritional supplements that have traditionally been used to treat gout. It is also important to take supplements and engage in activities that improve blood circulation. People with fibromyalgia often have a tendency to form scar tissue too easily, because of a condition of the blood called hypercoagulation. This means that your blood may be too thick because there is too much fibrin( the substance that creates scar tissue) in your blood. There are natural supplements that may help to correct this condition. Certain digestive enzymes, in particular, can be beneficial for this aspect. People can often feel a significant reduction in pain and an increase in energy and improved cognitive function simply from correcting this one issue.
Certain types of exercise (when you are up to it), massage, and bodywork can also be very helpful. Combining the use of massage and essential oils together may significantly improve the potency of both modalities. Deep massage improves the penetration of the essential oils into the tissues of the body and it can help break scar tissue down in areas where it is causing pain and disruption of your body's natural functioning.
Heat therapies can also be helpful for people with fibromyalgia, even if it initially causes a temporary aggravation in symptoms. Hot baths, saunas, and the use of an infrared heat lamp, can all help, especially combined with the use of essential oils.
Certain homeopathic remedies can also be very helpful for those with fibromyalgia, if they are given at high enough potencies. The remedy has to match a person's symptoms and constitution closely enough to work. Some of the remedies I have found to work are glonoinum, causticum, aurum metallicum, and rhododendron. These remedies are taken one at a time for a few weeks at a time in order to see full benefits.
All of the therapies above are based on my personal experience treating myself for these symptoms, and on treating others people who had the same symptoms, once I figured out what worked for me. They are not meant as a substitute for conventional medical advice or treatment.
Nevertheless, if you look outside of the box, I have no doubt that you will find that you can start getting your health and your life back.
Read out home remedies . Also check out for medicinal herbs and herbs for health
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
Interesting article, but it's a shame that the writer uses misinformation about pain killers when writing:
"These painkillers can also leave a person with the additional major problem of addiction, because most of these substances are highly addictive opiates."
Yes, they can leave a problem with addiction, but addiction is rare when pain killers are used properly to treat people with pain.
People who have a history, or family history, of addiction need to be worry. People who take a higher dose than necessary or misuse the medication need to worry.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
"In my experience, fibromyalgia responds best when it is treated as an infectious disease. Dr. Garth Nicholsen, M.D., head of the Institute for Molecular Medicine, has done a lot of research on this issue. There is a lot of evidence pointing to the likelihood that fibromyalgia is caused by an infectious pathogen called a mycoplasma."
Antibiotics! or Rife!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Greatcod
Unregistered
posted
I use Ultram (tramadol) for my fibro. It's rate of addiction is 1 in 100,000. Yet the guy I get it from is ultracautious about it...like its an opiate. Pain treatment in this country is pathetic. I read recently that chonic pain is a factor in 70% of suicides.
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