Be Well Buzz » fatigue

Fibromyalgia Myths and Facts

BeWellBuzz — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:52:18 +0000

Fibromyalgia has dozens of symptoms and almost as many myths surrounding it. Is it a real disease? Do all sufferers have the same symptoms? Is it treatable? Read on as fibromyalgia experts explain the facts and fiction behind this mysterious chronic pain disorder.

Misconceptions about fibromyalgia abound - even among doctors - starting with the belief that it may not even exist. For sufferers, that means delayed diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating, painful condition. Jenna Abts, 27, a Seattle-based artist, knows that situation well. She has suffered from fibromyalgia since she was a teen, when she was initially misdiagnosed with anxiety. "Most doctors dismissed my complaints of joint pain as some kind of hypochondriac fantasy," she says. "I saw four doctors before I was lucky enough to find an internal medicine doctor who recognized the symptoms. I'm sure that given that I was a teenager, nobody thought to look at a chronic pain disorder." Her situation isn't uncommon. It takes an average of five years to get diagnosed, according to the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA). One reason is that fibromyalgia can't be identified through diagnostic tests such as blood work, MRIs, CT scans and X-rays, says Patrick Wood, M.D., a fibromyalgia specialist who practices in Seattle. Also complicating diagnosis: The condition can strike with a host of co-existing conditions - such as chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and lupus - and involve pain in many parts of the body. As a result, many people with fibromyalgia struggle to find both answers and relief. Here, experts explain the science behind 5 common beliefs about this chronic pain disorder. 1. Fibromyalgia isn't a real disease Well, that's actually true. It's not a disease, but a disorder.

The distinction is important: Diseases have specific causes. Disorders (or syndromes) are a collection of symptoms and other medical problems that occur together. "I don't think a lot of primary-care physicians and specialists are aware it's a disorder, not a disease," says Ann Vincent, M.D., a fibromyalgia researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. However, in 1990, the American College of Rheumatology published a list of criteria that made it easier for doctors to identify and treat fibromyalgia. Because there are no diagnostic tests, doctors rely on self-reported symptoms, patient histories and a physical examination to see if patients fit this criteria. To be diagnosed with fibromyalgia, patients must have chronic, widespread pain that has been present for at least three months. Pain has to occur on both sides of the body, above and below the waist. The exam also includes checking for soreness in 11 of 18 "tender point sites," which include the back of the head, upper chest and tops and sides of knees. These are tested by applying moderate pressure on each area. 2. Fibromyalgia is all in the patient's head This is false, but many patients are left feeling that way when doctors don't detect their fibromyalgia or misdiagnose it as solely the depression, anxiety or trauma that often accompany it. When they do find a doctor who suspects fibromyalgia, the physician must convince patients they aren't imagining their symptoms. "I sometimes show them evidence from a 2002 study [done at Georgetown University Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health] proving that patients with fibromyalgia feel pain more acutely than other people," says John Stracks, M.D., an integrative medicine physician who practices at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Getting an official diagnosis can ease the emotional impact of the chronic pain. Increased awareness of the disorder also helps, according Abts, the Seattle fibromyalgia patient.3. Everyone with fibromyalgia has the same symptoms No two fibromyalgia patients are alike. The disorder has a number of symptoms, with varying degrees of severity that can affect different parts of the body. "In general, many paths lead to the symptoms of fibromyalgia," Stracks says. "So each patient I see gets a different combination of recommendations based on what I think the primary causes are." According to the NFA, symptoms can include the following:

Joint and muscle pain
Chronic tension headaches and migraines
Numbness
Fatigue
Depression
Anxiety, insomnia
Hypersomnia (sleeping too much)
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Tingling, burning and skin sensitivity
Chronic low-grade fever and flulike symptoms
Restless legs
Dizziness
Vision problems
Impaired memory and cognitive function

"The range of symptoms makes the disease so hard to treat in a conventional setting. I don't think there's any single treatment that will work for all patients."4. Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome should be treated the same One of the biggest debates among fibromyalgia specialists is the relationship between the disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome. Some insist the two are separate conditions with their own symptoms; others argue they're the same. One difference, according to Stracks: Fibromyalgia patients are more likely to have thyroid complications, while chronic fatigue sufferers have more problems with adrenal function. Both can leave patients with low energy levels, but because they stem from different causes, using the same treatment for both could be harmful, he adds. 5. Fibromyalgia isn't treatable Not true. There are several ways to manage it. Medication: The Food and Drug Administration has approved medications to treat fibromyalgia. But they do, however, come with potential side effects, including weight gain, drowsiness and loss of sex drive.

Psychological treatment: Depression and/or depressive symptoms are prevalent among patients with fibromyalgia, so treating that problem can improve quality of life.If stress is a factor, as it is for many fibromyalgia sufferers, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can provide better ways to manage it. Several reputable studies, including one in 2006 by the University of Louisville, Ky., have found people with high levels of childhood trauma are more likely to develop fibromyalgia. For these patients, Stracks calls on the help of clinicians with experience in trauma healing. Diet: Fibromyalgia patients should consume foods with anti-inflammatory properties, to prevent pain caused by inflammation. "That means limiting foods with simple sugars and carbohydrates, fatty meats, and processed and fast foods," Stracks says. "Instead, people with fibromyalgia should eat mostly lean meats, complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds." Patients should also avoid food additives like monosodium glutamate and the artificial sweetener aspartame, which can increase pain. Taking fish oil supplements and avoiding common allergens, such as eggs, wheat and dairy, may also help. Exercise: Gentle exercise such as yoga, water aerobics and daily walking can be helpful, Stracks says. Education: Learning more about how fibromyalgia affects your body and daily life can make it easier to ward off pain triggers.

Abts participated in a three-week pain management class and credits it with helping her gain control of symptoms. "I learned that the ideal split of time is one-third work, one-third fun and one-third leisure," she says. "I keep that model in mind when scheduling things." She also discovered the importance of having realistic expectations. "I had to learn to cope with some pain, and then modify exercise, diet and environment (as much as possible) to reduce flare-ups."

Source

http://www.lifescript.com/

Fighting Chronic Fatigue Part 1

Shawn Stevenson — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:14:36 +0000

Listen to the podcast audio here: Chronic Fatigue <===Click Welcome to the Be Well Buzz podcast. This is nutritionist Shawn Stevenson. Today's podcast is all about what to do if you have low energy or conditions that are under the umbrella of what's known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Now Chronic Fatigue is something that's sweeping the nation right now. It's actually a worldwide thing. We're all exposed to so many environmental stressors. We need to have strategies in place to help us to buffer all these different stressors and to have the energy and vitality that we truly need. What I'm going to do today is to give you some powerful insights that are going to give you some leverage to get out of the chronic fatigue and into having more energy and vitality every single day. The first thing to understand is that when you get diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue, this is what's known as an idiopathic condition. In the medical community what idiopathic means is that there is no origin. They don't know why you're experiencing this. If you break the word idiopathic down, this is from the Greek "idios," which means one's own, and "pathos," which means suffering. So this literally means one's own suffering. This is simply not a true statement. This isn't something that you're just subject to and that you have to deal with because a medical professional can't help to address the underlying root cause of why you're feeling this way. Now what makes it so difficult is that there is no diagnostic laboratory test or biomarker for having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It's literally how you feel. It's going on within you. It's how you're feeling. It's not something that can be shown on a test. It's very intimate, and it's very real to individuals who don't have the energy that they want to have. In my experience in working with thousands of clients, this is something that I've seen a tremendous amount of times. It's usually related to an underlying cause or illness because fatigue is directly linked to an illness. It's directly linked to having a virus load or a disorder of some type. Fatigue is a symptom. Oftentimes certain conditions, underlying root causes are not able to be seen on these so called advanced diagnostic tests, but you know within yourself that your energy is supposed to be a lot higher than it is. We're going to get into really how to address this at its root cause. What we've done is, we're going to split this up into three parts. Today is part one, because it is such a powerful and important topic, because we need you to have the energy that you need to give your gifts and talents. If you're lacking in energy, you're simply not going to be creating and doing the things that you're here to do. Let's get started with the first part of the topic. What I'm going to explain to you and share with you is where does energy in your body actually come from. This is the most important question to ask, and most times people never ask this question. Get your notebooks ready. Number one: approximately 90 percent of your energy is produced by the mitochondria in your cells. The mitochondria are like little energy powerhouses or little nuclear power plants within the cells of your body. You have upwards of 100 trillion cells that make up that amazing human organism known as you. Within each one of your cells, there is a plethora of mitchondria. There isn't just one power plant in each cell. It depends on which organ it is, which tissue it is, which cell it is, that will disclose how many mitochondria are available. Now what mitochondria actually do is to generate most of your cell supply of adenosine triphosphate. You can call it ATP. ATP is used as a source of chemical energy. ATP is your body's energy currency; it's the transaction method for you experiencing the energy that you have. Again, if you didn't write this down and take note of this, it's 90 percent of your energy is generated by the mitochondria. It's very important. If there is a disbalance within the cellular environment, this is the root cause of having issues like Chronic Fatigue showing up. It's the environment. The body's ecology itself is disoriented or out of balance. What we need to do is look at getting it back in balance and the things that make the mitochondria work at its optimal level. Now to understand how this happens, you have to understand what the mitochondria actually are. Here's the big secret. The mitchondria are actually bacteria. That's right. You heard me correctly. The ability for you to experience energy is a direct relationship to bacteria in your body that are literally generating 90 percent of the energy you have. Now, that's mindblowing. Literally we can't fathom an idea like that, that you have upwards of 100 trillion cells, but you have four times more bacteria than you have human cells or the cells that you know as you. Bacteria are literally the source of all the energy that you get to experience. With you now having this information in your hands, you can really leverage this in understanding that we want to have an optimal balance of healthy, friendly flora and good bacteria in our system. This is where things like fermented foods and beverages have been so valued by our ancestors. You can look at just about any ancestral culture and see that there was some kind of an indigenous fermented beverage or food that's a staple in the diet, because they knew that it was so important for your overall health and energy, and to be able to be a part of the community and to perform. To do the farming and the hunting and the gathering, you got to have energy. These fermented foods are a big key of that. Start now. If you're dealing with an issue with energy, you've got to make it a daily ritual to incorporate some healthy, friendly flora into your diet. We can implement some different probiotics absolutely, but I really like to go with the whole food because with a probiotic, what you're getting is the probiotic without the prebiotic or the substrate, so you're not getting the whole picture, the whole food itself. Adding in things like kefir, you know you can make coconut kefir, milk kefir. Getting on things like kombucha is a fantastic thing, and it's really sweeping the nation. I really like kefir a lot better though. Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, miso soup--there's so many different ways of getting fermented foods into your body. Another one often utilized by so many cultures are things like sour milk and yogurts. Even today we can make things like different almond yogurts and things of that nature. Just getting these friendly bacteria into your body helps to create the proper environment for the mitochondria to even function in the first place. It's so important. Now if we're going the probiotic route, if somebody is dealing with a pretty significant issue and they need to get the "pro," meaning for, and "biotic" means life--that's how important they are--to get these back in their system if maybe they had a run-in with some antibiotics. They had an infection of some sort and they couldn't find a natural approach, you got to get the good guys back in the position, or the bad guys are going to take over your body. Oftentimes when people are dealing with low energy, they're actually dealing with an energetic of lower level bacteria, viruses, funguses, that are running their ship. We want to gently get rid of those guys, and get the good guys back in. This is why lactic acids and acidophilus, things that are friendly and have a great symbiotic relationship with the human body, are so critical. Make that a daily ritual to add in some fermented foods. Have a little bit of sauerkraut with your meal. Have a little bit of kimchi. Have some kefir every now and then or even add them to your shakes. As a base to your smoothie, you can add a splash of kefir in there. Great, powerful ways of getting these things into your body. Next what I want to share with you is an even more powerful understanding on what makes these mitchondria up, and how to leverage this for your benefit to your energy and your health. Mitochondria actually contain an inner and outer cell membrane that's comprised of phospholipid bilayers and proteins. What that means is, these phospholipid bilayers are what actually allows the goodies to get into your cells and produce energy and the toxins and byproducts to get out of your cells and to eliminate the block and the flow of energy production. This is why essential fatty acids are so important to our health and avoiding oxidized poor fats that really block and clog up our system. It can actually be deadly. The initial symptoms will be things like extreme fatigue. So we want to avoid like the plague oxidized fatty acids. Things like cooked omega-6 fats are "vegetable oils" that have been heated. Those omega-6 oils are very heat volatile. When you cook them, they become very dangerous. They oxidize. When you put that into your body, your body has to incorporate them, and what it does it block up the receptor sites. Instead of having these healthy, clean essential fatty acids, we have these coagulated, really nasty fatty acids clogging up those spaces. We want to avoid, obviously, fried food, which is completely ridiculous. In our culture we're actually eating fried Twinkies, which, a Twinkie is trans fat in and of itself, then we cook it in trans fat. But that's a whole nother subject. We want to avoid fried foods. We want to avoid cooking our vegetable oils - even like olive oil. This is why olive oil is bottled in dark glass, because it's extremely sensitive even to light. We want to be aware of this, that olive oil is traditionally used as a salad dressing or something that's splashed on bread, and it's added as a condiment. It's not used as much in cooking unless it's very, very low heat. We want to be extra careful with our vegetable-based oils and plant oils. For cooking we want to make sure that we're using something with high saturation. This is where something like coconut oil is incredibly important if you are dealing with chronic fatigue. Now here's a big time secret that you're getting access to. Medium chain essential fatty acids that are uniquely found in coconut oil can actually penetrate the mitochondria's double membrane that we talked about without the assistance of insulin. We'll talk about the effects of insulin and how important this is to dealing with fatigue in an upcoming podcast. But just understand this very clearly, coconut oil can actually penetrate right through that cell wall and provide fuel for your cells. It's literally that powerful. Adding in some coconut oil is going to be so helpful to you. It's just one of those things that you can add in as a daily practice. Literally you can use it as a tonic. Just eat a tablespoon of coconut oil even though... I didn't say it tastes amazing, but have it with a little bit of sea salt and chew it. Make sure that it mixes really well with your saliva, and it can help to break down some of the lipase. It's an instant energy booster. Doing that practice or adding coconut oil to your shakes and making your different salad dressings with it, adding it to shakes--super powerful stuff. Coconut oil can be the thing that does it for you. Not for everyone. Some people their liver isn't as friendly with coconut oil. Some people it's the thing that really turns on that energy for them. Give it a try, be consistent with it, and pay attention to how you feel. Some of the other very valuable essential fatty acids are going to come from sources like chia seeds. I absolutely love chia seeds. What an amazing source of omega-3 fatty acids. Hemp seeds can be valuable, and borage oil, which is also known as starflower. If you're doing vegetarian sources and not just vegan, then you can do raw milk, which is incredibly rich in CLA, which is conjugated linoleic acid. This is a powerful anticarcinogen. That's another great source. Raw butter, ghee. Ghee's history as far as being a great source of energy, health, vitality, beauty is very storied, especially in the ayurvedic tradition. It's a healing food; it's a tonic; it's a medicine. It's very, very valuable to look into. That high saturation again, those are the valuable things for our cell membranes. Also you can look to things like fish oil. Fish oil is incredibly valuable. 99 percent of the studies that are done on omega-3's and have benefits to human health, they use fish oil. People really need to understand that. All the omega-3s are not created equally. We need to really take a good look at that and understand that fish oil is the one that stacks up with the science. We want to make sure we're getting an excellent source of fish oil and not just any random stuff at any kind of supermarket. We want to get the good stuff that has the studies and the science to back it up. If you want to get a little bit lower on the food chain and avoid the whole fish thing, then you want to look to krill oil. Krill is just a microscopic shrimp, and it's incredibly rich in astaxanthin. Krill is really sweeping the health community because it's such a valuable source of omega-3 fats. Krill is the reason that salmon have their beautiful color, and they're able to actually go upstream, against all the power of nature, and make it to their destination because they are fueled on krill oil, so krill is another valuable source. Marine phytoplankton, which is the only source that I'm aware of that has pure ATP right there in it. That's instant cellular energy. It doesn't have to go through a conversion process. It gives you instant energy right to your cells. If you haven't used marine phytoplankton before, that might be something to look into. Then, of course, the traditional flax seed oil, as I mentioned, hemp, you can also do the hemp seed oil. These are all excellent sources to look into. And make sure that you're consistently, adamantly using these things each day and avoiding the unhealthy fats, because you can take all of the krill oil you want, all the coconut oil you want; if your body's receptor sites are blocked with oxidized, rancid oils, even rancid flax seed oil, for example, you're going to have a problem and you're not going to get to experience the benefits. We want to avoid the things causing the problem and do the things that make things better. One more tip that I want to share with you that you'll only get here on Bee Well Buzz is that there's a structure in the mitochondria called the matrix, and it contains about two-thirds of the total protein in the mitochondria. The matrix is actually critical in the production of ATP. The matrix contains a highly concentrated mixture of literally hundreds, if not thousands, of enzymes, and also transfer factors, RNA . It's literally a hub of all the things that make the magic happen for you to experience energy. As mentioned before, that's what makes up the inner and outer cell membrane, is the phospholipid bilayer and the proteins. These proteins are like little channels, and we need to make sure that we're getting the proper building blocks in to create truly healthy mitochondria. The protein aspect is what we're going to get into in the next podcast. To wrap things up I'm going to share with you one more important nugget, and something that you can start on right away. The energy conversion by the mitochondria is dependent completely upon the process that's known as aerobic respiration, or it's also called cellular respiration. This process is completely dependent on the presence of oxygen, so just breathing literally generates more energy currency in the body. Now, right now, check your breathing. Are you breathing shallow? Most people are. We don't even know how to breathe anymore. It's a protective mechanism because of the stress, because of the impurity of the air, and it's usually because we're indoors all day. Something that you can start right now, if you're serious about getting your energy levels up, is every day getting outdoors, getting in the fresh air, no matter what the temperature is, no matter how cold or hot, taking some time in nature and just breathing deeply, really getting that good oxygen into your system, and allowing your body to generate more energy. It's as simple as that, but these are things that we usually don't do because we're programmed to be indoors all day, sitting in our little cubes, looking at a box, typing away and missing out on the things that are most important. You've got the science here. I want to wrap up with the things that we've covered today. Number one, be adamant about incorporating true, living foods into your diet. Those living foods are fermented foods. Those are live foods. Those foods literally have active cultures, active bacteria, that are producing life. You want to be adamant about adding those in. Also, avoid antibiotic substances, the things that wipe those good, friendly bacteria out of your system. Provide yourself sufficient oxygen through fresh air and aerobic exercise out in the fresh air every day. Just walking and deep breathing, taking some time to breathe deeply and allow your body to instantly generate more ATP. Avoid oxidized fats and rancid oils, and every day incorporate clean, bioavailable, healthy fat sources.

Adrenal Fatigue, Its Symptoms and Treatment

BeWellBuzz — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:20:29 +0000

The term Adrenal Fatigue is often used by practitioners of alternative medicine to denote a hormonal imbalance and other problems arising from exhaustion of the adrenal glands. This is the sort of condition that is characterized by sleep disturbances, body aches, low blood pressure, hair loss, unexplained weight loss, digestive disturbances, nervousness, tiredness, salt craving and so on. Adrenal fatigue is a group of symptoms that is to be distinguished from adrenal insufficiency or Addison's disease and is often not recognized as an actual medical condition by mainstream practitioners. The understanding is that adrenal fatigue is a milder form of adrenal insufficiency and so may not show up on standard tests, but that it could be responsible for several health imbalances. It is thought that adrenal fatigue could be caused by stress and produces the characteristic symptoms. However in the main stream medical community, the term adrenal fatigue is not an accepted diagnosis and it is thought that adrenal fatigue is simply a convenient but ambiguous term used to explain away symptoms that cannot be explained any other way. According to many in the medical community, it is thought that underlying cause for the symptoms could actually be quite different - it could be fibromyalgia or depression that may be causing the troublesome symptoms. It is argued that assigning the term adrenal fatigue could have negative repercussions in that a proper diagnosis and treatment of the real condition may be compromised. However alternative practitioners do recognize adrenal fatigue as an actual condition that is chiefly characterized by tiredness that is not mitigated by rest or sleep. The person may not show any obvious signs of a disease other than the constant feeling of being sad or constantly tired, and feeling generally unwell. However the onset of the symptoms could follow a particular pattern. Very often prolonged stress or very severe stress could result in the symptoms. Chronic or severe infections of certain kinds could also be the start off point for what is understood as adrenal fatigue. A crisis, or a difficult to cope with situation, a life altering event could be triggering of this. People with this condition may find that they prop themselves up during the day with coffee, colas and other stimulants. Though the condition is disputed by the mainstream medical community, adrenal fatigue is recognized by alternative practitioners. Suitable remedies and treatments have therefore also been developed that can effectively treat the condition and help in controlling symptoms. Source: http://www.altmedicinezone.com

Podcast 6 – Chronic Fatigue Treatment Part 3

Shawn Stevenson — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:30:50 +0000

This week our resident expert nutritionist, Shawn Stevenson, provides solutions to problems of fatigue. The insights Shawn provides here are not to be missed! To listen to other parts of this podcast click the links below (we recommend you start with podcast 1 before listening to this one): Chronic Fatigue Treatment <-part 1 Chronic Fatigue Treatment <-part 2 When you listen to Part 3 you will learn:

How hydration effects RNA, DNA and energy levels.
How aquaporins effect energy.
The deep importance of water.
Importance of water structure and tips on how to structure it.
The root cause of migraines.
This glands importance to energy and what leads to it's fatigue.
The MOST powerful thing you can do to increase energy.
The leading culprit to fatigue.
And much more...

Recommended products mentioned in the podcast: => Activation Marine Phytoplankton => Activation Magnesium => HealthForce Spirulinna Powder => HealthForce Chlorella Tabs => HealthForce Chlorella Powder Click play below to listen now...

Podcast 5 – Chronic Fatigue Treatment (Part 2 of 3)

Shawn Stevenson — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:32:20 +0000

This week we Get deeper Into WHY you're tired and what YOU can do about it... If you missed part 1 of this podcast on energy or lack there of, please listen to it now and come back to this one after: Chronic Fatigue Treatment Part 1<== Click

What is Syndrome X?
You'll want to avoid this stressful state at all costs.
What signals you need to pay attention to that lead to lower energy
Discover the whole food that gives you energy and makes you satiated.
2 amazing and important superfoods for energy, mineralization and optimal health.
Learn where 80% of your energy goes.
The normal bowel movement should be this long.
You are NOT what you eat, You are what you ________
This important process is closely tied to the brain and determines how you feel (and how much energy you have).

Chronic Fatigue Treatment Part 3 <- Final part of this podcast Recommended products mentioned in the podcast: => Activation Marine Phytoplankton => Activation Magnesium => HealthForce Spirulinna Powder => HealthForce Chlorella Tabs => HealthForce Chlorella Powder Click play below to listen now...

Podcast 4 – Chronic Fatigue Treatment (Part 1 of 3)

Shawn Stevenson — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:59:36 +0000

Feeling Tired? You're not alone... Around 250,000 people in just the United States live with paralyzing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This condition, even in it's lower, less extreme forms is becoming prevalent in our society. There's a reason for that! When you listen to this podcast you will discover the root causes behind fatigue and real solutions you can implement today. In Part 1 Shawn Stevenson reveals:

The root cause of fatigue.
What produces 90% of your bodies energy? (the answer will shock you!)
You want to eat these foods to boost energy.
What foods to avoid at all costs.
______ Oil is an instant energy booster.
______ Seeds are important to increasing energy.
What the cell matrix is and why it's important to giving your body the energy it needs.

Part 2 is now live and can be found by clicking this link: Chronic Fatigue Podcast Part 2 Recommended products mentioned in the podcast: => Activation Marine Phytoplankton => Activation Magnesium => HealthForce Spirulinna Powder => HealthForce Chlorella Tabs => HealthForce Chloeralla Powder Click play below to listen now...