Fibromyalgia
A common occurrence today is chronic pain and fatigue. Often the cause is unknown so these individuals are viewed as “hypochondriacs” due to the difficulty in ascertaining the cause of symptoms one may be experiencing.
The difficulty with treating such a condition is the desire for immediate relief of symptoms, unfortunately the treatment of underlying issues behind fibromyalgia can take months to years of treatment to gain significant changes in the condition.
There are many theories from subclinical hypothyroidism, low grade infections, poor sleep quality from sleep apnea, myofascial trigger points, ligamentous damage, candida infections, to compromised blood flow to muscles causing the characteristic aches and pains.
Fibromyalgia is typically a diagnosis of “we don’t know why your in pain” ; therefore treatment has to be geared towards the individual case. Only through case history and proper assessment can we decide what is the best course of action to treat the likely cause of your pain.
What can you do? One important step is to assess how you are sleeping. Many FM patients have poor sleep quality which often is due to sleep apnea, so an assessment by the appropriately trained professional is a wise choice. If you have sleep apnea we then would aim treatment to potential aggravating factors such as allergies or obesity allowing for swelling of pharyngeal tissues while also using the appropriate devices to allow for a better night sleep. Trust me this can be a curative treatment for FM by itself. Sleep allows the body to “reset” muscle tension greatly improving typical symtoms of such a condition.
Hypothyroidism can also lead to FM type symtoms. Unfortunately the lab tests that most MD’s do only pick up on true thyroid pathology which is typically not the case in many patients. In the body TSH is made in the pituitary gland which “tells” the thyroid to make T4 thyroid hormone. Many people do this just fine but still have hypothyroid symptoms of constipation, poor circulation, weight gain and fatigue. The reason for this is because the body has to still be able to convert T4 to the active T3 form to utilize thyroid hormones produce adequate energy in the body. Well most doctors do not check T3 levels so will diagnose someone with adequate thyroid function that doesn’t feel that way. What impedes proper conversion? Mercury toxicity, zinc or selenium deficiency, estrogen imbalances and excessive stress hormone production.
Some Fibromyalgia patients report that all their symptoms occur shortly after a physical trauma of some sort. While this may also be a cause of hypothyroid it is most likely that there is some myofascial or ligamentous component to this issue. In such a case neural therapy, prolotherapy and NMT treatment geared towards treating damaged tissue, muscle spasm and nervous system “short circuits” would best treat a prospective patient.
Chronic infections are another potential cause. Patients that report flu like symptoms of aches pains and rheumatism like behaviour likely have hidden infectious agents running amok causing distress. Infections may be introduced by a Tick bite ,airborne virus or other unknown vehicle. The presence of damaging infections indicates weak immunity which may be the result of nutritional deficiencies, toxicity, chronic stress or nervous system confusion causing inability to identify “bad bugs”.
Another issue to consider in such a case is dental health. It would be a good idea to get all teeth checked for “Cavitations” which are localized areas of infected jaw bone which poison the body slowly due to release of neurotoxic substances from the infectious agents in the jaw. Treatment may include surgery or NMT of cavitations along with immune strengthening agents along with antimicrobial herbs and supplement. Another often overlooked issue with regard to immunity is food allergies, consumption of which can lead to fatigue, weakened immunity, aches/pains, brain fog.
Now that you know the potential causes what can you do to aid your recovery? Well balanced nutrition, digestion, detoxification and nervous system function is vital for recovery. Part of treatment that is vital is to make sure a person is on a supplement program to provide the liver and rest of the body with the vital nutrients to allow for optimal liver function, immune function, energy metabolism, circulation and free radical stress management. The next step is to make sure digestion is functioning well (see “got gas” , reflux articles).
If you have structural issues we simultaneously address these through adjustments, Neural and prolotherapy. Nervous system work (the most important thing I do) is done through NMT (see www.nmt.md) for more info.
These basic supplements serve as a good start to your nutritional program, often these supplements alone begin to change symptoms. These supplements can be obtained through the link provided. ( Remember do not do this without consent of a qualified health care practitioner especially if you are currently taking any medications.)