Fibromyalgia,
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS),
The Internet and False
Dawn. Exploding The Myths.
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There are many vendors trying to sell you Fibromyalgia/CFS cures on the internet; all of them have a similar story; Take their pill or supplement, follow their diet or detox, or maybe even avoid certain foods, and you will be miraculously cured of your illness, pain, and fatigue.
There are detox regimes, candida cures, herbal supplements, vitamins and minerals, hormone supplements, liver cleanses, amino acids etc.
Some of the advertorials for these products are backed by trials involving 10 or 20 subjects against placebo.
Despite what they may advertise if you read the disclaimers you will see these are NOT clinical trials, they are small scale trials run by the manufacturers of the product, and its no surprise that the results always have a positive outcome.
So what’s going on and why are we all still suffering?
The majority of these pills and supplements are useless in terms of their advertised qualities i.e. they will NOT CURE true Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Some have a degree of validity and may reduce one or more of the symptoms of your illness, just as paracetamol will rid you of a headache for a few hours.
They may work in the short-term, indeed it is a well documented anomaly that placebo cures often work in the short term, and this is due to the power of our minds, the psychological response, and our overwhelming desire to get well again.
Or, if your condition is not true Fibromyalgia/CFS and your body is suffering from dietary deficiencies, then in stands to reason that by supplementing and removing the deficiency you might experience a rapid cure.
Such cases are relatively rare in modern society, however it must be noted that cases of malnutrition in North America are growing fast due to a fast junk-food diet.
However, this document is aimed at accurately diagnosed sufferers of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
NO SINGLE PILL OR SUPPLEMENT WILL CURE YOU of Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
From a dietary perspective, you should be following the well advertised and accurate advice of eating.
5 or more portions of fresh, raw fruit and lightly cooked vegetables per day a good balance of protein from different sources low levels of carbohydrates.
Avoid:
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too much sugar
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too much dairy
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too much wheat
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Alcohol has to go,
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at least for the next 12 months.
A medicinal glass of wine on the weekend will not affect your recovery.
Also notice I say avoid “too much” of a substance. Complete elimination of any particular food-stuff can lead to a negative feedback allergy situation.
With this balanced diet you should not be deficient of any nutrients that your body needs, or which could possibly cause fatigue, or limit your recovery from your condition.
And, you will not be putting undue strain on your digestive system, which is currently malfunctioning.
I advocate taking a high quality multivitamin/multimineral supplement to top up any shortages you may have on a daily basis.
They will certainly do you no harm and for a small price will eliminate any worries you might have over dietary deficiencies. Always take them with food.
Any good health store will do a good range, there is plenty of competition, speak to the manager and they will recommend a good quality balanced supplement.
Avoid the multivitamin/multimineral supplements sold in drug stores and supermarkets.
The manufacturers hedge these supplements to well below the Recommended Daily Average (RDA) in order to protect vendors from the latest craze of litigation brought by people claiming their livers have been damaged by excess vitamin A or whatever the current trend the media has picked up on.
There is strong evidence that powdered capsules may be better absorbed in the gut than the solid variety.
I cannot personally verify this though it seems very credible as some Fibromyalgia and CFS patients suffer from Hyperchlorhydria, a condition which leaves sufferers producing insufficient stomach acid.
Another industry which has increased on the back of the Fibromyalgia/CFS epidemic is food allergy, intolerance testing and candida cures.
Again many companies will approach you with testing kits, candida cures, allergy cures etc. Everyone on the planet will tolerate certain foods better or worse than others, this can be down to inherited genetic and cultural makeup, or environmental factors.
A food intolerance does NOT represent a food allergy.
For example, many people on the planet will display some degree of immune reaction to cow’s milk.
All this actually means is that there is a degree of stress to the digestive system in terms of breaking down lactose which is notoriously difficult to digest.
In turn this can stimulate an immune response which in people with Fibromyalgia/CFS/CFIDS/M.E can cause an immune over-reaction and a prolonged immune response, and therefore an exacerbation of their symptoms.
The only way to find out effectively and accurately which products cause an immune over-reaction in your particular case is to take an antibody blood serum test, you should be able to find a company that does this for around $300.
You pay them their money they send you a test kit, you prick your finger to provide a small sample of blood which you send back to them.
They then test the reaction of your antibodies against a hundred or so food products and/or food families.
Reactions will be classed as slight, considerable or extreme, the extreme ones, usually dairy/ yeast/ gluten or albumen (egg white) and of course alcohol should be considerably restricted or even eliminated for a while to see if your symptoms improve.
Although as I have already stressed I am against total elimination diets it may be worth a try to see if you have a genuine biochemical allergy to a particular substance.
I would advocate this as being well worth doing to get “quick wins” in respect of your overall fatigue. It’s certainly a good start and if you have been eating a lot of a food product which stimulates a strong immune over-reaction and you have true Fibromyalgia or CFS then you may get a noticeable improvement in your symptoms by removing it from your diet.
However, your nervous and immune systems are still damaged, and I will be talking about the techniques we use to stimulate healing of the Autonomic Nervous System later.
Im my opinion you CANNOT tell if someone is intolerant or allergic to foods using hair analysis, or prodding an electrode catheter into acupressure points linked up to a computer or any of the other new-age rubbish being touted around.
Similary in my opinion with respect to liver and colon cleansing.
These are by definition organs of cleansing and elimination i.e. they do it themselves. They are self cleansing, self regulating organs. I would advise against doing these, all they might do is give you a stomach ache.
In my opinion you should NOT have your dental mercury amalgams removed unless you have extensive testing indicating that they are somehow corroding, entering your blood stream and poisoning your system.
In my opinion this is extremely unlikely to happen if they were installed correctly in the first place.
There is only one supplement regime which I can recommend to sufferers as part of my protocol.
There are extensive ongoing trials and a growing body of evidence to support its effectiveness based on the very latest metabolic and cardiac research.
I would strongly recommend this protocol is implemented during Stage 2 or 3 of recovery, once the massage and exercise aspects of the regime are in place.
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