Copyright 2006 Mark Shaw
In this article, I am going to explode a few myths.
There are thousands upon thousand of companies trying to sell you Fibromyalgia/CFS cures on the internet; all of them have a similar story. Take their pill or supplement, follow their diet or detox, or maybe even avoid certain foods, and you will be miraculously cured of your illness pain, and fatigue.
There are detox regimes, candida cures, herbal supplements, vitamins and minerals, hormone supplements, liver cleanses, amino acids etc etc etc. Some of the more convincing advertisements for these products are disguised as articles backed by trials involving 10 or 20 subjects against placebo. Despite what they may advertise, these are NOT clinical trials, they are small scale trials run by the manufacturers of the product and surprise, surprise, the results are always positive.
So what’s going on and why are we all still suffering?
The majority of these pills and supplements are useless in terms of their advertised qualities i.e. they will NOT CURE true Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Some have a degree of validity and may reduce one or more of the symptoms of your illness, much as paracetamol will rid you of a headache for a few hours.
They may work in the short-term, indeed it is a strange anomaly that placebo cures often work in the short term, and this is all due to the power of our minds, the psychological response, and our overwhelming desire to get well again.
Or, if your condition is not true Fibromyalgia/ CFS and your body is suffering from dietary deficiencies, then in stands to reason that by supplementing and removing the deficiency you may experience an almost instant cure.
Such cases are relatively rare in modern society, however it must be noted that cases of malnutrition in North America are growing fast due to our fast junk food diet. However this document is aimed at accurately diagnosed sufferers of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Statement of Fact: NO PILL OR SUPPLEMENT WILL CURE YOU of Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
From a dietary perspective, you should be following the much vaunted, generally accurate advice of eating 5 or more portions of fresh, raw fruit and lightly cooked vegetables per day, with a good balance of protein and carbohydrates.
Avoid red meat, too much sugar, too much dairy, and alcohol I’m afraid has to go, at least for the next 12 months.
With this balanced diet you will not be deficient of any nutrients your body needs, or which could possibly cause fatigue, or limit your recovery from your condition. And, you will not be putting undue strain on your digestive system, which is currently malfunctioning.
I WOULD advocate taking a high quality multivitamin/multimineral supplement to top up any shortages you may have on a daily basis. They will certainly do you no harm and for a small price will eliminate any worries you might have over dietary deficiencies. Always take them with food.
Any good health store will do a good range, there is plenty of competition, speak to the manager and they will recommend a good quality balanced supplement.
Avoid those sold in chemists and supermarkets. The manufacturers hedge these supplements to well below the RDA’s in order to protect vendors from the latest craze of litigation by people claiming their livers have been damaged by excess vitamin A or whatever the current trend (when in fact they are alcoholics).
There is evidence that powdered capsules may be more absorbent in the gut than the solid variety but I cannot personally verify this it seems credible.
Another industry which is profligate on the back of the Fibromyalgia/CFS epidemic is food allergy and intolerance testing, and candida cures.
Again hundreds of companies selling you testing kits, candida cures, allergy cures etc etc. It really is soul destroying.
Everyone on the planet will tolerate certain foods better or worse than others, this can be down to inherited genetic and cultural makeup or environmental factors.
A FOOD INTOLERANCE DOES NOT MEAN A FOOD ALLERGY.
For example, a majority of people on the planet will have an immune reaction to cow’s milk. What this means is that there is a degree of stress to the digestive system in terms of breaking down lactose which is notoriously difficult to digest.
In turn this can stimulate an immune response which to people with Fibromyalgia/CFS/CFIDS causes an immune over-reaction and a prolonged immune response, and therefore an exacerbation of their symptoms.
The only way to find out effectively and accurately which products cause an immune over-reaction is an antibody blood serum test, you should be able to find a company that does this for around $300.
You pay them their money they send you a test kit, you prick your finger to provide a small sample of blood which you send back to them and they test the reaction of your antibodies against a hundred or so food products and families.
Reactions will be classed as slight, considerable or extreme, the extreme ones, usually dairy/ yeast/ gluten or albumen and alcohol should be considerably restricted or even eliminated for a while to see if your symptoms improve.
I would advocate this as being well worth doing to get “quick wins” in respect of your overall fatigue. It’s certainly a good start and if you have been eating a lot of a food product which stimulates a strong immune over-reaction and you have true Fibromyalgia or CFS then you may get a noticeable improvement in your symptoms by removing it.
However your immune system is still damaged, and I will be talking about the techniques we use to stimulate healing of the Autonomic Nervous System later.
Finally, to put the record straight on a few other points.
You CANNOT tell if someone is intolerant or allergic to foods using hair analysis, or prodding an electrode catheter into acupressure points linked up to a computer or any of the other new age rubbish being touted around. This is a new craze and snake oiling at its lowest ebb!!
Similar rubbish is touted about liver and colon cleansing. They are organs of cleansing and elimination i.e. they do it themselves. They are self cleansing, self regulating organs. Do not try doing these.
Please DO NOT have your dental mercury amalgams removed unless you have extensive testing indicating that they are somehow corroding and poisoning your system. This is extremely unlikely to happen if they were installed correctly in the first place.
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More About Mark Shaw: Dr Mark J Shaw - Mark is the author of a new digital book and training manual “Beat Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”
www.BeatFibroAndFatigue.com
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