Many individuals have been attracted to kratom strains for treating fibromyalgia, but do your complete research about whether it is true that kratom helps in treating fibromyalgia or not.
However, kratom is a safe and effective option for many people. Many physical issues occur due to fibromyalgia so consume the kratom strains for addressing the different symptoms associated with fibromyalgia.
The pain has an association with fatigue, lack of sleep, memory, and mood issues. According to scientific studies, fibromyalgia results in heightened pain feelings affecting the manner in which the brain deals with these pain signals.
Kratom also termed Mitragyna Speciosa belongs to the coffee family. It is found in Southeast Asia.
The leaves of the kratom tree have beneficial alkaloids which serve several medicinal purposes.
The natives have been using kratom for thousands of years for medical treatment. The kratom leaves are said to enhance energy levels, relieve pain, and uplift mood.
A resident of Florida named Tammy Hartman said that consumption of kratom helped her get rid of fibromyalgia pain and also helped her remove the grogginess which her prescription medicines had caused.
However, kratom has legality issues in most of the states as high doses of kratom make you high or stoned.
The kratom leaves have a unique alkaloid named mitragynine which binds with the mu-opioid receptors similarly to morphine.
This alkaloid termed mitragynine helps as a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory agent as well.
Kratom also has a serotonergic activity that helps in treating depression, boosts up energy, and manages the opioid pain and sleepiness that is reported to occur because of the kappa-opioid and adrenergic receptor activity.
The alkaloids in kratom leaves bind with the pain receptors all over the human body, allowing you to relieve pain from fibromyalgia.
Kratom is considered the cost-effective, efficient, practical, and fast method for reducing pain and discomfort linked with fibromyalgia.
Kratom leads to varying effects on different individuals, depending on how they use it, which strains are used, the quantity of kratom, some kratom strains, and others.
It was concluded from the research that if you overdose with kratom, it does not result in respiratory depression like other pharmaceutical drugs example morphine.
It indicates that patients suffering from fibromyalgia can efficiently utilize kratom in their daily lives for the analgesic properties of kratom.
The white and red veins of kratom strains can be used in the stack by blending them for enhanced stimulant and muscle relaxant effects. It provides a stronger cure for relieving pain.
If you are seeking to sleep well and relieve pain then use Red vein strains and Maeng Da kratom in combination.
The kratom strains such as Red Bali have shown to be useful for relieving the dull pain or feelings of discomfort associated with fibromyalgia.
The best kratom strains are found in Indonesia. They have a great blend of alkaloids that help in sedation and pain management against fibromyalgia.
If you aren’t on this medication, chances are you know someone who is. It’s used to treat everything from pain to mood disorders and can be just what the doctor ordered for many.
But now, there is mounting research uncovering misuse of and even a black market for this popular prescription.
We’re talking about gabapentin. It’s approved for some types of seizures and nerve pain.
Doctors also use it off-label to treat everything from insomnia to migraines to anxiety. Sixty-four million prescriptions of it were sold in the U.S. in 2016, up more than 60% from four years earlier.
The thing is, experts, say there is growing evidence it’s being abused, too. It’s even being sold on the streets under the name “Johnnys.”
Dr. Joseph Insler, an addiction psychiatrist, says he’s seeing it all too often.
“Sometimes, I’ve even experienced patients ask me for their “Johnnys” and then they’ll, maybe, catch themselves and say, ‘No, no, no. I mean gabapentin’,” he says.
“I think that some individuals may say that they use it to get high, and others may say they use it and get a drowsy effect. So, we’re talking about the euphoria versus sedation, “ says Rachel Vickers Smith, Ph.D.
Dr. Vickers Smith wrote her dissertation on gabapentin abuse when studying drug abusers in Appalachia.
“We found a nearly 3000 percent increase from 2008 to about 2014 in individuals reporting gabapentin abuse for the purposes of getting high,” she says.
We wanted to see for ourselves, so we searched online. We easily found people talking about taking “Johnnys”, or gabapentin, to get high. There were also threads of people trying to spread awareness about the abuse.
Experts say gabapentin is typically misused by substance abusers who mix it with other drugs.
But, Dr. Insler says it’s also possible for people with legitimate prescriptions to misuse, too.
He says, “If somebody’s taking excessively high doses or needing early refills” or if their mood changes, family members or clinicians should see these signs as red flags.
A growing body of research shows the problem of abuse, especially among substance abusers is clear. But some experts also worry about the number of prescriptions being handed out.
A recent New England Journal of Medicine letter warned that “clinicians who are desperate for alternatives to opioids” are “increasingly prescribing gabapentin” and that “evidence suggests that some patients misuse, abuse or divert gabapentin.”
Dr. Rachel Vickers Smith says, “ I think that’s why it’s really important to get out the message,” about abuse, in general.
Gabapentin is not a controlled substance or scheduled drug on the Federal level.
We reached out to several government agencies. There was little information on potential abuse although the National Institute on Drug Abuse pointed us to existing research and the DEA says it is beginning to receive calls.
Dr. Vickers Smith says, “ I don’t think that gabapentin abuse is on the CDC, DEA’s, NIDA’s radar, in part because we had this opioid epidemic.”
All experts we talked to stress that this is NOT the next opioid epidemic, but they believe gabapentin abuse is something to watch closely and believe more research is needed.
We contacted two of the manufacturers of gabapentin, including Pfizer, which told us, “Gabapentin is an important treatment option for their approved indications”.
We have received so many complaints about duloxetine side effects that we have lost count. Far more disturbing is the number of people who tell us how hard it is to discontinue this drug.
Decades ago doctors might have told patients taking a drug like Cymbalta that if they experienced anxiety, irritability, or strange sensations after stopping the drug, it was probably their underlying psychological problem returning. Now we know it is withdrawal from the medicine.
Cymbalta was originally approved by the FDA in 2004 for the treatment of major depression. It is officially an SNRI-type antidepressant. In doctorspeak, that means it is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and is somewhat similar to other antidepressants such as Effexor(venlafaxine) and Pristiq(desvenlafaxine).
In other words, there was a drug that could relieve your blues and your aches and pains. And the drug company that makes Cymbalta (Lilly) has been aggressively marketing it as a good way to deal with chronic low back pain and osteoarthritis. Perhaps you have seen the commercials on TV promoting the pain-relieving power of the drug with the slogan “Cymbalta can help.” It sounds almost too good to be true.
Ah…and there is the rub. Although there is a long list of serious side effects mentioned during the commercial, the video images seem quite reassuring and trump the scary message the FDA requires for this medication. So, let’s set the record straight. Here, without visual interference, are a list of potential complications associated with this medication.
Depressed mood, suicidal thoughts and behavior, suicide
Such a long list of side effects makes your eyes glaze over after the top 3 or 4. That is why we have included stories from real people so you can better understand what these complications feel like.
Even though such side effects are scary, there is another problem with Cymbalta. When people try to stop taking this drug they frequently report unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. An organization (QuarterWatch) that monitors the FDA’s database of serious adverse drug events has noted that:
“We observed a signal for serious drug withdrawal symptoms associated with duloxetine (CYMBALTA), a widely used antidepressant that is also approved to treat arthritis and back pain, anxiety, and fibromyalgia. In the first quarter of 2012, the FDA received 48 case reports of drug withdrawal identifying duloxetine as the suspect drug. They described a wide spectrum of withdrawal effects that began when the patients stopped the drug, including blackouts, suicidal thoughts, tremors, and nausea. Several cases involved hospitalization.
Probing deeper into the scientific record for duloxetine we found that withdrawal symptoms were reported in 44-50% of patients abruptly discontinuing duloxetine at the end of clinical studies for depression, and more than half of this total did not resolve within a week or two. In addition, we identified a serious breakdown at both the FDA and the manufacturer, Eli Lilly, and Company, in providing adequate warnings and instructions about how to manage this common adverse effect.”
Doctors have taken to calling this “discontinuation syndrome.” These clinical words do not do justice to what it is like to stop antidepressants like Cymbalta, Effexor(venlafaxine), Paxil (paroxetine), Pristiq (desvenlafaxine), or Zoloft(sertraline) suddenly.
Again, a list of symptoms does not do this problem justice. Below you will read some stories from people who have posted their comments to this website. We would love to hear your story, positive or negative. Share your experience with Cymbalta or any other antidepressant below.
Should you wish to learn more about dealing with depression through some other strategies, we offer our Guide to Dealing with Depression. You will also find a whole chapter on prescribing mistakes doctors make when treating depression and fibromyalgia in our book, Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.
“My lovely, young daughter-in law, who was about to celebrate her 29th birthday, was prescribed Cymbalta, Klonopin, and Ambien and has committed suicide. “She told her physician and her therapist that she’d had thoughts of suicide but no one took her seriously. She suffered from depression, as well as an eating disorder, and had very low body weight. She also used alcohol. “Please remind your readers of the potentially disastrous effects these chemicals can cause when taken carelessly or in combination with alcohol.”
This from – P.J.: “I have been on Prozac over the last 20 years off and on and it finally stopped working. The last time I took it about 2 years ago I was taking the generic from Barr – the blue and white capsule. I was feeling as if I were in the deepest dark hole there ever was.
“My doctor put me on Cymbalta from which I had a lot of side effects such as palpitations, feeling constant dread, panic attacks, sweats, lightheadedness, and a general feeling of not being well.
“She added Abilify which put me over the edge. I was in the worst depression I have ever been in. Finally, after living like this for several months, I asked to be put back on Prozac. I was taking the generic from Sandoz. When the prescription ran out I ended up on the big blue and white capsules from Barr.
“Over the last couple of weeks, it has been constant crying spells, arguing with everyone, and feeling pretty low. I talked to my doctor and she wrote the prescription for Sandoz only generic. The blue and white capsules are like taking a placebo. My doctor said she had had other patients who complained of the same thing and she had to write prescriptions for a certain generic or name brand.”
Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More…. – R.P. says: “I took Cymbalta for 3 days and thought I’d go nuts. I’m off it now and refuse to try any other drug like this. My main complaint was extreme hot flashes that estrogen wouldn’t help. I thought I’d be given Prozac but was given Cymbalta instead. It was a rough 3 days and I stopped it last night. I am extremely tired yet cannot sleep at night. I think I was sweating even worse and my legs started feeling like I had Lyme disease again. And to be honest, within those 3 days of taking it, I didn’t contemplate suicide, but I had this crappy attitude of “who would care?” – Nancy relates how hard it was to get off Cymbalta: “It took me 18 months to get off Cymbalta, with no doctor’s help. I can hardly believe that doctors have no exit strategy for this dangerous drug. I had to find this out on my own from reading and as soon as I weaned off that – about a month, the tinnitus that had occurred decreased almost completely. No doctor told me this.” — J.K. shares a parent perspective: “My daughter experienced severe side effects when trying to come off Cymbalta – she had nausea, vomiting, lost peripheral vision for 24-48 hours, had to shake, etc. This was while she was doing a clinical in a hospital for college. Had she known she would have stayed on it until after clinical. I called the manufacturer and they acted like there were no such side effects from withdrawal.
“She too took apart the capsules and it took a while, but finally she is free from that drug. I think it is a crime that the manufacturers don’t publish more detailed information concerning withdrawal. They could even make money selling a one-month or two-month step-down prescription so individuals aren’t taking the capsules apart themselves.” – P.C. Tells what it is like to switch around from one drug to another: “I just turned 52 today. I went on a very low dose of Zoloft about 8 years ago to treat generalized anxiety disorder. It really did help for a long time. I recently have been pretty depressed (however I can cover it up really well) and my psychiatrist switched me to Effexor which was terrible for me. Now I’m trying Cymbalta which has not done anything either except make me feel more anxious and headachy and weird.”
“I am a registered nurse and I do not understand what the long-term effects of these meds are and I am concerned. I really want to get off and see what I can do naturally for myself.” – K.T. tells what it is like to try to stop Cymbalta: “Getting off Cymbalta is challenging but not impossible. I, too, experienced light-headedness, dizziness, and “brain zaps.” I described it as being able to “hear my eyes move.” It sounded like the light sabers on Star Wars. Very strange and disconcerting.
“The key is to do it very very slowly. Take the capsules apart and begin by removing 5 or 10 of the tiny balls inside. Do this for a week or so, then slowly increase the amount you remove each week or two as you can tolerate it.
“Your doctor will probably be no help at all. Mine wasn’t. He instructed me to wean off over a two to three-week period and I almost lost my mind. I did it myself over about a YEAR or more. Be patient. I am completely off now and feeling GOOD.” – Karen’s story: “I was prescribed Cymbalta ‘off-label’ to manage fibromyalgia pain When I stopped taking it because it wasn’t delivering on the promised effect of reducing my pain, I became so horribly depressed that I required hospitalization as I had become SUICIDAL!
“I will NEVER take another anti-depressant for an off-label purpose….such as Elavil/amitriptyline as a “sleep aid” which is very commonly prescribed.
“I believe it should be criminal to prescribe ANY drug for a purpose other than the one it was approved to treat.” – R.H. and Erectile Dysfunction: “I’m a 76-year-old man, my libido was very low. Taking Cymbalta for peripheral neuropathy added ED as a side effect of the drug. I had a testosterone blood test; it was 1/3 what the minimum should be. So I’m taking Androgel to raise testosterone levels and it is magic. I have great libido now and am working on minimizing the Cymbalta pills. In the meantime, I have been prescribed Cialis for the ED. Each pill solves the sex problem for a couple of days.” – M.O. on stopping Cymbalta:
“I have the exact symptoms as everyone else and it’s been a week. I only took Cymbalta for 2 months, but the side effects from stopping it are horrible. My doctor didn’t, nor did anyone else tell me, about any side effects and I did read the insert. Most of the time the listed side effects of meds don’t bother me, so I figured no problem. “From reading other posts on this website and on other sites, the drug seems to affect every person the same way. I would never have taken it for my neck pain if I had known about the likelihood of side effects. The worst part for me is the dizziness, the brain zings and the sudden burst of tears for no reason. I would never take this drug again. I think the FDA needs to do longer studies on all drugs and be honest with their findings and that doctors should be honest and tell their patients what really happens when you take Cymbalta.”
Please add your own experience below in the comment section.
As you age, your cartilage — the spongy material that protects the ends of your bones — begins to dry out and stiffen. Your body also makes less synovial fluid, the stuff that acts like oil to keep your joints moving smoothly. The result: Your joints may not move as freely as they used to. It sounds a little crazy, but the best thing you can do is keep on trucking. Synovial fluid requires movement to keep your joints loose.
When you’re asleep and still for several hours, the fluid that helps your joints move easily can’t do its job. That’s why you wake up with knees or hands that are stiff and swollen. To make it better, try to move around more during the day.
A joint is a place where two bones meet. The end of each bone is covered in a layer of rubbery stuff called cartilage. This keeps them from rubbing together. But cartilage can wear away over time or after an injury. When it’s gone, the bones hit one another, and sometimes, tiny pieces break off. The result is a stiff, swollen, painful joint.
Your first move might be to do fewer things that bother the joint in question. Over-the-counter drugs can help with pain and swelling. If they don’t, your doctor might inject stronger treatments directly into problem areas. You can wrap joints to protect them and stop overuse, but this could weaken your muscles, so don’t overdo it. Some people need surgery, but it’s rare. Your doctor will discuss treatments with you.
Your immune system is supposed to protect you from outside germs. Sometimes, it attacks the lining of your joints instead (your doctor will call this the synovium). RA is most likely to affect your wrist or finger joints, but it can show up anywhere in your body. It often causes constant pain and stiffness. Sometimes, it stays in the background and only flares up now and then.
Doctors treat RA with medications that slow or stop the disease process. You might hear yours call them DMARDs, which stands for disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. The goal is for you to have no signs of inflammation in your body. Your doctor will refer to this as this remission. Along with drugs, you can also take care of yourself — eat well, rest when you need to but keep moving, and take good care of your joints.
OA and RA are the most well known, but other types also affect your immune system and result in stiff joints:
Ankylosing spondylitis: This type mostly affects your spine, but it can make your hips, hands, or feet feel stiff.
Gout: The first sign of this build-up of uric acid in your body is often a searing pain in your big toe.
Infectious arthritis: It often starts with an infection somewhere else in your body that travels to one big joint, like your hip. Your doctor might call it septic arthritis.
Did your grandma say she knew when a storm was coming because her joints ached? She was right. Doctors aren’t sure why, but joint pain seems to get worse when the weather changes. It’s most common when the air pressure (the weather forecaster will call it barometric pressure) falls. That typically happens just before a storm.
There’s no cure, but over-the-counter meds should ease your pain. Your doctor might prescribe other medications. A physical therapist can teach you special exercises to help. You might also try a relaxation technique like deep breathing or a gentle exercise like yoga or tai chi. They’ll help you stretch and strengthen your muscles and tendons.
These conditions are easy to treat. You’ll likely make a full recovery. The first thing to do is give that joint rest and take over-the-counter pain medication. Your doctor will probably give you a splint to wear and tell you to put ice on it. She might show you some exercises to do, too. If that doesn’t help, she could inject a stronger drug straight into the bursa or tendon to manage pain and swelling.
The more you move your joints, the less likely they are to get stiff. A little afternoon gardening or a walk around the block can help. You’ll strengthen the muscles that support your joints, keep your bones strong, improve your balance, and burn calories. Start slow, so you don’t get hurt. Talk to your doctor first if even gentle exercise makes the stiffness worse.
If your joints are extra stiff in the morning, try a hot shower or bath. It’ll get the blood flowing to the area, which loosens things up. You can also buy moist heat pads from the drugstore or make your own. Toss a washcloth into a freezer bag and microwave it for 1 minute. Wrap it in a towel and leave it in the area for 15-20 minutes.
Ice down an achy joint. It narrows blood vessels, which slows blood flow to the area and eases swelling. You can use a store-bought cold pack, or try a bag of frozen veggies instead. Put it on the area, but use a towel to protect your skin. Don’t do it for more than 20 minutes at a time. If you really want to chill a problem joint, try an ice bath.
A research project focused on developing an objective measure of pain-related interference with cognitive performance in people with fibromyalgia is one of three awarded research grants recently by Purdue Pharma.
An independent steering committee oversaw the competition and selection of the three recipients of Purdue’s research grants to study chronic pain and the assessment of pain.
Robert R. Edwards, Ph.D., of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, will lead the project dedicated to pain in fibromyalgia. The project is titled “Development and application of an objective measure of pain-related interference with cognition.”
The goal is to identify a set of cognitive tasks that are affected by variations in pain levels when they are being performed. Once an appropriate set of tasks is developed, they will be used in a randomized, controlled trial to test an intervention designed to improve cognitive performance in this patient population.
Another of the selected projects, led by David A. Seminowicz, Ph.D., at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, is titled “Development of a reliable neurophysiological pain assessment tool: alpha as a predictive biomarker (APB).”
This study aims to determine if EEG alpha wave activity is an accurate and reliable measure of acute pain and neuropathic pain (chronic pain resulting from injury to the nervous system) in healthy volunteers. Alpha waves are a type of brain wave that allow the assessment of electrical impulses in the brain that reflect the brain’s activity.
The third project, led by Tassilo Baeuerle, president and chief executive officer at CognifiSense, Sunnyvale, California, is titled “Study on the use of virtual reality for pain measurement.”
The goal of this research is to explore the potential for the use of virtual reality technology as a tool in the assessment of chronic pain. Virtual reality is the term used to describe a three-dimensional, computer-generated environment that can be explored interactively by a person.
The study will also evaluate the potential of using movement, among other measures, to assess pain intensity. The association of specific movements with pain will be investigated.
“We are excited to support three investigator–led studies, which we believe will contribute important new information to our body of knowledge about the assessment of chronic pain,” Monica Kwarcinski, PharmD, head of Medical Affairs, Purdue Pharma, said in a press release.
“The assessment of pain levels is important in making a correct diagnosis, determining appropriate therapy, and studying responses to treatment. By addressing these data gaps through research funding, we remain committed to offering innovative solutions to make a meaningful impact on patients’ lives.” Kwarcinski added.
Purdue is a pharmaceutical company founded by physicians, and it is known for its pioneering research on pain.
Shoulder pain is really just pain in the joints and muscles in the shoulder area that may or may not limit what your arm can do.
Much of this pain originates in the tissues and bones in the shoulder, and you might also only feel the pain in the middle of physical activity or when you move your arms. Other times you might feel pain in your shoulder nonstop.
There are multiple questions you probably have if you suffer from shoulder pain, one of which is if there is any relation between fibromyalgia and shoulder pain. But in order to understand this correlation, it’s also critically important to understand what the causes of shoulder pain are what it is exactly.
The shoulder consists of three different bones. The upper arm bone, the shoulder blade, and the collar bone. The arm bone sits in a socket in your shoulder blade, and the muscles and tendons ensure that the arm is secure in this socket. When we feel pain in our shoulder(s), it is usually due to inflammation or a tear in the tendons, arthritis, nerve damage, an infection, a fracture, or a broken bone.
Tendons are the cords that hold our muscles to our bones, but just like nearly anything else, they can and do wear down over time. People who are regularly involved in physical activity will see that their tendons will wear down much faster than people who don’t.
As our tendons wear down, it is much more likely for them to be torn or suffer injury. This injury can develop over time or can happen all of a sudden, and if they are bad, the tendon can be completely split.
Something else that can cause shoulder pain is when the shoulder blade puts pressure on the tissues. When the arm lifts or is involved in any physical activity, the tissues rub against the top of the shoulder blade, which can, in turn, contribute to pain in the tendons as well. This type of pain is especially painful and severely limits what movement you can do in your arm.
For example, maybe you enjoy playing baseball and regularly lift and move your arm by pitching the ball above your head. This type of injury here, known as shoulder impingement, will eliminate your ability to perform that type of motion altogether.
One of the most common reasons behind shoulder pain is arthritis, and there are many variations of it as well. The reason why there are very many different types of arthritis is that it can occur in various parts of the body.
The type of arthritis that happens in the shoulder is called osteoarthritis, and common symptoms include pain and stiffness in the shoulder and swelling.
If you are displaying the symptoms of osteoarthritis, you should have it looked at immediately, since the pain will only worsen the longer it goes on without any substantial treatment. Osteoarthritis usually occurs in people who are middle-aged and is due to a variety of different factors including inflammation in the joints, infection, trauma, or sports.
The most common reaction with people who have osteoarthritis is to not move their shoulder in order to lessen the pain, but this will really make things worse since it will result in further stiffening of the shoulder.
Shoulder fractures and broken bones almost always are the result of physical trauma, such as suffering a sports injury, falling down, or being involved in an accident.
A fracture will lead to severe swelling in the affected area and cause intense pain. If you have suffered a fracture, you should secure medical attention from your doctor as soon as you can. Your doctor will give you a list of treatment options and officially diagnose where the fracture has occurred.
Fibromyalgia is one of the great mysteries of the medical world, as we still do not yet know all of the causes of it or even how it happens. It is estimated that between five to ten million Americans alone suffer from fibromyalgia, the overwhelming majority of them women. Fibromyalgia is also believed to run in the family, as people with a family history of fibromyalgia are far more likely to develop it themselves. In addition, middle-aged women are the most likely to develop fibromyalgia, but it has been known to occur in young adults, teenagers, and even young children too.
The primary symptom of fibromyalgia is a combination of muscle pain and fatigue. This pain and fatigue will have to be enough to greatly limit what the sufferer is able to accomplish in a day, as many fibromyalgia patients are reduced to laying down in bed for much of the day. The muscle pain usually occurs in the neck, back, chest, rib cage, thighs, and shoulders, and will worsen over time.
There are eighteen pressure points throughout the body, and it takes a person to feel pain in eleven of these pressure points to be officially diagnosed with fibromyalgia. A couple of these pressure points are located in the shoulders. If you feel pain in your shoulders, there are two options as to how it is related to fibromyalgia:
1. You aren’t feeling pain in any or very many of the other tender points, so you don’t have fibromyalgia and the pain is due to the causes that we have already discussed,
2. You are feeling pain in the other pressure points in addition to your shoulder, so the shoulder pain you feel could be a part of fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia, a widely misunderstood illness, confuses and frustrates both patients and doctors alike. I know because I’ve seen it from both sides—as both a physician and a woman with the illness myself.
Still, there remains a lot of confusion about what the illness really is and how it’s treated. Here are five truths about fibromyalgia that are not widely known, even by most doctors:
Research on fibromyalgia has lagged far behind other diseases, bogged down by controversy and a century of arguments about whether it’s a “real” illness.
This changed in 2002 when a groundbreaking study showed abnormalities in how the brain processes pain in fibromyalgia. These brain-imaging studies gave the objective data to prove fibromyalgia was “real” and triggered a decade of intensive research resulting in three drugs approved by the FDA that dull pain signals.
But those medications don’t treat the often more debilitating symptoms of fatigue and fuzzy thinking called “fibrofog.” To do that, doctors and patients have to be knowledgeable about different treatment options—especially holistic approaches such as making dietary changes to reduce inflammation or adding supplements to boost cellular energy production.
I often hear the myth repeated that “we don’t know what causes fibromyalgia.” Recent physician surveys reveal that most doctors still don’t know how to help their fibromyalgia patients—in spite of the existence of some very effective treatments. Fibromyalgia is often described in medical journals as “perplexing,” “mysterious,” and “confusing.”
The TV commercials that say fibromyalgia is a condition of hyperactive pain nerves don’t tell the whole story. In fact, pain-processing problems are only the tip of the iceberg. A much bigger factor is a stress (or danger) response that has gone haywire and is constantly on “red alert,” leading to a chain reaction that results in fatigue, brain fog, and muscle pain.
The only way to get lasting improvement in all of these symptoms is to systematically address the negative effects on the body of a chronic hyperactive stress response. A chronically activated stress response wreaks havoc by preventing deep sleep and keeping muscles tense, leading to pain and tenderness; impairing digestion and energy production; and throwing hormones out of balance. It also ultimately causes the pain-sensing nerves to increase the volume of their signals.
Unfortunately, many doctors, even sleep specialists, are not aware of the sleep issues that come with fibromyalgia. But fibromyalgia is in many ways a sleep disorder, a state of chronic deep sleep deprivation. Studies have demonstrated over and over that patients experience inadequate deep sleep that is frequently interrupted by “wakeful” brain waves. This deep-sleep starvation contributes to the fatigue, muscle pain, and foggy thinking characteristic of the condition.
Treating sleep is the key to treating fibromyalgia, and it’s where I see the most benefit in reducing pain, fatigue, and brain fog. Sleep must always be improved before any other treatment will work, so it’s vital to address this with your health care provider to treat hidden sleep problems like obstructive sleep apnea and then add medications and supplements to help restore normal deep sleep.
Fibromyalgia is an orphan disease that is not claimed by any specialty and instead awkwardly straddles the fields of rheumatology, neurology, sleep, and pain medicine. The majority of care falls to overwhelmed primary care doctors who don’t have time to go searching for new treatment ideas among the sea of medical publications. The big medical journals neglect fibromyalgia. In fact, since 1987, only one fibromyalgia study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the most widely read medical publication in the world.
Since the busy primary care provider does not have time to actively search out new treatments for fibromyalgia, research has to be brought to their attention in some other way—namely by their patients. So in my new book, The FibroManual, I included a health care provider guide with research-supported medical guidance for patients to bring to their doctor’s attention.
There is no cure for fibromyalgia—yet. But we don’t have cures for many chronic illnesses, like diabetes and high blood pressure. What we do have are effective treatments that manage those diseases well enough that they are minimally detrimental to one’s health. And powerful treatments for fibromyalgia are out there as well.
When people ask me if I have recovered from fibromyalgia, I say, “Yes.” I’ve found ways to feel much better and minimize its impact on my life. Ultimately, I do still have fibromyalgia, and there is no magic bullet that completely eliminates all symptoms. It requires work, and I have learned that consistency in my self-care routine is essential to keeping my symptoms under control.
Anyone with chronic pain knows that there are certain things that will make the pain flare-up. Those who have fibromyalgia are particularly vulnerable to this, as there are a lot of things they can’t do.
Sleeping becomes increasingly difficult, as it is painful to lay down and sleep. Going out and tending to the garden becomes out of the question, as leaning over is too painful.
The same thing goes for the clothing you wear. Likely, the looser the clothing is, the better. Therefore, bras become out of the question.
It doesn’t matter if they are soft, sports bras or ones with a wire in the front, they will hurt. They press in some of the most painful spots for those with fibromyalgia.
Many people who have fibromyalgia have had a very difficult time finding the right bra for them. They have likely spent a lot of money trying to find the perfect bras for their needs, but have been unable to. It takes a lot of time and effort to find the perfect bra.
There are a few things you should always keep in mind when you are going to look for a new bra. These are all essentials for those who have fibromyalgia and can no longer wear the bras they love.
If you are a sufferer of fibromyalgia, you might find it hard to pick out the right bras. Some of them might seem to work, but then don’t. Others you know will never work.
However, it’s always good to have a list of things to remember when you are out shopping for that new bra.
It’s true that synthetic bras are not only cheaper but extremely easy to find. However, they are not good when you sweat.
They don’t wick away the moisture but instead keep it where it is. For those who already have fibromyalgia, this makes wearing a bra that much more painful.
This brings you to wear primarily cotton or silk bras. They can’t have any synthetic material in them if you can help it, as they need to be able to breathe as much as possible.
If you absolutely can’t get away from synthetic materials due to budget or allergies, then try something that is a microfiber blend.
Microfiber is made to wick away the sweat that accumulates, making you less likely to have more pain than you need.
For those who have fibromyalgia, you likely already have noticed that having closures in the back makes everything more painful.
Joints are among the main things that are painful with fibromyalgia, so reaching behind you to clasp your bra shut is hard.
Even if you generally clasp it in the front and then move it to the back, it is still likely painful to put the straps upon your shoulders.
Therefore, you should look for front closing bras over everything else. It is much easier to close a bra in the front with all the pain you are being subjected to. The pain you might have is lessened dramatically when done this way.
A great thing that comes with that is the fact the bras with front closures are generally much smoother in the back.
This will help if your main source of pain from bras is on your back. Even if it isn’t, it will still prevent some pain from coming.
This comes down to something that is more a personal preference than anything else. Some people like them.
They give a good amount of support and they hold your breasts where you want them to be. They don’t feel like they are falling out and could go anywhere.
However, others don’t like them, as they can be very uncomfortable. Even the ones that are padded over the wire might be too uncomfortable. They might feel as though they are stabbing some people, even if they aren’t.
For those with fibromyalgia, it comes down to whether these make the pain worse or don’t change anything.
If you can find a front clasping bra that is made of natural material, getting one with or without an underwire depends on what you believe feels the best. Try ones with and ones without to see if one feels more comfortable.
It’s surprising that so many women still don’t know their size when it comes to bras. Many just go with whatever they think feels right. However, if you aren’t wearing the right size bra, there might be problems that arise later on.
Anyone who has fibromyalgia can probably say that a bra that is too small will be extremely painful. Therefore, if you have the correct size, it might relieve some of the more intense pain.
To figure out what your size is, there are plenty of sites online that will take the information you give them and convert them into the right size.
These are measurements that either you or someone else can take of your breasts, including how long it is all around your torso and how big your breasts are.
If you want to make sure that you have the right size, you should go to a store where someone can size you.
Not only can they size you, but if you tell them the issues you are having trying to find a bra, they can give you bras to try out.
Through this, you will have someone who is actively helping you figure out what ones are the best and what ones to skip over.
If you have a local store that can help you with this, you should definitely go and try it out. You might be surprised at how easy it is to find the bras you need.
It’s crazy to think how much a single disease can affect your life. Fibromyalgia not only is painful but can make a lot of the things you do on a daily basis impossible.
Wearing a bra is something many women do, but if it is painful, they might be forced to not wear one.
Depending on your choice, you might have to find the perfect bra to wear. Hopefully, some of these might help you figure out exactly what bra you should be buying and what one you will buy.
Magnesium, vitamin D, and B12 deficiency are the most common vitamin deficiencies I see in those who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I’ve had several patients completely reverse their fibromyalgia symptoms with magnesium alone. The best way to measure magnesium is a red blood cell (RBC) magnesium level, which can be tested through any conventional lab.
Gluten has been liked to more than 55 diseases and is often called the “big masquerader.” The reason for this is that the majority of gluten intolerance symptoms are not digestive in nature, but are instead neurological, such as pain, cognitive impairment, sleep disturbances, behavioral issues, fatigue, and depression.
Candida is a fungus or yeast, and a very small amount of it lives in your intestines. When overproduced, Candida breaks down the wall of the intestines and penetrates the bloodstream, releasing toxic byproducts into your body and causing a host of unpleasant symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, digestive issues, and pain. Virtually every one of my patients with fibromyalgia has had Candida overgrowth.
It’s vital that your doctor check all six blood markers to accurately measure your thyroid gland’s function. It’s also imperative that your doctor use the optimal levels rather than the standard reference range when assessing and diagnosing thyroid disorders. Getting my patient’s thyroid levels into an optimal range typically alleviates their fatigue, brain fog, sleep disturbances, and depression.
There are more bacteria in us and on us than there are of our own cells. When these bacteria get out of balance through the use of antibiotics or a sugar-rich diet, we can lose our ability to digest and absorb nutrients, particularly B12. Gluten can cause SIBO and leaky gut and SIBO and leaky gut can lead to gluten and other food intolerances. It’s a catch-22 and a vicious cycle. You must “fix the gut” first in anyone with fibromyalgia.
Mycotoxins are very toxic substances produced by molds. Conventional environmental mold testing only tests for levels of mold spores and does not test for mycotoxins. I use a urine mycotoxin test in my clinic to determine if someone has been exposed to toxic molds.
I recommend that all my patients find a biological dentist and have their mercury amalgam fillings removed. Mercury is toxic to our bodies and can be one piece of the puzzle for those with fibromyalgia. I then recommend heavy metal testing using a pre-and-post-DMPS urine challenge test.
Here are the best action steps to get started with on your journey to get fibromyalgia pain relief.
1) Use Anti-Oxidant Rich Herbs: Add turmeric, ginger, oregano, garlic, basil, thyme, and rosemary to as many dishes as possible and drink organic herbal teas on a regular basis. you can get fibromyalgia Pain relief by using anti-oxidant herbs.
2)Change Your Diet: Follow an Anti-Inflammatory nutrition plan here and consider the auto-immune diet and/or the low-oxalate diet, both of which you can find here.
2) Test For Food Sensitivities: You can do a biofeedback test to determine what foods are causing stress in your system and an elimination diet to test how you are responding to eliminating certain foods for periods of time.
4) Improve Your Sleep:Sleeping a high quality 8-9 hours each night is key to healing and improving brain function. you can get fibromyalgia Pain relief by improving your sleep.
5) Power Up Your Nrf2 Pathway: This is the key genetic anti-oxidant pathway. Adding in clinical dosages of resveratrol, curcumin, sulforaphane and Green tea (ECGC) can be extraordinarily beneficial. I use Nrf2 Power here to improve this pathway.
6) Include Magnesium & B Vitamin Rich Foods: Magnesium helps to improve blood sugar signaling patterns and protects the blood-brain barrier. The best magnesium and B vitamin-rich foods include dark green leafy veggies, grass-fed dairy, raw cacao, and pumpkin seeds.
9) Ground Your Body: In our society, we are surrounded by toxic electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs). These EMFs increase stress within our body and alter neurotransmitter function. By going outside daily and walking barefoot on grass, dirt, or sand you absorb natural EMFs from the ground that balance your electrical rhythms.
10) Supplement With Omega 3’s: Omega 3 fatty acids and in particular the long chain variety EPA and DHA are critical for stabilizing blood sugar, reducing inflammation and pain. Consume grass-fed meat, grass-fed butter, wild-caught fish, and spirulina to get it in your diet.
