Tag fibromyalgia

The Importance of Magnesium in Fibromyalgia

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We hear it all the time, another supplement that we should take. Something else to swallow, but why? My personal opinion as a Fibromyalgia patient is that I’ll swallow 30 supplements over 30 prescriptions any day. The human body is designed to heal, if we feed it naturally. How did we last this long in the role of evolution, if we weren’t designed to grow, learn, heal, and adapt?

Magnesium is necessary for human bodily function. In fact, for the role of a patient that has neuropathic pain and pain hypersensitivity magnesium can decrease this effect. Magnesium blocks the calcium influx that decreases that hypersensitivity and inhibits central sensitization from happening in the first place. What’s important to note is that as we age our magnesium consumption seems to lower, and our capability of absorption decreases leading to inflammatory stress and poor sleep quality.

A study titled Psychological and Sleep Effects of Tryptophan and Magnesium-Enriched Mediterranean Diet in Women with Fibromyalgia actually concluded with the following information.

“Daily consumption of a Mediterranean-diet enriched with a high dose of TRY and MG (60 mg of TRY and 60 mg of MG) by middle-aged women with fibromyalgia during 16 weeks had modest beneficial effects on emotional processing, decreased fatigue, anxiety, and depression, and reduced possible eating disorders and dissatisfaction with body image, but did not modify sleep quality,” states the MDPI website on Environmental Research and Public Health.

I’m certain, as a patient myself, that most of us do not get proper nutrition with the varying different co-morbid conditions that we have. Especially for ones that suffer from heartburn influxes, and irritable bowel, and swallowing issues. After all our central nervous systems are all dysfunctional, our receptors are on full volume, we are lucky to have the energy to cook let alone consume food at all somedays.

“Several research studies have shown that patients with chronic pain do not follow the recommended dietary intake of most vitamins and minerals; and such deficiencies have been associated to several pathological conditions of chronic pain, including FM. Additionally, studies have investigated the impact of magnesium (Mg) on pain improvement. Mg is an important trace element for many metabolic functions, also vital for the activity of over 300 enzymes. Mg deficiency has been associated to headache, migraine, fibromyalgia, increase in C-reactive Protein (CRP), osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions,” states the BMC website on Advances in Rheumatology.

Fatigue, muscle weakness, irritable bowel, and paresthesia are similar to the symptoms of deficiency in Mg, which are all symptoms of FM. If a Mg deficiency does exist, it may have a shared link among stress, inflammation and metabolic syndrome, this may cause an inappropriate response with the activation of intracellular calcium (Ca). So it stands to reason to supplement Mg when necessary. Magnesium (Mg) deficiency actually has a name, it’s called Hypomagnesemia.

“Although more than 99 % of the total body magnesium is located in the intracellular space, intracellular magnesium measurement is not included in daily basis in the clinical laboratory, being measured in serum and/or plasma. Hypomagnesemia – considered when serum magnesium concentration is below 0.7 mmol/L– is common, especially in subjects with comorbid conditions. The causes of hypomagnesemia can be broadly classified into four categories: gastrointestinal loss, renal loss, secondary to medications, and decreased intake. The prevalence of hypomagnesemia depends on multiple factors and varies according to different healthcare scenarios: 2.7 % in the general population, approximately 10 % in hospitalized patients, most commonly in critically ill patients, 14.7 % in patients with chronic kidney disease, 30–80 % in persons with alcohol use disorder and 10–60 % in patients with diabetes. Mild deficiency can remain undetected because it often presents non-specific symptoms, such as irritability, nervousness, mild anxiety, muscle contractions, weakness, fatigue, and digestive problems. A more pronounced magnesium deficiency can cause more severe symptoms of neuromuscular, cardiac, or nervous disorders,” states the De Gruyter website.

Okay, the big question, which is the best magnesium to take?! There seems to be a plethora of them to choose from. Personally, I take a triple form of Magnesium. The most highly absorbable is actually organic magnesium salts. If you can tolerate Magnesium by mouth, using Magnesium Citrate, Glycinate, Malate can help. Be forewarned that Magnesium Oxide is the one that has the tendency to have the most pronounced gastrointestinal issue effects. I highly recommend especially for FM patients to avoid Magnesium Oxide especially if you already have IBS, we want our small bowel to absorb the magnesium to help ourselves at the intracellular level rather than reject it.

“A daily dose of 800–1,600 mg (40–80 mEq [20–40 mmol]) can be used to treat moderate to severe hypomagnesemia. Patients with gastrointestinal disorders that are not easily correctable can be challenging to treat because oral magnesium preparations can cause diarrhea and potentially worsen the deficit. Oral preparations should be started at the lowest dose and only gradually increased. Magnesium oxide tends to cause more gastrointestinal intolerance than other oral preparations” states the De Gruyter website.

What got me started on the Magnesium pathway to begin with is that my blood pressure was all kinds of crazy and no heart medicine they put me on did anything for it. I had paresthesia in my veins (where they shrink) and in my carotid arteries to my brain. Once I started my supplementation my blood pressures started to calm down a bit, they are not perfect but doing way better than they used to be.

Like many other vitamins and minerals that work hand in hand. It is important that if you are supplementing with Magnesium that you are also taking a Vitamin D supplement for maximum potential of absorption.

“Magnesium absorption and excretion are influenced by different hormones: 1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D can stimulate intestinal magnesium absorption, estrogens are known to stimulate TRPM6 expression and parathyroid hormone (PTH) is involved in magnesium reabsorption in the kidney, absorption in the intestine, and release from bone excretion” states the De Gruyter website.

Learning about Folate and Cobalamin

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It’s been several months now, and I’m going to start sharing with you the really awesome part of my life. I’ve not needed prescriptions, and I’m tackling Mast Cell Activation, Fibromyalgia, Interstitial Cystitis, and all the other junk that goes along with these nasty things Naturally. Recently, my friend and I were discussing the importance of Folate (Methylfolate) and Cobalamin (Vit B12).

“Vitamin B12 deficiency is more prevalent in the elderly and can develop as a result of malnutrition, malabsorption, chronic alcoholism, and chronic use of common medications (e.g. metformin, PPI, methotrexate) along with other causes. A wide spectrum of hematological and neuropsychiatric manifestations exist with the most common being Megaloblastic anemia and subacute combined degeneration, respectively. The mechanisms leading to the manifestations specific to these two organ systems are thought to be different. The severity of neuropsychiatric presentation is reported to be inversely proportional to that of hematological presentation, thus making it uncommon for both to be readily apparent simultaneously, ” states the PUBMED website.

What does that mean for us? Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) deficiency can impact many different factors in our lifestyles just from neurological to neuropsychiatric by themselves. Cobalamin is very important when dealing with pain and varying symptoms in Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FS).

“Vitamin B12 (VB) is a necessary vitamin for routine cell activity and metabolism. A deficiency in VB causes symptoms that are also frequently observed in FS, such as weakness, fatigue, general muscle pain, and sleep disturbances. Interestingly, subnormal VB levels may cause these symptoms. Previous studies have reported that FS patients have similar VB levels to healthy individuals. VD deficiency was associated with fatigue and generalized pain. VD deficiency is seen much more often in females than males, and FS is usually seen in females,” states the Sciendo website.

What makes it interesting to know is that Cobalamin deficiency can be caused by medications such as anti-seizure medications, and H2 histamine antagonists. These are medications such as gabapentenoids, and heartburn prevention medications and histamine blockers. These are medications that are regularly taken by Fibromyalgia patients.

“VB deficiency could disrupt methionine synthesis enzyme activity and cause nerve demyelination. Demyelination of the nerves causes a decrease in the pain threshold and general body pain in patients. There is a strong relationship between VB levels and general body pain, and most patients’ pain symptoms may decrease with VB supplementation,” states the Sciendo website.

Knowing that FS also includes a high occurrence of patients that also have small fiber neuropathy and that with a cobalamin (VB) deficiency can cause nerve demyelination makes it blatantly obvious that it can actually contribute to our pain receptor dysfunction.

Folate can be found in leafy green veggies like kale. OldieFan/Pixabay

So along with co-morbid conditions like IBS and various other conditions than can create a malabsorption problem, I started searching out the best way to get the most out of my vitamin supplementation. That was looking at methylated versions of what I was taking. Methylated, Liposomal, and Liquid is to get the most out of your vitamins and ensuring that you are getting what you are taking.

Let’s discuss a little bit about folate, and how this works. Folate works in conjunction with Cobalamin (VB) for energy metabolism, and cell function and repair. What is interesting to know is that folic acid, which was created and added to food sources, does not metabolize correctly and can be stored, to actually block the folate pathways, which can cause a folate deficiency.

“Food fortification and increased vitamin intake have led to higher folic acid (FA) consumption by pregnant women, and some studies have suggested that buildup of unmetabolized folic acid may have negative effects on folate pathways. Recent studies have suggested that unconverted folic acid may affect folate pathways by interfering with folate-dependent enzymes and metabolism. Folate deficiency during pregnancy has been associated with developmental abnormalities such as neural tube defects in the fetus and autism spectrum disorders in children. These disorders can be prevented and treated with high-dose vitamin B9. Folate receptor antibodies are significantly associated with the disruption of brain development in the fetus and function in later life. Folate is actively transported to the fetus, and this transport can be blocked by an antibody against the folate receptor. Folate receptor antibodies are significantly associated with neural tube pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders, and folinic acid treatment in the latter condition has shown improvement in core behavioral deficits along with normalizing the CSF folate status. ,” states the MDPI website.

What is more interesting that if those pathways are now blocked with unused and unprocessed folic acid, we no longer can methylate and do DNA repair. The need to take a methylated version of Folate known as Methylfolate, is the only way to “skip” over the blockage of built-up folic acid so our bodies can get the proper micronutrients. During that methylation process of folate, it uses cobalamin (VB) to help detoxify, methylate, and open back up our pathways for proper DNA repair.

“Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that plays a critical role in nucleic acid biosynthesis, DNA repair, and methylation. Adequate folate intake is vital for cell division and homeostasis because folate coenzymes play essential roles in nucleic acid synthesis, methionine regeneration, and the shuttling, oxidation, and reduction of one-carbon units required for normal metabolism and regulation. Low folate status is associated with elevated plasma Hcy, which are both risk factors for cardiovascular disease, stroke, megaloblastic anemia, neural tube defects (NTDs; congenital malformation of the fetus), depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and tumors,” states the National Library of Medicine website.

Using methylfolate or (5-MTHF) is the optimal supplementation especially in people that have MTHFR gene mutations.

“5-MTHF has many advantages over folic acid as a supplement. 5-MTHF participates directly in one-carbon metabolism without activation. Thus, 5-MTHF supplements should bypass the limitation of low DHFR activity and the decreased efficiency caused by several common polymorphisms of MTHFR and other enzymes. Unlike folic acid, data suggest that 5-MTHF will not mask vitamin B12 deficiency. 5-MTHF is also more effective than folic acid supplementation in improving folate status. Studies on the safety, tolerability, and retention rates of 5-MTHF/5-MTHF-Ca have suggested that 5-MTHF-Ca is a safe alternative to folic acid as a source of folate and may be particularly advantageous for individuals with MTHFR defects, who could have difficulty processing folic acid from supplements or fortified foods,” states the National Library of Medicine website.

What has been found and published is that B12/Folate can actually benefit Fibromyalgia patients as found in the following study.

“Dose-response relationship and long-lasting effects of B12/folic acid support a true positive response in the studied group of patients with ME/fibromyalgia. It’s important to be alert on co-existing thyroid dysfunction, and we suspect a risk of counteracting interference between B12/folic acid and certain opioid analgesics and other drugs that have to be demethylated as part of their metabolism,” states the Plos One website.

What have I personally experienced? That when I stopped my prescription medications, and I discovered this information. I started Methylfolate and a methylated version of B Complex together, and things have changed drastically for me. Since they are water soluble vitamins, I take them 3 times a day. What my body doesn’t use disposes of them. Knowing that I had already been taking H2 antagonists because of my mast cell activation and different allergic type reactions, I knew that I was already B12 deficient. This didn’t even include the short period of type that I was on gabapentenoids, in all hopes and purposes of stopping the pain. I’m not entirely pain free, but I did notice that my brain fog dissipated, and I felt my arms and legs “tingle” knowing that essentially it started repairing my nerve endings right away.

I may sound like a broken record if you’ve read through my blog, but I’m telling you that I don’t regret it, and I highly suggest you try this first. I also supplement with a methylated Triple Magnesium for optimal muscle health and regeneration along with Vitamin D supplement as well. I’m not the only one either, my mother and sister are in the same boat as me, and we are all improving so greatly. I cannot recommend it enough.

If you found this and read it all the way through. Thank you and congratulations. It’s the first step in your wellness. Always remember, I’m not a doctor, I’m a patient, living this life. I have no affiliation with medical field or the product companies that I use but I am an Amazon Affiliate for the soul purpose of generating a small income if you choose to order from the links provided on the products that I personally use. This is to assist in keeping up the blog, and to give my readers the convenience of finding them quickly. As always, please speak with your primary and pharmacist before adding anything or taking away anything from your regimen. –Wellness Wishes from Your Author!

Methylfolate

Methylated Vitamin B Complex

Triple Magnesium

Vitamin D

Unveiling Mast Cell & Fibromyalgia Connection

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Fibromyalgia comes with many comorbid conditions that can be directly affected by mast cell reactions. Some conditions can include bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC), gastrointestinal symptoms (GI), neurologic inflammation and pain, and mast cell dysfunction and disorders.

Mast cells in the skin are the guardians that quickly react to stimuli that disturb a person’s homeostasis. Mast Cells (MCs) are found in the mucous membranes of the respiratory along with the digestive tract along with submucosa and connective tissue adjacent to the conjunctiva and skin. MCs are part of the pathogenesis of allergic, auto inflammatory and cancer disease as well.

Since our skin is the largest organ of the body that protects us from external physical, chemical, along with microbiological factors. MCs are one of the representatives that react first in the immune response. MCs are part of both the innate and adaptive immune responses.

Neurological Inflammation & Pain

“Thalamic mast cells contribute to inflammation and pain, by releasing neuro-sensitizing molecules that include histamine, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF, as well as calcitonin-gene related peptide (CGRP), HK-1 and SP. These molecules could either stimulate thalamic nociceptive neurons directly, or via stimulation of microglia in the diencephalon. As a result, inhibiting mast cell stimulation could be used as a novel approach for reducing pain and the symptoms of FMS,” states the PubMed website.

Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis (BPS/IC)

“Mast cells involved in allergic reactions are distributed throughout the blood vessels, lymph glands, and nerves of the bladder, as well as the bladder smooth muscle and mucosa. Mast cells activated by the involvement of neurological, immune, and endocrine factors are thought to play a central role in the progression of IC/BPS in many patients,” states the International Neurology Journal website.

Gastrointestinal Pain & Inflammation

“Diet modification in patients with fibromyalgia by specific histamine release test improves certain clinical parameters related to the symptoms of the digestive sphere, compared to the control group. Our work opens a possible way of non-pharmacological treatment to improve some symptoms of this very prevalent disease,” states the Rheumatologia website.

The identification of the DAO enzyme deficiency in FMS patients has made it obvious that histamine and mast cell reactions directly correlate for a lot of the sub symptoms of Fibromyalgia and it’s associated pain.

DAO deficiency can create a histamine intolerance in FM patients. Photo cred:meineresterampe/Pixabay

“Associations between fibromyalgia symptoms and candidate variants of the AOC1 gene in DAO enzyme activity. Identification of reduced DAO activity may improve the quality of life and treatment of symptoms in fibromyalgia patients.” states the Frontiers website when discussing Frontiers in Genetics.

DAO is an enzyme stored in tissues but primarily are found in the renal and intestinal mucosa. DAO’s purpose is to catabolize, or break down, histamine and diamines. Deficiency in DAO can create Histamine Intolerance (HIT). This can lead to neurological, gastrointestinal, and epidermal disorders.

What is recommended to assist patients in treatment is an elimination diet of high histamine foods can help patients along with recommendations of the following:

“Inhibitors of mast cells would be useful in the treatment of FMS. Natural molecules could include the flavonoids, luteolin and tetramethoxyluteolin, alone or in combination with other substances selected to reduce stress. Other natural molecules could include palmitoylethanolamide, which apparently inhibits neuro-inflammation and reduces pain,” states the Frontiers in Cellular Neurology website .

Follow me here or on Newsbreak App for more of latest discovery, developments, and news on Fibromyalgia and it’s comorbid conditions on Newsbreak App!

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https://original.newsbreak.com/@misty-romack-1637118/3136545642454-mast-cells-fibromyalgia-unveiling-a-connection

So I added Melatonin…

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**I am an Amazon Affiliate, and I do receive a small commission on links supplied, for my work and research if you so choose to order from those links. The articles I post and the links provided are merely suggested products that I am personally using, but not the ones in the studies that I research and write about on Newsbreak. There is no affiliation between myself or Newsbreak and these products or companies.**

Today I needed to give you an update to my guinea pig status. So even though I started the L-Serine I wasn’t feeling all the love with it, all the time. I was getting pretty much a dosage of what felt like taking an NSAID for a few short hours. So, I decided to dig deep into my arsenal of vitamins and dig out the Melatonin.

Recently I had did an article for Newsbreak, explaining the benefits of many different vitamin supplements. One article in particular I decided to do was on Bone pain and Melatonin. Let me tell you, my osteoarthritis is my knees and the joints in my hands have hurt for DAYS…and even when I pulled out my TENS unit to use on my shoulders and the muscle pain, I still wasn’t getting the bone pain relief and it’s been a struggle to sleep.

Even when the kids were much younger and it was suggested I try Melatonin for my ADHD child, I tried taking a 10mg tablet just to see the effects for myself and never really paid attention to the fact of what it did then, even though it didn’t make me want to sleep at all. However last night, I took the 50mg dose, I swallowed five of those little pills. Let me tell you, I haven’t felt that kind of completely relaxed state in my joints or muscles in so long, it felt like I sank deep into a pillow of cotton candy, I was floating… my body was completely in homeostasis. No muscle or joint pain whatsoever as I let sleep take over. I laid there and let it set in. I was still half awake and half asleep, but I achieved that analgesic effect I have not had since one of my major surgeries.

So this morning, with my morning vitamins, I went ahead and took 10 mg of Melatonin. Just to see if it would help or assist in that same feeling, because after a shower, my shoulders hurt again. My joints aren’t agitated yet. So far, not really the same feeling as last night, but I do feel “relaxed”. My joints and hands sure don’t hurt as much, so there is something to assisting with bone pain, and I’m good with that. I hate that ache I get when it feels like “it’s going to rain” and then it perpetuates for days. So I’ll accept that. In the meantime, I’ll take the L-Serine for the shoulder/muscle pain and keep at 10 mg doses during the day for the joints. I believe I’m going to like those results. A little relief is better than no relief.

I’ll be very honest though; it’d be nice to have all these supplements in just a fraction of the pills I swallow. When mainly my breakfast seems to be supplements, until I get hungry again around 10. If you know you know. I’d rather swallow a bazillion supplements if I have to rather than a bunch of medications that I have to navigate through side effects from. Happy Monday!

***UPDATE: when dosing melatonin, do it only AS needed for pain, so far I’m a week in, I have found myself only using them when I need them most, especially the higher dose at night.***

Another L-Serine Update**

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**I am an Amazon Affiliate, and if you choose to order from the links provided, know that you are supporting my work, and my website. Thank you in advance for your support!!**

Recently I have been doing a lot of series work on Fibromyalgia for Newsbreak. I have been sharing a lot of information there on the research I had recently done. One thing that during my research I discovered a lack of L-Serine was discovered in Fibro patients’ urine. L-Serine is an amino acid that our bodies use daily, and usually produce, and there is a block. In true fashion, I have been the guinea pig, so you can reference previous posts.

On June 23rd, I had posted that I was making some great progress. I had to leave town for approximately 10 days shortly after that post, and I decided that would be the time to stop using L-Serine to see if there was a noticeable difference. Let me tell you now, I regretted every minute of being of L-Serine. The first few days didn’t seem to be that bad, in fact for the first 4 days or so, I couldn’t tell an issue at all. However, I stayed in mainly a controlled type of environment and temperature most of the time, however we were close to Chicago and the Canadian Fire Particulates contaminated the air we were breathing. When I say controlled environment, I mean hotel, even 72 degrees, and event was also a controlled 72 degrees, not heavy activity, mainly brain power was used.

Camping stock photo from: xuanduongvan87/Pixabay

Well fast forward to the July 4th weekend, and I changed locations with the family and went camping in Kentucky. I was out in the heat, humidity, and storms that decided to grace our family “adventures”. Lovingly my mother has coined our family vacations with “family adventures” because nothing ever goes to plan. During the flash flood at our campground, the pain started to sneak up on me. First it was the knees, and by the time I drove home, then this morning, I was full blown burning and aching. In fact, I woke up with the burning and aching in the neck and back of my shoulders, headache….the works. I actually had a bit of brain fog this afternoon which hasn’t happened in what seems like forever, I found myself searching for a few simple words.

Before I sat down to write this, I took a dose of L-Serine . Waiting for some of the pain to subside now. So, for the ones who incorporate L-Serine into their regimen, trust me, you are going to know it if you forget it for too long. Praying for relief quickly.

Stopping for a Moment for Lifetime Wisdom

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There’s been a lot happening in my life that doesn’t happen to be anything about my chronic illnesses, however they directly have an effect on my wellness. Remember, that just because you are doing everything possible to control your illnesses, the outside world and uncontrollable influences can send you into a flare. I’m really allergic to stress, even emotional stress. How can I tell?

I have this superhuman ability to gain like 5 to 10 lbs. overnight, which my kidney specialist told me one time was absolutely impossible. No one can eat or drink that much in one day for that to just appear. No doctor had an answer. However, here I was being this fabulous super growing and shrinking woman depending on what was going on in my life. Never did we realize at that point in time, it was directly correlating with the stress that I was under. Yet here I am, rocking it, even when my body was in a peaceful state as far as illness the day before.

So, I’m going to share with you some wisdom, that has seemed to come to me over the past few years. It took a group of my family elders and myself along with an example that shortly followed that brought me to this outright wisdom.

In Parenthood and Life, “It is okay to be human, but it’s always best to be a GOOD human.”

It takes nothing to be a Good Human to Yourself. Picture Credit: Engin_Akyurt/Pixabay

There’s been many different times I’ve asked myself over my lifetime, why certain people just choose to be a bad human. Then you wonder what kind of people would raise such a human. I am naturally a curious person and a people watcher. I even studied a bit of psychology when I was young in high school prepping for college, along with any and every child development course I could and even though I didn’t follow through with any type of degree, it certainly helped me in some pretty tight spots myself.

You can meet some of the most insanely nice people and then there are just inherently bad humans, ones that steal, lie, cheat and or abuse others. However, you meet their families and parents and question “How is that even possible?” No matter the upbringing, humans are responsible and should be accountable for their own actions, and sometimes they just aren’t, and refuse to.

It’s going to directly affect you in one way or another, but you still have the choice to still be a Good Human, and act accordingly if someone does something to you that hurts you. You have control on how you react to certain situations. You do not have to bow down to their tactics, walk their path, you have the ability as a human to walk away. Even good humans, still make mistakes, choose the wrong path inadvertently, but eventually they find their way back on the right path. It takes time and it takes patience for them to catch back up, but everyone has to make their own path, and that’s okay. Like I said, it’s okay to be human.

You personally, for your well-being (and sometimes health), have to be willing to allow yourself the patience and kindness to remove yourself from that situation. You have to remember “I am human too; I have offered my help, my love, and my advice, that’s all I have to help a fellow human. I can only maintain the things that are within my control.” Whether it’s a family member, or just another human friend, sometimes you need space, and that’s okay. As a Good Human, you also have to be a GOOD HUMAN TO YOURSELF AS WELL.

Let peace reside in your heart as much as possible, to reach the best possible feeling of well-being whether you are chronically ill or not. Love and Guide where you can and forgive the ones that choose differently because it’s out of your control. –Wellness wishes from your Author

L-Serine Update

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**I am an Amazon Affiliate, and if you choose to order from the links provided, know that you are supporting my work, and my website. Thank you in advance for your support!!**

Recently I have been doing a lot of series work on Fibromyalgia for Newsbreak. I have been sharing a lot of information there on the research I had recently done. One thing that during my research I discovered a lack of L-Serine was discovered in Fibro patients’ urine. L-Serine is an amino acid that our bodies use daily, and usually produce, and there is a block.

I threw caution to the wind and went ahead as promised, and used myself as a guinea pig, and so far one week in, I’m going to give you a little update. I was actually having great success with improvement on brain function and sleep just by methylating, and that is fabulous in and of itself. My sleep has been so restful I’m barely dreaming now. When I first started, all the chips were stacked against me. I am taking 4 L-Serine tablets, which by the bottle says is a 2500 mg dose, morning, noon, and dinner, along with the methylfolate x 4 and the vitamin b complex x2 that I also take. (I did also read that it is highly suggested to have the proper b vitamins to process your amino acids anyway, so “Methylating” is a better choice so that you know the nutrients you are ingesting are doing their proper jobs in cell reproduction, repair, and healing as well.)

What I mean by the chips were stacked against me, was that it literally was a weeklong barometric pressure drop, my muscles were beginning to burn in my neck and shoulders. Long periods of time sitting and just reading research was really starting to get to me, so I actually pulled out my TENS Unit Portable Rechargeable Massager. Now if you follow me on Newsbreak, you can do that by following my link to the electrotherapy article to see how well this unit is helpful for you, you know that I have a tendency to write articles that either 1) are directly affecting me in the moment or 2) something the readers have reminded me of, that at one point I also struggled with. As I continue this journey of “healing” I know that there is not a cure, but there sure are things that have alleviated such a great deal of what I used to deal with, that I seem to “forget” at the times, the worst of moments. I really don’t forget them, they just are locked away in that box, that I don’t have to pull out near as often as I used to *I count my blessings*.

Muscle pain can be helped with L-Serine and Electrotherapy. photo from Pixabay

So far using L-Serine seems to be allowing my body to rest more completely and comfortably. It’s also providing me a level of comfort and analgesic type effects when the muscle pain is at it’s highest, and I’m good with that as well. It doesn’t make it entirely go away (Depending on how long they’ve been aching and burning) but it seems to “warm up” my muscle tissue in that area at the moment, and then fade, like an internal type “old people rub” (the best way I describe Lidocaine that I use when trying to sleep sometimes). So I’m going to continue on using the L-Serine as a supplement. I will probably drop down my dosage next week to see if it does change things.

Since my body does respond to external stimuli and barometric pressure and weather changes, it’s hard to wage the differences for myself, let alone if you are following in the journey with me. Just remember, one day you could feel great, and think things are going good, and then the barometric pressure drop or something crazy, and stay that way for days, overloading yourself. This week in particular I had not only external issues, but I also had emotional stress as well, so much over stimulation I had to take a few mid day naps to make it through. Not going to lie, a few cocktails as well just to help me smile. That’s a story for another day. Remember, have patience with yourself, with the things you do to try to navigate this life and heal, always be mindful of your need to rest, when life gets to be too much. If you don’t stop and say, “This is too much.” Then you go hide in a quiet place, to return to a state of homeostasis. If not, you aggravate your pain levels even more and your anxiety. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, but a few hours always does me well. You don’t even have to have chronic pain or illness to know where your boundaries should lie, everyone gets overwhelmed from time to time. Much love light and wellness wishes to you all! –Your Author

Fibromyalgia, Showers can and will overexert you!

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No I’m not full of it.

I decided that it was time to put my research to work, while I was finishing the book, and continue working toward my end goal of December. I’ve been up to a lot recently, I started writing articles as a Newsbreak contributor to assist others with the information that I’ve found, it seems to be gaining just a bit more traction for people to find me.

My focus has been on the current research and medical clinical studies of what’s up and coming on the market for the various illnesses that people suffer. Chronic Neuropathic Pain is a thing, even though you see a smile on someone’s face doesn’t mean that they aren’t feeling pain somewhere else in or on their body. Fibromyalgia and small fiber neuropathy is a thing for me. I cannot stop it unless I take a medication that literally makes me feel drunk all the time, so I opt to do things naturally to at least ease things. I have not resorted to cannabis as it’s still “illegal” in my state. I do know that it will help me though, as recent clinical studies for a few drugs based with THC/CBD are currently being tested for approval.

I’m going to share a few links to these articles I’ve written. Most interestingly, the Showers overexerting you is intriguing. The first time I noticed, explained a lot, especially after I shared it with my neurologist. “Why does the water feel like needles on my skin?” It’s a thing, and it is so very real for me, some days a shower is all I can do.

https://original.newsbreak.com/@misty-romack-1637118/2986538730314-fibromyalgia-and-cfs-showers-can-overexert-you

The spoon theory is the best way to describe how I feel on a daily basis. Some people can wake up with a handful of spoons, and use them for each task, brushing teeth, showering, styling their hair, doing their makeup, making breakfast, working, and so on and so on. For people who have Chronic Systemic Illness, I’m lucky if I wake up with five spoons or less. I know other’s just like that as well. So we have to spend our spoons VERY wisely on that day. Neuropathy especially small fiber neuropathy is activated in my skin, from extreme temperature fluctuations to something rubbing my skin the wrong way can send me into overdrive and suck up my spoons quickly.

Writing is Therapy/ Journaling is What I Do! image cred: mohamed_hassan/Pixabay

It is definitely not a fun way to live. However, it is my life, and I strive daily to improve my wellbeing and help others in the process of my experience. After all, knowledge is power, and NO ONE can take your education away from you. So as I research to help myself, I share for others. So after four hours of reading and research, here are some up and coming neuropathic pain therapies in clinical trials and studies. If you enjoy the articles, you can follow me as an author once you’ve downloaded and registered the app. Have a great day everyone!

https://original.newsbreak.com/@misty-romack-1637118/2991927943454-chronic-neuropathic-pain-up-and-coming-new-therapies

Why My Health Journey is Important…

SpoonfulofDiva 1 Comment

It took years of trial and error to get it all right, to figure it all out.

Like many other patients, it takes YEARS to diagnose systemic chronic illnesses. The hunt for all the answers didn’t come easy, and it seemed like it all came on at once, feeding this information to me like you would rice to a mouse. Little did we know at the time, I was living with part of it, without my knowledge for nearly all my life.

The mold started growing in my house in 2013-2014 after the tornado hit our house. So the exposure to the mold didn’t exasperate until 2014. However, in 2013 I started having GI issues. It wasn’t until 2016 before the swelling started. I was having various issues with pain in my neck, my back, my arms. I was cake decorating at night as my family slept. I chalked it up to getting less sleep, and aging, like arthritis type symptoms. I would lay down or take a break or nap when pain got to be too much, depending on what my schedule allowed of course.

Throughout the process of getting everything ironed out, the more we realized my final diagnosis of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, was very much so, the ORIGINAL diagnosis I had, that we are thinking may have been a birth given ailment. Why does my practitioner and I say that? I would have EXAGERRATED symptoms for things such as rashes and bug bites, sometimes sending me to the hospital as an infant, and perplexed my poor parents.

With pregnancy, when I found out on this day 23 years ago, April Fool’s Day, it was a crash course into going from my everyday clothes to pregnancy clothes in less than 2 weeks, I looked 6 months pregnant. When I discovered “something was amiss” that day, I had broken out in hives after eating a granola bar, a brand and flavor that I had eaten a bazillion times before. These hives were huge and white and fluffy going all up my right arm. I thought it was the granola bar, now I realize it was most likely the pregnancy. Even called my cousin on my mother’s side about my hives, and she said she had broken out in hives when she found out she was pregnant, so take a test, so I did.

Honestly, my body acted like it was allergic to the pregnancy. I was 186 lbs when I discovered I was pregnant, and ended at 256 lbs when I gave birth. In less than 2 weeks at my follow up appointment I was already back to my prepregnancy weight. Explain that one. During the c-section, I had almost died twice, my heart had stopped, and then I stopped breathing, my anesthesiologist bill was $25,000 and that was 23 years ago. My response to the narcotics was like an overdose, over exaggerated responses, and I’m still allergic to narcotics to this day.

I can actually pinpoint many other times that MCAS could explain the reactions to various illnesses that I have experienced throughout my life. So it was the first ailment, but the last to be diagnosed. First it was, your just full of shit, so I went through three months of human Drain-o, with no probiotics, that gave me lovely SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth), which once we got rid of that mess (it nearly took a full two years), I had already had all kinds of other things going haywire.

All the sudden my ovaries had started popping cysts like crazy. Even crazier than that, although the GI infection was gone, I was still SWOLLEN. I still looked pregnant. That’s when the gynecologist had stumbled upon the fact that I had fibroids in my uterus and it had expanded to seven times it’s size. So, this required a hysterectomy. During the exploration and testing of prepping me for that surgery, is when they did the cystoscopy to discover I had Interstitial Cystitis of the bladder. The hysterectomy had confirmed everything we already knew, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Endometriosis, Fibroids. I never tried to have another biological child after the first one almost killed me, so by the age of 40, I was set in my ways that this was not even an option.

I still was miserable, I was more lightweight, but the pain was still overwhelming, and I was losing functions and having seizures. My hands stopped working, one day, I lost the ability to use my left leg, none of it made sense, but some of that was the direct result of my being exposed to the toxic mold in my house, this in turn sent me to a neurologist.

While waiting for the Neurologist to finally get to see me, I did happen to manage to get myself into Cleveland Clinic, to a Rheumatologist, that was confirmed that I had Fibromyalgia while I was there. Neat, add that to the list of crazy.

The Neurologist did some testing and verified I receive 10x the pain signals that a normal human does. In fact, I was instructed I wasn’t supposed to be in that much pain everyday, that not everyone experiences pain at this threshold. I was stunned. There’s a baseline? There’s people out there that wake up and just feel good in their skin? That’s a possibility? I was stupefied honestly.

So an MRI was performed, and it was discovered that I’m missing a substantial amount of white matter, and I was displaying all the signs and symptoms of dementia, and then I was scheduled to see a psychiatrist for dementia evaluation. There was my fate.

Once I ended up in the hospital with a yeast overgrowth, and the Dr funneled in antifungals through that IV, I regained my functions in my body, and my brain. I walked out of the hospital 100% more a person than I went in and had been in nearly 3 years. I went home with the suspicion that after a yeast overgrowth that bad, that it was destroying my brain, there HAD to be mold somewhere in my house, so I tore a wall open in my garage and found it. Had it tested, and there was the stacchybotrys, trying to kill me.

At that moment my practitioner and I had experienced a medical journey like no other patient and physician had, my file is so large it doesn’t even fit in a binder. (I’ve shortened a few things out of this journey) because I had a few run ins with moldy buildings prior to that but hadn’t made the connection, until I left that hospital, that there was actual an issue in my own home.

So last but not least, I was still displaying symptoms of what seemed to be Lyme and I was tested for it, and I was only a few “bars” of DNA or biomarkers away from actually testing positive in which some practitioners use as an indicator for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. Now MCAS is still fairly new, don’t get me wrong, it’s been around probably for forever, but as far as research discovery, treatments, we are in the first 20 years, it’s going to take a while for refinement in treatment and diagnosis. So the practitioner and I did what was best, treated for Lyme anyway, and immediately I started digging into treating the Mast Cell Activation Syndrome on my own.

I will eventually have dementia, that will come down the pipeline in 20 more years unless I miraculously start growing my brain cells back. You however, had better BET as soon as I had the ability to focus and pay attention, I haven’t stopped researching my medical conditions, my charts and all the things that have to do with every diagnosis I have received and probably will until my brain stops me again. So that is where I am at! If you read this entire blog entry to the finale, I applaud you. It was HARD to live through, and it’s most definitely hard to read someone babble about it all. Best part of it is, I live entirely this day with all these chronic illnesses with no prescription assistance at the moment, a few supplements and over the counters. I’m damn proud of that, and I will share that to anyone who is willing to hear it. ❤ Much Love!

ANTIHISTAMINES – Receptor Blocking

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H1, H2, H3, H4 Receptor Blockers

” Histamine receptors are located throughout the human body and have been classified into categories H1, H2, H3, and H4.Generally speaking, H1 receptors account for neuronal and nervous system sites, H2 are more related to stomach and digestive function, H3 receptors are found in the brain, and H4 are found in organs and bone marrow. Both H1 and H2 receptors are found in airway tissues, skin tissue, and immune cells.” Found on this website — https://www.optimusmedica.com/otc-antihistamines/#:~:text=Histamine%20receptors%20are%20located%20throughout%20the%20human%20body,H4%20are%20found%20in%20organs%20and%20bone%20marrow.

What has worked for me is in immediate flare of a critical reaction, I choose to take a Generation 1 antihistamine which is Diphenhydramine (Benedryl). However, long term use has indicated that it can cause or create dementia/Alzheimer’s or at least exasperates symptoms. I had been using Diphenhydramine for years, because the allergy shots never worked, and I’m allergic to steroids and Prednisone. So I gave that up. I had to do something.

FAMOTIDINE
Cetirizine

Once I verified exactly what symptoms I was suffering from, and then figured out what receptors I needed to block, and what drugs coordinated with the ones I searched up. What worked for me was H1 and H2 blockers, which was Cetirizine (Zyrtec) and Famotidine (Pepcid AC)

Since I already was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and Neuropathy (even my feet were killing me and I wasn’t on them) along with my GI tract flaring, I knew that the only way for me to calm down my whole body was to block my H1 receptors and H2 receptors from antihistamine. My skin was reacting as well by the time I was diagnosed. Showers felt like whole body tattoos all at once, even the water hurt my skin like tiny needles. Each person is different, and each person will have different results and responses.

For Immediate Reactions, Like Hives, Dephenhydramine

**Note: I was a guinea pig, and my primary physician was on board. He told me, “a serving suggestion is very literally a suggestion, you can take MORE of a antihistamine than what is suggested, so it took a lot of trying one , and upping the dose. My dosage is 4 times a day. 30 minutes before eating , Morning wake-up, Lunch, Dinner, and then 30 minutes before bed, to account for the histamine dump while I sleep to fight the insomnia and night sweats, when I forget to take them.

**Always check with your primary physician when taking OTC or Prescription medications. They are not pharmacy technicians, but it is important to discuss uses if you are on any other medications as well!**

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