New here. Was wondering if you all noticed what I noticed...

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emmett518

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About three months ago, my family practitioner referred me to a rheumatologist for a bunch of weird symptoms. Anxiety, brain fog, falling asleep when not moving, yet waking up at 2 AM too anxious to fall back asleep, IBS issues, and general muscle pain (not joint pain) that was pretty heavy. After checking me out, she indicated that I probably had fibro. She went on to explain that they arrived at that diagnosis by eliminating everything else.

I asked her what caused this. No clue. I asked her how to cure it. No clue. I asked her what she suggested, and she said that I had to start taking a bunch of prescriptions, including sleeping pills.

I told her that wasn't in the cards. She told me that without the drugs, I wouldn't be able to function. I told her to watch me.

Since I didn't want her drugs, she sent me away.

On the way home, I thought about what I could do to reduce inflammation, and remembered that refined carbs, and wheat caused inflammation. I also remembered that those foods also made me feel crappy. So I eliminated any refined sugar, and all wheat from my diet. I still ate fruit, brown rice, and other complex carbs like old fashioned oatmeal.
Within 1 week, most of my symptoms vanished. The brain fog, the rotten sleep, the muscle pain, the anxiety. Two weeks later, I ate a pizza, and the symptoms came back with a vengeance. Two weeks without, back to good health. A large handful of pretzels? Back to feeling horrible.

Has anyone here tried eliminating wheat and all refined carbs to see if that helps? If you haven't, would you mind giving that a try for 7 days, and report back whether that helps you?

I know this is not easy, as everything has sugar and wheat in it. I know you'll have to watch labels, probably skip eating out, and change your dietary habits, but I'd really like to see if anyone else sees what I've been seeing.

Thanks
 
Hello emmett,

Yes, many of us have tried elimination diets of all kinds. It's a great idea and a thing I advise everyone to try in my advice on managing fibromyalgia post which is pinned at the top of the General forum. Various dietary changes make some people feel better, but it doesn't cure a person who has fibromyalgia. If things were that easy, there'd be no one with fibromyalgia and certainly no forum here.

From what you tell me, your doctor rushed into a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, which some will do, while others won't believe it even exists. Even if you had fibromyalgia, drugs and sleeping pills are not the best approach, so I commend you on your "watch me" attitude and your immediately taking charge of your own health. However, you don't and did not have fibromyalgia, because fibromyalgia is not that easily cured.

What you have is food sensitivities, possibly celiac, maybe something else,. If changing your diet brings you back to good health you are indeed a very fortunate person, and also very fortunate to be not a person who has fibromyalgia, and I am happy for you.

While most people here know to try cutting out various things (dairy, wheat, sugar, meat etc.), I do think it's good for you to spread the word in various places and to people you know because cutting out those things has helped a lot of people with various health issues. I practically proselytize about it. :cool:
 
Hi emmett518. I stopped eating grains, sugar, dairy and nightshades 7 years ago because I was seeing alternative doctors and they told me to. I could barely get out of bed. Now I can garden and cook with limited pain. Also decided to cut out processed food. My husband who is 77 feels great and loves the food. We're luckier than most because we can grow and process our own food. I truly believe that food is medicine as well as marrijuana.
You just need to try different things and see what works for you.
(((gentle hugs)))
 
Hi @emmett518,

It's so nice to hear how you have taken your health into your own hands and achieved what you have.
I have tried the elimination of foods over the years and it did help, but unfortunately I still suffered with many fibro symptoms :(

But good on you for knowing and working with your own body ;)
 
Hi emmet yeah I eliminate wheat and refined carbs and yeah for me it makes a difference (also sugar and caffeine are culprits too) your a new member ☕ 🍪 👋🏼
 
OP/emmett518: yes, yes, yes. I noticed that those foods/ingredients also wreck me. I try to stay away from them and suffer when I can't resist. There's definitely a link there for me too.
 
Hello! Thank you for the advice!!! ❤️ I did something similar and immediately felt less pain and no need for a nap. And when I did eat crappy, more pain. Unfortunately, continuing on a heathy meal plan didn’t keep my pain away for extended months. I definitely think it’s related though.
 
I have not tried lyrica, although I’ve heard it tossed around. Does it usually cause weight gain?
Also, I’d like to wean off cymbalta. It helped me feel less fatigued, but hasn’t helped w/pain. I will most definitely do this over many months. What side effects have you all experienced on weaning off? Thank you, friends!!!
 
Has anyone here tried eliminating wheat and all refined carbs to see if that helps? If you haven't, would you mind giving that a try for 7 days, and report back whether that helps you?
I hadn't answered this yet, just "liked" = seconded everything sunkacola replied. Although emmett518 hasn't logged in since then (maybe because we felt it didn't at all sound like fibro) it might help others to add that an elimination diet may work quickly, but sometimes it may take weeks to months.
As someone who has to eliminate most foods, down to 50, due first to IBS, then lipids, now MCAS/ histamine I've had to eliminate most food types and that didn't change any of my fibro symptoms at all. Also I've been eating only wholemeal etc. for 30 years - before anyone thinks this is "the cause" of fibro...

Also, I’d like to wean off cymbalta. It helped me feel less fatigued, but hasn’t helped w/pain. I will most definitely do this over many months. What side effects have you all experienced on weaning off?
Good for you, altho having more fatigue might need compensation using supps and praps exercises?

I weaned off amitriptyline, not duloxetine/Cymbalta, inside of 2 weeks, without any problems... using 2mg drops that I decreased from 13 every few days. You don't seem to get these in your countries, or for Cymbalta, but I'd try to make sure I'd do it similarly, in small increments. At the same time, I'd get other strategies and treatments installed for what it did help with, in my case sleep (but zombified, and I never felt restored).
 
@Shel i had to come off my lyrica , It was causing me audio and visual hallucinations! ( I thought my house was haunted, I wasn't putting the two together) I worked it out eventually, I prefer my gabapentin (they cause me slight hallucinations) but nowhere near as harsh as the lyrica was, I guess different things affect people differently (or sometimes exactly the same) ps hope your ok and the fibros not getting to you too much 🤗🐻🤗
 
lyrica , It was causing me audio and visual hallucinations
Oh, really? I hadn't gathered that, or can't remember, so you prefer gabapentin/Neurontin to pregabalin/Lyrica. And can you remind me: Are the main effects better for you too?

Weaning off all of these can cause problems, dependent on dosage and time taken. So my weaning off amitriptyline was probably easier due to it "only" being 25mg and 4 months.

Does it usually cause weight gain?
Yup, all of this stuff can cause weight gain, most common in amitriptyline, pregabalin and mirtazapine/Remeron. Least in duloxetine, that can even cause weight loss in some people and also rarer in gabapentin - also true for you, Auriel?
 
Yeah I prefer gabapentin, I wasn't feeling positive differences on lyrica, obviously my gabapentin makes me really really drowsy but I'm tolerant to it (I'm finding green tea is helping right now, is decaffeinated) 👍🏻👌🏻
 
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Gabapentin helped right away, but now I don’t feel much pain relief :( I’ve only been on about 1.5 years or so.
 
Mine needed a increase after a bit too, i think the winter last year made it worse, (down side it caused more drowsyness) maybe a meds assessment is due (such an awkward thing to try and make better)
✨🧚🏼✨
 
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