fibromyalgia-natural-remedies-blog

Cutting edge drugs and cutting edge uses for them to attack the pain and suffering of Fibromyalgia.

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:25:11 +0100

New Drugs and New drugs and better uses for them to stop the pain and discomfort of fibromyalgia. There are new drugs and uses for old drugs to fight Fibromyalgia.

"This uniqueness of this drug is probably not simply that it is working in part by improving sleep, due to the reason that other drugs, such as tricyclics and gabapentin/pregabalin, were also likely working in part by improving sleep," he said. "The more exciting property is that this drug is likely working by elevating GABA levels, and that makes it somewhat unique Because none of the other drugs that could be approved or commonly used for fibromyalgia were likely to be primarily working on this neurotransmitter, which is one of the central inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain."In January 2010 Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and pharmaceuticals was predicting that Xyrem will account for more than 15 percent of the Fibromyalgia drug market in 2018 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

What to do next

Your medical doctor is there to help you so look at the medical drugs you were currently will be prescribed for your Fibromyalgia and check in the charts below which indications they are targeting specifically.(Remember that your medication might be listed under its generic name or a brand name.) For example if you the feel that ache issue is will be addressed you could chat to your physician about prescribing another medication to help with your sleep symptoms. If you are lucky enough to have a progressive physician then you could ask about their advice regarding the newer medications like Lyrica and Cymbalta.

completely understand there is no magical pill that will get rid of all fibromyalgia symptoms.

Try new things with your medical doctor to determine which pills and creams may be help “manage” your manifestations.

The responsible use of pain drugs and narcotics can take the edge off the pain. These medicines will not relieve all your anguish but can Improve warning signs and comfort.

Fibromyalgia treatment with magnesium and malic acid.

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:32:24 +0100

Fibromyalgia treatment with magnesium and malic acid.Many of us with Fibromyalgia have low magnesium and in the past I used to take magnesium shots but the cost at $1500 a month was too high to continue. brand new studies demonstrate to that lower levels taken in pill form will have a great effect on the body.

Not everyone with Fibromyalgia has a low level of magnesium. Magnesium by itself will cut down agony in certain fibromyalgia people but research indicates that taking adequate doses of magnesium in combination with malic acid over an extended period of time may be significantly reduce the muscle and soft tissue anguish involved with fibromyalgia.

It's not known if these two substances work together or separately, but both magnesium and malic acid were necessary constituents in And how, you may wonder, energy is produced and transported within the cells of the muscles. Evidence shows that is one cause of fibromyalgia.agony is low oxygen or local hypoxia in the muscles which contributes to muscle tissue breakdown. Many if not most Fibromyalgia sufferers also experience poor circulation which further lessons the amount of oxygen the muscle cells will use. Since the blood must return to the heart my using your muscles sitting for long periods decreases circulation and makes it hard to get oxygen to the muscles making it unpleasant and painful to stand up.

Magnesium and isa must for many functions in the body including being used for nerve signaling, and muscle contraction, and as a partner in the creation of over 350 enzymes. Magnesium activates the most fundamental enzyme in the body; ATP (adenosine triphosphate) an energy molecule produced within the mitochondria. About 20 percent of the body's production of ATP is located in the brain. As a result, diminished levels can lessen the brain's Cognitive functions it gives you that brain fog feeling and lack of concentration you are familiar with.

Magnesium is needed in the production of serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter used in the perception of anguish. Serotonin levels have been shown to be significantly lower in people with Fibromyalgia. Magnesium is one of the many co-factors needed to release and bind serotonin in the brain to provide balanced mental functioning.

Magnesium deficiency increases a chemical in the body called substance P, a neurotransmitter and protein found in the brain and spinal cord. Those of us with fibromyalgia have abnormally high levels of substance P. Substance P serves as a pain messenger and is involved with inflammatory processes in the joints. Abundant levels can cause anguish signals to be sent to the brain even when there is no actual injury or illness.

Malic acid is an organic substance found in fruits (particularly apples) and Malic acid is used in the production of energy in the body. It is used in in the molecules used in controlling mitochondrial, energy production, within the cells. Malic acid provides greater stamina and endurance in muscle cells. Malic acid is particularly useful in helping remove aluminum from the body. Aluminum toxicity is thought to be one contributor to Fibromyalgia warning signs. While magnesium also helps block the toxic affects of aluminum, malic acid can be even more efficacious. Studies with Magnesium and Malic Acid to lower Fibromyalgia agony

In a 1992 study 15 fibromyalgia patients received an oral dose of 1200-2400 mg of malic acid and 300-600 mg of magnesium over a four and 8 week period. sufferers reported a reduction in suffering in the bodies 18 potential tender points. Six of the subjects felt an improvement in 48 hours.
During another study conducted in 1995, researchers gave 24 subjects with fibromyalgia a "Supermalic" tablet with 50 mg magnesium and 200mg malic acid. Scientists measured pain levels through patient self-assessment and the tender point index. Results showed that the low dose, short term trial was not efficacious to lessen fibromyalgia ache. However, higher doses over an extended duration significantly reduced subjects' suffering.

The side effects of Magnesium Malate with extended use may include headache, muscular agony, and mild gastrointestinal symptoms. The most common side effect is loose stools. Should this occur you should decrease their next dose by 50%.
Magnesium malate has been shown to be the most powerful form of magnesium to cut down fibromyalgia pain. The recommended dose is 1,500 mg, although people should adjust their dose according to their agony level and si.
Side effects

The NFA suggests that eating more omega-3 fatty acids & fewer saturated fats has shown promise in fibromyalgia those suffering. stop red meat & saturated fats and boost omega-3 fatty acids by adding more fish, flax and walnut oils to your diet. Fatty acid deficiencies may be interfere with the nervous system and brain function and cause depression, poor memory and concentration problems.

The American College of Rheumatology has just put forth a innovative set of Diagnostic Criteria ...

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:47:48 +0100

Just using tender-point exams could be no longer the only way to diagnose DoFollow fibromyalgia — the American College of Rheumatology has provisionally accepted alternate criteria for diagnosing the problem and gauging the severity of warning signs.
The diagnostic criteria physicians have been using were established in 1990. Once other feasible causes of manifestations were eliminated, diagnosis was based purely upon agony. It had to be on both sides of the body, both above and below the waist, along the axial skeleton (head, throat, chest, spine), and also in a minimum 11 of 18 specific places on the body that are called   manifestations have to have been present for at least 3 months.
The 18 point tender-point exam has always been controversial for many reasons. First, it was originally intended as a qualifier for clinical studies, not as a diagnostic tool. Second, it’s subjective as a result it relies on a patient’s self-reported suffering. Third, due to the fact that warning signs fluctuate so much, the number of tender points may vary greatly from one exam to another.
Until we have a diagnostic proceedure that’s based on blood markers or imaging, we probably won’t have a perfect diagnostic test. (This is true of many diseases, especially neurological ones.) Still, researchers believe they’ve come up with something that does it's magic good — they believe when looking at the data from a group previously diagnosed with fibromyalgia sufferers, the tender-point exam was about 75% accurate, while the new criteria found it 88% of the time.

The new way for diagnosing Fibromyalgia
The new set of symptoms keep the requirements that other causes be ruled out and that signs have to have persisted for at least 3 months. They also includes 2 new methods of assessment, the widespread pain index (WPI) and the symptom severity (SS) scale score.
The WPI lists 19 areas of the body and you say where you’ve had suffering in the last week. You get 1 point for each area, so the score is 0-19.

For the SS scale score, the patient ranks specific indications on a scale of 0-3. These warning signs include:
•    Fatigue
•    Waking unrefreshed
•    thinking difficulties
•    Somatic (physical) manifestations in general (such as headache, weakness, bowel problems, nausea, dizziness, numbness/tingling, hair loss)
The numbers assigned to each were added up, for a total of 0-12.
This next part is certainly interesting to me. Instead of looking for a hard score on each, there’s a number of flexibility built in, which recognizes the fact that fibromyalgia impacts us all differently, and that symptoms can fluctuate.

For a diagnosis you need EITHER:
1.    WPI of a minimum of 7 and SS scale score of a minimum 5, OR
2.    WPI of 3-6 and SS scale score of a minimum 9.
What this does is allow for people with fewer aching areas but more severe manifestations to be diagnosed.
Something else I actually like about this is that it finally includes Cognitive signs! For many of us, Cognitive failure or Fibro fog is as debilitating or even more debilitating than anguish, yet the old criteria didn’t even mention it. It also recognizes the difference between “tiredness” and “awakening unrefreshed,” which I believe is an under-recognized distinction in the medical community.

A instant note about “somatic warning signs”: strictly speaking, somatic means physical. The term has gotten a bad rap in the fibromyalgia community due to the fact that it’s been used to advise our manifestations could be the result of somatization, which means “physical manifestations of a psychological illness.” On its own, however, the word somatic does not imply a psychological basis.
The full article on the new criteria isn’t yet available for free online, but a PDF of an appendix including these criteria is. It has the list of excruciating areas for the WPI and a long list of somatic warning signs that could be considered.

If you’re undiagnosed or tentatively diagnosed, you may long to take that to your physician. Be sure to let him/her know that it’s from the American College of Rheumatology and was published in Arthritis Care & Research.

The uses of Marijuana in Fibromyalgia to eliminate the agony and discomfort of fibromyalgia and ...

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:30:42 +0100

The uses of Marijuana in Fibromyalgia to stop the ache and discomfort of fibromyalgia and cancer.
However, these medications have side effects too. "The most Typical side effects are what I call the three D's: drowsiness, dizziness, and dry mouth. It's not euphoria as such," he adds.

In Canada, federal law allows sufferers to use medical marijuana with a medical doctor's support (they may be't prescribe marijuana In this way it's not approved as a drug in Canada) of the patient's application to possess; the drug is delivered directly to the patient, and grown under controlled diseases by the government.

"I have sufferers with a range of anguish syndromes who have failed all their other treatments and for whom herbal cannabis has been the only reasonable option that they have that controls their warning signs," Ware says. In such cases, he adds, he will help the patient obtain the card they need to authorize them to possess the drug.

But in the U.S., the legality of medical marijuana is determined state-by-state (it's now legal in 14 states), and rules and regulations vary widely.

And while Attorney General Eric Holder said last year that he would no longer go after people who were selling or using medical marijuana legally, many users -- and potential users -- are fearful of the legal risks they will be taking.

"Licensed for use or not, it's still a federal crime, says Dee, a 52-year-old medical assistant with fibromyalgia, who lives in Colorado, which passed a law allowing medical marijuana in 2000. While visiting a wellness center for therapeutic massages, staffers suggested she try marijuana for her warning signs.

After getting her doctor's approval, "I tried a little of this and a little of that. I could say that most of the time my anguish was not relieved," although she did sleep the best and had a the best appetite. "I did find one plant that actually did help, but it was hard to get, and you only get so much grown per plant for year."

So when the time came for Dee to get her state license to use medical marijuana (Colorado gives people 90 days), at a cost of $90 every year, "I let the ball drop."

While Dee says she has no obstacle with medical marijuana, she is concerned about the improve of dispensaries across the state. "There are more places to purchase medical marijuana than banks or Mexican restaurants now," she says.

In New York, the state assembly has approved medical marijuana legislation, and Lynda says she is working to support legalization efforts there. For now, legal or not, she is continuing to use marijuana.

"I would more than likely recommend to any 'Fibromyalgiac' to try marijuana if they could be open to it," says Lynda.

"I swore when I became a parent I might not touch weed again (ah, youth), but times have changed, and I was desperate to find something for the burning suffering so I could function. I'm glad that I made this decision as a result of the fact that it works for me."

The uses of Marijuana in Fibromyalgia to eliminate the agony and discomfort of fibromyalgia and ...

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:56:32 +0100

Using Marijuana to treat the pain and discomfort of Fibromyalgia and Cancer it has uses for both. New drugs are derived from it constantly now.

Medications derived from marijuana

Ware recently published a study showing that one such compound, nabilone (Cesamet), helped fibromyalgia those being treated sleep better. It was more efficient than amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant often prescribed to fibromyalgia those being treated to ease pain and strengthen sleep. And a study published a few years ago found nabilone helped lessen pain and anxiety in fibromyalgia patients.

Nabilone is a synthetic analog of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol -- THC for short -- often thought of as the active ingredient of cannabis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug back in 1985 for treating nausea in cancer our patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The only other cannabis-based drug now on the market in the U.S. is dronabinol, which is sold as Marinol in the U.S. and is FDA-approved for treating chemo-related nausea and vomiting. It hasn't been tested formally in fibromyalgia patients, although Lynda received a prescription for Marinol in 2006.

"The drug makes me more tired and doesn't last long enough in my system, but I've stuck with it since then for two basic reasons -- I do supplement with marijuana, just not as many times per day," she says. "There could be times that I don't use all day or week or month."

A third cannabis-based medicine, Sativex, is now in clinical trials in the United States for treating cancer pain.

The drug is sprayed under the tongue or into the cheek, and contains THC and cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis that eases swelling and pain and will also reduce the side effects of THC (like anxiety, hunger production, and many of the intoxicating properties), as well as a number of other compounds (other cannabinoids and terpenoids, which were analgesics in their own rights).

But do they help?

"It is quite conceivably possible that cannabis-based drugs could be helpful for sufferers of fibromyalgia based on available science," says Ethan Russo, M.D., who is senior medical advisor to GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes Sativex, and a study physician for the U.S. clinical trials now underway for cancer cure.

Russo says he's hopeful Sativex will get FDA approval for treating cancer pain in 2013. "While a theoretical basis for Sativex potentially helping profit fibromyalgia manifestations is quite strong, and we know it has been very helpful with neuropathic pain and sleep disturbance in many other illnesses," he adds, "it's ultimate utility in fibromyalgia can only be proven in a meaningful, practical fashion using formal randomized clinical trials."

For now, Ware says, those suffering with fibromyalgia who aren't being helped by their existing medication might need to discuss nabilone with their doctor. "A lot of physicians just don't know that these prescription cannabinoids exist," he says.

Marijuana is used actively by many Fibromyalgia sufferers and most find a great deal of Pain ...

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:59:26 +0100

Lynda, a 48-year-old mother of three who lives in upstate New York, got a diagnosis of fibromyalgia in 2000. While there were medication medicines for fibromyalgia, she's found one unconventional drug -- marijuana -- that certainly does the trick.

"Iwill use [marijuana] when the burning pains started down my spine or my right arm, and soon after, I found I could continue with housework and In fact get more done," says Lynda.

Fibromyalgia is notoriously challenging to treat and only 35 percent - 40 percent of people with the chronic pain illness get easing from the available medications. Although there are strong opinions surrounding its use, a number of those suffering are trying marijuana -- legally or illegally -- and finding it will help fibromyalgia pain.

"My our patients are asking me all the time about it," says Stuart Silverman, M.D., a rheumatologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles. "Historically and anecdotally, marijuana has been used as a painkiller."

Why marijuana helps

Our bodies in a very natural way make pain relievers called endorphins, but they also make other substances that will trigger pain easing in the so-called endocannabinoid system. This system seems to play a critical role in many processes in the body, including modulating How we feel pain. Marijuana contains cannabinoids very similar to those that occur in the body in a very natural way.

Fibromyalgia our patients typically experience bodywide pain, but they must often times take multiple drugs for other manifestations, which will include difficulty sleeping, restless legs syndrome, depression, and anxiety. However, marijuana will treat multiple symptoms, and a great deal of our patients could be seeing results.

It seems valid -- why shouldn't fibromyalgia sufferers try marijuana for their manifestations, if they live in a state where medical marijuana is legal?

But there are two problems with herbal cannabis, Silverman and other critics say: It's a complex natural substance that contains about 60 varying compounds with potentially medicinal effects, a gread deal of of which will combine with one another. The other concern is that the amount of these various compounds can vary by batch, as marijuana is not synthesized but grown.

While Silverman says he has great hopes that synthetic pills and creams based on individual compounds in cannabis may one day help fibromyalgia people (after appropriate randomized controlled clinical trials have been done), he argues that the real thing TODAY is just too inconsistent.

"We think that there's probably a role for that class of compounds, the cannabinoids in general, and it's just a question of working out You may wonder how that's going to be put into practice," says Mark Ware, M.D., an assistant professor in family medicine and anesthesia at McGill University, in Montreal, and the executive director of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids.