Excerpt from:

10 Natural Remedies That Can Save Your Life
by James F. Balch (Doubleday, April 1999)

GARLIC :

No one is neutral about garlic, just as no one is neutral about skunks. Some people love the look of a skunk’s soft, furry body, its quizzical face, its seemingly gentle demeanor. Others bluntly say that a skunk stinks, and they want nothing to do with it.

And then there’s garlic. Some cuisines seem to start with garlic, the other ingredients, like tomatoes, herbs, and shellfish, serving as mere afterthoughts. There are gourmets, bon vivants, and, if truth be told, gluttons who all speak of garlic the way wine connoisseurs speak of their favorite vintage and cheese lovers talk of the subtle distinctions in flavor of one variety over another.

The garlic haters, on the other hand, say it smells terrible. They can’t stand the way it comes out on the breath, the way the odor seems to ooze through the pores of the eater. They even joke that garlic is an excellent method of birth control; if one lover eats garlic, the other will maintain a distance of at least ten feet. For some people, garlic is even mildly toxic, upsetting their stomachs.

Garlic and alcohol are substances that are not metabolized. They are absorbed through the stomach lining, which is why they leave the telltale odor. And it’s why some people are sick to the stomach after ingesting them.

Fortunately, there is an aged garlic product that is detoxified and thus deodorized. Just as deodorized skunks make great house pets, so the more sociable garlic, with slightly altered chemistry and sold under the name Kyolic, can be used by people who can’t eat ordinary garlic. In fact, a number of studies indicate that Kyolic may be more effective than raw garlic when it comes to boosting the body’s immune system.

Why is garlic, in its original form or as the extract of the aged vegetable, good for you? Garlic contains germanium and selenium, which are sulfur-containing antioxidants that boost the immune system. In the study mentioned, conducted by Dr. Tariq Abdullah, Kyolic killed 20 percent more of the tumor cells in laboratory cultures than did raw garlic. And raw garlic is by itself one of the most potent boosters of your natural killer cells.

Kyolic has also been found more beneficial for hypoglycemics–people with low blood sugar levels–than raw garlic. The latter lowers the blood sugar level, unfortunately, but Kyolic stabilizes it. The aging process that creates Kyolic produces a supplement whose benefits I find stronger than those of raw garlic.

As enthusiastic as I am about barley grass, if someone were to ask me which single supplement he or she should use, I would recommend Kyolic garlic. It is among the oldest and most versatile of the documented natural remedies. When Hippocrates, the father of diagnostic medicine, was busy noting which treatments worked for the Greek people he treated, he listed garlic. A total of twenty-two ancient Egyptian remedies were found to use garlic, as noted in the Ebers Papyrus dating from the sixteenth century B.C.E. Garlic was a tool against the plague when it struck Marseilles in the 1770s. Albert Schweitzer found that, when he ran out of pharmaceutical supplies in his African mission, garlic successfully stopped dysentery. Louis Pasteur discovered that garlic had antibacterial properties. The Vikings would not go on long sea voyages without garlic. And, of course, as we know from fiction, garlic is an excellent defense against vampires.

Garlic’s value for your heart is well known. First, it contains properties for fighting “bad” cholesterol. We know now that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is not dangerous, but low-density lipoprotein (LDL) certainly is, because it can be oxidized by dangerous free radicals. Oxidized LDL is an enemy of the white blood cells, which become enlarged as “foam cells,” and ultimately are deposited on the arterial walls in the form of plaque. The lumen, the open space of the artery, becomes more and more narrow until it is completely clogged.

HDL works in a more positive fashion. It is thicker than LDL and acts a little like an older sibling assigned to keep the younger one out of trouble. HDL, in a way, takes the LDL by the scruff of the neck and escorts it to the liver, where it is broken down and removed from the body. LDL behaves itself only if it has not been oxidized. And it is the antioxidant quality of garlic that so diminishes the free radical damage to the cholesterol that LDL doesn’t need its sibling HDL to hang around. It can be safely removed by itself. The result is that the garlic reduces the start and the progression of arteriosclerosis.

Heart patients, therefore, are especially blessed by garlic, but it is important to check with your doctor before adding garlic to your regimen, because there are pharmaceuticals that match its chemical properties. This is especially the case with popular blood thinners. In fact, Germany licenses garlic supplements as drugs for the treatment of arteriosclerosis.

In the 1920s, the world was introduced to one of the most valuable yet dangerous drugs ever created. This was aspirin, and 25 percent of all people will, at some point, have a serious, perhaps life-threatening reaction to it. Even more important, some children may develop Reye’s syndrome from aspirin because their body chemistry is not sufficiently stable. Yet despite the risks, most emergency medical physicians and heart experts say that at the first sign of heart attack, you should take an aspirin and then call 911, because aspirin thins the blood, and this can delay or prevent a heart attack.

Garlic is natural aspirin, not because it contains salicylic acid, which was first identified in willow bark tea as a substance to ease headaches and reduce joint inflammation, but because it can help to prevent red blood cells from clumping together. Other qualities of garlic, so different from aspirin that they present no risk, dissolve clots and lengthen clotting time. This natural thinning of the blood helps every aspect of blood flow within your body. It is the safest source of prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Keeping that aspirin bottle tucked in with emergency medical supplies is still a good idea, but the regular consumption of Kyolic will almost certainly preclude the need for more drastic measures.

We know that garlic provides a benefit for the cardiovascular system. Perhaps you or someone you know has a little difficulty in walking. It doesn’t seem serious, but maybe it’s reached the point where you just don’t want to walk any more than you have to. You find that your legs feel weak, or you have a certain amount of leg pain. And when you stop walking to pause for a rest or sit down, the discomfort goes away.

That discomfort is caused by poor blood circulation in your legs. The technical term for the problem is intermittent claudication. Since it is known that garlic improves circulation to the body’s peripheries, studies were conducted with patients experiencing this problem. The regular use of garlic lengthened the distance they could walk without weakness or discomfort. And as a side benefit, their cholesterol levels were lowered, and their blood pressure dropped to a healthy level.

This is what happens when garlic becomes part of the diet and supplement program of those with heart problems. In these cases, we know that individuals who, by all rights of family history, should be experiencing problems with their hearts are not having problems. They are doing better than their ancestors. In longer-term studies, they have outlived everyone simply by adding garlic in one form or another.

Are these individuals genetically unique? Possibly, but it is doubtful. Instead, it is safe to assume that the garlic made the difference. Yet this is not scientific methodology. It is just common sense, which, when it comes to the use of garlic to counter genetics, makes for good medicine.

Where scientific methods can be applied, as with antibacterial factors, garlic has been repeatedly proven safe and effective. Probably every woman and most men have heard of “yeast infection” (a.k.a. yeast syndrome or chronic candidiasis), a term defined mostly through symptoms. Blood tests or stool cultures can reveal the infection. But usually it is determined through a careful, complete physical history that reveals such problems as depression, irritability, vaginal yeast infections, frequent bladder infections, chronic fatigue, lack of energy, reduced sex drive, inability to concentrate, and other distresses. Any one of these is a concern; several in combination generally indicate the presence of chronic candidiasis.

Because yeast infections, along with fungus problems and viral infections, are not usually life-threatening, double-blind studies have been carried out on garlic as a treatment. The findings from these studies have repeatedly shown the value of garlic, in some cases used alone, and in others administered in combination with other natural therapeutics.

Note: Be certain not to self-medicate with garlic in response to the problems mentioned above. With candidiasis, for example, there may be several other concerns. You must eliminate from your diet alcohol, high-sugar foods, and other substances with a high-yeast or mold content. Your digestion must be improved. Detoxification of the liver must be pursued and the immune system strengthened. Then you must coordinate your efforts with your doctor’s for continued treatment, because yeast infections can lie dormant and suddenly return if you fail to continue your care after the immediate flare-up.

Garlic is also excellent in the handling of body fat. This does not mean that you can eat garlic instead of getting exercise. You might be able to scare a vampire, but sloth, indolence, and overindulgence have no fear of garlic. Garlic, however, is acknowledged as one of the most effective means of reducing fat in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise program.

This is not to say that you can eat all you want, using garlic as a magic pill. What you eat and how much you eat determine one source of fat, perhaps the most controllable source of fat in your body. The younger you are, the easier it is to burn the fat you take in through diet. As you get older, the ability to burn fat decreases. You may be as active at forty as you were at twenty, but you will find that a diet that left you with a flat stomach and slim hips in your youth is now forcing you to go to a larger size of clothing. This is natural and not unhealthy, but excess fat is never a good situation.

Note: Recent reports of long-term studies on body weight and health show that excess weight alone is not the danger it was once believed to be. The more excess fat you carry, the greater the stress on your body, but repeated dieting causes even greater stress. An important factor is your volume of exercise. An overweight person whose weight is stable, who is physically active, and who eats a healthy diet, including the appropriate supplements, will be far better off than the “hard body” whose diet and exercise habits are wrong. To be fat is not necessarily to be unhealthy. It is simply the most visible sign of a potentially dangerous condition that may manifest itself if you do not respect all the other factors that insure good health.

The fat we scold for clinging to our bodies as we age comes from two sources. One fat stays there because our bodies fail to break it down and eliminate it. The other fat is made by our bodies, a process known as endogenous lipogenesis. Both may be products of our lifestyle as much as our age and eating habits.

For example, do you drink? I don’t mean to excess. I mean a beer after work or some wine with dinner. Nothing to worry about. Nothing excessive.

What you probably don’t realize is that the alcohol you consume interferes with the breakdown of dietary fats and stimulates endogenous lipogenesis. In other words, alcohol triggers the body’s fat-producing mechanism and inhibits the body’s ability to break down and eliminate fat.

Taking garlic is not an excuse to drink. I don’t want to see you spending your happy hour sipping margaritas and downing quantities of Kyolic. However, garlic does slow or stop our body’s production of fat by breaking down the lipids and enhancing the elimination of various by-products. Garlic also moves lipids from tissue to the bloodstream for eventual removal. Garlic can dramatically reduce the bad consequences of a multitude of dietary “sins.” It truly is a good thing.

Perhaps one of the most promising findings of research on the use of garlic has come in the field of cancer. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York has found that garlic inhibits the growth of cancer cells in the laboratory. And in a study of colon cancer conducted at the M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Dr. Michael Wargovich determined that diallyl sulfide, a major component of garlic, reduced the growth of colon cancer in mice. A related experiment showed that diallyl sulfide may prevent cancer of the esophagus and help in preventing prostate cancer in some individuals.

The experiments have been thorough and the results encouraging. Garlic is gradually proving to be an effective treatment for cancer as well as a preventive, and is now being tried, in conjunction with other treatments, on immune-system disorders like AIDS. Laboratory results are consistently positive, and trials on humans show similar findings, though they are not yet far enough along for garlic to be stipulated as a treatment. However, as I said at the start of this chapter, if I had to take just one supplement for my health, it would be Kyolic garlic.
Copyright© 1999 by James F. Balch

From:
10 Natural Remedies That Can Save Your Life
by James F. Balch

Garlic: One of 10 Natural Remedies That Can Save Your Life is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

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by Pamela Rice Hahn

How do you manage your time when your body seems to be sabotaging your every effort to do so?

Anyone who copes with the turmoil caused by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, or another disabling conditions for which one of the primary symptoms is devastating fatigue knows how difficult it is to plan your time. It’s true: Nobody seems to have enough time at his or her disposal. But most people can predict with a degree of certainty how they’ll feel from one minute to the next. Predictability is a key to optimal time management. That’s the stuff of which time studies are made — or broken.

Every life has challenges. And everybody gets tired.

A new mother who longs for the time that seemingly will never arrive when her baby will sleep through the night.

The student studying for exams.

The dad fighting to stay awake until his teenager gets home safely.

But tired is far, far different from full-body fatigue. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia make a mockery of “the mind’s willing but the spirit is weak.” Therefore, the secret is to find your best ways to plan your time so that you can cope, even when your illness seemingly robs you of your spirit. By making a commitment to yourself to do what you can and accept what you can — and cannot — do, you’ll find that you’ll be in a better position to accept the reality that for you, time management must be a priority. The difference is that you must use an entirely different standard to establish those priorities. Once you learn that standard, you can learn how to manage your time when everything else is seemingly out of your control.

Time Management for the Normal Person

A normal person might be able to get by with a To Do List or a Day-Timer®. You need something that’s more flexible. Chances are that you’ll have more success if you keep a Tasks Notebook. (Be patient! You’ll learn why later.)

Before you can appreciate how to set up your Tasks Notebook, it helps to understand what should go on “normal” To Do Lists:

• A Task Notes Page on which you list, as it occurs to you, anything that you need to do — whether now or in the future.
• A Daily Task List onto which you transfer information on chores you’ve put on your Task Notes Page, scheduled appointments, and urgent concerns that come up. A Daily Task List usually has 10 items, no more than two of which should be difficult tasks.
• An Agenda — usually kept with your Daily Task List. An Agenda is your record of the specific times for scheduled appointments, but it can also be used to map out the times during which you feel it will be best to complete specific tasks on your list. (You might remember the good old days when you could create an “artificial deadline” to motivate yourself to get something done. Those deadlines go on an Agenda.)
• A Long-Term Goals List of those things you’ve moved from your Task Notes Page that will require some time and discipline to complete, such as getting out of debt, redecorating your house, writing a book, and so on.
• A Short-Term Goals List of those things you’ve moved from your Task Notes Page that, although they’ll require some time and discipline to complete, can be done in a manageable chunk of time.

The complexity of these tasks will depend on the normal person’s available amount of time in each of his or her time segments.

They can range from such more complex short-term goals as:

• Planning the steps to put in motion to pay off one outstanding bill
• Charting and dividing the tasks necessary to repaint your living room
• Outlining the book you plan to write

Or, they can be as simple as scheduling when they will:

• Vacuum the living room
• Put the dishes away
• Outline a chapter of the book

Time management philosophy for the “normal” person is that with discipline, there can be enough hours in the day to do whatever he or she wants to do. All that’s needed is to break the typical day up into timed segments. He or she determines the number of hours needed for work and sleep, and then plans how he or she expects to spend the remaining hours of the day. (This only works if that person is able to maintain a somewhat predictable routine.)

Then, from that routine, it’s determined which hours would be better spent doing something else. For example, if three or four hours a night are spent watching television and the goal is to get out of debt, that person could move yourself closer to reaching that goal if some of that time was spent working at a part-time job.

As a motivator, he or she would do the math to determine how much time is squandered on non-productive activities. In the above example, that person would figure up how many hours a week he or she watches television (3 x 7 or 4 x 7) and multiple those hours by the 52 weeks in a year. Once that’s done, he or she would discover that — voila! — there are literally 1092 or 1456 hours available to spend working on the goal. For anyone with a predictable schedule, time is a commodity.

Time Management for the Person Coping with a Disabling Illness or Condition

When you must cope with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, or any disabling condition associated with full-body fatigue, time isn’t a commodity. It’s a luxury. You must take control of it in any way that you can. Your first step is to:

Write It Down!

Don’t leave anything to chance.

If it’s something you must do, write it down.

If it’s something you’re thinking of doing, write it down.

When you’re coping with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, or any disabling condition that can interfere with your cognitive skills, you can’t rely on your memory. While others are out jogging for exercise, you’re forced to remain at home to jog your memory in any way that you can.

The Nitty-Gritty of How It’s Done

Your Tasks Notebook

Now that you understand the philosophy of “normal” time management and accept that you really must “write it down,” you can start to adapt that philosophy to fit your situation.

Your Tasks Notebook will give you the one major benefit of writing things down. It gives you a place where you can cross them off!

Choose the notebook style that will work best for you. Your Tasks Notebook can be a three-ring binder, a spiral notebook, or a notepad small enough to slip into a pocket. Whichever style you choose, it should be one that is easy for you to keep close to you at all times.

Unless you can move pages forward (like you can with a binder) or use a notebook with section tabs, start what will serve as your Task Notes Page at the back of the notebook.

That way you always know where to find it. The philosophy of the Task Notes Page is the same: Write down anything that comes to you. If you know in advance that something you write down will be a priority item that you’ll need to be sure to remember to move ahead in your notebook at a specific time, use a different style of handwriting to write down that task. For example, you might write general thoughts and to-do ideas in cursive, and print priority tasks and appointments in large capital letters. Or you could write such tasks in a different color.

At the front of your notebook, have a Today Page. Record the times and locations of scheduled appointments in such a way that they’ll stand out. Write the other things that you hope to get done below those things you know you must get done. As you complete each item, draw a line through it. That includes those things that you weren’t able to accomplish yourself and had to delegate to someone else. As far as you’re concerned, you got it done!

Any item that remains on the list at the end of your day, gets moved to your next Today Page, and so on.

Time Management Success Strategies

Here are some suggestions on ways you can help ensure your time-management success:

• Celebrate Your Capabilities: Make a list of those things you can do that give you pleasure or pride. This helps you establish the proper mindset for determining in what ways you can establish your time management tasks and goals. In other words, make a concerted effort to celebrate what you can do rather than mourning what you can’t.
• Accept Your Limitations: Regardless of how much you might want to do something (like participate on a church committee or work overtime), you’re setting yourself up for failure — and a possible hard crash! — if you try to do something that you’re no longer capable of doing. You’ll let yourself down, and, as a consequence, also let others down in the process. (Good intentions you can’t turn into acts lead to additional stress.)
• Determine Your Prime Times: Everyone has high- and low-energy times of the day. Unfortunately, for anybody with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, or any disabling condition that involves full-body fatigue, the amount of high or peak energy will probably be what you used to accept as your low-energy time of the day. Accept that on most days you won’t have enough energy to get work done in either short high-activity bursts (like throwing another load of clothes in the washing machine before you unload the dishwasher while you wait for the dinner that you just put in the oven to bake) or long stretches (like taking advantage of a canceled appointment by spending an hour cleaning the bathroom or waxing your car). Even so, you can still schedule some events in your day according to those times that will work best — for you and your energy levels.

For example, if you normally sleep until 10:00 a.m., don’t make a doctor’s appointment for 9:00 a.m.

Likewise, if you usually nap at 2:00 p.m., don’t accept a late lunch invitation for 1:00 p.m.

On the other hand, if you know that you’re most alert at 3:00 p.m., schedule your doctor’s appointment for that time and write down any errands you might want to run after the appointment. (Just don’t feel that you must run the errands if you’re too exhausted after the appointment. It’s still multitasking if you follow that appointment by going home to take a nap.)

• Be Flexible: The realities of coping with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, or any disabling condition is to accept that there will be days when you simply cannot accomplish what you’d hoped to do that day. It’s not procrastination when you’re physically not capable of performing a task. Accept that, and move the scheduled task (that you’re not capable of doing) to another page in your Tasks Notebook.
• Learn to Say “No”: It isn’t easy, but let go of any guilt you feel about not being able to do something. Don’t think you need to give an excuse. Don’t get defensive either. Accept that others simply will never fully appreciate the limitations caused by the full-body fatigue of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, or many other disabling conditions.
• Learn to Delegate: Conserve your prime time for your primary tasks — those things you choose when you establish your priorities. Here’s one place where you can allay any guilt you may feel by offering a barter whenever possible. If you can’t carry out the trash but you do bake cookies once a week, offer to give the neighbor kid a dozen cookies every week if he or she will carry out the bags from your house, put them in the cans, and haul those cans to the curb. If you know that once you fix dinner, it’ll push you beyond your endurance if you also set the table and then clean up the mess, then assign those chores to others in the family. If you live alone, cook dinner and use a paper plate and wait to wash the pan, utensils, and silverware until you feel up to it.
• Establish Your Priorities: Your priorities will depend on what you were able to put on your Celebrate Your Capabilities list. Accept that nobody can “do it all,” and that you more than likely can only do a fraction of what that “nobody” can do. Therefore, strive to use as much of your limited energy to complete those things that give you joy.

The reality is that if you must cope with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, or any disabling condition that’s accompanied by debilitating fatigue, your health now dictates how you can manage your time. Others may be able to forego one activity in favor of another, yet still have “time” to squeeze a third activity in the mix. You don’t always have that luxury. For you, time itself is the luxury. Treat it like the treasure that it is. Your time will be more rewarding if you do.

Revision Copyright © 2010 Blue Rose Bouquet Group, LLC
All Rights Reserved

Time Management for Those with Disabilities is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

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Our society as a whole is very goal-oriented, and when you have a chronic illness like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia you may feel discouraged when you can’t accomplish as much as “everyone else” does. Setting goals gives you a way to work toward and measure your accomplishments.

To be effective, goals must be:

1. Measurable. We’ve all made goals like, “I’ll exercise more” or “I’ll do more around the house.” However, it is impossible to measure “more” so you can’t tell if you’ve met this goal or not.On the other hand, you can measure these goals: “I’ll walk around the block every day” or “I’ll wipe down the kitchen counters on Monday, dust the office on Tuesday,…”
2. Attainable/realistic. Set your goals according to what you can accomplish, not what you think you should accomplish or what “other people” do.Consider your illness; your goals may change from day to day or week to week as your illness goes into remission or exacerbation.

   It would probably be unrealistic to make a goal of, “I’ll do all the laundry every week on Monday.” A more realistic goal might be, “I’ll do one load of laundry every other day.” If you’re having a severe exacerbation of your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia, you might make a goal to just wash a load of clothes one day, and fold and put it away the next day.

3. For you! Only you can work toward your goals. Do not make goals like “my husband will lose 20 pounds” or “my daughter will get straight A’s on her report card.” Your husband and daughter are the only ones who can accomplish those goals! You can make goals for yourself that will ultimately help them, like, “I’ll ask my husband to walk with me every evening” or “I’ll check my daughter’s homework every night.”
   

   How to Set Your Goals

   1. Write them down. When you write down your goals, it makes them become “real” and you in turn become committed to working toward them. You might be motivated by recording goals in a fancy notebook, or you might just want to jot them down on sticky notes and put them on your mirror. Do what works for you!
   2. Document your results. Keep track of your progress. Put a star on your calendar the days you exercise, keep a journal recording the books you’ve read, or make a list of the new healthier recipes you’ve tried. Now you have visible evidence that you’re accomplishing something!
   3. Make intermediate goals. If you have a big goal, you’ll need smaller intermediate goals. A goal stating, “I will clean the whole house, basement to attic, including the closets, by the end of the year” is overwhelming without smaller, intermediate goals. You might make a goal to clean the basement in January, one bedroom a week in February, and one closet a week in March.

   On days when you are able to cope with your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia, try breaking your daily goals down into manageable steps. For example, instead of preparing a hamburger casserole supper in one session, set the table in the morning, brown hamburger right after noon and refrigerate it until later, and then assemble the casserole after a nap.

   1. Evaluate your goals. Evaluate each goal about a month after you make it. At that time you’ll have met it (congratulations!) or need to re-evaluate it.If you’ve made a weekly cleaning plan, are you able to get the scheduled tasks done every day? If so, great! Make this schedule a permanent part of your life. But if you find you’re too tired by Friday to get that day’s jobs done, either take a day off during the week or break your jobs down into smaller chunks. Re-evaluate your new goal in another month or so.

      If you’re lucky and your illness wanes and surges predictably, consider making two chore schedules: one for when you’re feeling good and one for when you’re not able to do as much.

   2. Give yourself rewards! (This is the fun part!) Along with the satisfaction of reaching your goals, rewards will motivate you. A great reward is taking a warm bath while reading a new novel. Based on your energy levels, you might choose something that brings you enjoyment, like seeing a movie with a friend, working in your garden, or taking a leisurely walk.

   Don’t be intimidated by all of these guidelines and steps to choosing your goals. The process is vital to setting and reaching goals, and easy if you follow the suggested steps. Your days will be more meaningful when you’re working toward something. Setting goals gives you something that you, and you alone, can control — and you’ll feel wonderful when you meet your goals!

   Shelly Burke is a happy, at-home mom. She and her husband have two children and many pets. Shelly is the author Home is Where the Mom Is: A Christian Mom’s Guide to Caring for Herself, Her Family, and Her Home, from which this article is adapted. For more information, or to download a FREE goal sheet and read an excerpt of Home is Where the Mom Is, visit www.homeiswherethemomis.com.

Article Copyright © 2005-2010 Shelly Burke
All Rights Reserved

Setting Goals While You Cope with a Chronic Illness is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

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What is Fibromyalgia?

Defining Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia — which is also sometimes referred to as Fibromyalgia Syndrome, Fibromyositis, Fibrositis, or Myofascial pain syndrome — is a chronic disorder characterized by tenderness in localized areas of the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips sometimes referred to as tender points or pressure points.

What are some of the other symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia?

In addition to the tender points, Fibromyalgia is also associated with other body disturbances, including:

• concentration problems
• fatigue
• headaches
• irritable bowel syndrome
• joint discomfort
• morning stiffness
• muscle spasms
• muscle weakness
• musculoskeletal pain
• numbness in hands and feet
• sleep disturbances
• temperature sensitivities
• tingling sensation that may travel throughout the body
• widespread pain in joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues

Some Fibromyalgia victims also suffer from anxiety and depression, as a consequence of the illness rather than as a cause of the syndrome.

What are the criteria for a Fibromyalgia diagnosis?

Diagnosis is difficult. Currently there is not a medical test available to diagnosis the condition directly. At the present time, diagnosis is based on patient history and tender point sensitivity. A Fibromyalgia diagnosis requires a history of widespread pain lasting at least three months, and pain and tenderness in at least 11 of 18 tender-point sites. These tender-point sites include fibrous tissue or muscles of the:

• Neck
• Shoulders
• Chest
• Rib cage
• Lower back
• Thighs
• Knees
• Arms (elbows)
• Buttocks

Graphics that will help pinpoint the exact locations of these tender points and see which muscles are affected:

• American Academy of Family Physicians illustration of and explanation about the muscles affected by Fibromyalgia tender points
• Caring Medical Center illustration identifying the 18 Fibromyalgia Tender Points

Long-standing, body-wide pain with defined tender points is the primary characteristic of fibromyalgia. These Fibromyalgia tender points are distinct from trigger points seen in other pain syndromes. However, unlike tender points, trigger points sometimes occur in isolation and are a source of radiating pain, even in the absence of direct pressure. The pain associated with a tender point increases upon palpation of that tender point.

Pain and Causes of Fibromyalgia

What type of pain is associated with Fibromyalgia?

The soft-tissue pain of Fibromyalgia is described as burning, deep-aching, gnawing, radiating, or shooting, and ranges from mild to severe. Fibromyalgia victims also often wake up with body aches and stiffness. For some, that pain and stiffness improves during the day and increases again during the evening, and some have the opposite time table for pain and pain tolerance. On the other hand, many with Fibromyalgia have day-long, unrelenting pain. Pain can also increase from anxiety, cold or damp weather, increased physical activity, and stress.

While Fibromyalgia pain can be similar to that which occurs with types of arthritis, Fibromyalgia pain is seldom accompanied by the significant swelling, destruction, and deformity of joints present in diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

What causes Fibromyalgia?

The cause of this disorder is unknown. Fibromyalgia can develop on its own, or as a secondary affliction to other musculoskeletal conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or autoimmune illnesses like systemic lupus. Some believe physical or emotional trauma may play a role in development of Fibromyalgia. Also, some evidence points to the possibility that Fibromyalgia victims have abnormal pain transmission responses.

The possibility also exists that the sleep disturbances common in Fibromyalgia patients may actually cause the disorder. Another theory suggests that Fibromyalgia may be associated with changes in skeletal muscle metabolism (such as improper metabolism of the lactic acid excreted into the skeletal muscles during exertion and exercise), possibly caused by decreased blood flow, which could cause the “burning” sensation, chronic fatigue, and weakness.

Most illnesses are assumed to be triggered by an infectious microbe, such as a virus. With Fibromyalgia, no such virus or microbe has been identified.

While an exact cause for Fibromyalgia at present eludes medical professionals, research shows that Fibromyalgia patients appear to have an enhanced pain sensitivity and response originating from the central nervous system. Traumatic illness or injury may trigger the condition. Also, research continues to determine if other factors may lead to the development of Fibromyalgia, such as autoimmune dysfunction, connective tissue disease, environmental factors, genetics, or nutritional deficiencies.

Fibromyalgia Risk Factors and Treatment

What are some of the risk factors associated with Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia does seem to run in families, which points to a possible inherited tendency toward the disease, though evidence of this is preliminary rather than conclusive.

Fibromyalgia also has an increased frequency of onset among women between the ages of 20 to 50. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, the prevalence of the disease has been estimated between 0.7% and 13% for women, and between 0.2% and 3.9% for men.

What medical tests are used to diagnose Fibromyalgia?

In addition to establishing the presence of 11 of the 18 tender points, laboratory, x-ray, and other tests may be done to rule out other disorders that have similar symptoms.

Other underlying ailments, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis, are also often present. Tests are done to check for these underlying conditions as well as to confirm Fibromyalgia.

What treatments are available for Fibromyalgia?

In some mild cases, symptoms sometimes decrease or go away altogether when stress is decreased or lifestyle changes are made. A combination of treatments can include counseling, medications, patient education, and physical therapy. Many Fibromyalgia victims also find support groups helpful.

For some, antidepressant medications are sometimes prescribed. Studies show that antidepressants (in lower doses than those used to treat clinical depression, which is a separate disorder) can decrease depression, improve sleep quality, release pain-killing endorphins, and relax craniofacial and skeletal muscles. Other medications sometimes used include anti-inflammatory pain medications and medications that work on pain transmission pathways, such as the epilepsy drug Gabapentin.

Eating a well-balanced diet and avoiding caffeine may help ease sleeping problems, and may help reduce the severity of the symptoms. Lifestyle measures to improve the quality of sleep can be effective for Fibromyalgia. Reducing stress and improving coping skills may also help reduce painful symptoms.

Fish oil, magnesium and malic acid combinations, vitamins, and other supplements may be effective.

Some may find relief from fibromyalgia symptoms by increasing exercise, especially low impact exercises, like walking and swimming, and later selective aerobic exercise. Beginning an exercise program slowly helps stretch and mobilize tight, sore muscles. High-impact aerobics and weight lifting may cause increased discomfort. Symptoms can also sometimes be relieved by gentle stretching and light massage, as well as acupressure, acupuncture, and relaxation techniques.

Severe cases of fibromyalgia may require a referral to a pain clinic.

Long-term effects and symptom comparisons

What long-term effects should somebody with Fibromyalgia expect? (In other words: What is the prognosis?)

While Fibromyalgia is a chronic problem for which there may be some fluctuation in the symptoms, there is no proof that Fibromyalgia Syndrome results in an increased death rate.

What other conditions mimic the symptoms of Fibromyalgia?

Cancer, depression, cervical and low-back degenerative disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, HIV infection, hypothyroidism, Lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and sleep disorders may have symptoms similar to Fibromyalgia; however, none of them are known to be caused directly by Fibromyalgia.

Treatment Problems and Solutions

Are there any other factors that make treatment difficult for Fibromyalgia?

Management of Fibromyalgia is difficult because it requires a multi-therapeutic approach. The degree, frequency, and location of pain can vary from day to day for Fibromyalgia patients. In other words, a Fibromyalgia patient’s level of discomfort may range from mild muscle stiffness to extreme, radiating pain severe enough to cause complete debilitation that makes it impossible to carry out simple daily activities.

Keep in mind that most treatment primarily focuses on managing the symptoms. Because the severity of these symptoms varies from person to person and day to day, an efficient treatment plan focuses on trying to determine the underlying causes and establish an effective regimen to alleviate the symptoms sufficiently to allow the Fibromyalgia victim to meet his or her lifestyle goals. This requires an individualized plan. Determining what constitutes that plan is made more difficult when a Fibromyalgia victim’s pain and fatigue hinders the focus, determination, and dedication to take the necessary control to implement and maintain a treatment regimen.

Are there any factors that make treatment easier for the Fibromyalgia patient?

Perhaps first and foremost is the support of family and friends. It helps tremendously when the Fibromyalgia victim has the understanding of loved ones regarding the condition and the limitations it causes. Friends and family can help the patient apply the personalized Fibromyalgia management program. For example, this support can help the patient work through the lows and depression that can result during those times when pain levels are high. That support also includes gently ensuring the Fibromyalgia victim doesn’t overdo it on days when the pain is less severe.

This support of family and friends combined with a well-rounded, personalized management program created with the assistance of a knowledgeable physician who will work diligently to determine the underlying factors promises the best chance for improvement.

Are there any known ways to prevent Fibromyalgia?

There is no proven prevention for this disorder. Maintaining healthy eating and exercise habits is believed to help prevent most illness. Likewise do good sleep habits and stress coping skills. If, despite your best efforts, you develop the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, contact your health-care provider. The only way you can adequately treat any illness symptoms is by pinpointing as best is possible what is causing those symptoms. That includes ruling out other conditions that can mimic the symptoms of Fibromyalgia.

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All Rights Reserved

Additional information:

Fast Facts about Fibromyalgia
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Fibromyalgia Resource

The pain from fibromyalgia is real, researchers say
An article about how University of Michigan doctors say widespread evidence verifies validity of condition, and say patients need to be taken seriously.

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(Written in 2005)

I took the Terry Schiavo issue very personally.

I’m of the opinion that once a judge sentences somebody with one disability to die an agonizing death from starvation and dehydration, it’s just a matter of time before that bar is lowered to include another disability and then another….

A childhood head injury, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities has made my “quality of life” far below what many would find acceptable.

It’s a scary climate. The year of Terri Schiavo’s death sentence (2005) was the same year that Hollywood mourned the death of one its disabled members and at the same time gave its highest awards to two films that celebrate euthanasia.

Related:

Protection for the Disabled

Too Late to Die Young

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All Rights Reserved

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