I have heard a lot of different opinions on what Fibromyalgia is and on possible treatments for it.
But I recently found a book that is incredibly useful. It's called " The Fibromyalgia cure" it's by DR David Dryland.
It basically says that fibromyalgia is caused by your body being in a constant state of fight or flight with elevated adrenaline levels. The elevated adrenaline levels slowly deplete dopamine and you end up with chronic pain.
Dopamine is a natural pain killer so if you have low levels and elevated adrenaline, it causes:
1. Chronic pain
2. Depression
3. Reduced/low libido
I found out personally that my trigger is poor sleep. Which makes sense as this causes elevated adrenaline, stress, anxiety and low dopamine levels + no energy and brain fog or fibro fog.
IMPORTANT: The guy who wrote this book did a study where he induced fibromyalgia in healthy students by removing stage 4 of their sleep - which is a stage of deep sleep. After he allowed them stage 4 sleep they returned to full health.
Here are some tips I have used to help me and listed below also are the causes of fibromyagia as he wrote them in the book.
1. Poor Sleep: I only sleep well if I sleep 9-10 hours a night. I sleep from 10pm - 7am and
most importantly the quality of sleep is MUCH BETTER before midnight and MUCH DEEPER as in a lot more stage 4 sleep. Sleep also decreases stress. Also it might be worth getting tested for sleep apnea.
2. Stress: This can cause, or increase fibromyalgia symptoms. As you probably already know. So get more sleep if you can. Or try taking vitamin c as this regulates cortisol 1000-3000 mg a day has been proven to reduce cortisol levels. Relaxation in any form you can - e.g a massage or watching your favourite tv show will help.
3. Anxiety: This can cause or worsen fibromyalgia. Also if you get panic attacks. This is because it increases adrenaline as does stress. I often find I worry about everything with fibromyalgia and get social anxiety, however if I sleep well this seems to go away.
4. Depression: Fibromyalgia can induce depression which makes symptoms worse. Or depression can cause fibromyalgia.
Other causes are: Post traumatic stress, bipolar disorder, psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, osteoarthritis or inflammatory diseases, painful trauma such as a car accident, restless leg syndrome and hypermobility - being double jointed.
Treatments: option 1: Root causes Bascially find out the root causes which for me is poor sleep, causing anxiety, depression and stress and then fibromyaligia which created a vicious cycle.
Then try and treat the root cause, for example if you have post traumatic stress, anxiety or depression then see a psychiatrist.
option 2: Increase dopamine
There are many ways to do this but all this will do is decrease the symptoms it's not an actual cure and if you stop taking medication for dopamine then the symptoms will return.
One route is to take drugs prescribed by a doctor - which you will have to ask about
and the second route is to take supplements combined with lifestyle choices:
Sunlight increases dopamine, as does exercise, anything you enjoy doing - (which may be why you feel better when you're happy), sexual activity and most importantly sleep.
Supplements: L tyrosine which converts in two steps to dopamine. It's an amino acid and also increases thyroid function.
Mucuna pruriens: It contains L dopa which converts to dopamine in 1 step - drugs the doctor gives you will either contain L dopa or will contain a substance that acts like dopamine in your body. Make sure you buy it from reputable source though
Others that may help are : D L phenylalinine - 3 step conversion to dopamine, fish oil - also may boost serotonin, eating more food.
These supplements aren't really noticeable straight away but if you take them every day the dopamine levels should build up slowly. Although I have no proof for this and drugs from the doctor would work better - provided that they have no side effects.
I hope this helps you, as it has helped me.
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It might be best to talk to a doctor first but they are safe unless you have an allergy or something.
I tend to buy them from NOW foods as I know they are a good company. But if you type in the supplement you are interested in on amazon then you will be able to see the user feedback and you should get a good idea of which products are good or not.
I would try the other tips too as if you are only increasing dopamine then your elevated adrenaline will be constantly using it up so you will feel some improvement but it will be a constant battle.
I kind of agree seeing as my thyroid came back low or rather high TSH. But the level is now normal and the symptoms are sill here which suggests either no thyroid problem or low T3 or something. I'm convinced that the same steps which help cure fibromyalgia will work on Hypothyroidism though such as better sleep, less stress as seems to be the case for me. Unless of course the hypothyroidism is caused by a goiter or iodine deficiency etc.. My doctor isn't interested in doing any other tests for tsh though but I may have to persuade them.
Hi I'm a little bit scared of the word cured !!! I've been to many many drs and after yrs finally got diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was put on medications that have helped but not cured my pain but as the yrs have gone on I've finally been believed and by reading that there's a cure I want to know why haven't I been given that before now ????? If I can feel this way how do you think people who have no idea what we go through are going to think ? They will think and say there's a simple cure for that go take vitamins !!!? They won't care if its only a possible cure !!!
I don't think there is a simple cure but I do think that different things cause fibromyalgia and identifying the root causes will help. I think that if it can't be cured, it can at least be greatly reduced to the point where you can barely feel it. I also strongly believe that the guy who wrote this book is write about the definition of fibromyalgia. Low dopamine and chroncially elevated adrenaline.
If you don't mind me asking, what symptoms do you have ( the major ones) and is this something you have had all your life or that developed? Thanks.
I forgot to mention, the author also suffered from fibromyalgia but because he was a dr he figured it out and managed to cure it, which is why he wrote the book
Interesting. Doctors seem to have different ideas about what cause fibromyalgia and what exactly it is. Mine developed a few years ago so I believe something must have triggered it. If I manage to get rid of it then I'll let you know. My mine cause seems to be poor sleep which is why I relate to the book by Dr dryland. I know I can at least get good sleep because I have managed it on a few occasions since having this problem and it seemed to greatly reduce the symptoms. It's horrible that they killed themselves, another few years of this though and who knows what I'll be ready to do.
The main thing to me seems to be keeping up hope, believing there is a way out. Whilst I believe that it will keep me going but it also helps symptoms because having hope relives excess stress and anxiety and depression. I believe there is a cure out there and if this method doesn't work then I will find one. Perhaps if my thyroid is the problem then I need to treat that.
THANK YOU - you gave me a major piece of the puzzle, the link between adrenalin and dopamine, which I suspected.
I am a kinesiologist specialising in balancing trauma and the TMJ.
I started getting amazing results with chronic pain, fibromyalgia, CFS, MS and even one case of Parkinson's.
Its taken nearly 20 years to figure out WHY!
EVERYONE with fibromyalgia (and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, MS, arthritis and Parkinson's) is in a state of fight/flight/freeze/survival which means the body is producing massive amounts of adrenalin.
This creates adrenal and kidney stress which creates dehydration which creates huge magnesium and zinc deficiency.
The actual PAIN in fibromyalgia is ALWAYS caused by calcium or calcium fluoride. The heightened REACTION to the pain is caused by dopamine deficiency.
New research shows that everyone with fibromyalgia has low dopamine in certain areas of the brain.
The calcium is there because of the magnesium deficiency. Calcium and magnesium need each other. Adrenalin also MASSIVELY depletes magnesium.
The fluoride is there because it has a strong bond with calcium, and its in our water and toothpaste.
The fluoride also blocks iodine in the thyroid and causes low thyroid.
The fastest way to change fibromyalgia is to release the tension from the TMJ (jaw muscles). This INSTANTLY takes people out of fight/flight/freeze/survival and changes the physiological component of most past traumas.
The adrenals and kidneys relax, water can now get into the kidneys, the water can now take magnesium and zinc into the body. The magnesium and calcium start to balance, and THE PAIN REDUCES INSTANTLY.
I have seen fibromyalgia (chronic for ten years) change dramatically in five minutes! I have seen CFS (20 years) change dramatically in one day, and a week later the same result in a different city (I have the testimonials).
Magnesium is also a precursor to serotonin, which is a precursor to melatonin, the sleep hormone, so without magnesium, sleep is affected.
So TMJ must be corrected first, then everything else will work better. ALL nutrition is dependent on water. Dehydration is also a major cause of chronic pain. The TMJ correction changes hydration instantly.
Wow, that's quite a complex explanation! I'm glad what I wrote helped provide a piece of the puzzle. I some what understand what you say, I just have a few questions:
1. How can you relieve tension from TMJ? I do get that around my face and jaw.
2. Does this mean taking a magnesium supplement is pointless as it will never actually be taken where it's needed?
3. Will drinking more water help the dehydration? Or is it the case that the kidneys will simply be unable to filter it due to stress?
Could you potentially write down the steps that you would use to resolve this problem? As I'm willing to give it a try, after another night of really poor sleep
1. RESET or Kinergetics TMJ. RESET is a 3 hour workshop. What country are you in?
2. YES, you may assimilate some magnesium transdermally (magnesium oil) but the adrenalin will just burn it up.
3. VERY UNLIKELY, the dehydration is caused by the TMJ.
STEP 1:
Balance the TMJ (the only TMJ corrections I know that work for sure are RESET or Kinergetics BNT workshops or having one session).
STEP 2: Magnesium oil transdermally daily.
STEP 3: If calcium fluoride showed see a homeopath to pull it out of the body.
When I teach the one day BNT workshop I guarantee people with fibromyalgia (and CFS, arthritis and MS) improve 25% during the workshop or they don't pay.
I will be teaching it in Australia this year, Germany, Denmark Russia, and maybe The Netherlands, England and the US in 2014.
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