August 14, 2007
Have you been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and are not feeling better, or were not informed of the cause of your condition? Were you just put on antidepressants or anti-inflammatory drugs?Fibromyalgia did not emerge in the medical literature until the late 20th century and still does not have clear diagnostic criteria. Those of us practicing alternative medicine offer a clearer picture of the causes and treatment options for fibromyalgia.
In 1990, the American College of Rheumatology published its criteria for fibromyalgia syndrome, which consists of two parts: chronic, widespread pain that has been present for three months; and pain elicited by palpation of specific tender points, specifically 11 of 18 sites.
Authors began to report more symptoms by the early 1990s, including fatigue, irritable bowel, headache, cold sensitivity, atypical patterns of sensation, exercise intolerance, anxiety, depression, irritable bladder, dysmenorrhea and symptoms associated with increased nervous system activity.
Muscle biopsies of FMS patients revealed no changes in muscle tissue, which exploded the theory of fibromyalgia being an inflammatory disorder of soft tissues. It was also found that antidepressants did help to reduce patient symptoms by lowering nervous system hyperactivity. No underlying cause of fibromyalgia was ever found, and thus the cluster of symptoms became fibromyalgia syndrome.
To clump all these symptoms together into one is fatally flawed and has left many patients with no help and more medications. Michael J. Schneider and David M. Brady, in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, July/August 2006, classified fibromyalgia into "Classic FMS" and "Pseudo FMS." Classic FMS consists of sleep disorders, anxiety syndrome, depression, alterations of brain and central nervous system chemistry, and brain injury/trauma.
Classic FMS patients have low serotonin levels, which is our "feel-good" neurotransmitter. Serotonin is the target of many antidepressant medications, but it can be boosted without drugs. 5-HTP and vitamin B6 can support serotonin levels as well as meditation and psychotherapy. Serotonin can become depleted after a major traumatic event or chronic stress.
Pseudo FMS is broken down into three categories:
1. Organic diseases: anemia, Lyme disease, hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and multiple sclerosis
2. Functional disorders: im-proper diets, functional nutritional deficiencies, intestinal dysbiosis, dysfunction of liver detoxification.
3. Musculoskeletal disorders: Multiple trigger points, joint dysfunction, muscle imbalances, postural distortion, undiagnosed disk/facet lesions.
Have you had a thorough examination and the necessary testing to rule out any of these possible causes? Were you tested for dysbiosis (abnormal ratios of bacterial flora in the intestines)? What about your liver's ability to detoxify or a thorough thyroid evaluation? I routinely test for these types of metabolic disorders and find the underlying cause of FMS patients. You don't have to live with fatigue, depression, chronic pain and anxiety. There are answers for you.
Originally posted at: citizens-times.com
