Fibromyalgia?? - Frisco,TX

I like Mary's advice. Lots of good info there. My thyroid was low but boder line and finally a doctor suggested meds for it and I felt a thousand times better after starting them!

Also, I have a vitamin B deficiency... and after sublingual daily doses I felt much better.

My ex MIL suffers from Chronic pain, fatigue due to fibromyalgia. She has been going through this for many years. I don't think there is a cure but there are things that can help.

I hope this helps.
Good Luck
M.

I also had trouble with that after my son was born. After tons of tests and doctors, I finally went to the fibro and fatigue clinic, and they saved my sanity. Turns out, all I had was a low thyroid and B12 deficiency. There are clinics in Dallas and Fort Worth, you may want to check them out. They are very expensive and don't take insurance, but I was able to get reimbursed as an out of network provider. Their website is http://www.fibroandfatigue.com/. Feel free to e-mail me for more information.

Hello L.,

I have a few questions for you. by any chance, did she check your vitamin D levels? do you know if you have a sensitivity to wheat? have you tried a gluten-free diet? are you allergic to anything? and are you making sure you avoid those allergens? have you noticed if tomatoes or spinach make your joints hurt? Mary gave you great info. get to the root of the issue, not just a diagnosis. you have to figure out what's good for your body from the clues you get from the doctors. information is key and getting the whole picture is very important too. Good luck and keep looking for the answers that are right for you. ~C.~

Fibromylagia is a catch all diagnosis when they can't figure out what is going on. I had Lyme, hypothyroidism. mold exposure, celiac, nutritional deficiencies, hormone imbalances and heavy metal issues - all of these things contribute to fibromyalgia symptoms. So, while the FM diagnosis is good since the insurance companies now accept it, the standard treatments focus only on symptoms and not root cause. FM really just is a collection of symptoms and not a disease itself.

To test for thyroid issues, make sure they test for thyroid antibodies, TPO, Free T3 and Free T4 along with the standard TSH.

For the Lyme, the testing is often very inaccurate and they need to go by symptoms and by ruling out a whole lot more things than you mention, including those I list below, as well as heavy metals (do you have mercury fillings or have you had lots of vaccinations), a host of viral infections, bacterial infections like chlamydia pneumonaie and mycoplasma pneumonaie. In addition, if you ever lived in the Northeast or Northwest or the Eastern Coast (or vacationed there) and ever, ever left the cement (camped, went to beach, etc.), your potential for exposure to ticks with Lyme disease is very, very high. I got a very bad case 5 years ago and then this past June when I hiked one afternoon on the Appalachain trail. Lyme can remain dormant for years and then an illness or stress can bring it out of hiding - it changes forms and is much like syphilis.

For celiac, this is the best test:
www.enterolab.com
This is genetic and this alone can cause the joint issues.

For mold exposure (2 out of 3 buildings in Texas have had water damage that can result in hidden mold - in your walls, A/C ducts, etc.), you can test your house using the ERMI test from this company:

To see if you've been impacted, there's this online test:

Also, it's the genes that determines whether any of these things will impact you and several of the gene combinations mean that one will be impacted by many of these things.

Lifestyle factors can have a tremendous impact on your overall wellbeing. Quality sleep is a must - they should do a sleep test. Also, many, many folks with FM are nutritionally deficient - things like B vitamins, iron, Magnesium and vitamin D top the list. Make sure your doctor tests all of these things.

As well along with thyroid issues, many, many hormones are often out of balance including DHEA, cortisol, testosterone (we gals have that too), estradiol, progesterone. Bio-identical hormones can help tremendously.

Also, stress is a huge, huge factor. Given you are a single mother, this is likely a factor - so make sure you make time for yourself.

Also, please don't accept your doctor telling you that your lab results are normal - make sure to get a copy of all tests (by law, they must provide them). This will allow you to do your own research - for example, your ANA antibodies (for RA) might just be high normal, but that can be a sign of issues, since some of us do not produce high levels of antibodies. So, unless they measure total antibodies at the same time, the test is not particularly accurate. Also, you cannot be sure they've ruled all these things out unless you can see all the labs - many doctors are not familiar with all of these things. I see 3 different doctors and am finally doing well after 5 years of dealing with this.

Please do not accept that FM is a lifelong diagnosis - your body can heal with the right nutrition, sleep, exercise and addressing toxins, infections and hormonal imbalances. But, you have to be in the driver's seat. Also, I do not recommend the Fibro and Fatigue Centers in the DFW area - they're a big business and they don't rule out the most basic things like celiac nor do they aggressively treat hormonal issues, including thyroid. They are good for nutritional I/Vs.

My mom has it but it's more of a muscle thing not a joint thing.

I have fibromyalgia and would love to answer any questions you have.

You can PM me and I'll send you my email address.

Thanks,
Tamara