Fibromyalgia: Latest Research News

By Dr. Jim Tabios, PhD

Fibromyalgia is a widely misunderstood and sometimes misdiagnosed chronic condition, commonly characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, concentration issues, and sleep problems.

According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, it affects an estimated 10 million people, mainly women, in the United States alone.

The severity of fibromyalgia symptoms can vary from one person to the next and may fluctuate even in a single individual, depending on such factors as time of day or the weather.

Because it is a chronic condition, in most cases, fibromyalgia symptoms never disappear entirely. The good news is that fibromyalgia isn’t progressive or life-threatening, and treatments can help alleviate many symptoms.

Fibromyalgia Symptoms

The symptoms of fibromyalgia and their severity vary widely, although pain and fatigue are nearly always present. Major symptoms of fibromyalgia include: Read more

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Etiquette: Disease and Dating

No, no, no… this is not a nag about STD’s and dating today, people!

This is a guest post from my favorite Relationship Columnist, and dear friend, “Miss Matchmaker” herself.

She has worked as a social worker, therapist, and has been a professional Matchmaker for the largest Matchmaking company on the Gulf Coast for the past 13 years, and her advice is always spot on.

When I heard this story, I was baffled and asked her to share it at the kitchen table.

Frankly, your health condition is no one’s business but your own, and if you are privileged to be privy of someone’s health condition you should never gossip about it, nor scapegoat it.

Please respect confidentiality with the same professionalism that doctors, nurses and HCPs everywhere kindly maintain thanks to The Hippocratic Oath which I highly recommend everyone in need of a little inspiration reads. ~Dr. Nicole

“The Etiquette of Disease and Dating”

By Denise Paravate, Missmatchmaker

Disease is a very serious component in the life of anyone who must deal with it on a daily basis. We have doctors who dictate treatment and therapy, and sometimes there are people who step in to help with the emotional aspects of disease, but how often is there someone at your side explaining to you the social components of disease when it comes to dating?

Several months ago I was involved in a relationship in which I had kept my physical history private. I did so for several reasons. Number one, I don’t look sick. Number two, I didn’t want to scare him away. This being the most popular route for people in the same situation as myself, I felt it worthy of discussion.

After dating for 6 weeks and spending several nights under the same roof, the inevitable happened. We had been out with friends, and previous to our social engagement we had a bit of a tat, so to speak. After a few cocktails, he pipes up with “well at least I don’t have to drug myself down every night before bed.” In front of all of our mutual friends, I explained to him that I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis as a child, Fibromyalgia in college, and Peri-Menopause at the age of 35.

I explained that my evening cocktail of medications helps me to function as a “normal” person and that I was the kid who saw Disney for the first time in a wheel chair. I then went on to explain that I may not be able to ever have another child and that without my hormone pills, I would be the psycho woman throwing chairs out windows between hot flashes as I attempt to stand up from my wheelchair (of which I would be in because I didn’t take my RA meds) and I didn’t think that was a person he would enjoy meeting.

Lesson learned, maybe I should have told him sooner. People have preconceived notions about medications and what “sick” really is. As a matchmaker, I preach to my clients to always be honest with their dates, but at what point is too much information just too much information…

When it comes to dating I believe that yes, honesty is the best way, but “TMI” (too much information) can sometimes scare the potential suitor away. So what is the best policy? From my own experiences I must say that it is probably best to keep things on a need to know basis. I don’t necessarily believe that it is something that should be shared on a first or second date. When it gets to the point where you are seeing someone on a regular basis and they are learning your daily routine, then it may be time to fill them in.

I don’t like the idea of keeping secrets and that is not what I am trying to imply. All I am saying is that if you live with chronic disease, life is hard enough and if you plan on sharing your life with someone, they have the right to know just how hard it is. I think now looking back that the best way to handle the situation would be to talk about it first and educate the other person about your particular issues.

Some people may be scared to do so because they would not want to discourage a blooming relationship, but understand that if you try to keep it a secret, chances are it will blow up in your face at some point later anyway. If that person chooses to not be with you because of the challenges you face, then that just means it was not the person for you and maybe it is best you move on.

Dating is hard enough. Disease is even harder. Combining the two can be a challenge!

~Denise Paravate

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Pain and Positive Mental Attitude

Do You Think Positive Mental Attitude Can Heal Pain?

In the case of Jennifer Mannion it did.

I am very grateful that Jennifer found Kitchen Table Medicine so that she could share her story with us. The following is a case report on how positive thinking was used to heal chronic pain.

Below is Jennifer’s personal account on how she cured her fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndrome with a change in her thinking.

If this story doesn’t support the naturopathic model of mind/body/spirit holistic healing, I am not sure what else will. Since no pharmaceutical company can patent “positive thinking” and sell and promote it, I will do my best to be the spokesperson (not the poster child) for positive mental attitude.

Please welcome to the kitchen table Jennifer Mannion, the author of the website Heal Pain Naturally!

I had been chronically ill and in chronic pain for 6 years and had received several diagnoses including Fibromyalgia, Chronic Mono and Benign Hypermobility Syndrome. The doctors told me I would always be in chronic pain and would most likely be in a wheelchair. They told me to manage my pain with prescription drugs. Being a mom in her mid thirties with two young children this did not sit right with me but I did not know what else to do.

Upon seeing the movie “The Secret” I knew I would learn all I could about the mind/body connection and that I WOULD heal myself. I did not agree with 100% of the material in The Secret but the parts on health really struck a chord. The fact that our bodies are constantly creating cells and we have a new body every couple of years was new to me. It woke me up to the fact that I could in fact possibly control the type of cells my body was producing “sick” cells or “healthy” cells depending on what I was telling myself.

I surrounded myself with audios, books, ebooks and immediately started putting into practice what I was learning. Within 2 weeks I was off of pain killers. Within a month I felt better than I had in 10 years. Now 18 months later I am still pain and pain pill free. I KNOW how powerful the mind is and I KNOW it is possible to shift from a reality of sickness to a healthier you.

I adopted a method to healing that I call the PAGING ME SYSTEM. It is about “waking up” your subconscious and using tools to put you in the right frame of mind. I have found so many great teachers in the last year and a half and continue to learn every day. I am grateful for my illnesses because they brought me to this point of my life. I have found my passion which is to empower others to realize their own power within to heal. Paging Me is an acronym for the methods I adopted to heal myself.

PAGING ME SYSTEM

Forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness was a key part of my healing. It is something that people often have trouble dealing with. But how therapeutic it is when you let go of all the reasons you have been upset with yourself, all the mistakes you made or bad timed things you might have said.

After this was forgiveness of others/circumstances as I could spend hours saying well if “he hadn’t done this….” or if “this hadn’t happened”. I realized I had spent enough time being angry and whoever/whatever circumstance I was angry at and that it had taken enough of my energy. I was going to let that go as well and try and think of a reason why I encountered that person/thing and how I grew from the experience. I needed to PARDON myself, situations and other people from the anger, resentment and blame that I had held onto for so long.

Being in pain it became easy and a habit to wake up every day and say “ow my back hurts” or “oohhww my leg”. When I woke, my mind was on alert for what part of my body hurt and that is where my attention went. Instead I had to shift my attention to the one part of me that didn’t hurt. Even if it was my little finger that is where my whole conscious mind went as I said repeatedly in my mind “I am so happy and grateful I am so healthy – I know how good my finger feels and that means my whole body is healthy”. Shifting the ATTENTION to what was working and feeling good and away from what was bad and negative did wonders for helping me to feel better.

My next tool was being GRATEFUL. When you are in chronic pain or have been diagnosed with illnesses it is easy to feel ungrateful. I needed to concentrate on what I DID have and who and what I WAS grateful for. I LOVE the house and community where I am living. I have a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful, very smart and healthy children. I have always had a lot of friends and consider myself to be a very good friend to others. I have wonderful parents and extended family. This tool worked wonders for me in the morning and at night right before bed.

Then there were the INFLUENCES (people & media) that I was surrounding myself with. I was watching or listening to the news a few times a day. I was around people who would constantly complain but did not want to listen to me. I was reading violent fiction novels. When I shifted to reading personal development, law of attraction and mind/body connection books and STOPPED watching the news I noticed a HUGE shift in my mood. I also surrounded myself with my more positive friends and limited my time with what James Ray calls “Energy Vampires”.

The next tool was being conscious of my self-talk. Was I telling myself I was sick because the doctors had told me that for years? Was I saying “can’t and “won’t” more than “can” and “will”? I was honestly appalled when I stopped and listened to my subconscious mind. I discovered just how NEGATIVE it was and was very happy to change the messages I was sending myself. If I was waiting in line at a store and someone in front of me was “holding it up” I would get angry – now I stop, relax, realize the person in line isn’t doing it on purpose nor are they happy about the situation. I think about what I can do to pass the time and feel good – think of a happy memory, prioritize the stuff to do later, think of a blog post I want to write about….. Your time is only wasted if you tell yourself it is – there is always a place to go in your mind to make the use of time more positive.

It was also imperative for me to set some GOALS. My life had become wrapped around the kids and my illnesses and I felt I had no time for goals – you ALWAYS have time for goals. If you don’t know WHAT you want – how are you ever going to get it? I did some soul searching and realized while I had pursued my invention I was not putting my all into it or setting obtainable goals in the road to getting a manufacturer. I was exercising here and there but wasn’t setting goals as to how far I could walk or how many times I would exercise that week or what jeans I wanted to fit me…..

Goal setting for my physical and mental wellness was key. I broke them into smaller steps so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed. I felt so great when I crossed something off of my list that brought me one step closer to my final goal. In time I found it necessary to set goals in a bunch of different areas: mental, physical, spiritual, emotional and financial. I started with concentrating on 1 or 2 at a time but felt if I didn’t have goals set for all these areas – how could I hope to grow in all these areas? Any small step crossed off is a HUGE boost in self esteem and gives you something to add to your gratitude list!

Being a mom and wife at times I felt that I had lost some of myself. I was always mommy, wife or daughter but I needed to find out who Jenny was again. I feel the best tool that helped me do this was MEDITATION. To take 10 minutes during the day and lock myself in my bedroom and either play Deepak Chopra’s Guided Soul Healing Meditations or to sit in silence and let my mind go and concentrate on my breathing. It allowed me to see what I was focusing on and it allowed me to relax. I loved the feeling of peace I achieved after just sitting for 10 minutes. With 2 young kids, noise and movement are pretty much par for the course…..

To know what you are passionate about and continually EDUCATE yourself in it boosts your self confidence. Whether it is music, social causes, wherever your passion lies – the more you know about it the better you will be at achieving goals with it. There are tons of free resources online and in libraries to learn about almost anything… take advantage of it and nurture what you love. It is only by really knowing about a topic that you can teach others and figure out a way to work doing something that involves a passion. Make sure when you are educating yourself you find a teacher/author who really speaks to you and resonates. This will make learning seem effortless and will ensure your interest will keep growing.

I think of these tools like “PAGING ME” (your subconscious). Waking it up so you can be the difference in your life and the world around you.

• Pardon yourself and others
• Attention shifting to health instead of feeling pain
• Gratitude
• Influences (people, news, reading – make them predominantly positive)
• No Negative self talk! Turn it around and Make it positive
• Goal Setting
• Meditation or quiet time for self.
• Education – am I continually learning about what I am passionate about?

I use the PAGING ME method to be in the moment and to help me keep focused. If things don’t go my way I use it to figure out why what happened did and how I can use it to move forward and learn from it. I use these tools daily to ensure my health. I have not taken a pain pill or been in pain for over 18 months.

I am now teaching my children to believe they can achieve anything they set their minds to. Once you know where your mind is and WHAT you want to accomplish it is a whole lot easier to make a plan to achieve it. I never doubted I would heal myself and here I am – feeling better than I have in years! I know the belief was integral in my healing. I believe if you use these tools you will heal what ails you or maintain your health and become more self aware in the process.

~Jenny

Jennifer Mannion was chronically ill and in chronic pain for over 6 years. Her prognosis was that her condition would only get worse. After studying the mind/body connection she was able to heal herself of all pain and illness. She is now a coach as a mind/body mentor and also maintains the blog Heal Pain Naturally that is about natural ways to heal emotional and physical pain.

If you have more questions you may leave them in the comments of this post, or you may personally contact Jennifer at jennymannion@yahoo.com and SKYPE: Jennifer.mannion

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Fibromyalgia and Vegan Diet

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

“Can the Kitchen Table Cure Fibromyalgia?”

When implementing the vegan diet it just might!

Research listed below shows dramatic and promising improvement for those with fibromyalgia by simply adopting a whole foods vegan diet that emphasizes increased fruits and vegetables and the elimination of all animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs.

From my clinical experience, eating an Anti-inflammatory diet is extremely beneficial for those with chronic pain. Vegan diets are probably beneficial because they are free of the evil kitchen table culprit “arachidonic acid” found in animal fats that most traditional prescription and over the counter pharmaceutical agents work to block.

To spare you all the biochemistry blah blah blah, let’s just say that arachidonic acid becomes inflammation. By implementing an anti-inflammatory eating plan or vegan diet, those challenged by the chronic debilitating pains of fibromyalgia just might experience a dramatic increase in pain relief, as well as less overall need for using medications.

Remember that less medicines, means less side effects. Less side effects means less medicine needed to address side effects of medications. Don’t get caught up in the snowball down spiraling effect of chronic prescription drug use if you can achieve similar if not better results with diet.

The kitchen table is truly the heart of medicine. If you are chronically ill, please consider giving yourself the gift of a healthy whole foods diet!

Going vegan may just be the answer to this painful condition. At the very least do your best to eliminate McInflammation. Be sure to always check with your physician before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle.

Other researched therapeutics that may be helpful for fibromyalgia:

• Eliminate MSG, aspartame, and other “Kitchen Table Villains”.
• Allergy Elimination Diet.
• Reduce stress.
• Gentle exercise, especially swimming.
• Fish Oil
• Magnesium malate and malic acid.

Research on Vegan Diet and Fibromyalgia:

1. PMID: 11093597; Vegan diet alleviates fibromyalgia symptoms.Scand J Rheumatol. 2000;29(5):308-13.
2. PMID: 11602026; Fibromyalgia syndrome improved using a mostly raw vegetarian diet: an observational study.BMC Complement Altern Med. 2001;1(1):7. Epub 2001 Sep 26.
3. PMID: 11508070; Vegetarian diet in the treatment of fibromyalgia.Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull. 2000 Aug;26(2):41-7.
4. PMID: 11093597; Vegan diet alleviates fibromyalgia symptoms.Scand J Rheumatol. 2000;29(5):308-13.
5. PMID: 11408989; Relief of fibromyalgia symptoms following discontinuation of dietary excitotoxins.Ann Pharmacother. 2001 Jun;35(6):702-6.
6. PMID: 1802495; Diet and disease symptoms in rheumatic diseases–results of a questionnaire based survey.Clin Rheumatol. 1991 Dec;10(4):401-7.
7. PMID: 2049586; Primary fibromyalgia and the irritable bowel syndrome: different expressions of a common pathogenetic process.Br J Rheumatol. 1991 Jun;30(3):220-2.
8. PMID: 11156742; Antioxidants in vegan diet and rheumatic disorders.Toxicology. 2000 Nov 30;155(1-3):45-53.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen table!

~Dr. Nicole

Naturopathic Physician

www.KitchenTableMedicine.com

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