Fibromyalgia
This
body process is a normal response to some of the factors that were
discussed in the chronic fatigue web page. Frequently the two
problems are present in the same person. Sometimes fibromyalgia is
the first symptom before full blown chronic fatigue.
The
symptoms of fibromyalgia are a shell like feeling over the back,
pain from light touch, stiffness, a minor trauma acts major,
fatigue, chronic pain in muscles, decreased ability to stretch, and
no medications seem to relieve any symptom. This problem is
localized to the outer surface of the body, mainly the inner layers
of the skin, and fascia, tendons and the muscles.
The way
this starts is by having an over reaction to everyday body
breakdown, and without an effective way to repair it. Once again we
see that chronic repetitive occupations, large amounts of stress,
lack of effective sleep all can combine to create an over reaction
in local tissues. Instead of a small reaction to trauma, we get this
over reaction causing our local tissues to create micro-adhesions.
Some bind from the skin to the muscle or tendons, and others from
the muscle to the bone.
This
happens because the body does not want the extreme pain would would
get from an increased inflammatory response that does not go away.
So it sort of gels all the tissue up and thereby decreases the range
of motion of the local tissues, thus decreasing the greater of the
pain. This is not to say there is no pain but there would be much
more if the tissues continued to constantly rub with all those
inflammatory agents in the area.
Typical
anti-inflammatory medicines will not work and conversely, possibly
make this condition worse as the body is trying to inflame in order
to heal. It is one of the mechanisms of local and systemic healing
against both foreign organisms and trauma. Typically therapies like
chiropractic manipulations and strong tissue work which could be
useful are extremely painful and cause flare-ups. In this case even
acupuncture may cause flare-ups.
One
needs to prepare the local tissues before any work is done. I
usually expect one month of out of office therapy before any tissue
work is attempted. This allows the body processes to normalize
and stop the inflammatory processes. But once started, the patient
usually responds very quickly. Of course the causative problems need
to also be identified and corrected so future damage can be avoided.
In the
interim period, I use systemic enzymes such as Wobenzym-N(www.wobenzym.com) and or
Vitalzym-X(www.vitalzym.com).
I use these at triple the maintainence dosage until my therapy
has ended, then backing down to maintainence levels. I always check
thyroid function(see thyroid page) cortisol, and DHEA
levels. There is also a therapy utilizing guaifenisen developed
by Dr. R. Paul St Amand, MD at the Fibromyalgia Treatment Center, https://svensktapotek.net/kopa-priligy-utan-recept/ that I have used with
people who do not wish to utilize my other protocols. I must admit
it does not seem to be as effective but it does work if adhered to
strictly.
Recently, the University of Oregon
Health Science Center(OHSU) has completed the first arm of a
wonderful fibromyalgia study. It has effectively proved that the
reason for fibromyalgia is the body response to stress in some
people is to inhibit the use of Growth Hormone by Somatostatin
production. It was also proved that by taking a somatostatin
inhibitor(pyridostigmine) and getting regular exercise, that the
quality of life, sleep disorders, and pain all normalized over the
course of six months. Dr. Bennet and his colleagues are further
studying fibromyalgia with respect to cortisol and other endocrine
functions. I must admit this is very exciting and has tremendous
potential for treatment options.
For
a personalized consultation with Dr. Schwartz, via email, click here to view fees and the
quesionnaire.
|