Fibromyalgia: Treatments and Options

A patient complains of pain all over the body. Pain is in the upper part of the body and it is in the lower part of the body. The pain is accompanied by disturbances of sleep, sometimes restless legs, and occasionally sleep apnea. The patient gets depressed because of all of the pain and the inability to get relief. Headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, and osteoarthritis are some of the additional complaints that people have that accompany the diagnoses of fibromyalgia.

For years, many physicians did not even accept the concept of fibromyalgia as a legitimate complaint. In 1990 the American College of Rheumatology recognized fibromyalgia as a formal disease state. More recently, when drug companies found FDA approval for several drugs including Lyrica and Cymbalta, the medical community has generally accepted the concept of fibromyalgia.

They have defined fibromyalgia as a condition in which the patient experiences chronic widespread muscle pain, muscle soreness, tenderness, and flulike aching. The patient also has to have the fatigue and stiffness in addition to problems sleeping. The American College of Rheumatology established a guideline for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. The patient has to have tender spots at 11 of 18 designated spots on the body for the diagnosis to be considered proper. The location of the spots are in the back of the head, between the shoulder blades, on the top of the shoulders, on the front side of the neck, on the upper chest, the outer elbows, the upper hips, the side of the hips, and the inner side of the knees.

Doctors have stated that there is no known cause for fibromyalgia. However since it runs in families, they believe there is some genetic association. Infections and significant added stress may trigger the onset of fibromyalgia, or aggravate the condition once present. Physical and emotional trauma has also been linked to fibromyalgia.

If we separate these items and look at them individually, we can come to an understanding of a most logical cause for the occurrence of fibromyalgia in any patient.

Genetics determines how our body handles and various functions. One of the most important functions that our body has to deal with in our current poisoned environment is the elimination of toxic substances once they arrive in our bodies. Poisons arrive in our bodies every single day. They come in from the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the substances we put on our skin. Our body has to handle these toxic substances and eliminate them. Each of us has a specific genetic makeup that is unique to the individual. Families pass this genetic makeup to subsequent generations through the genes. In some families there are defects in the genetic ability to detoxify the body. These patients accumulate toxic substances in the body, destroying nerve pathways and it is one of the problem areas for accumulation of toxins. Destroying the nerve pathways leads to inability of the nervous system to regulate the body. We will talk more about that and as this paper goes on.

Infections create stress on the body, lead to more poisoning of the body, and can further destroy the nervous control of our body which I will continue to discuss.

Physical and emotional trauma can create specific brain damage which interferes with nerve trunk function and leads to dysfunction of the nervous system.

The common theme here is the presence of toxic stresses to our bodies.

These toxic stresses, whether they are heavy metals (mercury, lead, arsenic, tin, cadmium, aluminum) solvents (benzene, toluene, naphthalene, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, formaldehyde, methyl alcohol, and other alcohols) pesticides, herbicides, or chemical poisons, create damage to the nervous system and the end result causes a depletion or a lack of sufficient levels of the master neurotransmitters in the body, serotonin, and dopamine which is included in the catecholamine group of neurotransmitters.

Once the toxins create damage in the body, our nervous system doesn't work the way and is supposed to. Therefore toxins (poisons) collecting in the body and not being cleared from the body, are the immediate cause of fibromyalgia. The proper treatment involves removal of the poisons, and restoring the nervous system function by rebuilding the amount of the neurotransmitters that are present in the body and able to work.

The nervous system functions by the release of neurotransmitters. These are chemicals which are released at nerve junctions called synapses and transmit the nerve impulse across the junction boxes. You need enough neurotransmitters present in the junction box to transmit this signal to the next nerve bundle. If the body does not have enough of these neurotransmitters present, the body acts as if it is in electrical brownout. Instead of functioning at full power, it functions in a depressed unnatural and bizarre way leading to the kind of symptoms one sees in fibromyalgia. The list of symptoms associated with neurotransmitter deficiency diseases are listed in the chart below.

LOW NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN THE BODY CAUSE OR CONTRIBUTE TO

OBESITY OTHER DISEASES
DECREASED LIFE EXPECTANCY PARKINSON'S DISEASE
DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS BULIMIA
HEART DISEASE AND ITS COMPLICATIONS ANOREXIA
STROKE INCIDENCE DEPRESSION
SLEEP APNEA ANXIETY
KNEE PROBLEMS PANIC ATTACKS
BACK PROBLEMS MIGRAINE HEADACHES
INCREASED REHABILITATION TIME TENSION HEADACHES
INCREASED RATE OF INJURIES PREMENOPAUSAL SYNDROME
INCREASED GALLSTONES MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS
FEMALE FERTILITY PROBLEMS OBSESSIVE COMPULIVE DISORDER
GYNECOLOGICAL IRREGULARITIES IMPULSIVITY
GOUTY ARTHRITIS OBSESSIONALITY
HYPERTENSION INSOMNIA
HIATAL HERNIA AGGRESSION
HIGH CHOLESTEROL INAPPROPRIATE AGGRESSION
INCREASED LUNG INFECTIONS INAPPROPRIATE ANGER
INCREASE IN GASTRIC ULCERS PSYCHOTIC ILLNESSES
CHRONIC PAIN FIBROMYALGIA FIBROMYALGIA MYOCLONUS
CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME ADRENAL FATIGUE/BURNOUT
HYPERACTIVITY
ADHD/ADD
INCREASED CANCER RISK HORMONE DYSFUNCTION
DEMENTIA
COLON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
UTERINE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
BREAST PHOBIAS
CHRONIC PAIN
NIGHT CRAMPS
RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME
IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME
CROHN'S DISEASE
ULCERATIVE COLITIS
COGNITIVE DETERIORATION
ORGAN SYSTEM DYSFUNCTION
MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC STRESS
CORTISOL DYSFUNCTION

The problem that exists is that there is an inadequate amount of serotonin and the catecholamines present in the body and available for use in the neural synapses or junction boxes.

It is essential and the body to have proper amounts of serotonin and the catecholamines in the brain in order for the entire nervous system to work properly. The serotonin and dopamine, the predominant neurotransmitter of the catecholamine group, are too large a molecule to be able to get into the brain from outside of the brain. The serotonin, and dopamine, is prevented from getting into the brain because of the blood brain barrier which prevents large molecules from attacking our brain.

In order to make more serotonin and dopamine it is essential to use precursors that will manufacture the dopamine and the serotonin in the brain. More important than just using the proper precursors, is the fact that the precursors must be balanced when used so that they make the proper amount of serotonin and dopamine. Unbalanced serotonin or dopamine leads to additional disease, or fails to correct the original disease.

The use of balanced amino acids such as 5 hydroxytryptophan, L. tyrosine, and L-dopa allow for the proper manufacture by the body, in the brain, of adequate amounts of serotonin and dopamine to correct any deficiencies that might have occurred as a result of the toxic environment that is present in our body. By balancing the amino acids and taking them in adequate quantities, we are able to restore the proper balance of the serotonin and the dopamine to the point where we are able to overcome all of symptoms of these neurotransmitter deficiency diseases.

This balanced formulation has been designed and researched by Neuroresearch clinics, and their database shows 100% effective results in the correction and treatment of fibromyalgia using this approach.

The advantages of the use of the nutritional program over prescription medications, is that the prescription medication does not create any more serotonin or dopamine in the body. Indeed, the prescription medications lead to depletion of the levels of serotonin and dopamine, actually aggravating the underlying condition while seemingly doing very little for the symptoms. No one achieves complete relief of symptoms with the prescription medications.

By being placed on a program of balanced amino acids to restore neurotransmitter levels to that level necessary by the body to function properly, the patient finds relief of all of the symptoms of fibromyalgia. These include relief of the chronic pain, the insomnia or disturbance of sleep associated with the chronic pain, and the depression which is part of the overall disease state.

The only requirement is that of arriving at a balanced level of neurotransmitters by working with the physician to titrate the amount of amino acids necessary for treatment. The patient must adhere to the program of taking the supplements on a regular daily program. It is little different than taking appropriate nutrition to support your body. It is nutrition that is needed in a larger amount than you can acquire from the diet.

When balanced on this nutritional program and the pain goes away, and the patient's function returns to normal, the patient doesn't need any additional medications, physical therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, or chiropractics, or psychological care. Neurotransmitter restoration has the amazing ability to restore the body to its normal functional state naturally. you must continue on the nutrition to overcome the damage effect of the toxins. But, we also need to eat to stay alive , and this is a needed form of the food our body needs.

This program is available at Stein Orthopedic Associates, P. A., Alvin Stein, M.D. www.proloshot.com 954-581-8585 and from other physicians properly trained by Neuroresearch clinics at www.neuroassist.com.