Fibromyalgia is such an interesting diagnosis. I often think of it as a label that really means nothing more than “we have no idea why you feel bad’. People with fibromyalgia legitimately don’t feel good, have increased pain sensation, altered mood, muscle aches, joint pain just to name a few symptoms. However, many of the labs will be completely normal. Don’t discount your symptoms! I think in the future we will discover that Fibromyalgia is due to a virus or an infection that we know nothing about at this moment so if you have this diagnosis then always watch the literature as new information comes out.
In the meantime, here are some things to consider that may help with your symptoms.
- Eliminate any food sensitivities: If you have fibro, there is NO question you have foods that make your symptoms worse. You just have to figure out what they are and get them out of your diet. You can start simple with the big, bad, uglies: gluten, dairy, corn and soy (check out the Virgin diet book for help with this) or you can do a food sensitivity test to figure out which foods you need to remove specifically for you ( we have two that we use). The Autoimmune Diet is also a good place to start if you are ultra-committed.
- Fix all the other systems. This means not targeting normal ranges but OPTIMAL ranges.
- Fix the Adrenals. The adrenal glands are your stress gland. There is always an adrenal component to the fibro fatigue. You just simply cannot feel that bad without the adrenals getting involved.
- Really sit down and think about exposures in the past that may point you in a direction to keep testing. Do you live on a golf course, played behind the pesticide spray trucks as a child, lived near a waste area? If so, then start looking at pesticide levels or heavy metals. How about if you had a significant mold exposure? In this case, you can test for molds. Travel to a foreign country, got a significant stomach flu, had a history of a tick bite. This might lead you down an infectious disease route looking at parasites and lymes (and these are missed ALL the time with our current pitiful testing methods.
- Consider IV nutrients. There was a nice study looking at people who signed on for an extended treatment course for cancer. They discovered that those people who had an extended support network doing different modalities did much better. We love the Quick fix and the Laura Miles MD’s Meyers for this however the super immune IV is the way to go because it has much higher doses of vitamin C.
I know fibro can be very discouraging but DON’T stop looking. Don’t stop trying to figure it out. And above all, don’t give up even when all your tests are normal. Just start exploring different tests. A word of caution though, don’t pull in too many different medical avenues because this can lead to conflicting information and leave you paralyzed not knowing what to do next. Keep in mind, just conquer one step at a time and choose one path. This way you can actually navigate this.
Don’t give up,
Laura
