Fibromyalgia, in my experience and opinion, is not one
single condition with one underlying cause and therefore it
is highly unlikely that any one treatment will work for
even a small majority of fibromyalgia sufferers - despite
all the hype for Lyrica.
"Fibromyalgia" is simply a set of symptoms that can be
caused by any number of underlying conditions. And while
fibromyalgia is still considered to be untreatable for the
most part (Lyrica works well for a few people, but it is
far from what it is being advertised as, and the
side-effects rule it out as an option for many people who
try it), the underlying conditions that are causing the
symptoms are usually quite treatable. The problem is that
most doctors are making the diagnosis of fibromyalgia and
not looking any further. Even if they are looking further,
they don't know what to look for, and often wind up missing
something very important, yet relatively easy to fix.
Most of the potential underlying causes of fibromyalgia
symptoms are not even checked for by the majority of
medical doctors who diagnose and treat fibromyalgia. Of
those, such as hypothyroidism and hypoglycemia, that are
typically tested for, the standard testing procedures may
not be adequate to uncover subtle or "subclinical" problems
that can be more than enough to produce rather severe
symptoms.
People with any combination of symtoms that fit the
"pattern" (widespread pain, sleep problems, fatigue,
digestive disorders, etc.) all get lumped together under
the fibromyalgia diagnosis. Worse yet, fibromyalgia
sufferers are typically told that there is nothing that can
be done to cure them and the best they can do is manage the
symptoms with medication.
In fact, many of the people I have seen with the
fibromyalgia diagnosis have told me that their doctors
actively discouraged them from "wasting their time" trying
to find a better way to deal with the situation. After
all, if the doctor said it was incurable, you should just
take his or her word for it - who are YOU to disagree with
"THE DOCTOR"?
Unfortunately, there are so few healthcare practitioners
who do know what to look for, how to look for it, and how
to fix it when they find it, that the vast majority of
fibromyalgia sufferers are being managed by doctors who
really don't know much more about it than the patients
themselves!
The good news is that you don't necessarily have to find a
doctor to help you - although assistance from certain
healthcare providers is usually very helpful. You can take
a "shotgun" approach to the problem using a combination of
natural approaches. Unlike using medication, using
multiple natural treatments at once (within reason) isn't
hazardous (you wouldn't want to take medication for every
possible cause of fibromyalgia because you probably
wouldn't survive the side-effects!). In fact, the
"side-effect" of the approach I'm about to recommend is
that other health problems usually improve at the same time
as the fibromyalga symptoms! The biggest downside is that
using multiple natural approaches simultaneously can be
somewhat costly, but costs can be kept down the more you
learn to do for yourself and when you use
approaches/products that "kill two (or more) birds with one
stone".
The specifics of what I recommend go beyond the scope of
this article, but it comes down to a combination of diet,
supplementation, exercise, body work, and handling
allergies, infections, and removing bioelectric
interference to proper body function. With this
multi-tiered approach, which is different to some extent
for every person, most fibromyalgia sufferers will put
their symptoms into remission. Although this approach is
not a "cure" in the sense that it is necessary to continue
the program for life to keep the symptoms from returning,
it is a far superior approach for most people than trying
to manage fibromyalgia with medications that are usually
minimally effective at best.
----------------------------------------------------
Dr. George Best has been a holistic healthcare practitoner
in private practice since 1992. For more free information
on fibromyalgia and natural remedies, please visit the
natural fibromyalgia relief section of his blog at
http://www.BestHealthAndWellnessInfo.com .
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