IS ANYTHING LEFT?

What to do?

Should we hide under a rock?
The problem is we don't know what to believe.

I've been reading about the information from the World Health Organization about our cell phones and the radiation that's emitted from them can cause cancer. Didn't I just read that the WHO said cell phones were not carcinogenic? 

It doesn't help that everywhere we look there is a different opinion, backpedaling or out and out lies just to buy a certain product. I mean, lets take the information that's out there about food. If we exclude eggs, peas, dairy, whey, bean sprouts, all beans, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, lentils, cabbage, kale, asparagus, onions, leeks, rutabagas, shallots, garlic, papaya, any dried fruit, coffee, bananas, avocados, honeydew melons, meat, poultry and fish we can cure Fibromyalgia. Now, lets go to the nightshades. Potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. 

Whew!

And let's not even talk about sugar.

I have listed foods from different sites that talk about Fibromyalgia and diet. It's amazing how many foods are on the "forbidden list."  Is there anything left to eat?  Great,  I can't eat and now I can't use my cell phone.

What's left?

I'm making light of all of this but there is a grain of truth to it all. We've become an over-processed, over-medicated, fast food, plastic and techno society. I find it disturbing that antibiotics and hormones are added to the grain that is used to feed our poultry and cattle. I find it VERY disturbing that genetically modified food is part of our food chain. How long have we had plastic bottles in our babies mouths only to find out that the BPA (bisphenol A) is dangerous? I would much rather eat organic or natural products that the over-processed and chemical filled foods that are out there. That sounds funny coming from someone who is a diet coke addict but it's true. I just think that there are choices out there and we should be aware of what we are putting in or on our bodies. I think labels should be truthful and I think knowledge is power.

I don't know what effect all of this has upon our lives. Progress has to take place. I wouldn't want to go back to a bygone era. I like my computers and iPhone too much. Unfortunately, I also believe all of this progress isn't good. However.............................

Am I willing to give up my cell phone? 

Probably not. 

There's one thing true about life.

None of us get out of it alive.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

What to do?

Should we hide under a rock?

I've been reading about the information from the World Health Organization about our cell phones and the radiation that's emitted from them can cause cancer. Didn't I just read that the WHO said cell phones were not carcinogenic? 

I think the problem is that we don't know what to believe.

It doesn't help that everywhere we look there is a different opinion, backpedaling or out and out lies just to buy a certain product. I mean, lets take the information that's out there about food. If we exclude eggs, peas, dairy, whey, bean sprouts, all beans, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, lentils, cabbage, kale, asparagus, onions, leeks, rutabagas, shallots, garlic, papaya, any dried fruit, coffee, bananas, avocados, honeydew melons, meat, poultry and fish we can cure Fibromyalgia. Now, lets go to the nightshades. Potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. 

Whew!

And let's not even talk about sugar.

I have listed foods from different sites that talk about Fibromyalgia and diet. It's amazing how many foods are on the "forbidden list."  Is there anything left to eat?  Great,  I can't eat and now I can't use my cell phone.

What's left?

I'm making light of all of this but there is a grain of truth to it all. We've become an over-processed, over-medicated, fast food, plastic and techno society. I find it disturbing that antibiotics and hormones are added to the grain that is used to feed our poultry and cattle. I find it VERY disturbing that genetically modified food is part of our food chain. How long have we had plastic bottles in our babies mouths only to find out that the BPA (bisphenol A) is dangerous? I would much rather eat organic or natural products that the over-processed and chemical filled foods that are out there. That sounds funny coming from someone who is a diet coke addict but it's true. I just think that there are choices out there and we should be aware of what we are putting in or on our bodies. I think labels should be truthful and I think knowledge is power.

I don't know what effect all of this has upon our lives. Progress has to take place. I wouldn't want to go back to a bygone era. I like my computers and iPhone too much. Unfortunately, I also believe all of this progress isn't good. However.............................

Am I willing to give up my cell phone? 

Probably not. 

There's one thing true about life.

None of us get out of it alive.

THE DIET CONNECTION

Is there a diet connection?

There are seven foods that people with Fibromyalgia should NOT eat. These dietary guidelines help a significant number of people but having said that, what helps one person may not help another. That's a good thing because some of the foods listed I will have a real hard time giving up.

1. Nutrasweet
2. MSG and Nitrates
3. High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar and Simple Carbs.
4. Caffeine
5. Yeast and Gluten
6. Dairy
7. The dreaded nightshades

Nutrasweet is an excitotoxin. Here is the controversy that I went through on my Diet Coke segment.  This is difficult because I love fountain Diet Cokes. What does make sense is that people with Fibromyalgia already have over-active pain receptors  so why push the envelope by giving your body more to deal with by drinking something filled with excitotoxins. 

Crap. That one is awful. Give up Diet Coke?? 

MSG and Nitrates.  This one? Not so tough. Experts say that the MSG and nitrates that are commonly found in lunch meats and bacon intensify the pain sensation.  No prob. I don't eat that stuff anyway.

Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Simple Carbs.

High Fructose Corn Syrup isn't hard. I hate how quickly it gets into our cells and I try really hard not to have anything with HFCS in it. I think it's terrible for you. Sugar?? Sometimes that is a little difficult especially when I need a Peanut Butter M&M fix. Ok......I can live with that. I don't like it but I can live with it. I don't need simple carbs because it all goes to the back end anyway.

Caffeine which can include tea, coffee, diet coke and chocolate. OK........all of this is just BAD. No way around it......it's just bad. I don't even know what else to say except negotiations shut down when it involves chocolate OR caffeine. I honestly think I'd be comatose without it. I mean, I get tired now....let alone if I don't have a little caffeine in my system. 


NO WAY, NO HOW.

Yeast and gluten. Well, at least after the last one, which I honestly don't see me giving up, here's one I can live with. I've never tried to go gluten free but I don't have a lot of bread so the yeast thing isn't tough for me. 

Dairy. Not a major deal. I could care less.

Nightshades are bad too. I love tomatoes, peppers, potatoes. Eggplant?? Don't care. I read an article that stated nightshades contain nicotene. Really? It isn't as bad as the chocolate negotiations but my three favorite veggies are all color peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. Crap again.

Most of these foods are tough for me. Do they exacerbate the pain? Could the researchers be right? 

I'll have to track my symptoms more closely and see what happens when I eat certain foods. Damn. I hope it's not the Diet Coke or caffeine.

That would really tick me off.




Reference article on WebMD by Collete Bouchez.

NIGHTSHADE? LOW DOSE NALTREXONE?

Low dose Naltrexone. 


Would it work?

It's thought that the central nervous system is compromised in people with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. Naltrexone is an anti-addiction drug in normal circumstances but in low doses it acts differently.

Stanford is preparing for a study of Low Dose Naltrexone as a treatment for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. This is the first study of it's kind but this drug has been prescribed off label for the past few years.

It isn't a cure-all and not without side effects. 

Some of them are:

dizziness

headache

fainting

anxiety

nervousness

insomnia 

fatigue

nausea & vomiting

diarreha

joint pain

excessive muscle contraction

sore throat

Now, look at that list. I'm a little confused. If those are the side effects how would they know if it's working? A lot of those are the same symptoms that we feel with Fibromyalgia.  I know, in the Stanford study, that the side effects are rare and short-lived but there are people that will be on either side of the "average." Given my tolerance of medication I'll just bet I'd be one of those people.

Are the side effects worth it?

I have a hard time with drugs. Not to say that I don't use them to stay out of pain but the opiods are solid. The relief is there and the side effects are minimal. It's the drugs that make you weigh them on the balance bar to see if the side effects outweigh the benefits.

It's like Lyrica. Given the litany of side effects that there are who in the hell would put that in their mouths? I know everyones different. I guess that is a different view of the balance scale. For me, no fricking way. I think it's the weight gain that did it for me. I have enough self esteem issues without more weight gain. I've put on 20 pounds and I'm one of those all or nothing women. If I'm not a 10 I must be a zero and I don't need Lyrica to help that issue along.

A more natural road.

Then theres the whole nightshade issue. When I first heard about it I thought it was a new kind of curtain. I didn't have a clue that there were foods classified as nightshades.

Nightshades are a family of foods that include tomato, potato, eggplant, tomatillos and peppers as well as spices like paprika, cayenne pepper and tabasco sauce.

Nightshades contain a toxin that in normal conditions bodies process very well but given the compromised system in Fibromyalgia it is thought that by removing these from your diet it will help with your pain. These vegetables contain high levels of alkaloids that remove calcium from the bones.

Now I haven't seen ANY studies on this so I'm not sure if it's just a reach but I do know that certain foods affect people in different ways.  I can't be sure that it's not a food allergy. 

Part of me wants a dietary fix and the other part doesn't think that a nutritional avenue is the only way to go.

What to do? 

I'd love comments to hear what people feel about these two treatments.