Are there any natural vitamins that can help with Fibromyalgia?

Dear efclemenson... 1st I will say please do not think it is all in your head, you will get that enough from family, friends, co-workers and even doctors. Fibromyalgia is still a very mis- understood illness and I can telll you that it is real and very painful & can be debilitating. Please believe the docs when they tell you that you need to exercise, the last thing you feel like doing right? Walk in the morning or evening, join the Y and swim, something that is low impact, these things will help and most of all look for a specialist that deals with Fibromyalgia in your area, not just the Rhematoligist unless you have total confidence in him or her. Extensive blood work is needed to identify vitamin & MINERALs you may be very low on and only a Doc that understands this illness will know what to look for. Keep a regular sleep pattern and avoid booze etc.

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Lots & fruits, veggies & dont stop the carbs, dont go on any silly diets unless prescribed, these can really cause you problems. You want to try to stay off sleep meds as they cause you to not move when you sleep & you will hurt so much worse, and posture is very important at work, so try to work on that too. Women are so much more likely to suffer from this painful & exhausting illness and a strong support system is important, so if family & friends are not their for you look for a group in your area. It may scare you at first to see have severe some are suffering, but finding somone to talk to is important... you are not alone. Also... be very sure they have not missed something, bad dics in your neck, back, done mri's of your brain, spine etc & blood work, lots of blood work, many times you may have others things along w/this or something else all together. Lastly... slow down, take breaks, long walks, read, pray, just a slower paced lifestyle w/prayer, yoga, whatever helps you relax (your thing). Me, I will pray for you, and pray you find peace with this illness as there is no real answer, you have to find a way to live with it, no golden pill, no surgery, no answers, its up to you to learn to live with it, so start today doing all you can and you will learn to deal and it can be okay... I promise... with love DadsWatchinU's Wife

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2004 but have had it for over thirty years (back then it was all in your head). I too was prescribed Savella and could not take it. It caused profound depression and all I could do was cry. Previously I tried Lyrica and it worked but the weight gain was unbelieveable, over sixty pounds in six months. I am now taking topamax and it is my miracle. Pain is greatly diminished and I am sleeping. I have tried everything natural and otc that I could get my hands on and the only thing that helped a little (and I mean just a little), was melatonin sublingul tablets for sleep. You must be so careful when using these products. They are not FDA approved and nothing takes the place of your physcian's and pharmacist's training and advice. You are not alone. I have had people, friends, family, doctors and counselors tell me my pain was psychological at one time or another in the last thirty years.

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Thank God the medical profession has finally recognized the disease as the real disorder it is and we are being taken seriously and getting the help we need. Hang in there you are not alone, there are a lot of us out here!

Elaine,

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While not vitamins , there are three herbal remedies that I use for my fibro. and TMJ related chronic pain. Ginseng, Valarian, and Marijianna. I take store brand ginseng capsules, valarian tea, and use Pot butter in many different recipes. Not exactly sure how or why the ginseng works, but it seems to give me energy and keeps my mood swings to a minimum. I have a pot of tea in the evening which relaxes me and allows me to get to sleep. For breakfast i usually have one or two tea biscuits or scones, depending on how I feel, maybe another on my afternoon coffe break if I need it and some pasta or my favourite, buttered chicken, for supper. If its a late night or the weekend, I sometimes treat myself to a piece of fudge or brownie. I do my baking for the week on Sundays, which I also use as my "me" time, reading my book or watching a movie. I have had a medicinal license for three years now ( though I have been using it for five ... Shhh ) I prefer to eat it rather than smoke it because it works on the body without muddling my head, and I am beating the munchies to the punch! Also I have fun trying new recipes and experimenting with my cooking. I was able to stop being an opiod zombie and over the last five years I have begun to live again. I still have my bad days, but that's all they are, "Bad Days". I hope you live in a compassionate, civilized State. If not, you can still find community groups and organizations that are willing to stand up to injustice and help those who are suffering. Aids, Cancer, Chronic Pain & Epilipsy groups, should be able to help or at least point youu in the right direction. Believe it or not, several Churches have started programs across the country in recent years. Primarily those which are most active with respect to Social Justice, namely the Episcopalian and Catholic Churches. The Quakers have also recently joined the struggle. When Obama gets his 2nd term I am certain we will see changes to federal drug laws. One more thing, avoid any herbal products made in China. There is little to no regulation of the multi billion dollar herbal exportation industry. Cases of death and injury abound, from mislabeled products to fatally poisionous roots and herbs supplied by negligent, unquilified, "Herbalists". Thats not to say that you shouldn't use Chinese medicines or healers, after all eastern medicine predate that of the west by at least 5000 years. The Chinese were performing complicated surgeries and healing diseases while we were living in caves following herds of wild beasts. So just make sure any local chinese medical practioneer is well respected, and any store bought herbal remedies come from established pharmacautical companies; obviously having rigourous quality and saftey protocols in place.

Don't give up hope . Keep looking for what works for you. Stay positve. Don't let anyone tell you fibromyalgia is bullshit and that it's all in your head! Draw on the love and support of family and friends without guilt or embarassment. Know that you are not alone and your life is waiting for you when you find the key managing your pain. If you have to take opiates to have a better quality of life Do It! Do it without fear of addiction or dependence. If you are diabetic, you're not addicted to insulin you dependant on it for your health, if you're near-sighted, you aren't addicted to glasses, you are dependant on them to see. Its the same thing with pain. Your Fibromyalgia isn't going to go away, you just have live with it and find the best way to return your quality of life. If that means taking morphine or fentenyl for the rest of your life, so be it. Christ, if it means injecting heroin three times a day, so fucking be it! Life is to short to be sitting on the sidelines in misery. You have to much to offer the world and the people living on it. You don't just owe it to yourself, you owe it to the folks who love and care about you. Knowing the burden of suffering, it is your obligation to help those who also suffer.

My prayers are with you and yours for the holidays, and wish you peace, happiness and Health in the new year.

Hi Elaine,

I'm so sorry you've been diagnosed with fibro. It hasn't been easy for me; I was diagnosed over a year ago, although had been having symptoms for at least two or three years before that. The most important thing to do is to find a doctor you feel comfortable with, who understands what you are going through, and who will work with you through many forms of treatment until you find one that works for you. Fibro definitely gives definition to the statement that medicine is more art than science.

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I also have a thyroid problem, and recently when I had a visit with my endocrinologist she went over a list of vitamins she puts her patients on. She suggests 5000 IU of vitamin D, sublingual B-12 4x a day, omega 3 and omega 6 fish oil (lots of it, but I can't recall right now how much) and calcium-magnesium supplements. The list that she gave me indicates that a deficiency of vitamin D can cause fibro-like symptoms. 5000 IU is a LARGE dose, so don't take that much without getting an ok from your doctor, and probably blood tests to see what your levels are. I have since started on these supplements (or restarted taking them... after awhile you just get sick of taking so many pills, you know?) So after maybe another month, I should have a better idea of if they are helping.

I just started Savella this past week. I had tried Lyrica and Cymbalta unsuccessfully, so we'll see how this goes. I've also tried "alternative" type doctors such as Holtorf Medical Group and Dr. St. Amand with the guaifenesin treatment. Although I improved enough while taking guaifenesin to go back to work, I don't know how much was attributable to the treatment and how much came from within and just pushing through to get back to living my life. Like I said, it seems to be mostly a hit-an- miss process. Also I hate to say it, but you cannot count on your family to really know what you're going through. Personally I just don't talk to my family about my health issues, as it causes me more stress than it's worth. My mom is an RN and honestly has no tolerance for sick people. Ha ha, I know, how sad. But true. My husband is really understanding and supportive, and a couple of dear friends. Otherwise, I'm really trying to muster strength within myself. Talking to others with health issues who have a POSITIVE attitude and a desire to live life helps. Try to steer clear of people who call themselves a support group, but really have gotten so "down" that they just wallow in misery. I found that I allowed that type of thinking to really bring me down with it after I was first diagnosed.

It is VERY important to pull yourself up and try to put your life in perspective. Chronic pain can sap the life out of you. Waking up and facing it daily can make you very depressed. If you are like most, the people around you who don't understand will say the depression is causing the pain, not the other way around. Then it just becomes a vicious cycle that becomes difficult to get out of. Break the cycle early and save yourself all that extra energy you don't have to spend. I only say this from my experiences over the past couple of years. Hang in there and know that you are worth all this effort to get better. Many days, you may feel like withdrawing and curling up into a painful ball and crying. Some days, you'll just have to do this. But the next day, after you've been able to rest and gather some energy, try to go out to live your life again.

I'm also learning that exercise really is important. What spurred my flare up that triggered my diagnosis was an intense kickboxing class that I was taking. Yikes. So for a long time after that I was really afraid to exercise. But my Dr. who I really like and trust got me walking, stretching, and eventually I will get back into a yoga class, because it really does help you to feel better. Just pace yourself and don't do too much at first.

Sorry to ramble, I've just been struggling so much myself, and feel like if I've learned a few things along the way, hopefully it might help someone else navigate it all. Good luck to you in this time of your life. Please let us know how you are doing!

Best wishes,
Jessica

Dear Elaine, what you have described reminds me of how I felt 15 years ago when I was diagnosed. I have great sympathy for what you're struggling with. Don't expect your family members to come around, if they are the same ones that denied your sister support. Find a local support group.
I am now doing much better than I was, and the most dramatic improvements came from were simple changes: The most important thing for me, based on the fact that I really go downhill when I don't do it, is staying super-hydrated. If you think you are drinking enough water now, test it out - double your intake for 3 days and see how you feel. For me, it reduces fibrofog, pain, energy, and headaches. I recommend reading "Your Body's Many Cries for Water". It got me thinking about my body's needs on a cellular level. Every cell requires hydration and oxygen and removal of waste and carbon dioxide.All of which requires water.

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Another big difference was when a friend of mine pointed out that Phosphoric Acid, (listed on the soft drink label I was holding in my hand,) is basically battery acid, which is why it can disintegrate tooth enamel and rusty bolts. Admittedly, her statement is controversial, the phosphoric acid in soft drinks is food grade, and there's lots of research available on the internet if you care to look. The point is, it changed my view of soft drinks and now almost completely avoid them. When I do drink it, I feel bad the next day. So, it's a trigger for me.

Yes, vitamin and mineral supplements make an improvement for me. But, there are a lot of ineffective supplements on the market, so, find a knowledgable source for advice. I recomend the latest edition of "Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing". It's like a supplement encyclopedia, I love it. Take some time to talk to the owner / operator of your local health food store. Ask alot of questions. I have found that if a health food store has a good library section, the owner seems to be a more reliable source of information. But it can be expensive, and don't be persuaded that the more you spend the better quality, because that's not true either. There are plenty of inexpensive quality vitamins out there. The past 2 years I've been ordering from Puritan's Pride (online), they have buy one get 2 free sales. I know they help because I've been feeling worse lately and realized that I've been hit and miss with my vitamins for the past month. I take a hefty chelated calcium / magnesium a.m. and p.m.. In the morning I take Vitamin B complex (for pain and muscle inflamation). Fish Oil, and the daily Mega vitamin. I also have sublingual vitamin B12 for emergencies.

This is getting long, so I'll just mention one more thing. Last year I had a sleep test done and found out I have sleep apnea, which surprised my doctor, because I show none of the typical signs. I have a cpap machine and all of my physical symptoms have improved. When I don't use it, my FMS symptoms return. It makes me wonder if my FMS is caused by the sleep disorder. I'm just glad I don't wake up feeling like I was hit be a Mac Truck anymore. If your circumstances allow, I would encourage you to get tested.

I hope this helps.

efclemenson:

Well I don't know anything about vitamins to take to help with Fibro but since as I read your note it seems you are also asking for others to tell about effects of their trying Savella, I thought I'd take a swing at that:

Since SO many of us can have odd reactions to prescriptions our doctors assure us will help, my guy gave me a 2 week sample card and said his usual "Come back in a month and let me know how you are."
He's almost got it learned that I can get weird reactions to practically anything so when he told me Savella is not anti-depressant but is in the same class as anti-depressants --- and I learned online that the warnings about Savella are exactly the same as those for all three kinds of a-d's --- I began using the little pills on that sample card at ONE QUARTER the daily dosage.

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Have worked through the beginner's pills, 12.5 mg, and moved on to the 25 mg tablets and thought it might be okay to go to one half dosage.

I was wrong. Three bad effects I'm noticing already are more insomnia than I already have due to ME & Fibro (side note, my doctor never did a Fibro exam on me, just said "You have Fibromyalgia" one day during an appointment, and I was glad I'd been sitting down when he said it because I might have hit the floor), pretty serious constipation, and not only does it not help with my pain... doctor said it would... mine seems to be getting worse instead of better.

No help with anything Fibromyalgic. None. Except for the bad effects the stuff might as well be water. I will start today with three quarters of one 25 mg tablet, do that for a week or so, then reduce another quarter of a pill for another week, and when I've done one week of one quarter tablet per day I fully intend to trash what's left.

Of course we're all different from each other when it comes down to what Fibro effects we get, and also different as to how we react to what's supposed to help us.

If you decide to go on with it I wish you the very best of luck and a lot of help from the Savella.

ca215.

Hi Elaine, I have been taking Fibroplex by Metagenics for nearly 10 years now. I can say that it is certainly worth the money. I get it at my Pharmacy, but I think it might be possible to order it online. Their website is www.metagenics.com

I have been taking 2 tablets twice daily and I buy a bottle of 240. That costs me $48.95, but it last me about 2 months. I tried several times to stop taking Fibroplex, but within 3-4 days I could not take the pain. I had to go back on it. If you can get this, or have your pharmacy get it for you, give it a try, I guess it does not work for everyone, but it is certainly worth a try. While I was working at the Pharmacy, I talked a number of people with Fibro into trying it. Only one came back and said it didn't help. Then he gave me the rest of his bottle! That was a great gift!

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My husband thinks this is all in my head too, so keep your chin up, we can survive even with non-believers! I was diagnosed in 1991, and still haven't convinced that it isn't "just one of those women's things." I hope you find that this works for you. Keep in touch if you can... I would be happy to hear how you are doing.

Elaine,

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Your not alone. And dont ever feel you are. I have had Fibro for 2 1/2 yrs now. I have tried several things. I have a conventional doctor and a Homeopathic doctor. I have tried Thyroid meds, organic, and finally gave in to Lyrica. Everything I read about the Lyrica was they gained on avg of 40 lbs. Not a good thought on my small body frame. Long story short... i gained 15 lbs in two mths. I didnt feel it was helping any - went off the Lyrica, too many side effects. I do take the fish oil, magnesium, and 10mg of Elavil and bed time to help me sleep. I started seeing an exercise trainer twice a week. She started me off just going through the motions. She then introduced me to Isotonix OPC-3. Basically its liquid vitamins. It fights off the free radicals that attack your body. I started taking it in January of this year. Two capfuls in the am and two in the pm. for 30 days (she called it a loading dose). Then back down to one capful twice a day. It took about a month, but I'm telling you what..I feel so much better!!! Not sure if its the combination of exercising and the OPC-3 but Im not dropping either one to find out. I still have the sore muscles but I dont ache like I did. I have more energy. Im not exhausted by 7:00 pm. Im enjoying working in the yard again. Please look it up and give it try. Look up the testimonials and read for yourself. I have never believed in something as strongly as I do this. Market America sells it. Or I can give you my contact. It helps so many illness's. They have other vitamins in this form also. My trainer said its the closest thing to an I-V. Please take the time to look it up. Everyone here. Take care Elaine and God's Speed. Sincerely reedeli.

Hi Elaine,
Man, you sure got a lot of responses! Whew!

I have Fibro as well as several other things and I have tried a lot of medications. For me, the side effects have been devastating- I lost several years to seizures from the meds and none of the doctors figured That one out! Not to mention the disabiling effect some of them had on my ability to walk and control all muscles including the ones you usually think are most involuntary.

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Anyway, I take an omega 3- the best one I've heard of is Moxxor- far, far better than any other Omega 3 product and without any mercury. It can help with inflammation and pain. (I take triple the regular dosage)
I also take Vit. D, C, B12, Iron (liquid is easiest to absorb and digest- and its amazing how much pain can be alieviated with iron if say you are anemic) I also take Magnesium. In addition to that I take a bath with plenty of epsom salts in it several times a week- this can help a lot with pain and It's CheaP!

Perhaps you are the type that would benefit in a visit with a Natropath or Homeopathic doctor. They will check over your whole system and give you a starting point for your particular needs. That's what I would do.

And exercising in water if there's anyway that you can - will really pay off well.

I don't know if compression hose helps people with Fibro generally or not- since I have several other things going on, but they are one of the main things that help me with my pain.
Best of luck sweetie !
prism