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Relief from Fibromyalgia

by Dr. Susan Lark

Published 04/30/09

Fibromyalgia, once dismissed by many doctors as "neurotic malingering," is now recognized as a health disorder affecting five million Americans, most of them women. The common symptoms of this debilitating disorder are chronic pain, fatigue, and sleep disorder. Often it strikes women a year after a complete hysterectomy or following menopause.

If you are suffering with this, I know you have sought advice and relief from your doctor. The conventional medical practice is to prescribe anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs and sometimes physical therapy and exercise. Chances are you're still searching for effective long-term relief. I've had great results for my patients with nutritional and alternative treatment approaches to this chronic disorder.

Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

First, let's go over the criteria for a diagnosis of fibromyalgia:

• Generalized aches, muscle spasms, or stiffness of at least three sites on the body for at least three months
• Six or more tender points out of 18 very specific sites on your body
• The exclusion of other disorders that can cause similar symptoms
• Generalized fatigue
• Chronic headache
• Sleep disturbance

Fibromyalgia often feels like soft tissue and muscular rheumatism. Sufferers may have symptoms of irritable bowel and bladder, panic disorder, amnesia, blurred vision, TMJ syndrome, PMS, heart palpitations, and even vertigo.

The Serotonin Factor

For sufferers of fibromyalgia, there is a significant correlation between poor quality sleep and the degree of musculoskeletal pain. The fewer REM (rapid-eye-movement) and deep sleep cycles a woman has, the greater the fatigue and pain she has the next day.

Given that association, researchers have concluded that one of the central causes of fibromyalgia pain is low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Research has shown that raising serotonin levels improves sleep quality and increases pain tolerance.

In double-blind studies, 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan), which converts to serotonin, improved all of the symptoms of fibromyalgia: a number of painful areas, morning stiffness, sleep patterns, anxiety, and fatigue after 30 days of use. Better results were obtained after 90 days of use.

Other Nutritional Therapies

I recommend that you combine 5-HTP (50-100 mg three times per day) with St. John's wort (use the extract, 0.3 percent hypericin, 300 mg three times per day). The natural antidepressant seems to boost the effectiveness of 5-HTP.

Magnesium citrate (150-250 mg three times each day) has also proven beneficial. Magnesium deficiency is commonly found in fibromyalgia patients. Given magnesium's important role in the creation of energy and in muscular function, researchers studied the mineral's effectiveness in treating pain in fibromyalgia patients.

One study published in 1976 demonstrated that 300-600 mg daily of magnesium malate resulted in tremendous improvement in the number and severity of tender points. Talk to your doctor about this form of magnesium.

I also suggest that you include ample amounts of legumes, tofu, seeds, nuts, whole grains, and green leafy vegetables in your diet to increase your food intake of the mineral. It's also very important that you take a high-potency multivitamin and mineral supplement on a daily basis to support your general health.

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