Fibromyalgia Archives - everywomanover29

Misdiagnoses of fibromyalgia is rampant–upwards of two-thirds of patients could be misdiagnosed! Tens of millions diagnosed with fibromyalgia may actually have other problems accounting for their symptoms, which leads to improper treatment. Are you one of them?

We invite you to attend this event if you are suffering from:

Body-wide pain
Persistent fatigue
Unrefreshed sleep and insomnia
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Thyroid and/or adrenal dysfunction
Depression and/or anxiety

Naturally I discussed the fibromyalgia-anxiety connection and the use of both 5-HTP and/or tryptophan to ease the pain and the anxiety.

Here are some excerpts from one of the papers we discussed: Fibromyalgia and the serotonin pathway

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder manifested by diffuse myalgia, localized areas of tenderness, fatigue, lowered pain thresholds, and nonrestorative sleep.

Low serotonin is often a contributing factor with fibromyalgia and we find that tryptophan and/or 5-HTP can be very beneficial for the anxiety, depression, pain and insomnia we often see in those with classic fibromyalgia:

Serotonin substrate supplementation, via L-tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), has been shown to improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia and somatic pains in a variety of patient cohorts.

Here is a recent blog on the topic: Fibromyalgia: tryptophan or 5-HTP for anxiety, depression, pain and insomnia

We also cover how the other aminos GABA and DPA (d-phenylalanine) can help with pain reduction too, and how to do a trial of the amino acids in order to find the optimal dose.

I also discuss how the other amino acids GABA and DPA (d-phenylalanine) can help with pain reduction too, and how to do a trial of the amino acids in order to find the optimal dose (so if you need a recap on how to do this do join us).

Other topics in our interview include:

Benzodiazepines
Joint hyperflexibility (or Ehlers–Danlos syndrome)

Dr. David M. Brady, ND is the host of the summit and is one of my favorite doctors. I learned so much from him when I first became a nutritionist! He is an internationally recognized expert in fibromyalgia and a staunch patient advocate for those who have been struggling because of a medical system that is ill-equipped to deal with the problem.

Here is a snippet of his interview with Kara Fitzgerald on testing and ferritin:

The Fibro-fix Summit runs through June 27. You can register here.

Enjoy! And feel free to ask questions here.

fibro

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder manifested by diffuse myalgia, localized areas of tenderness, fatigue, lowered pain thresholds, and nonrestorative sleep.

This description comes from a paper titled: Fibromyalgia and the serotonin pathway

The paper discusses how low serotonin is often a contributing factor with fibromyalgia and how beneficial tryptophan and/or 5-HTP can be for the anxiety, depression, pain and insomnia we often see in those with classic fibromyalgia:

Evidence from multiple sources support the concept of decreased flux through the serotonin pathway in fibromyalgia patients.

Serotonin substrate supplementation, via L-tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), has been shown to improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia and somatic pains in a variety of patient cohorts.

I recently blogged about the effectiveness of 5-HTP being a clinically-effective serotonin precursor and how it improves many of these same symptoms:

Therapeutic administration of 5-HTP has been shown to be effective in treating a wide variety of conditions, including depression, fibromyalgia, binge eating associated with obesity, chronic headaches, and insomnia.

An open 90-day study in 50 patients affected by fibromyalgia found benefits with the use of 5-HTP:

When all the clinical variables studied throughout the trial (number of tender points, anxiety, pain intensity, quality of sleep, fatigue) were compared with baseline results, they all showed a significant improvement.

It is concluded that 5-HTP is effective in improving the symptoms of primary fibromyalgia syndrome and that it maintains its efficacy throughout the 90-day period of treatment.

If we suspect low serotonin may be a factor, I have my clients do the following (whether or not they have a fibromyalgia diagnosis):

complete the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution and check off their symptoms on the low serotonin section. The rating uses scale of 1-10 with 10 being worst.
review the Amino Acids Precautions and figure out if we can do a trial of 5-HTP or tryptophan
do a trial of the amino acid 5-HTP or tryptophan and observe for improvements in anxiety, depression, pain, insomnia and the other low serotonin symptoms

We are all unique and some people do better on 5-HTP and some do better on tryptophan. I typically start with a tryptophan trial since I’ve seen such great benefits with this amino acid. If that’s not working, we’ll do a 5-HTP trial, always watching for high cortisol as 5-HTP can raise cortisol if it’s already high. In this instance 5-HTP may be too stimulating.

Quality is an important issue when it comes to the amino acids and this is especially the case with tryptophan. I find that the Lidtke brand is the most superior. You can see my amino acid product recommendations here.

Do you have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia and have you found benefits with 5-HTP or tryptophan? For your pain? For your sleep? For your anxiety and/or depression?

I’d love to also hear what else has helped with your symptoms?