Treatment of Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FS) affects an estimated 6 to 8 million people. A chronic disorder affecting mostly women, the condition is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, poor sleeping patterns and multiple tender points that occurs in precise, localized areas, particularly in the neck, spine, shoulders and hips.
How does fibromyalgia develop?
Most doctors don’t believe that there is a single cause of fibromyalgia. Rather, traditional medicine points to a number of different factors. Some attribute the condition to a reduced amount of serotonin and substance P in the brain, which also has been linked to depression, migraines, pain and gastrointestinal disorders. Some researchers theorize that disturbed sleep patterns may be a cause rather than just a symptom of fibromyalgia. An injury to the upper spinal region has been shown to trigger the development of fibromyalgia in some people. And still other researchers believe that a viral or bacterial infection may trigger fibromyalgia.
Although these are all possible contributors to the condition, we find that the many of people suffering from fibromyalgia experience this pain as a result of ligament weakness from degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis, injury or repetitive use damage. In compensating for the ligament weakness, other areas of the body, including tendons and muscles, can be afflicted with referred pain. In this case, the fatigue, poor sleeping patterns and tender points associated with this condition are results of the ligament damage rather than causes of the condition.
What are the symptoms of fibromyalgia?
The severity of fibromyalgia symptoms varies from person to person. For some women, pain or other symptoms can be so intense that they interfere with daily activities. For others, symptoms may cause discomfort but are not incapacitating.
People with fibromyalgia may experience morning stiffness, fatigue, increased headaches or facial pain, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, anxiety, heightened sensitivity and cognitive symptoms (trouble with concentration, short-term memory and handling multiple tasks). About 50 percent of people with fibromyalgia report being sensitive to odors, noises, bright lights, various foods and changes in weather.
The Response of Modern Medicine
Given the complex nature of fibromyalgia, with its long list of symptoms, it is not surprising that typical modern medical treatment involves a wide variety of options, most of which appear to be ineffective. Treatment approaches range from decreasing stress and lifestyle changes to physical therapy, counseling, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, antidepressants, medications such as Gabapentin, which work on pain transmission pathways, diet, sleep aids, fish oil and other supplements, exercise, acupuncture and massage therapy. Finally, many fibromyalgia patients are referred to support groups to help with a disease for which there appears to be no relief. And while some of the many symptoms associated with fibromyalgia may improve with any of the above options, the fact remains that with most modern medical treatments, they usually get worse and will probably continue for months or even years.
Furthermore, not only do many of these approaches do nothing to get at the root cause of fibromyalgia, in the long run some of these treatments may do more damage than good. For example, although anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to produce short-term pain benefit, they result in long-term loss of function and even more chronic pain by actually inhibiting the healing process of soft tissues and accelerating cartilage degeneration. Plus, long-term use of these drugs can lead to other sources of chronic pain, allergies and leaky gut syndrome. Fibromyalgia is surely an excellent candidate for a natural medicine approach.
Natural Fibromyalgia Treatment with Prolotherapy
Although fibromyalgia is typically associated with chronic pain without an apparent cause, it’s much more complicated, with many associated and varied symptoms that must also be addressed. The natural fibromyalgia treatment of the varied symptoms must include consideration of the following: ligament weakness from degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis, injury or repetitive use damage; the role connective tissue deficiency syndrome plays in fibromyalgia; anabolic hormone levels, including estradiol; nutrition; adrenal gland overproduction; fungal infections; and allergies. The involvement of each of these factors must be assessed and treated based on the symptoms, peripheral to chronic pain, which an individual is experiencing.
First, let’s look at the role of Prolotherapy in treating fibromyalgia in relation to connective tissue deficiency syndrome, a condition in which the body breaks down the connective tissues (ligaments, tendons, cartilage) faster than it can rebuild them, a state referred to as catabolism. It has been found that one of the primary reasons a person maintains a state of catabolism is because of medications such as NSAIDs and narcotics that inhibit the normal inflammatory healing cascade, medications often given to treat fibromyalgia. Ligaments and tendons are made out of collagen, which is responsible for their strength, and which is weak in connective tissue deficiency syndrome. Prolotherapy stimulates cells to make good collagen, repairing the damage of the catabolic processes.
In keeping with encouraging the healing of tissues, which Prolotherapy does, anabolic hormone levels are also checked. These hormones help stimulate connective tissue growth (anabolic refers to the constructive part of metabolism that involves building up, regenerating and repairing). Someone with connective tissue deficiency syndrome is in a catabolic, or destructive or breakdown, phase of metabolism. Incidentally, the hormone estradiol, an excess of which is involved in a number of female reproductive disorders such as PMS, also has catabolic or destructive effects on connective tissue. This could, in fact, be one of the reasons why women are much more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia and connective tissue deficiency syndrome than men. If an individual’s anabolic hormone levels are low, natural hormone supplements are prescribed. In addition, it would be strongly recommended that neither oral contraceptives nor other synthetic forms of estrogen be taken. Dietary adjustments would be made and supplements would also be taken to help regulate estradiol levels.
Because nutrition plays a very important role in treating fibromyalgia, Diet Typing, which evaluates and identifies an individual’s metabolism by examining a number of different factors, including oxidative rate, blood type, body type and urine, blood and salivary pH, is also performed. Dietary recommendations are made based on the results.
Fatigue and sleep-related issues, strongly influenced by cortisol levels, are often a prime concern with fibromyalgia. The adrenal gland normally secretes less cortisol at night, enabling sleep. However, anyone who suffers from chronic pain, such as those with fibromyalgia, is under a constant state of stress. This keeps cortisol levels elevated. In fact, in an individual under stress, the adrenal gland is actually stimulated to produce more cortisol, which can result in chronic insomnia. To make matters worse, without adequate sleep, inadequate amounts of growth hormone are secreted, one of the anabolic hormones needed for connective tissue growth and repair. The vicious cycle is probably becoming very apparent (as well as the need to address multiple symptoms when dealing with fibromyalgia). Less soft tissue healing leads to more chronic pain, which leads to increased cortisol levels, which leads to less sleep and to more stress and less healing and so on!
We have also found that fungal infections and allergies can play a role. As a result, we administer appropriate tests, and a positive result for a yeast infection is frequently the outcome. It turns out that many individuals with fibromylagia have chronic yeast, or Candida infections, the main symptoms of which are a tired and achy body, PMS and chronic fatigue. At this point it should be mentioned again that the long-term use of NSAIDs, a common modern medicine treatment for fibromyalgia, can actually lead to chronic yeast infections! In addition, untreated fungal infections and allergies can also lead to irritable bowel syndrome, one more thing to complicate the complex nature of fibromyalgia and possibly even make it worse.
Fibromyalgia book
In summary, as with all conditions treated by natural medicine doctors, and most clearly illustrated by the elusive and complicated multi-symptomatic condition of fibromyalgia, the purpose of natural fibromyalgia treatment is to reverse the underlying physiology that is causing a particular condition. It involves a lot more than just dealing with the symptoms. It involves trying to identify exactly what is going on and treating it, which is possible with the use of Prolotherapy and additional testing and natural medicine treatments.
As mentioned above, Prolotherapy is the most effective natural fibromyalgia treatment for repairing the collagen in injured or lax ligaments and tendons. By working along with the body’s own healing mechanisms, Prolotherapy stimulates a localized and mild inflammatory reaction at the weakened soft tissue areas. The localized reaction triggers a natural healing process that results in a deposition of new collagen. In an anabolic process of rebuilding and repair, this new collagen tightens and strengthens the ligaments and tendons that had become weak and degenerated.
Prolotherapy is a regenerative injection treatment used for the sufferer of fibromyalgia when the body’s natural healing process is not able to do the job on its own. Unlike many of the treatments for fibromyalgia used in modern traditional medicine, which tend to cause degeneration and may in the long run boost the catabolic nature of fibromyaligia, Prolotherapy safely works with the body to stimulate healing and repair.
