Digestive Wellness: Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion, Fourth Edition (138 page)

Hormone testing

Healing Options

Look for the underlying cause.
Seventy-eight percent of people with fibromyalgia have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth; others are suffering from post-trauma issues; others have hormone imbalances, food sensitivities, or nutritional deficiencies. Look until you find the clues.

Take vitamin D.
Vitamin D deficiency is often diagnosed as fibromyalgia. About half of people with fibromyalgia have low serum vitamin D levels. We make vitamin D in our skin from exposure to sunlight. So, get outdoors more. It’s difficult to get enough vitamin D from our foods. Have your vitamin D level tested. Optimal levels in people with fibromyalgia are likely to be between 80 and 100 ng/ml. Dosages range from 2,000 IU daily as a maintenance dose to 10,000 IU daily if vitamin D levels are extremely low.

Try an alkalizing diet.
Balancing cellular metabolism by eating an alkalizing diet may be of great help in fibromyalgia. Use pH testing to determine the best diet for you. Include fresh fruits and vegetables, vegetable juices, and sea vegetables. Use baking soda and Epsom salt baths. (See
Chapter 9
.)

Try metabolic cleansing.
Metabolic cleansing involves going on a hypoallergenic food plan and taking a nutrient-rich protein powder designed to help restore your liver’s detoxification capacities. Use this protocol for one to three weeks. See
Chapter 18
on detoxification and metabolic cleansing.

Investigate food and environmental sensitivities.
Eliminate all foods and chemicals that you are sensitive to for four to six months. (See
Chapter 15
for an elimination diet.) Get tested to find the specifics. Work with a health professional who can help you with the details.

Try ascorbigen and broccoli powder.
A study of 12 patients with fibromyalgia was done with ascorbigen and broccoli powder. Ascorbigen is the most common indole found in cooked cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and other cabbage
family foods. In one month, symptoms improved by nearly 20 percent. After the supplements were discontinued, symptoms returned to usual levels within two weeks. Take 100 mg ascorbigen plus 400 mg broccoli powder daily.

Take a multivitamin with minerals
. A high-quality, hypoallergenic nutritional supplement is necessary. Although products that contain herbs, bee pollen, spirulina, and other food factors are good for many people, it’s best to buy supplements that are herb and food free. Look for the following levels of specific nutrients: 50 to 100 mg vitamin B
₁
, 50 to 100 mg vitamin B
₆
, 200 to 400 IU vitamin E, 10,000 IU vitamin A, 10,000 to 25,000 IU carotenes, 200 mcg selenium, 200 mcg chromium, 5 to 10 mg manganese, glutathione, cysteine, or N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), plus additional nutrients. Antioxidant nutrients—carotenes, vitamins C and E, selenium, glutathione, CoQ10, cysteine, and NAC—have been shown to be needed in larger quantities in people with fibromyalgia.

Take vitamin B
₁
(thiamin).
People with fibromyalgia have lower levels of red blood cell transketolase, which is a functional test for thiamin status. Researchers found that supplemental thiamin pyrophosphate worked better than other forms. This suggests a metabolic defect rather than a true deficiency. This may also reflect a magnesium deficiency because thiamin-dependent enzymes require magnesium. Take 25 to 100 mg daily.

Take vitamin C.
Vitamin C boosts immune function, helps detoxification pathways, and has antiviral effects. Take 3,000 mg daily. Once a week, do a vitamin C flush (see
Chapter 18
).

Take magnesium.
It is very common for people with fibromyalgia to be deficient in magnesium. Serum magnesium levels often appear normal, but if more sophisticated tests such as red blood cell magnesium are done, magnesium levels are often low. Supplemental magnesium can improve energy levels and emotional states while decreasing pain. Most people improve by using oral magnesium supplements, but some need an intravenous injection of 1,000 mg magnesium sulfate by a physician (for more on magnesium, see discussion on chronic fatigue syndrome). Choline citrate can greatly enhance oral magnesium utilization (available from Perque, listed in Resources at
http://www.digestivewellnessbook.com
). Take 500 to 1,000 mg magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate.