I’m hoping that you will be able to provide some clarity on a couple of areas. I have been told that fibro is an autoimmune disease and anti-inflammatory, but after trying to do research, I haven’t been able to find anything definitive and only lots of conflicting information.
do I follow anti- inflammatory diet for example? I have cut out sugar for a few months and it hadn’t made any difference in fact my hands are more sore than ever!
Any advice would be great as I’m going around in circles!
Thanks all
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Chunky6
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Hi there, ok so to the best of my knowledge the reason inflammation does not show up on any blood markers is because fibro is not inflammatory.
Fibro is not an autoimmune. This is some of the reasons fibro is hard to detect and treat. Fibro mimics so many of the autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. This is why it can take years to get a diagnosis for fibromyalgia.
But the one thing to bear in mind no matter how bad you feel fibro will not kill you.
Fibro is a very complect illness . I have had it 40+ years and have yet to find anything to help . But everyone is different and many swear by diet, exercise a cocktail of meds etc. So if it works for you I would never discount it.
Thanks Dizzytwo for your reply. I have been diagnosed with fibro for 3 years but my gp wanted to prescribe anti-depressants which I didn't want. I’m not on any medication apart from naproxen when things get bad. I guess I’ll keep trying lol but at least I now know it’s not inflammatory or auto immune thanks to you, so that gives me a starting point. Onward and upwards 💪💪
Fibromyalgia (FM) may be an autoimmune disease, where your immune system attacks healthy cells by mistake. For years, the evidence seemed to point away from that. This issue is still far from decided, but opinion may be swaying back toward autoimmunity.1
Some research suggests FM may be an autoimmune disease involving neuroinflammation, an inflammatory response within the brain and spinal cord, and small-fiber neuropathy, which is weakness and pain from nerve damage.2 That hypothesis isn’t getting widespread acceptance in the medical community, though.
This article looks at what this research says about the evidence for autoimmunity, neuroinflammation, and small-fiber neuropathy in fibromyalgia. It also discusses why not all inflammation is created equal and why these research findings—if accurate—are important.
What Is Autoimmunity?
Autoimmunity describes an immune reaction directed against normal organs/tissues of the body that causes damage, inflammation, or disease. The body's immune system, which ordinarily attacks intruders like viruses, bacteria, and even cancer cells, mistakes healthy cells or tissue for dangerous pathogens and then attacks and tries to destroy them.
Autoimmune diseases can affect single or multiple organs. Examples of organ-specific autoimmune diseases include:
(ADMIN: Link to source website below. Copying and posting a full article can breach copyright but also is not fair play so we tend to put in something meaningful and then link to the article.
Have you tried Tumeric capsules and not from concentrate pineapple juice? I’ve found that this helps with inflammation. Rosemary is also supposed to help but I’ve not tried that yet. You have to take them for a couple of weeks before you feel the difference.
Fibro is classified at present as a central nervous system condition. There has been one study recently that has raised the possibility of some autoimmune properties but it does not conclude that fibro is an AI condition. That study only looked at pain and not other symptoms and needs more research done.
Further there have been both many studies carried out to try and see if fibro is an AI condition and they did not. There have also been studies to try AI treatments on people with fibro and again without success.
Regarding diets I have the following canned text:
Changing your diet is a great step as a healthy diet means that you are in a better place generally even without fibro. It also gives you some control over what you eat and if their are foods that trigger you then you can react to this.
The science with diet and fibro is underdeveloped. There are no universal foods to avoid but if someone had a gluten intolerance then it would make sense that this could make their fibro worse.
Our general advices is to have as healthy a diet as possible and if you are also in a position to improve your BMI then this can make dealing with fibro easier potentially. We do not advocate for any potential diet or excluding or including any specific foods.
Thank you desquinn. My diet is pretty healthy, fresh foods, little processed and I also grow veg too. I think at times I get desperate and strive to look for anything to take the pain away, without medication, as I’m sure we all do. I’m not as bad as others, but some days it’s so hard but I don’t have to tell anyone else that on this forum.
I managed to speak to my gp yesterday and she has referred me to pain management clinic so I’ll try to positive. I do take naproxen but she has told me not to take on a regular basis as it causes more harm than good. Even she said there isn’t enough research into fibro so it’s difficult to manage. I’ll keep researching and trying alternatives before I go down the meds route but must admit I’m struggling but I’ll keep you posted if something works for me. As you know this doesn’t mean it will work for others. Take care and good luck
Thats sounds good, I went to pain clinic last year but unfortunately due to a flare and living rurally 25 ish miles from the city I missed most of the course.
I take dihydrocodiene , diazepam and oramorph when in a flare.
Sometimes they don't even take edge off.
I don't tolerate anti depressants and lots of other meds they give for fibro.
The side effects are too much.
But the side effects from opiods have messed up my bowels which is why I am trying to find other ways too.
I do take less meds when I do something else but not sure if I'm allowed to say on here. 😬
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Advice on pain relief
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