We've discussed before that I have some health opportunities that showed up in my life that brought me on this health and fitness kick. Well one of those opportunities is Fibromyalgia. For those who don't know what Fibromyalgia is this cute little disorder that causes mild discomfort......WRONG thats what you may find if you googled it or asked a doctor to explain to you what it is. Let me tell you what is actually is. If you have a good doctor like mine, he'll actually explain whats really happening to you if you have this disease. Some people call it a disorder. Its a disease just to clarify. It's one of the many autoimmune nasties that can creep up on a person who lets say also happens to have rheumatoid arthritis. Yep! That's me!
Because rheumatoid arthritis is also an autoimmune disease and an inflammatory disease they both amplify each other...fun.....I went through hell before finally understanding what was happening in my body. I also found that many people have these diseases and don't even know it until years later when the symptoms get bad enough to notice. And that was me. I hated going to doctors and I avoided them like a plague I also didn't respect my body enough to treat it well and when I thought I was treating well, man was I really misinformed about what that meant.
Back to the fibro. Fibromyalgia causes inflammation in the tissues (skin, joints) and causes a misfiring of the nerves causing over stimulation. So what this meant was if a tissue was rubbed across my arm, it actually felt like a thousand blades cutting into the skin on my arm. Fun right? Its not that the pain wasn't real though. Oh it was very real indeed. slightly too much rubbing of clothing on my skin would cause it to redden and even bruise or become a rash. Not to mention the nerve damage in my hands and neck and lower back this caused. That inflammation was something else and because of the arthritis tag teaming me on inflammation I was in a word, Screwed!
I had two choices; 1. Take these prescription pills at high doses and get terrible side affects that will have me taking several other meds for the rest of my life and I'd still have to end up permanently in a wheel chair. (uh no!) OR 2. Do the research and find a better answer.
You would not be reading this right now if I had chosen door number one. I took the red pill instead. ::wink:: (movie reference right there haha) I still don't know everything but I for sure know a heck of a lot more than I did and in fact (and this is the scary part) I know a heck of a lot more than most, even so called professionals. yikes. What does it takes to recover from something that was so debilitating at one point that I was going to be confined to a wheel chair? Well a lot. In fact I am still healing from it. But where I was once unable to sit up unassisted in my own bed I am now able to run and lift weights and ride bikes with my daughter again.
The first thing I found when researching is that any inflammatory and autoimmune diseases symptoms are enhanced by gluten. For some crazy reason the body's ability to break down the wheat protein gluten is stifled by these diseases and instead serious inflammation and heightened sensitivity is caused by the consumption of the wheat protein, gluten. So guess what I removed from my diet.
The other thing is these diseases are often triggered by a couple of things like a domino effect. The diseases were allowed to manifest and stay and even get worse because I was as most people affected by disease, severely mineral and vitamin deficient. Especially in key minerals necessary to proper digestion function. Go figure.
But there was another gate way opened for this to occur as well. People with these illnesses including psoriasis have the same initial cause of these inflammatory, autoimmune and digestive disorders, a lack of gut bacteria. (the good guys) Typically this can be caused by an over use of antibiotics or anything that would kill off good gut bacteria. In my case, over use of antibiotics. Why? I got infections quite often. why? because I was mineral and vitamin deficient so I got sick a lot and my immune system was always compromised.
So I removed the gluten and dairy and meat products so I could stop flare ups. I started juicing several times a day (no need for the extra fiber I'll explain) In order to get saturated in the minerals and vitamins I was deficient in. Make no mistake these changes don't cure everything over night and in fact Im still working on some things but holy moley I have come a heck of a long way because of it.
The reason I did not put in the extra fiber is this; people with digestive issues and immune diseases have a problem with their digestion as it is. Since over 70% of your immune system in located in your digestive system it's really unwise to make it work harder to break down food and bulk fiber. You'll only over tax your system again and hurt yourself. Also because of the illness, that means that mineral deficiency is a problem and you can't saturate with enough minerals if half of your nutrients in the juice are coming from bulk fiber. You need more minerals than that. If you're worried about being able to use the bathroom. Trust me you'll still go and you'll go plenty. Leave the fiber alone, you don't need it right now.
There are other things that can be done to reduce inflammation and reduce and control the symptoms of these diseases. I take epsom baths in warm water. I take high does of vitamin D3 8000 IU. People with these diseases have a lack of vitamin D in their bodies. I also take Vitamin K and eat plenty of avocados for magnesium because K and Magnesium help D get absorbed in your body. I take turmeric pills. Raw and freeze dried is best and selenium. I also drink my whole food shakes which have the probiotics I need to restore my gut bacteria and I take extra probiotic capsules because of my deficiency everyday. This affords me some breathing room when it comes to energy and pain levels.
Also, I've also found such a relief in strength training work outs that call for the use of weights. I started low and slow and thats what you need to do if you have these illnesses. Now that I've gained a lot more strength I can lift more and do longer workouts and do them several times over if I want throughout the day. When I work out I actually have less pain. If I have a rest day where I skip a workout I tend to have more pain those days and cannot sleep as good. So my body actually relies on my workouts for relief. I can control my "health opportunities" with exercise and nutrition. Well will ya look at that. Is was that easy all along? Yep!
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