A New Hope

I have been doing research about this whole FM thing, because frankly, the pharmacutical companies sound a bit shady. They tell me that FM is chronic. It can't be cured. Medication will help the sypmtoms but they won't make them completely go away. The disease is slightly progressive, but not actually damaging to any part of the body. So, just take our meds and be happy that you get 50% of your life back.

That really isn't enough for me.

I have been doing research on this ever since I was told that FM might be my problem. On one side, the information is extremely comforting. The long list of medical issues I have been plagued with - some of them since High School - are almost all symptoms of this syndrome. I am not crazy, these issues really do exist. That also means that if I can find a way to treat this thing, many of my symptoms will go away, too.

On the other side, the research from the Pharmecutical companies is not very encouraging. The meds will help some, but you will still be dealing with all the symptoms, just not as much. Oh, and the level of medication you take, will most likely increase over the years as the body becomes resistant to it.

I am NOT going to be stuck on meds the rest of my life. I WILL find a way to beat this.

Currently, there are some very encouraging studies being done relating to diet, lifestyle, and medications that can help without side effects. Yes, there are, in fact, medications that don't have nasty side effects (I know! I was surprised as you are!) One of the meds that has been used successfully FOR YEARS, when combined with a specific diet, is Guaifenesin.

This medication is the active ingredient in cold medicine. It is a decongestant. It apparently works that way for your muscles too. The kicker is that there are certain foods and medications (and even topical creams and lip balms!) that have some ingredients that block the Guai from working, so you have to adjust your diet and you lifestyle to get all the benefit from it.

There are other studies that link FM to Hypoglycemia in certain cases and that one will make the other worse when they flare up. I can certainly believe that. My eating and appetite has changed drastically over the past six years. Many of these changes and cravings are directly linked to Hypoglycemia, which doesn't alway mean you have low blood sugar all the time. Usually it means that your sugar levels will crash due to the wrong food, high levels of stress, and some other illnesses.

In any case, these studies are exremely interesting to me. I will be doing more research before I make any drastic actions. I also have a Rheumatologist to see who will hopefully be able to guide me through all this. My main goal is to wean off the meds so I can replace their actions with less damaging things. If he won't help me do that, I will look for another doctor that will.

Debbie "Standing Firm" Lollar