Fibromyalgia affects approximately 2% of the population(mainly women). Here are some interesting findings that suggest a strong mind/body connection with the occurrence of fibromyalgia in this group:

·        Approximately half of the women with fibromyalgia have a history of traumatic events (in either childhood or adulthood).

·        Anxiety, depression and mood disorders are prevalent before and after the diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

·        40-60% of women diagnosed with fibromyalgia reported that there was sexual abuse during childhood or adulthood.

·        70% of women with fibromyalgia report other types of physical or emotional trauma.

·        Major depression is combined with fibromyalgia in 20% of the cases studied.

·        To a lesser degree (than major depression),anxiety disorders, phobias (e.g. panic attacks) and dysthymia (another type of depression) are reported.

·        There is no “fibromyalgia personality”.

Source:  European Psychiatry, Jan. 2009 Property of Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc.

I am a strong believer in the mind/body connection.  My recent studies have led me to realize that our CEOs (i.e. our brains) may be injured during the course of our lives in a number of ways: physical injury, environmental injury (i.e. pollutants), nutritional (inadequate or unbalanced diet) and emotional trauma.  These injuries lead the brain to function at less than optimal levels...it is not a case of blame...anymore than you can blame yourself for spraining an ankle.

When the brain sustains any of the injuries described above it will not function at the brainwaves necessary for optimal body functioning.  This means there will be body fatigue, hormone imbalances, body aches and pains etc.

Neurofeedback has been shown to train the brain to get back on track and resolve the injury once and for all.  It is non-invasive  and it does not hurt.  It is actually interesting and even fun to participate in neurofeedback.  The only drawback is that since it is new (developing over the last 30 years) and leading edge (the knowledge base is growing rapidly), most insurance companies will not cover treatments.  However, what price can you put on your well being and quality of life?  It seems that the cost (probably equivalent to the cost of wearing dental braces) would be well worth it.

Best to you all.

 

An recent article in the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain (Geenen, 2009) points out that even though the number of studies on Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) have increased six times over what existed 20 years ago, the struggle for validation of this condition is still ongoing.  This search for validation is a very important issue for many who suffer with FMS and are reminded on a daily basis how real the pain is.  The Dutch Fibromyalgia Association has made validation an important issue.


Source:

Geenen, R. (2009) Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, Vol 17 Issue 1, p 80-85

According to Environmental Nutrition (2009), there is currently little evidence of a diet link to Fibromyalgia.  There just have not been enough studies to substantiate any claims that are out there …and there are plenty of claims out there.  The article in Environmental Nutrition goes on to say that fibromyalgia affects 3-5% of Americans (women more than men), and that it may be as high as 8% in women between the ages of 55 and 64.

 

While it is still not clear what causes fibromyalgia, “…one of every two sufferers attributes the onset of symptoms to an injury, infection or other stress (Environmental Nutrition, 2009, p. 7).  Some smaller studies suggest that a Vegan diet may provide some pain relief.  Also aspartame and MSG have been shown to stimulate pain receptors (ouch).  So while there are once again no definitive studies, you can conduct your own by systematically removing and changing your diet (give it time) to see what works.

 

The National Institutes of Health recommends exercise and aerobic exercise has been found to reduce pain.  This is a hard one to get started when you are experiencing pain, but it will help keep you motivated once you have started. 

 

Here is the full information for this resource.  Hope it helps.

 

Environmental Nutrition

P.O. Box 5656

Norwalk, CT 06856-5656

Phone: 800-424-7887 Fax: 203-857-3103

e-mail : customer_service@belvoir.com

www. environmentalnutrition. com

If you think that you have heard about every remedy under the sun to relieve fibromyalgia pain, hold on to your seat.  Here is a most unexpected one.  A recent study that was reported in the April issue of “The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine” (Kiyak, 2009) found that wool is effective in reducing the symptoms of patients suffering with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia. 

How did they figure this out?  The study consisted of 50 patients with fibromyalgia that had the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology.  Half o these individuals comprised the control group and the other half were treated with woolen underwear (covering the body from shoulders to thighs) and woolen bedding (bed liners, quilt and pillow).  In six weeks, the wool treatment group (who were assessed pre and post treatment) showed significant improvement in all the tender points.

My suggestion:  crank up the air conditioner and stack on the wool.  Who knows?   This may provide some relief to you.  God Bless!

 

Reference

Kiyak, E.K. (2009). A new nonpharmacological method in fibromyalgia: the use of wool.. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 15, Retrieved June 20, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database

If you think that you have heard about every remedy under the sun to relieve fibromyalgia pain, hold on to your seat.  Here is a most unexpected one.  A recent study that was reported in the April issue of “The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine” (Kiyak, 2009) found that wool is effective in reducing the symptoms of patients suffering with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia. 

How did they figure this out?  The study consisted of 50 patients with fibromyalgia that had the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology.  Half o these individuals comprised the control group and the other half were treated with woolen underwear (covering the body from shoulders to thighs) and woolen bedding (bed liners, quilt and pillow).  In six weeks, the wool treatment group (who were assessed pre and post treatment) showed significant improvement in all the tender points.

My suggestion:  crank up the air conditioner and stack on the wool.  Who knows?   This may provide some relief to you.  God Bless!

 

Reference

Kiyak, E.K. (2009). A new nonpharmacological method in fibromyalgia: the use of wool.. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 15, Retrieved June 20, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database

A new study just reported in June's Clinical Rheumatology states that , “There is a statistically significant correlation between self-reported and objective measurements of disability for the fibromyalgia patients” (p.711) and this highly correlates with the objective measurements of disability that is self reported by patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Those medical professionals who continue to dismiss an individual's fibromyalgia complaints should pay heed to this study.

For more information check out the full article in this month's journal:

Raftery, G., Bridges, M., Heslop, P., & Walker, D.J. (2009). Are fibromyalgia patients

          as inactive as they say they are? Clinical Rheumatology, 28,

          Retrieved June 7, 2009, from Academic Search Premiere database.

I found the following article so powerful that I included it in the entirety rather than paraphrasing.  This article applies to fibromyalgia but it also applies to everything that humans do.  This is what makes it so compelling.  It cannot be dismissed.  Best to you all!

The accumulating scientific evidence regarding the connections between hope, well-being, and physical health is reviewed briefly in the subsequent sections.

HOPELESSNESS AND HOPE

Although there are numerous ways of conceptualizing hopelessness, there is a common underlying theme: Being hopeless means expecting an undesirable future. This negative expectation, which stems from the perception that any further effort is futile, depletes people of the necessary energy to strive toward their life goals. Over the past decades, science has started to uncover the dire consequences of such hopelessness.

In contrast, researchers also have begun to study the positive roles of hope in human functioning. By examining both hopelessness and hope, a clearer picture may be attained as to how these variables influence our mental well-being and physical health. On this point, physician Leonard Sagan (1987) concluded that the recent improvements in overall world health are due to more than just advances in technology: Specifically, he stated that the decline of hopelessness and the rise in hope were the reasons for the declines in worldwide despair and death.

HOPE AND HEALTH MAINTENANCE

Research has shown that hopelessness is related significantly to a number of important health markers. It has been implicated in the development of breast cancer, cervical cancer, myocardial infarction, and shorter overall life span. For example, in studies of women predisposed to cervical cancer, Arthur Schmale and Howard Iker (1971) discovered that hopelessness predicted the presence of cancer in 82% of the participants. There also is compelling evidence that hope has long-term consequences for physical health. In this regard, Susan Everson and her colleagues (1996) found that higher levels of hope were related to fewer biological and behavioral risk factors.

One reason that hope is important in maintaining health is that it leads to more healthy behaviors such as physical exercise; conversely, higher hope is related to the decreased likelihood of unhealthy behaviors such as high-risk sexual activities. C. R. Snyder and his colleagues (Irving, Snyder, & Crowson, 1998) have found that women with higher levels of hope scored higher on a cancer facts test, they were more knowledgeable about their health, and these woman reported a greater willingness to do things to improve their health. In addition, if people believe they have the power to influence their health status, they are more likely to take the steps to remain healthy. For example, women who believe in the effectiveness of breast cancer screening procedures are more likely to get screening for themselves. Hence, having hope results in people taking responsibility for their own well-being.

Hopelessness also appears to affect the immune system. The experience of hopelessness has been shown to decrease cortisol levels in the body, thereby impairing the immune system functioning. Thus, with hopelessness compromising their immune systems, people are increasingly likely to develop a host of illnesses.

HOPE AND HEALTH RECOVERY

Once a person succumbs to illness, hopelessness plays an important part in the recovery process. This relationship has long been known to practicing health care professionals, and the field is replete with stories of how hope made all the difference in the recovery of particular patients. For example, William M. Buchholz (1988) recounted the story of how an oncologist increased the effectiveness of a treatment for metastatic lung cancer merely by arranging the acronym for the drug cocktail to spell H-O-P-E. One possible interpretation for this and other placebo effects in medicine is that they give people hope.

Recently, empirical research has supported what physicians and nurses have long understood regarding hopelessness and health recovery. Susan Swindells and her colleagues (1999) found that hopelessness correlated with poorer physical functioning in HIV-positive patients. Because it reduces the desire to live, hopelessness can make disease treatment nearly impossible as it leads to a desire for a quick death, especially in terminally ill patients. This lack of will to survive also results in patients being less likely to follow their treatment regimens. In a study of 295 ill patients, for example, A. Srikumar Menon and colleagues (Menon, Campbell, Ruskin, & Hebel, 2000) found that patients with greater levels of hopelessness were less likely to desire life-saving treatments for their illness—hopeless patients being 5 times more likely to refuse required CPR procedures.

In addition, there seems to be a direct link between hopelessness and the ability to survive. For example, in a study of 74 men diagnosed with AIDS, Geoffrey Reed and his colleagues (1994) discovered that the men who realistically accepted the imminence of their deaths lived significantly shorter lives than those who did not have such a realistic view of their condition. Thus, the realistically hopeless men were less likely to survive their illnesses. Furthermore, hopelessness consistently emerges as the strongest predictor of suicide in both children and adults (e.g., Beck & Steer, 1989).

With their positive expectations for the future, higher-hope people are more likely to engage in active coping behaviors, including the adherence to their treatment regimens. Moreover, hope has been beneficial to patients who were being treated for a wide variety of illnesses and injuries such as burns, spinal cord injuries, blindness, and fibromyalgia. In addition, arthritis patients with higher levels of hope have manifested better upper and lower extremity functioning; moreover, higher levels of hope enable people to handle higher levels of distress, including physical pain.

What are the mechanisms by which hopelessness and hope affect the recovery process? One answer to this question pertains to the fact that more hopeful people are more willing to deal directly with their problems. Thus, the belief that one can improve the situation leads to more healthy behaviors. This type of active coping leads to a fighting spirit that, in turn, is related to better adjustment and longer survival periods when dealing with illness.

ETIOLOGY OF HOPELESSNESS

Given that hope is such a crucial part of our lives, how is it that some people come to lose it? According to C. R. Snyder (1994), hopelessness is a psychological state in which people arrive at an enduring sense of apathy toward their life goals. Snyder posited that people regress from being hopeful to being hopeless in a series of steps. The catalysts for this demise of hope are profound goal blockages. In other words, when important goals are unattainable for prolonged periods of time, this undermines hope. These goal blockages lead from thoughts of hope to feelings of rage. With time, the rage degenerates into despair, which eventually turns into apathy. Once people no longer care about achieving their life goals, they have reached a state of hopelessness. This hopelessness may appear as depression in some individuals, or as a total lack of emotion in others. Although Snyder argued that hopelessness can occur at any stage in life, from infancy through adulthood, little research has been conducted on this aspect of his theory. Most of the evidence for the various avenues of hopelessness comes from case studies. More research on a wider range of populations is needed.

INSTILLING HOPE

There is a long history in the medical field of attempting to give hope to patients. Health care providers have used many strategies to elevate the hopes of their patients, ranging from framing things in the best possible light to outright deception. Having hope is considered to be so important that physicians sometimes use deception in order to increase the levels of this powerful motive in their patients. For example, physicians may perform unnecessary procedures to provide the patient with hope for improvement.

Based on his theory of hope, Snyder and his colleagues have developed specific measures to tap the levels of hope in people (see Snyder, 1994), as well as treatment interventions that are aimed at improving the level of hope. This hope therapy is intended to help people to develop clearer goals, to generate many strategies for reaching these goals, to muster the requisite energy to pursue goals, and to interpret goal barriers as challenges rather than threats. Although the theoretical foundation for such interventions is strong, more research is warranted to understand the role of hope in improving physical health.

—C. R. Snyder and Kevin L. Rand

Further Readings

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It is no mystery to those who have been reading this blog that I  fervently believe in the power of the mind body connection. 

This is not to be mistaken for the "its all in your head"  attitude.  Studies show that fibromyalgia has very real physical symptoms such as changes in the body's nerve endings (see earlier posts). I believe that the emotions that we have repressed since early childhood impact our bodies in very many ways - including fibromyalgia.

A great book which I just finished reading is "The Drama of the Gifted Child - the search for the true self" by Alice Miller.  Here is an excerpt frominside the cover: "Far too many adults today had to learn as children to hide feelings, needs and memories in order to meet their parents' expectations and win their love". Alice Miller first wrote this book in 1979 and has since written many others . She has gotten world wide recognition for her work as a psychotherapist.  I think that most people will be able to relate to the things she describes throughout this book.  The good news is that she knows how people with repressed emotions (most of us) need to deal with it in order to free themselves (from emotional and the physical hurts that come from it).

Here is a video a found online that is by Alice Miller.  It was on her website.

Here are excerpts from: Formulary; Feb2009, Vol. 44 Issue 2, p32-33, 3p about the newly FDA approved Milnacipran for fibromyalgia.  Please note the safety precautions.  There are some heavy duty concerns that should not be dismissed.  Please choose wisely.  Hope you are all doing as well as possible.

Selective noreplnephrine and serotonin
reuptal<e inhibitor approved for the
management of fibromyaigia

Milnacipran is a selective norepinephrine
and serotonin reuptake inhibitor that inhibits
norepinephrine uptake with greater
potency than serotonin uptake. The
precise mechanism by which this agent
inhibits pain and improves the symptoms
of fibromyaigia is unknown. Milnacipran
was approved on January 14, 2009, for
the management of fibromyaigia.

Milnacipran-treated patients
were also more likely to rate themselves
as much improved or very much improved
on the patient global assessment

Safety. Patients with depression or other
psychiatric disorders may experience worsening
of depression, suicidal ideation and
behavior, or unusual changes in behavior;
treatment with drugs that inhibit norepinephrine
and/or serotonin reuptake may play
a role in inducing these symptoms. Patients
treated with antidepressants should therefore
be monitored closely for changes in behavior,
especially early in treatment and at times of
dose changes. Treatment with drugs that
inhibit serotonin reuptake may lead to the development
of serotonin syndrome, especially
when these agents are used concomitantly
with serotonergic drugs and drugs that impair
the metabolism of serotonin. Inhibition
of norepinephrine and serotonin may lead to
cardiovascular effects, particularly increases
in blood pressure and heart rate. In clinical
trials, treatment with milnacipran was associated
with mild elevations of alanine aminotransferase
(ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase
(AST). Treatment with milnacipran
may lead to hyponatremia. Patients treated
with this agent may have an increased risk
of bleeding events. Milnacipran can affect
urethral resistance and micturition. Patients
treated with milnacipran have experienced
mydriasis; this agent should be used with
caution in patients with controlled narrowangle
glaucoma. The most common adverse
events associated with milnacipran treatment
include nausea, constipation, hot ñush, hyperhidrosis,
vomiting, palpitations, increased
heart rate, dry mouth, and hypertension.
Dosing. The recommended dose of mil

For those of you who would like to be heard, here is an opportunity to talk to a free lance writer who wants to write about it:

Query:

"I'm writing a story for HEALTH on the kinds of illnesses that
disproportionately affect women and have traditionally been
under-treated, pooh-poohed, or dismissed: autoimmune disorders,
fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, PCOS, lupus, etc. I'm looking for
women who have illnesses like this and who have either had trouble
getting a medical professional to take them seriously, or who have
seen treatment improve recently. The point of the story is to
empower women to push for better treatments and treatment at the
hands of their doctors. I'm also looking for experts to weigh in on
the subject. I am faculty."

Deadline: 12:00 PM EASTERN - March 30

Please post a comment if you are interested in submitting a story (your contact information will stay private upon request).