Fibromyalgia is devastating. And, it is even more challenging when you see that famed institutions like the Mayo Clinic state that “treatment can help but this condition can’t be cured”. 

Don’t listen to them! Turn and run from anyone that tells you that you have to live with it!

Solving the challenge of Fibromyalgia isn’t easy but it can be navigated. It means stepping outside of the conventional medicine box. One of the challenges with medicine is that all the funding for researching solutions comes from the pharmaceutical industry. If there isn’t a drug to “cure” a problem then from their perspective there isn’t a solution. 

You always have the option of traveling down the pharmaceutical path, just know that if you limit your care to that there is little chance of healing. The focus of drugs is to suppress symptoms and anytime you suppress symptoms there is a cost.

According to the Arthritis Foundation common side effects of medications prescribed for Fibromyalgia include:

• Abnormal thoughts and behaviors
• Memory loss
• Anxiety
• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Diarrhea
• A “Drugged Feeling”
• Fatigue 
• Headache

Look at that list and compare it to common Fibromyalgia Symptoms. They both share:

• Fatigue
• Anxiety
• Memory
• Headaches

Imagine prescribing a medication that has as its common side effects the very same symptoms for which you are prescribing the medication. Perhaps this should be in the dictionary as an example of “insanity”.

It’s not for me to tell you whether or not you should resort to medication but you should have great clarity on the symptoms that medication might cause as well as any long term complications from taking those medications. 

After all, if fibromyalgia cannot be “cured” this means that you will be medicated for as long as you have fibromyalgia. All medications tend to cause more complications the longer you are on them. 

A common medication Amitriptyline has these “side effects”:

• Men having problems getting an erection and ejaculating
• Vaginal bleeding
• Breast swelling in both men and women

Another common medication, Prozac offers these complications:

• Liver toxicity
• Changes in weight 
• Impaired quality of life
• Tolerance, original symptoms re-emerge

First, I really dislike the term “side effects”. They might be unwanted effects but they aren’t side effects. They are just as much effects as the ones you are looking for. 

It’s always interesting when the “side effects” either mimic the symptoms you are trying to reduce or are less desirable than what you start with. This will often result in the prescription of additional drugs to treat the side effects of other drugs. And, the insanity continues. 

Medicine is great at dealing with acute crises such as trauma and infection. Where it fails miserably is in dealing with chronic illnesses like fibromyalgia. 

Since you know what your options are with traditional care, let’s not dwell there. Those options remain. What other possibilities exist for addressing fibromyalgia?

The 4 Essential Legs to Fibromyalgia Treatment

What follows is based on my experience addressing chronic and challenging conditions like fibromyalgia. Rather than try to “treat” and “cure” fibromyalgia let’s look instead at how we might support the body in returning to a state of balance and health. 

Essential Leg #1:Autonomic Nervous System Balance: Fibromyalgia like all chronic issues involves some imbalance in the Autonomic Nervous System. In all likeliehood your system is in a state of exhaustion. A big key is in supporting the healing of your Vagus Nerve of the Parasympathetic System. A healthy Vagus Nerve helps support all processes involved with health, healing, and recovery such as:

• Restorative Sleep
• Lowered Inflammation
• Healthy Digestion
• Rest, Recovery, and Healing
• Healthy Immune Response

The Vagus Nerve must be supported by directly and indirectly as you will see below.

Essential Leg #2:Structural Balance: The goal with Fibromyalgia is to remove as many sources of imbalance, tension, and interference from the system. If you are sitting and walking around with structural imbalance as evidenced from your pelvis, shoulders, and head that is a constant source of nervous system irritation that is helping to perpetuate the Autonomic Nervous System imbalance and keeping you from healing. 

Essential Leg #3:Upper Cervical Spine Balance: The upper cervical spine is a very special area as it is home to the brainstem. This is the control center that regulates most internal functions and is the most powerful source of tension and interference on the nervous system, especially the Autonomic Nervous System.

Essential Leg #4:Vagus Nerve Activation: It is not sufficient to remove sources of irritation from the Autonomic Nervous System. With a longstanding issue like Fibromyalgia you must work to raise the activity of the Vagus Nerve. You read above how important the Vagus Nerve is to your overall health. It is also critical to your recovery. This is a process that must be done daily over a period of many months. The good news is you will see some immediate signs of Vagal activity. 

There are obviously other things you will want to work on to support your recovery that are outside of this article. Things like diet, sleep hygiene, support for the H-P-A stress axis, and much more. 

Fibromyalgia is a complicated and challenging chronic condition. Whatever you can do to support your body’s healing powers will promote your recovery. 

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