Daily Mail article -12th November 2022 - Fibromyalgia Acti...

Fibromyalgia Action UK

59,986 members67,154 posts

Daily Mail article -12th November 2022

saluhouse profile image
22 Replies

Did you see this article? I’ve copied it out in case you didn’t.

GUT MICROBES TRANSPLANT

Surprisingly, a recent study has found that the gut microbiota, the trillion or so microbes that live in our guts and which shape our health in ways we’re only just beginning to understand, may play a part in chronic pain.

Researchers at McGill University in Canada discovered this after comparing the gut microbiota of 178 people, 77 of whom had fibromyalgia (which causes widespread pain, often accompanied by muscle stiffness, extreme tiredness headaches and bloating). Fibromyalgia can take many years to diagnose and is difficult to treat)

By comparing Poo samples taken from people with and without fibromyalgia, researchers were able to identify a signature pattern - 20 different species of bacteria that were present in either higher or lower amounts in people who have this condition, compared to those who don’t. The relationship turned out to be so close that they could predict, with nearly 90per cent accuracy, whether someone had fibromyalgia or not. Simply by analysing their poo samples, .reported the journal Pain.

The team plan further research to see if gut bacteria are implicated in other conditions such as chronic headaches or lower back pain.

Quite how bacteria might cause pain is unclear, but one possibility is that they interact with parts of our immune system and cause widespread inflammation - particularly in our central nervous system, where pain signals are transmitted to the brain.

The hope is that this discovery will lead to new treatments, which might include a faecal transplant - where a patients gut microbes are largely replaced by microbes collected from healthy donors.

Dr Michael Mosley

Interesting?

Written by
saluhouse profile image
saluhouse
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
22 Replies
Arymretep profile image
Arymretep

Yes I read it , very interesting, I’ve always suffered with stomach trouble as well as fibromyalgia and arthritis and I’ve always believed they are connected

Maybe if these findings are replicated in bigger clinical trials it might open up a new way of diagnosing Fibro. Which currently has no diagnostic tests that give a clear yes or no.

CM1EDSUK profile image
CM1EDSUK

I could be wrong, but I believe this was first reported 3 years ago. The only discrepancy seems to be that altho there were 77 people with fibro, there were only 79 controls (tho some had been excluded from the study).

Please see: journals.lww.com/pain/Fullt...

Must admit I'm very interested to read about the Gut-Brain-Axis as more continues to be learnt about it.

Painny profile image
Painny

wow, wow, wow…made me think 🤔, I need time to digest it, I definitely have gut issue…I’m tired, fed up, no words can explain my pain. I want a cure…I’m a piece of meat who struggles every second of the day; even taking a step becomes impossible 🥲🥲

But thank you for sharing it 🙏🏻

Cat00 profile image
Cat00

I wonder if it is like the gut-brain-axis and Parkinson's disease....

CM1EDSUK profile image
CM1EDSUK in reply toCat00

Differences in the gut's microbiome have been studied for a while as far as Parkinson's Disease goes, as well as other neurodegenerative disorders. It's also thought that the Gut-Brain- Axis may be implicated in chronic pain, Alzheimers, Autism Spectrum Disorder, OCD, & anxiety, to name a few.

Some info about Parkinson's Disease & the Gut-Brain-Avis here: content.iospress.com/journa... click on 'Get PDF' to read more.

Cat00 profile image
Cat00 in reply toCM1EDSUK

I'm intrigued by it all. I keep thinking about my gut. Because IBS and BPS my diet is so restricted so my gut biome will unimpressive!

saluhouse profile image
saluhouse

Hi everybody. Many thanks for all your replies. Pleased you found the article interesting.

For many years I have been taking probiotics (Acidophilus)) and prebiotics (FOS). I just had a gut instinct that they helped my fibromyalgia (no pun intended). I initially took them because I hoped they would help my digestion - always a problem. But maybe there is a scientific reason why the gut is implicated in the management of fibromyalgia.

Maybe worth a try.

Best wishes Dianne xxx

Sarahvit profile image
Sarahvit

Yes I remember readying about this quite awhile back about the 💩 transplant replacing sick bacteria 🦠 with healthy bacteria 🧫. It will be interesting to see if this works and if it would lead to a cure or just another temporary fix? 🤔I hope it leads to a cure. Frankly I’m just tired of living with fibromyalgia and CFS, depression, interstitial cystitis, thyroid disorders and GI disorders and everything that goes along with fibromyalgia. I’m just really tired of being sick and tired.🥺💔

Cat00 profile image
Cat00 in reply toSarahvit

I know how feel, currently Interstitial Cystitus is ruining my life. I thought the chronic migraines, IBS, fibro, Insomnia, Hypermobility, Raynaulds, anxiety and social phobia was enough to be getting on with!

Sarahvit profile image
Sarahvit in reply toCat00

Cat00, it is a never ending list. I was diagnosed with gastroperisis back in 98 after failing a gastric emptying test which included eggs and orange juice but somewhere around 2013 after passing a gastric emptying test which only included the orange juice that I don’t have gastroperisis. Neuropathy was added to the list around that time. No I don’t have diabetes which is the common cause of those two conditions. Asthma, thyroid goiters turned into cancer in 05 so total thyroidectomy was done followed with radioactive iodine. Situational depression turned into major depression disorder in the last 5 or 6yrs. Achalasia diagnosed in 18 or 17 in July. Mild cognitive impairment which isn’t improving. So I’m always forgetting all the laundry list of diagnosis latest is cataracts and I’m only 61. Aphasia what ever that is is on my list too. Oh CFS/ME, Barrett’s esophagus, ulcerative colitis (is in deep remission). I don’t have the hyper mobility, Raynaulds nor anxiety but the doctors think that depression and anxiety go hand in hand. If I do have it it is a very mild case. Yes I have had migraines doing back as far as 5yrs of age. My mom had migraines so figured it was hereditary. Was diagnosed in 94. There is something going on heart wise abnormal EKG, heart murmur go Wednesday for CT scan of my heart. 🤷🏼‍♀️Never ending list….fibro, depression and mild cognitive impairment are the main ones, cataracts and floaters are an annoyance but what ever is effecting my brain for forgetfulness of spelling, word finds, senior moments are source of frustration. Sorry for rambling.

Cat00 profile image
Cat00 in reply toSarahvit

Wow that's an awfully long list. When people say how bad my health is I always say that I know other people with illness lists as long as mine but they are 80 years old and I'm 45. My mum is healthier than me and she is 75 but that's always been the case, same with the rest of my family.

I've got an appointment on Thursday at the Metabolic Bone Clinic to discuss my Osteopenia so fingers crossed it's not too bad.

Do you have any tips for IC I'm weeing about 50 times a day and night and the pain is dominating the others? The doctors won't send me to uerology, I'm on my third drug now.

Sarahvit profile image
Sarahvit in reply toCat00

I currently have AnaspazbOdt tabs 0.125mg to take prn (as needed) for the IC. On top of the IC I have stress incontinence which is starting to be a problem. I trained my bladder to hold it through the night when I was a child because my dad would watch these creature feature scary movies which caused me to be afraid of the dark. So it is rare that I go at night. I cut down on my water intake in the evenings so I don’t have to go at night. I have bladder inflammatory pain but right now the fibro trumps the IC. I tried all types of medication for IC and even had a bladder stimulator implant but my body doesn’t like foreign objects in my body so it kept pushing the leads out and it wasn’t working so ended up having it taken out. I wish I could have been more helpful advice. I have been sick for going on 31yrs and I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. If you hear of a reseach studies I recommend getting involved it will give you a feeling of being able to help them in getting closer to a cure. I got involved in several research studies on fibromyalgia and CFS. That gave me a sense of helping in working on finding or getting one step closer to a cure. I hope you are able to get some relief. I know that certain foods will make it worse so diet will help. I’m sorry but I am too tired to think.

Cat00 profile image
Cat00 in reply toSarahvit

Thank you for writing to me. As it happens I've just completed a clinical trial for chronic migraineurs who are insomniacs, sadly it didn't help me but at least I provided some data I suppose.I went to boarding school and was punished for going for a wee in the night. The minimum I can not wee for was 5 hours since I was 12 so I was always getting into trouble. Now I can only sleep for about an hour and a half without having to get up but it's been like that for about 9 years now. I also have stress incontinence since childbirth so going to gym is complicated....

Sarahvit profile image
Sarahvit in reply toCat00

Oh yes the joys of child birth. I went running after a meat truck and wetted all down my legs so had to take a shower and change my undies, pants and socks. So I can’t go running. It has gotten better since then which was a few weeks after having my son. Have you been on those pills that numbs the bladder? When I was 28 I worked a 12hrs shift and kept getting distracted every time I was heading to the bathroom so went 12hrs without peeing. Can’t do that now. My son can though.

That boarding school was insensitive to your needs. I hope (if they are still open) that they have been educated on IC.

Cat00 profile image
Cat00 in reply toSarahvit

It's the jumping jacks that do for me! I've just bought giant underwear, it's either that or no jumping from from here on out....and I like jumping!

Sarahvit profile image
Sarahvit in reply toCat00

Yep that would do my bladder in too. Come to think about the fibro and CFS/ME would flare with the jumping jacks too. So no jumping here. 🤷🏼‍♀️🦋💕

CheetieCat profile image
CheetieCat

Very interesting, thanks for posting! I've been using Acidophilus for a while now, bloating, IBS symptoms etc ..

saluhouse profile image
saluhouse

HI Everybody. Thanks for all your postings. Lots of you with lots of medical problems. As we all have on here.

Just a little anecdotal story from me. I did used to have horrible cystitis - really nasty - totally stopped me in my tracks. But once I gave up sulfited food (well did my best anyway) it’s not happened so badly ever again.

I have to explain though - sulfite is very very hard to exclude because it’s used as a preservative in so many foodstuffs. So now and again (usually when I eat out with family or friends) I probably do ingest some. Then - low and behold - I get a bit of stingy wee! But it doesn’t last long and I get over it in a day or so.

Same goes for all my other fibro symptoms. No sulfite - I’m not too bad. Eat some sulfited food - really poorly again.

For me the really heavily sulfited foods are wine/chocolate/seafood/ultra processed food. But basically anything processed (even bottled water) is not good. So it’s good old basic home cooked food with no treats.

I do get fed up with such a boring diet - but I am able to live my life and get out and do stuff. So consider it a fair trade off.

Hope this little personal story is helpful.

Love Dianne xxx

DodgeDhanda profile image
DodgeDhanda

Hi SH.

I've got a permanent stoma & honestly I don't know how far it goes around but I know it don't go the whole way & so the bag & I APOLOGISE , mine is always softish & I know I don't get the full benefits of my whole intestinal tract extracting everything it should. Was or is there any articles from the doc u mention above ?

saluhouse profile image
saluhouse in reply toDodgeDhanda

Hello DodgeDhanda. I don’t think there was a follow-up to the above article. The author, Dr Michael Mosley, writes a weekly health column in the Daily Mail. But it must mean that the information is available to the medical profession generally. So let’s hope there is research being done and it will help us sufferers of these obscure conditions.

I did not know about the rest of you - but my GP is very dismissive of anything I ask him! I’m not even sure if he thinks fibromyalgia is a real condition - whatever is wrong with me he always askes ‘do you have any friends?’ (Just for the record - yes I do!)

Best wishes Dianne xxx

DodgeDhanda profile image
DodgeDhanda in reply tosaluhouse

If its not in their text books they don't believe it , I found .

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

Causes of fibro (article text, no adverts)

Fibromyalgia Mystery Finally Solved! Researchers Find Main Source of Pain in Blood Vessels by Donna...

kings

The Kings Fibro Genetics study needs your support FibroAction have been asked to help publicise...
rosylyn profile image

8 parts of the Fibromyalgia Spectrum

Hello Members, Please can I kindly ask you choose all options that have related to your personal...
Mdaisy profile image

International Fibromyalgia & ME Awareness Day (12th May), please support this Thunderclap campaign

May 12th marks the International Awareness Day for Fibromyalgia (FMS), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis...
Mdaisy profile image

Virus and Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by chronic widespread pain lasting for a minimum of three...

Moderation team

See all
Hazel_Angelstar profile image
Hazel_AngelstarAdministrator
Lynda_FMA_UK profile image
Lynda_FMA_UKModerator
Sarah_fmauk profile image
Sarah_fmaukModerator

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.