FIBROMYALGIA:
REASONS FOR CONTINUED PAIN
The following is a list of the top ten reasons Fibromyalgia patients continue to suffer and what your doctor may be doing wrong.
1. Auto Immunity is overlooked or mistreated
Every chronic pain patient who walks through the door of my clinic has the same priorities. Here they are:
1- Auto Immunity
2- Blood Sugar
3- Anemia
4- Gut and Liver function
5- Fatty acid metabolism
Auto Immunity is the top of the list because it trumps everything else. When your own immune system goes out of control, it launches attacks on your own body’s tissue.
A majority of the patients that I see with Fibro have an underlying auto immune condition. The immune system most commonly attacks the thyroid (causing your blood sugar imbalance), your adrenal glands (chronic fatigue), and brain (fibro fog). Until we run the right tests to know that this is the problem, we cannot have all of the information to get you better the fastest.
2. It’s in your head. How many doctors have you seen that have told you it is in your head? This directly translates into: “I don’t know how to help you.” All of your lab tests are normal, all of the imaging you have had are normal.
You condition is partially in your head. Fibromyalgia has a neurological component CAUSED by a break down in your metabolism. The problem is, is that it is everywhere else too, and your doctor is only as good as the drugs he or she prescribes. Part of successful treatment of Fibromyalgia is changing the metabolic condition. You CANNOT MEDICATE YOUR WAY OUT OF A METABOLIC CONDITION.
3. The right tests must be ordered
I see this every day in my office. Patients will drag themselves in my office with stacks of blood work. The tests are usually a Complete Blood Count, A Chemistry panel, and TSH. They may also have ordered a group of tests ruling out auto immune diseases called HLA-B27. Why? Because these are what your insurance would pay for. This is not enough information to get you better. What about Immune panels, complete thyroid panels, Adrenal Stress Index, and food sensitivity panels? All of these are making your condition worse. We need all of these to make sound clinical judgement
4. Right test ordered, wrong results.
Medical doctors use lab reference ranges as a guide to determine whether or not you have a particular disease.
The easiest to use as an example is TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). TSH is used to determine whether or not you have a thyroid condition. Traditional medicine uses the lab ranges of 0.5 to 5.5. In other words, if your TSH level is below 0.5, you have hyperthyroidism. If it is above 5.6, you have hypothyroidism. However, in order to have maximum thyroid function, your levels must be between 1.8 - 3.0. You can see this is a much narrower range. You can be completely hypothyroid with a lab value of 3.5, yet your doctor says it is a normal test.
You must use functional ranges, not lab ranges.
5. Fibromyalgia cannot be reversed with medications.
Fibromyalgia has a neurological component CAUSED by a break down in you metabolism. It is a metabolic condition. You cannot drug your way out of a metabolic condition. Drugs will help with your symptoms temporarily but will not reverse your fibromyalgia.
6. Dietary changes.
Most doctors have very little knowledge about nutrition. If you go to your doctor and ask him or her about gluten, they will run a celiac test on you (that is a VERY inaccurate test) and say you don’t have celiac, so eat whatever you want.
Fact is, your condition can be made worse by what you put in your mouth. The Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) will not allow you to recover.
7. Taking too many supplements
Yep. I said it. Taking too many supplements can make your condition worse. If your fibromyalgia is caused by an auto-immune condition (your own bodies immune system, which is supposed to keep you from getting sick, actually attacks your own tissue and makes you sick), then certain supplements can actually trigger an auto immune reaction and make your condition worse.
8- Thyroid conditions
Thyroid disease is often overlooked in fibromyalgia and often mismanaged. Every cell in your body has a thyroid receptor. When the thyroid slows down because of an auto immune attack, EVERY system in your body slows down. You may have fibromyalgia symptoms because of an auto immune attack on your thyroid.
9- Fibromyalgia can be improved
Patients are often given the diagnosis of fibromyalgia by their doctor and then told, “There is nothing we can do, you are going to have to live with it.” And then they write a prescription for Lyrica and an anti-depressant.
This is not the answer. If you treat it correctly and make the correct life style changes, it is reversible.
10- Fibromyalgia is real.
Fibromyalgia is real. I don’t care what other doctors have told you. It is not in your head (well, it is. It is a neurodegenerative disorder, so yeah, its in your brain). It is a very real disease that is destroying millions of lives across the country. It is real. I have seen the devastating effects it has. But, it is treatable and often reversible.
Dr. Atencio D.C. is a chiropractor and owner of Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center in Austin Texas. He has a focus on chronic pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, disc herniations and hard to treat soft tissue injuries. He can be reached at 512-219-8999.
Information That You Are Missing…
What is fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia is often considered a medical mystery. It need not be. I sometimes hear that fibromyalgia is not treatable. Nothing is further from the truth.
3 Rs of Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is Real
Fibromyalgia is Reversible
Fibromyalgia cannot be Reversed with drugs
It is my experience that fibromyalgia patients can be separated into a few different catagories. This page will provide information on a condition I refer to as neurogenic fibromyalgia.
WHY YOU FEEL SO TERRIBLE?
Fibromyalgia is a neurological condition. There are 3 parts to your brainstem: top (called the mesencephalon), middle (called the pons), and bottom (medulla). NORMALLY, the brain fires impulses down to the lower two parts of the brainsten, (the pontomedullary area) and that SLOWS DOWN the upper brainstem (mesencephalon). With the fibromyalgia patient, this is not happening!!! The lower part of the brainstem (ponto-medullary region) IS NOT SLOWING DOWN THE UPPER BRAINSTEM (mesencephalon).
DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS THEN?
PAIN… when the upper brainstem (mesencephalon) is over-firing, it drives down an area of the spinal cord called the IML (Inter-medio-Iateral cell nucleus) which causes the adrenal gland (on top of your kidneys) to release chemicals that cause PAIN! The adrenal gland releases catacholamines and norepinephrine into the bloodstream. When these chemicals are released into the bloodstream, they sensitize pain fibers – specifically, TYPE C pain fibers which are the smallest and MOST PAINFUL pain fibers.
INSOMNIA… the problem is that upper brainstem (mesencephalon) again! (Can you see a pattern emerging?) Inside the upper brainstem is the mesencephalic reticular activating system. This is a big, fancy, three dollar term, but it is the reason WHY YOU ARE NOT SLEEPING! When the upper brainstem is over-firing, you are NOT SLEEPING. When it is firing at its normal rate, because the lower-brainstem (ponto-medullary region) is slowing down the upper-brainstem (mesencephalon), you are sleeping like a new born baby.
lBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome is characterized by episodes of diarrhea and constipation, abdominal pain, nausea, and even vomiting. In the lower-brainstem there is an area called the NTS (Nucleus Tractus Solitarious). Inside the NTS is the origin of the Vagus nerve. Guess where one of the places the Vagus nerve goes to……THE ABDOMINAL AREA! So if you are suffering with IBS, your lower brainstem is NOT firing the way that it should.
HEADACHES… you have headaches because the brain is NOT firing impulses to the lower brainstem, and the lower brainstem (ponto-medullary region) is thus not slowing down the upper brainstem (mesencephalon).
“FIBRO FOG” and LOSS OF MEMORY are caused by decreased firing of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.
DIFFICULTY EXPRESSING WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY “Broca’s speech area” is located in the left frontal lobe of the brain, and when this area has a decrease in impulses, or FOF (frequency of firing), you will have difficulty expressing what you would like to say.
INCREASED HEART RATE is caused by the upper brainstem over-firing again. Remember when I said the IML (inter-medio-Iateral cell nucleus) over-fires when the upper-brainstem (mesencephalon) over-fires? Well… that is what is also causing your heart to race. The IML drives down the spinal cord and causes the electrical nodes (SA on the right and AV on the left) to misfire. This will cause you to experience an increased heart rate, an irregular heart rate, or both.
DIZZINESS… near the back of the brain is an area called the cerebellum. The cerebellum controls all of your spinal muscles, your balance, and your coordinated movement. When fibromyalgia patients are dizzy or lightheaded, their cerebellum has decreased its firing. MDs might say that you have dizziness because of an “inner ear problem” which could be true…that is why we do a THOROUGH EXAMINATION when you come into our office.
HEY, SLOW DOWN A MINUTE…I AM STARTING TO SEE A PATTERN! BUT WHAT CAUSES MY BRAIN TO NOT SEND THE IMPULSES DOWN TO MY LOWER
BRAINSTEM WHICH WOULD SLOW DOWN MY UPPER BRAINSTEM?
STRESS!! In the form of Physical, Emotional, and/or Chemical stress.
Physical Stress from car accidents, falls, bumps, or bruises.
Emotional Stress due to financial difficulties, a failed marriage, abuse, or difficulties at work.
Chemical Stress from alcohol, tobacco, and/or sugar- junk food.
Do any of these ring a bell? Think back for a minute and see how many of these stressors that you have had or do have in your life.
Stress causes the brain to lose impulses, or decrease its frequency of firing.
When you are stressed, a chemical called cortisol is released into the bloodstream. CORTISOL IS TOXIC TO BRAIN AND CAUSES A DECREASED FIRING OR IMPULSES.
OK... So what do YOU do to fix it? What makes YOU different from all of the other doctors that I have seen???
We treat fibromyalgia from a neurological perspective, and we use some or all of the following treatments:
Your brain and nervous system need THREE things to survive and to thrive:
NUTRITION, OXYGEN and ACTIVATION.
Nutrition so that the brain cells/neurons can function.
There are three parts to good brain nutrition:
Sufficient protein on the inside of the neuron
Even blood sugar
Good digestion
Oxygen – nothing works without oxygen
Symptoms of fibromyalgia are caused by cellular oxygen deprivation.
Oxygen deprivation is caused by dysfunctional oxygen metabolism.
Oxygen metabolism becomes abnormal due to excessive and cumulative oxidative stress caused by sugar overload, antibiotic abuse, undiagnosed allergies, synthetic chemicals and anger.
Activation comes from the treatments that are listed below
SUFFICIENT PROTEIN…your brain cells/neurons are unique – they talk electrically to hundreds and even thousands other neurons all the time. In order to do so, they must have sufficient protein on the inside. If you are protein deficient, your brain cannot work properly.
EVEN BLOOD SUGAR/GLUCOSE…glucose comes from the foods you eat. Your brain must have adequate glucose – but does not like blood sugar swings. Over-consumption of sugar and high carbohydrate foods are wide spread. This leads to massive blood sugar swings with hypoglycemia as one extreme and diabetes as the other. Your brain cannot work properly that way…a change in the types of foods you eat may be required.
GOOD DIGESTION… the best foods are useless if you cannot digest and absorb them...because then your brain can’t do its job. Digestive support is often part of your road to success.
OXYGEN …AS YOU AGE, YOUR ABILITY TO UTILIZE OXYGEN DECREASES. We will use oxygen with our treatments. Oxygen is like gas in the car… if you don’t have gas in the car, you are not going anywhere. If you don’t have sufficient oxygen available for your brain and nervous system, most likely, no treatment will work!
UNILATERAL ADJUSTING… the right brain controls that left side of the body and the left brain controls the right side. If there is a decrease of firing or impulses in one side of the brain, I ONLY WANT TO ADJUST YOU ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Also, I WILL ONLY USE VERY LIGHT ADJUSTING SO YOU WILL NOT GET WORSE! Have you ever had an adjustment and felt worse afterward? It is because the adjustment was TOO MUCH for your nervous system. It over-stimulated, or (get ready for another $3 term that neurologists use) it “exceeded metabolic capacity.”
AUDITORY STIMULATION… listening to sound in one ear will stimulate the opposite side of the brain and increase impulses.
OLFACTORY STIMULATION…smelling different scents will stimulate the brain. Your sight, sound, taste, and touch all travel through a sensory area of your brain called the thalamus. SMELL GOES DIRECTLY TO THE BRAIN.
VESTIBULAR STIMULATION… Slowly spinning to the right or the left. Spinning activates the balance system (vestibular apparatus) inside your inner ear. From there, nerve impulses travel to the vestibular nuclei to excite powerfully the lower brain stem (ponto-medullary region) which in turn slows down the upper brain stem (mesencephalon).
CALORICS… warm water in the ear will stimulate the semicircular canals in your ear and fire the vestibular nerve back to your cerebellum. The cerebellum fires to the brain, the brain fires to the lower brainstem (ponto-medullary region), and your lower brainstem slows down the upper brainstem (mesencephalon).
Now, these are just a few of the treatments that I may use to help your brain increase its firing. I have listed more at the end of this report. The treatments utilized are dependent on your condition.
So What Is The Secret?
The Nervous System: As I have stated, the latest research points to brain stem injury and malfunction as a major cause – if not THE cause – of fibromyalgia. Our “Fibromyalgia Qualification Evaluation” includes a complete nervous system evaluation.
Fibromyalgia is a crippling disease ruining the lives of 15 million people, and 9 out of 10 are women.
There is a lot of nonsense out there when it comes to treatment. There are a lot of “experts” who are preying on your misery. Unfortunately, they are filling you with false hope, or even worse, telling you there is NO HOPE.
We will take you by the hand and answer ALL your questions... giving you the best possible way to get better.
Here’s The Qualification Process...
• A consultation with me to discuss your problem. You will be taken by the hand and ALL your questions and concerns will be answered before you leave.
• A complete fibromyalgia qualification case history and questionnaire to help determine if we can help you.
• A specialized Fibromyalgia Qualification Evaluation.
• A “Recommended Action Plan” giving you the results of your examination and tests, explaining whether you qualify for our program, and discussing what your options are. If at this point our evaluation reveals a condition that is better treated by other means, we will refer you to the appropriate doctor.
We can be reached at 512-219-8999
HOW TO FINALLY END YOUR FIBROMYALGIA NIGHTMARE!
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT……
We treat patients neurologically and metabolically!
Neurological Treatments Based on Specific Neurological Testing:
#1: Oxygen therapy: Oxygen is fuel for your brain and nervous system. Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive…..fuel and activation. Fuel comes in the form of OXYGEN AND GLUCOSE. By using oxygen, we will help you heal faster. By using exercise with oxygen therapy (EWOT), we can increase firing to brain. By increasing firing of brain, we help MANY chronic conditions. (Oxygen therapy is ordered by our M.D.)
#2: Brain-Based Therapy (BBT): We use specific brain-based therapy such as:
Interactive Metronome: Computer-based program that uses visual, auditory and motor stimulation to increase firing of the brain. (www.interactivemetronome.com)
Vibration Therapy: Vibration fires the back part of the brain called the cerebellum. One of the functions of the cerebellum is control of the spinal muscle.
We may also use auditory, visual, olfactory, and caloric stimulation to increase firing of brain.
Light Therapy: We use one of the most advanced systems available today to aid in healing.
Metabolic Treatments Based on Specific Lab Panels:
By using specific blood tests such as:
#1: A thyroid panel
#2: A complete metabolic panel (CMP)
#3: A lipid panel
#4: A CBC (complete blood chemistry with auto differential)
We can assess your thyroid, adrenal, blood, and gut function. All can be affected with chronic health conditions. By addressing any problems with your thyroid, adrenal glands, blood chemistry, or gut function, we can help you to heal faster. The CMP allows us to check your blood glucose levels since glucose and oxygen are needed by the brain to function properly.
Adrenal Stress Index (ASI): We can further test your adrenal glands with a test called an Adrenal Stress Index. Your adrenal glands are your “stress” organs meaning that they react to stress. If you have been or are currently under stress, this test is a must!
IF YOU SUFFER FROM INSOMNIA, THIS TEST WILL MEASURE YOUR CORTISOL LEVELS. When your body’s cortisol levels are abnormal, you will suffer from insomnia. Cortisol levels can be corrected via specific nutritional protocols thereby curing your insomnia.
We may test to see if you have an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease is where your immune system attacks a particular area of the body so we test for specific antibodies to determine if you suffer from an autoimmune condition.
TISSUE ANTIBODIES: We can check for gluten antibodies, tissue antibodies such as myelin (fatty sheath around the nerves) antibodies, cerebellar (back part of the brain controlling balance, coordinated movement, and spinal muscles) antibodies.
H.Pylori: We can run a test for H. Pylori bacteria to determine any problems related to the gut function.
NEUROTRANSMITTERS: We test for decreased brain neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are vital for proper brain function. Decreased neurotransmitters can cause increased pain.
HORMONE PANELS: We can check hormone panels to determine if the patient suffers from low testosterone in males or low estrogen/progesterone levels in females. Symptoms related to decreased hormone levels may include depression, fatigue, mental fogginess, mood swings, hot flashes, sweating attacks, weight gain, and decreased physical stamina.
INFLAMMATION: Finally, we may need to test for inflammation in your system by testing homocysteine levels and C-Reactive Protein (C-RP). Many patients suffering from chronic health conditions suffer from inflammatory processes. Just about every fibromyalgia patient that I have treated suffers from some form of chronic inflammatory process.
Once we have run the necessary tests to determine your specific condition, we can successfully treat you via proper neurological and all natural nutritional protocols.
Accelerated Brain Gray Matter Loss in Fibromyalgia
Patients: Premature Aging of the Brain?
Anil Kuchinad,1,2 Petra Schweinhardt,1 David A. Seminowicz,1 Patrick B. Wood,1 Boris A. Chizh,4 and
M. Catherine Bushnell1,2,3
1McGill Centre for Research on Pain, 2Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, and 3Department of Anesthesia and Faculty of Dentistry, McGill
University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2B2, and 4GlaxoSmithKline, Addenbrooke’s Centre for Clinical Investigation, Addenbrooke’s Hospital,
Cambridge CB2 2GG, United Kingdom
Fibromyalgia is an intractable widespread pain disorder that is most frequently diagnosed in women. It has traditionally been classified as either a musculoskeletal disease or a psychological disorder. Accumulating evidence now suggests that fibromyalgiamaybe associated with CNS dysfunction. In this study, we investigate anatomical changes in the brain associated with fibromyalgia. Using voxel-based morphometric analysis of magnetic resonance brain images, we examined the brains of 10 female fibromyalgia patients and 10 healthy controls. We found that fibromyalgia patients had significantly less total gray matter volume and showed a 3.3 times greater age associated
decrease in gray matter than healthy controls. The longer the individuals had had fibromyalgia, the greater the gray matter loss, with each year of fibromyalgia being equivalent to 9.5 times the loss in normal aging. In addition, fibromyalgia patients demonstrated significantly less gray matter density than healthy controls in several brain regions, including the cingulate, insular and medial frontal cortices, and parahippocampal gyri. The neuroanatomical changes that we see in fibromyalgia patients contribute additional evidence of CNS involvement in fibromyalgia. In particular, fibromyalgia appears to be associated with an acceleration of age-related changes in the very substance of the brain. Moreover, the regions in which we demonstrate objective changes may be functionally linked to core features of the disorder including affective disturbances and chronic widespread pain.
Fibromyalgia is a disorder of unknown etiology that is characterized by chronic widespread pain and often accompanied by a variety of other symptoms, including sleep impairment, chronic fatigue, affective disturbances and altered stress responses (Wolfe et al., 1990). Although the disorder has been dismissed by many physicians as purely psychological, recent neuroimaging studies show alterations in sensory processing (Gracely et al., 2002) and
neurochemical abnormalities (Wood et al., 2006), indicating that fibromyalgia is associated with alterations in the brain’s neural functioning. Changes in brain morphology have been described in chronic pain conditions (Apkarian et al., 2004; Schmidt-Wilcke et al., 2005, 2006), chronic fatigue syndrome (Okada et al., 2004; de Lange et al., 2005), and posttraumatic stress disorder (Villarreal et al., 2002; Corbo et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2006).
Because fibromyalgia shares commonalities with these disorders, we hypothesized that fibromyalgia might be associated with neuroanatomical abnormalities as well. Specifically, we sought to determine whether fibromyalgia patients have demonstrable reductions in brain gray matter, particularly in regions involved in pain perception,
pain modulation, and stress.
Materials and Methods
DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0098-07.2007
Copyright©2007 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/07/274004-04$15.00/0
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Dr. Atencio is Certified Full Body in addition to Long Tract Nerve Entrapment. He has 12 years experience with Active Release Technique
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