Muscle Fibromyalgia Help Without Medications - Can it be done?You have muscle fibromyalgia or think you do... your muscles hurt, you brain feels like it's working on half power, you're tired and have a hard time getting going. Maybe you've been suffering for months or years, or maybe you just realized there's something wrong and are trying to find answers. There is a ton of information on the web about fibromyalgia, and I’m guessing that you’ve already done some of the initial research and are now looking for ways to cope. I’m not going to cover the basics of the condition, as I’m sure you already know those. What I’ll do for you here is get into some of the ways we think muscle fibromyalgia starts, and some practical things you can do to feel better. Since fibro affects women more than men, and since I’m a woman, I’m going to approach it from that angle. If you’re a man and have muscle fibromyalgia and can’t find the information you’re seeking, drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do. Causes of Muscle FibromyalgiaAlthough we don’t know exactly how fibro starts, there seems to be agreement that it’s a result of either an injury, exposure to some sort of toxin, a chemical or hormonal imbalance, or a stress reaction. There’s an interesting theory called “central sensitization” where fibromyalgia patients have highly sensitive central nervous systems (brain and spinal cord) and that repeated firing of pain signals creates a memory pattern inside those neurons. In essence, it’s almost as if your neurons are remembering the pain and firing, even though the trigger may not be there anymore. Chronic pain researchers have known about this “memory” in the spinal cord for years, and it’s one way that we believe “phantom pain” in amputated limbs occurs.Regardless of how you got it, the symptoms that seem to be the worst are the constant, draining fatigue, the muscle pain, and the brain fog. Hormone Imbalance and Muscle FibromyalgiaLet’s start with hormonal imbalance. Women reach their sexual maturity and many of them choose contraception based on convenience. The most convenient hormonal forms of contraception are the Pill, DepoProvera and the Norplant implant. These types of contraceptives “trick” the body to not release an egg by providing a continuous dose of estrogen (which women’s bodies create readily anyway) and progestin, a chemical substitute for progesterone.Progesterone isn’t created readily. In fact, it’s mainly created AFTER the release of an egg. By chemically suppressing the release of the egg, this type of birth control creates low levels of natural progesterone in young women. Progesterone is known as a “pre-cursor” hormone because your body converts it into other hormones like cortico-steroids (think cortisol and epinephrine). It works with estrogen to keep a woman’s cycle balanced. If progesterone isn’t made in sufficient quantities (in this case it would be because of birth control) then estrogen dominance occurs. This doesn’t mean that you have too much estrogen, it just means that there’s not enough progesterone in relation to it. If you look at progesterone’s effects in the body it acts as a natural diuretic, it normalizes blood clotting, stimulates bone formation, helps create other necessary hormones, balances blood sugar, and improves the transmission of neuro-chemicals that are related to moods. Low progesterone levels cause PMS symptoms, post partum depression, increased menstrual flow, breast tenderness, foggy thinking, insomnia, anxiety, and osteoporosis. If you have fibromyalgia and have used hormonal birth control (or have recently had a baby and therefore haven’t been ovulating), you may be progesterone deficient. Using a natural progesterone cream or visiting your doctor for a bio-identical progesterone prescription may help.
The Food Connection to Muscle FibromyalgiaI’ve said it elsewhere and it’s extremely important if you have fibromyalgia – food affects everything and most Americans are malnourished. I know it sounds almost silly; we’re one of the richest nations in the world, how can we be malnourished? Look at the number of processed foods you eat – the higher that number, the more likely you are to be deficient in important nutrients.Here’s why it’s called “processed food.” Let’s take a boxed rice product as an example. Rice in its natural raw form is a great source of complex carbs, insoluble fiber, potassium, and the B vitamins, thiamin and niacin. It’s gluten free (we’ll get more into this later) and is easily digested. In order to process it and put it in a box so you can cook it in less than 5 minutes, that rice has to be pre-cooked and broken down. The nutrients are lost in the cooking process, and then after the rice is ready to be packaged, it’s enriched. They basically have to add vitamins and minerals back in, but instead of the natural ratio of nutrients, a whole slew of nutrients are thrown into the mix. The final ratio of vitamins and minerals in that boxed product is a combination not found in nature, and is normally the cheapest and of the lowest quality available. Because the flavor was lost in the processing, salt and other food additives are added, and usually different dyes and colorings are thrown in to make it “pleasing to look at.” Ick. If you suffer from fibro and eat processed foods, please stop immediately. Eat whole, unprocessed foods. Increase your lean protein from chicken and fish (these are more easily digested than beef), and your green leafy vegetables. Drink plenty of water, and I recommend adding fresh, organic lemon juice to it. Although lemons are acidic on their own, they have an alkalizing affect within your body, and vitamin C is an important nutrient for detoxification and your body uses it to create collagen (the building block of muscles, tendons, and ligaments). Food SensitivitiesBut what if you've already eliminated processed foods and fibro triggers? Then what?Have you ever considered you may have a food sensitivity? Food sensitivities don't cause everything but they can cause anything. In the case of fibro, an overworked immune system because of a food issue can leave you feeling drained, cause muscle and joint pain, and GI distress. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? If you suspect a food component to your muscle fibromyalgia but standard blood tests are negative, then I'd like to introduce you to the
ALCAT test.
You can read more about the ALCAT test and how it helps muscle fibromyalgia by clicking that link.
Return from Muscle Fibromyalgia to Natural-Arthritis-Relief.com HOME
|
