FIBROMYALGIA

Fibromyalgia is a good impersonator - It can look like Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, rheumatoid arthritis and many other conditions. The condition may be due to a dysfunction of the nervous and endocrine systems. It is hard to pin down -doctors can't diagnose it by testing, and as a result, fibromyalgia often goes undiagnosed for five years or longer before being identified. (from Solve It with Supplements, by Robert A Schulman, M.D.)

It is an elusive disease, sometimes starting with a flareup that is hard to diagnose, only to go into remission, sometimes for years before it reappears. 

One way to identify Fibromyalgia is that people afflicted by it often feel extreme tenderness in up to 18 "tender points" in specific locations of the body. Common symptoms are musculoskeletal pain, extreme fatigue, poor sleep and insomnia, and "fibrofog" or unclear thinking. Other symptoms include digestive upset, female pelvic pain, and sometimes, depression.

Medications for fibromyalgia include low doses of antidepressant, and muscle relaxant medications. One medication, Lyrica, which can be given in low doses, and is non- habit forming is often given to help with flareups. Lyrica does have some side effects for some people.

Massage often helps relieve symptoms. Regular gentle and aerobic exercise helps keeps muscles strong and more resistant to pain. It is believed that consistent exercise will not aggravate the condition. Gentle stretching and acupuncture have been found to help alleviate some fibromyalgic symptoms.


NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS that help some Fibromyalgia patients :
( From Solve It with Supplements, by Robert A Schulman, M.D. page 448)

Magnesium - 200 mg, up to 3 times daily, with 1200 mg Malic acid,  1 tot 3 times daily.

Calcium- Age 19 -50- 1000 mg of Calcium Citrate or other formula. Age 51 and over;
          1,200 of Calcium Citrate  divided in 2 or 3 doses per day.

Chamomile- Tea- 3 grams of dried flower heads to 1 cup boiling water, up to 3 times daily.

Vitamin D, or D3- follow normal amounts advised.

Co Q10, - 60 Mg 2 to 3 times daily, reducing amount as symptoms decline.

5 HTP, Take  100 mg up to 3 times daily.

Ginsing, - 200 mg of standardized extract containing 4-7% ginsenosides 2 times daily.

Melatonin - 3 mg tablet  1-to 2 hrs before bedtime. Do not increase dosages because
          Melatonin ingested is depleted later in the sleep cycle, helping the person to sleep.

Same - 800 mg, twice daily, taken 1/2 hr before meals.

Vitamin C, 500 mg, taken twice daily.

Vitamin E - 400 IU taken with Selenium 100 to 200 Mcg Daily

St. John' swort - 300 to 375 mg capsules, 1 to 3 times daily, of standardized extract to
           contain .3% hypericin. This has a leveling effect on the emotions, lowering 
           depression for some people.

Valerian Capsules up to 400 to 900 mg daily, before bedtime. Valerian products vary 
           widely. Be cautious. Valerian causes disturbed dreams for some people.


USE CAUTION - As with all Nutritional Supplements, do not start adding all items to your plan at once. Start with one at a time, at a lower dose at first, increasing until symptoms of the condition recede. When you feel well, taper off the supplement over a week or two.

Remember, with AutoImmune Conditions, Natural Supplements offer a benefit largely because your system is not accustomed to the substance. If you don't take a supplement forever, you will not become sensitive or allergic to the herb. That way if you have a future flareup or outbreak, you can use the Supplement later on in the future when you need it.


Article researched and written © by Ruth Zachary

THE BEST LAID PLANS

Nature's Bounty                                                 © by Ruth Zachary

Hi Blog Followers!

I am sorry I have not kept up with my usual schedule for blogging… about four times per month.

I have been “blessed” with a bumper crop of apples on my two back yard trees. Usually having an organic approach to harvesting my back “forty,” meant the apple worms got about 90% of the apples. This year, cool Weather not only went just right for only minor freezing, and also eliminated a lot of the worm problems. Rain also filled the branches with glorious fruits, that clung to their mothers tenaciously, until several branches broke off from the trees, and fell to the ground, branches, apples and all. Other branches weighted by fruit hung down to the ground, so that I could mow the grass only witha careful strategy.

I pruned the low hanging branches and salvaged the apples. First I rescued the apples from the fallen and drooping branches, sorting the good from the bad, until I had filled 23 recycled grocery bags with mostly pre-ripened apples.

Not wanting to waste good food, I looked for places to give all these delicious sweet apples, I called the local Food Bank, but they were deluged with apples from other sources who had experienced the same sort of blessings. Finally the Salvation Army, which maintains a kitchen picked up my first shipment of apples.

"First shipment", because the job is not yet complete. There are more apples, now nearly ripe, that I hope to distribute to Orgs that help the homeless and needy. Plus, there will be some for home use,

and to give to friends and neighbors.

So I will post my blogs as I am able, and you will know why I have missed a few dates

before and after this post.

Image and writing © by Ruth Zachary.

TOO MANY SUPPLEMENTS? PART 2

The Huntress, Pen, Ink, & Colored Pencil. © by Ruth Zachary

My last post was an abridged version of an article By Tom Philpott, food and ag. correspondent for Mother Jones (July 23, 2014) I liked the fact that several contributors were credited with parts of the general challenge to conventional beliefs about plant and human biochemistry, including possible ill effects from supplements. The way plant and human biochemistry interact is very complicated.

All the studies are carefully worded with disclaimers, such as “may,” “might be wildly wrong” and so on. The last word on the subject has clearly not been concluded.

All the same, it is well worth keeping our eye on the latest information if we can get it and if we can trust it. It is still not clear if people are better off getting their phytochemicals from real food sources than from supplements and vitamins.

I personally suspect that it is better to get it from real foods, but there is a problem with our modern world in that the full values from our foods is diminished by growing less nutritious foods than our ancestors ate, when and if they could eat well, given seasonal variations and weather cycles. Distribution of our current diet diminishes the value in even the best fruits and vegetables.

A Sixty Minutes feature yesterday (Sunday, Aug 31) discussed a study of supplements and other factors believed to be influential for longevity. Factors that seemed to contribute were a healthy social life, a daily glass of wine and regular exercise out of doors.

No one questioned whether people who lived shorter lives also exercised, drank wine and had active social lives.

Supplements and vitamins taken by this long living group of seniors, were not always the same, and was assumed not to be a factor. The conclusion about vitamins was that they did not contribute to long lives.

Whether short -lived people also took vitamins and supplements was not documented. Whether supplements resulted in better health for people taking them might be a future issue of study.

Whether supplements and vitamins affected quality of life of those living shorter times or long lives was not a matter of comment and should have been.

Exercise does seem to be a factor in long life, as well in quality life according to the Sixty Minutes documentary. Everything I have read would support this conclusion.

Our ancestors were first, hunters and gatherers, and then they were agricultural. Human heredity supports adjustment to a wide variety of food sources and those life styles demanded exercise. Our ancestors often fasted, of necessity. They were aware of beneficial herbs, medicines and spices in their locale. Stresses from various causes may also be built into our chemistry, so that we may benefit or even need them.

Allergic reactions and adverse immune responses to certain foods and also to supplements may be built into our nature, because in primitive society, humans did not eat the same foods for months upon end.

People who benefit from certain supplements, vitamins and medicines might do even better by discontinuing these substances for intervals of time, with their physician’s council, of course.

Comments, Writing and Art Work are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary