lactic acid/firbomyalgia- Kathe and June

[Guest guest]

I am so sorry it took me so long to get back to you. We are

preparing for a 3 week trip back to our home in the States and there

has been alot to do. I am very sorry.

 

I dont know what your background is on fibromyalgia. I will just try

to summarize my 20 year journey with it and what I have found to

help.

 

I was working in a Rehab hospital and had fibromyalgia patients when

I noticed having the same symptoms as my patients. I became greatly

interested and studied it intensly. The first thing I learned the

importance of understanding that fibomyalgia is like a headache.

There can be many causes or triggers that will all produce the same

response- inflamation and tightening of the tissues surrounding the

muscle fibers that will produce pain. Each individual suffering from

fibromyalgia is prone to flare ups from a variety of causes. It is

important to try to find what triggers your flare ups so then you

can institute the proper remedy. Most people tend to have multiple

causes and therefore it is important to institute multiple

corrective actions.

 

It is like a headache. People prone to headaches can get a flare

from multiple factors- lack of sleep, stress, particular foods etc.

So there is no one remedy for fibromyalgia.

 

My work as a therapist focused on the role of posture and body

mechanics and fibromyalgia. That is important to consider but I

learned it is only a part of the picture.

 

Starting with posture though is important. Most important is to

consider your sleeping position. It is important to keep the spine

alligned and shoulders from hunching when you sleep. I can write

alot about that but I can tell this will be a long email so I will

try to brief it up. Most fibro patients benefit from almost a

propped up postion so if you can you may consider propping the head

posts of your bed up to a comfortable degree. This naturally uses

gravity to keep your shoulders from hunching. If you are a side

sleeper it is very important to keep a pillow straight along your

back to keep your spine alligned. Then optimal would be a pillow

under your top knee and then another one to support your top arm.

Next be sure you arent bending your neck!!!! Keep it nice and

alligned with your spine.

 

Are you sleeping a good 7 hours each night and going into REM. If

you are " sleeping " 7 hours but waking alot you cannot get the REM

your body despirately needs. Why does it need REM? Tons of reasons

but the one that relates to fibro is that lactic acid is removed

from your muscles during REM. If you dont get enough REM you wont

get the physiolongical benefit of good removal of lactic acid. What

does lactic acid build up feel like? Lactic acid is produced from

using muscles. The more you use your muscles the more l acid is

produced. It is like the feeling you get after exercising alot. If

you dont get enough REM your muscles will feel that way. That is why

they have documented a correlation between sleep disturbance and

fibro. There isnt enough lactic acid removed as there isnt adequete

quality of sleep. Then it becomes a vicious cycle. Too much lactic

acid causing pain so cant sleep because of pain but then more lactic

acid builds up. Ugh! No fun!

 

If that is a trigger for you I recommend trying malic acid which has

been found to decrease lactic acid naturally. I also recommend a

mild sleep aid at least initially to establish a sleep habit. Long

term use of sleep aides is not optimal but it is important to get

into a habit of sleeping and get that REM sleep going.

 

If sleep is your problem look into the cause of your sleep problem

to help your fibro. Do you have the relatively common sleep apnea.

Are you male with prostate issues and up for the bathroom? Once the

cuase of your sleep issue is identified do all you can to treat that

problem and you are likely to find an improvement of your fibro.

 

Another issue for fibro is food allergies/ sensativities. Dont have

them? Think again carefully. You may. They are more common than

thought. If you often suffer from headaches, or stomach discomfort,

or asthma it may be wise to consider food sensativities. The key is

not if you suffer from these symptoms- the key is if you OFTEN have

them. If it is infrequent then maybe not. If it is common then you

may want to consider it.

 

Foods with glueten seem to be particularly related to fibro. In the

literature it doesnt make that link although it does link glueten

with another connective tissue disease- arthritis. I think it is

likely the reason is because of inflamation.

 

You may want to do an experiement. It doesnt hurt anything to try

this but maybe consider giving up all wheat, rye, barley ect for a

couple of weeks. That means cakes breads, pastas, cookies, cereals,

pretzels, gravies, and cream soups to name some of the most serious

offenders. Ouch! That will be difficult! I can understand that

thought but maybe it will produce interesting results. It certainly

doesnt hurt to try! Its good for the diet anyway! Just get your

greens (spinich, broccoli etc) and you will get the B vitamines

during your experiment.

 

Another thing to consider is Calcium and Manganese. It is involved

in muscle contraction and has been found to be deficit in alot of

fibro patients. A good source of calcium is a daily dose of almonds.

A quality supplement is nice but an excellent food source is

metabolized easier. You can take a supplement and have it pass right

though you with out being metabolized by the body (especially

tablets) but your cells will be more likely to metabolize a liquid

or a food source. Also alot of supplements have nasty fillers.

Supplements can be great and have their time and place but I would

eat almonds before taking a calcium pill. Be careful too if you are

depending soley on cows milk for calcium. That is problematic for

some people including myself. The USDA has really ran a number on

America with the " got milk " campaign! I am not speaking badly on

milk- it does help some people but it may not be the best solution

for many many others.

 

Fibro is an inflamatory response in the muscles. Keep inflamation

down and you will be helped. There are foods with antinflamatory

actions and there are ones (like red meat) that can produce an

inflamatory response. It is an interesting area of nutrition. It is

amazing all the physical conditions that are affected by

inflamation. What is a headache? Intestinal bloating, and much

intestinal cramping? The list goes on but inflamation is a big issue

for our bodies. We will do well to try to consume foods with an

antinflamatory effect (especially veg and fruits) and significantly

eliminate or limit those with inflamatory reactions (processed,

refined, red meats, many grains).

 

So there are many triggers to fibro and we all experience the

condition a bit uniquely. An important point I didnt even touch on

is the critical importance of stretching the contracted muscle. We

tend to get fibro in the same places. We need to learn to balance

the muscle tension between the muscle groups. One group of muscles

will tend to be overstretched and the opposing muscle group will

tend to be shortened or overtightened. So, it is important to learn

exercises to get the muscles in better balance. That is soemthing

that is done individually. I would recommend seeing a therapist who

specializes or has advanced training in fibromyalgia or (myofascial

syndrome) to get a personalized exercise routine that should be

quick and user friendly. Many therapists want to give an elaborate

routine that is time consuming- ask your therapist what is the three

most critical stretches for your particular condition and leave it

at that! If your insurance doesnt cover physical therapy you can

email me and I will try to problem solve with you and figure out

with the limitations of email what may best help you. I have to tell

you though I will be away from my computer until mid January so I

cant get back with you until then. I am happy to give you

suggestions though on a few exercises when I get back to Japan. Dont

hesitate to email if you would like to talk this through.

 

Love in Christ,

Cindy

 

herbal remedies , alarofmu@m... wrote:

> Dear Cindy, My name is June, and I'm interested in everything

you've

> found that helps with Fibromyalgia.

>

> ..........Every thing on Earth has a purpose, every disease has an

herb

> to cure it, and every person has a mission. This is the Indian

theory of

> existence.

>

> Morning Dove Salish

> 1888-1936