Sunday, April 29, 2012
The complexity of the human machine....
Got this from the December edition of the Hummingbird's Guide to ME newsletter. The new section entitled "Biochemical individuality and disease treatment" is about two-thirds of the way down the page and great food for thought, so to speak:
Treatment Concepts: Page 2
One of the most frustrating things I see over and over on fibromyalgia support group message boards is when someone expresses a treatment option in a purely positive or purely negative manner, thinking that this will hold true for everyone. Examples: "Stay away from drug (x), it makes you gain weight and lose your hair"; "Drug (x) is a life saver! You should take it!" or "All prescription drugs are poison! I was cured using natural method (x)". If you read an average day's posts on one of these websites or Facebook pages, you will see almost as many successful or failed treatments as there are people posting.
Now that certain medications are officially approved for their use in fibromyalgia, I get bombarded with "helpful" suggestions from well-meaning friends and medical professionals that I need to go on Lyrica, Savella, and/or Cymbalta. My biochemistry does not tolerate medications that alter serotonin levels like Savella and Cymbalta do, and I tried and failed Lyrica back when it was only approved for seizure prevention. Yet these same medications have done wondrous things for others I know with fibromyalgia.
I know from many years of tweaking my diet and supplementation that my requirements for certain nutrients do indeed differ from the healthy population. If I don't consume at least 60 grams of protein a day, an amount that is considered high, I will feel weak and my brain fog will increase. My carbohydrate intake must be moderate; too high or low messes with my energy levels. I need an extremely high amount of magnesium, at least four times the recommended daily allowance, or my muscles will twitch uncontrollably and cramp up. I require high amounts of powerful pro-biotics. And just last week, I switched to a more readily bio-available form of fish oil and am responding favorably to a dose three times what a healthy person would need.
Treatment Concepts: Page 2
One of the most frustrating things I see over and over on fibromyalgia support group message boards is when someone expresses a treatment option in a purely positive or purely negative manner, thinking that this will hold true for everyone. Examples: "Stay away from drug (x), it makes you gain weight and lose your hair"; "Drug (x) is a life saver! You should take it!" or "All prescription drugs are poison! I was cured using natural method (x)". If you read an average day's posts on one of these websites or Facebook pages, you will see almost as many successful or failed treatments as there are people posting.
Now that certain medications are officially approved for their use in fibromyalgia, I get bombarded with "helpful" suggestions from well-meaning friends and medical professionals that I need to go on Lyrica, Savella, and/or Cymbalta. My biochemistry does not tolerate medications that alter serotonin levels like Savella and Cymbalta do, and I tried and failed Lyrica back when it was only approved for seizure prevention. Yet these same medications have done wondrous things for others I know with fibromyalgia.
I know from many years of tweaking my diet and supplementation that my requirements for certain nutrients do indeed differ from the healthy population. If I don't consume at least 60 grams of protein a day, an amount that is considered high, I will feel weak and my brain fog will increase. My carbohydrate intake must be moderate; too high or low messes with my energy levels. I need an extremely high amount of magnesium, at least four times the recommended daily allowance, or my muscles will twitch uncontrollably and cramp up. I require high amounts of powerful pro-biotics. And just last week, I switched to a more readily bio-available form of fish oil and am responding favorably to a dose three times what a healthy person would need.
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