Fibromyalgia - A New Approach

Fibromyalgia is one of the most depressing conditions I have seen in my patients. The pain and the suffering caused by this condition can have a profound effect on a patient's entire life.

Fibromyalgia has been known as the “waste basket” diagnosis. It is a chronic condition that is associated with pain, stiffness, and tenderness of muscles, tendons, and joints. It is characterized by restless sleep, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, and disturbances in bowel function. Overtime, if doctors can’t find what is truly wrong with you and you suffer with these symptoms, they will slap the fibromyalgia tag on you.

What does this truly mean? In my opinion, NOTHING!  In most cases, it takes about 5 years, on average, for doctors to officially diagnose the condition. A breakdown of the word fibromyalgia says it all. Fibromyalgia comes from the Greek myos meaning "muscle", Greek algos meaning "pain", and New Latin fibro meaning "fibrous tissue". 

But all this really does is fit the symptoms.  One of the biggest problems in conventional medicine is looking at only the symptoms and not what is truly causing the suffering in the first place.  If all we do is look at the symptoms, we will never get to the root cause the problem.  And if we never get to the root problem, those that are suffering will continue to suffer. 

It is like walking around on the beach with a pebble in your shoe.  Sooner or later, you are going to experience pain in your foot.  You go to the doctor and he says he has the perfect solution for your foot pain - a bottle of pills. I’m sure you are thinking that would be absolutely silly.  Why don’t I just take the pebble out of the shoe? 

In our healthcare system, we believe that getting rid of the symptoms means fixing the problem. This couldn’t be further from the truth.  What we really need to understand is WHY.  Why is someone who is diagnosed with fibromyalgia suffering with all these symptoms?  In my opinion, we are not taking the time to dig into the roots of the problem, which is why we fail and those with fibromyalgia continue to suffer.  I believe that fibromyalgia sufferers need to understand their condition and what could be causing their symptoms. 

In my 15-year career, I have seen a few common denominators in fibromyalgia sufferers. They all suffer from severe nutrient deficiencies and have a severe toxic burden on the tissues of their body.  Because of this, they suffer with widespread pain, sleep disturbances, joint pain, and a host of other symptoms.  Another common finding in fibromyalgia sufferers is a highly acidic pH; their body tissue is highly acidic where it should be more alkaline. This imbalance can be the root cause of a lot of the pain and suffering.  

I believe that through diet, regulating the body’s pH balance and eliminating the toxic buildup in muscles and joints, those suffering with fibromyalgia can improve their energy, sleep, mental clarity and, most important, their pain.