Do you know anyone who has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or is that person you? It is becoming increasingly more common and I am seeing more and more people with this vague diagnosis. It gives people a diagnosis, but they never really know why or what to do. They/you/whoever will more than likely be put on antidepressants to help you ‘feel’ better or possibly muscle relaxers to help manage the pain, but I rarely, if ever, see that make a noticeable difference. The problem with me is why do people never find out WHY!?
Here is what I believe to be the reason why many people have fibromyalgia or CFS-
1) Past viral infection that is still lingering around. A lot of these people had mono, EBV, or a pretty major viral infection (hepatitis, shingles, herpes, etc.) in their younger years. I believe there also could be an undetected Lyme’s disease possibility as well.
2) Candida/Yeast is present. No you do not have to currently have a yeast infection to be full of candida or yeast. Men can have this issue too- not just women. These people have been on a lot of antibiotics when they were kids or as adults. Maybe for a bad infection, acne, sinus infections, recurrent ear infections, surgeries, etc. Maybe you were the girl who was on antibiotics for 6 months for acne. Or someone who had cellulitis and was pumped full of antibiotics which helped, but 6 years down the road they can’t figure out why your body just hurts all over and you have no energy to do anything at all.
3) Adrenal fatigue. Now this isn’t something most people may be familiar with, but it can be a root cause of fibromyalgia or also a side effect of it as well. Regardless, it needs to be addressed. The adrenals are your stress glands. If they have been hit with major stressor after stressor (major life changes- babies, new jobs/no jobs, moving, toxic relationships, divorces, major life crisis, etc.) this can be a HUGE culprit. The adrenals get knocked down so hard that they have a hard time ever bouncing back. They can also hit fatigue from never getting a chance to reboot.
For example: You used to keep going and going and pride yourself on working 7 days a week, 10 hours a day and never getting tired. That was until you hit a major wall and haven’t been the same since. You never gave your adrenal/stress glands a chance to reboot. They ran and ran until they couldn’t any more. Just like if we kept asking you to run and when you stopped you had to start back up and run again. You would be able to do that for a little while until you hit a point where you couldn’t physically move anymore. In a way, that is kind of what happens. They can’t keep up anymore.
There is a lot more that can be discussed on each point above, but that gives you a general overview. As a health care practitioner it is very upsetting to see patients feel so hopeless and on antidepressants because they will be in pain for the rest of their life. I firmly believe this is untrue if people clean up their diets and get on the correct vitamins and specific supplements (and address the possible emotional stressors that could be involved). Once that happens and the body gets a true chance to heal the Band- Aids can start coming off (aka antidepressants, muscle relaxers, etc).
You NEED nourishing foods, lots of water, good supplements to rebuild the adrenals, and address any past viral infections or candida issues. This will help lower the inflammation in your body which leads to pain. If your body is inflamed it will more than likely hurt- which is why you need to work on lowering inflammation as a whole. You need clean water and to cut out sugar and gluten (and dairy in some people). If you need a place to start, look into doing Whole30 or read the book It Starts with Food.
You are not destined to feel exhausted daily and live in pain for the rest of your life. You first have to want a change. Then get back to eating whole foods (fruits, veggies, clean meats and cut out the processed crap). Also, find the right person to get you on good quality, clean supplements. They can be LIFE CHANGING and don’t mask symptoms, but help nourish and rebuild in areas that need it. We have worked with countless cases at the office and some people saw changes in days and others in months. Those people have decided THEY ARE WORTH it. They are willing to change their diet and ditch most of the processed foods. They are willing to take supplements and do cleanses to help get rid of toxins and inflammation in their body. They have decided they won’t just patch their symptoms with Band-Aids, but start to heal at a deeper level in their body. Please don’t fall victim to thinking you are destined to pain, depression and exhaustion. Change can happen.