Saturday, April 24, 2010

Emily's Fibromyalgia and her Diet

Good Morning Friends,
I had received a question from a reader asking about what foods I was giving and eliminating from Emily's diet to help her fibromyalgia.
I read a book titled "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia" by R. Paul St. Amand, M.D. and Claudia Craig Marek. It claims to be a revolutionary treatment that can reverse the disease.
For those of you truly interested in all it says, you need to read it in detail. In a nutshell though, it claims that the active ingredient in Mucinex which is Guaifenesin is the treatment for fibromyalgia. The thing is that you have to eliminate salicyates from your diet and cosmetics or anything topical you put on your skin in order for the guaifenesin to be absorbed. Salicyates are found in a number of things so anyone serious about trying this needs to do their own specific research.
The FDA has not approved the use of guaifenesin for fibromyalgia due to the lack of testing at this time. Tests that have been done did not regulate the salicyates and elimination of them seems to be key. Current testing is underway.
I did give Emily Mucinex and we did try to eliminate all salicyates from her diet. She complained of her chest hurting from the Mucinex (possibly a side effect). Anyway, after doing this for several weeks we stopped and did not see any improvement. We've since been to the pediatric rheumatologist who specializes in fibromyalgia and he did not encourage us to continue with the Mucinex. (we may try Mucinex again at another time but she is on a different medication at the present) Perhaps we didn't give her enough Mucinex or perhaps we didn't get all the salicyates eliminated or perhaps we didn't give it a long enough try.
The book did state story after story of wonderful success stories. We are in the process of identifying things that contribute to making it worse or giving her a bad day. The one thing I have found is that keeping her mind off of it is probably the best therapy for her. She loves ice skating and they say exercise is good for fibromyalgia so I'm glad it doesn't stop her from doing what she enjoys.
The book in interesting and I believe there may be some truth to it's claims and I will be following actual medical controlled testing results closely. The Dr. who wrote this book has a fibromyalgia clinic outside of the LosAngeles area. Perhaps someday we may make a trip there but do not have any current plans to do so.
Fibromyalgia seems to be a real mystery disease. I've spoken to others who suffer from it and everyone has a different story to tell regarding their aches and pains. One thing I find is that when doctors cannot figure out a diagnosis that involves pain, then they lump it into the category of fibromyalgia.
So I hope this helps. For those of you who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, give the book a read and see what you think. It would certainly be worth a try for you and in your case it might just help.
Little Emily and I appreciate all your continued prayers and good thoughts.
Blessings,
Nancy

1 comment:

  1. I have Fibromyalgia. Do you have a young daughter with it?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!--Nancy

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