You go to your doctor, he or she recommends a prescription medication for whatever symptom that is ailing you, whatever you’re complaining about, and practicing for the last 32 years, specializing in fibromyalgia, last 20 years, it’s not common when I start working with patients for them to be on half a dozen or dozen prescription medications. They’re taking a drug, the drug, to put them to sleep, a drug to wake them up, a drug to speed them up, a drug to slow them down. It’s not uncommon for these individuals to not even know what the medications are for their on certain medications. They’ve lost track. And it’s very common for them not to know, is the medication helpful or not? And that’s partly due to the illness of fibromyalgia, where you’ve some days are good. Some days are most days are bad. Right. I have to say it that way. But so you never know. I mean, is the medication helpful or not? I mean, you don’t really notice that you feel that much better. But this is what has been recommended. I want to change that whole mindset to one of really looking at a more natural approach. And I know that it can be hard to change paradigms and realize that there are natural substances, what we call nutraceuticals. These are natural or supplements, whether it’s vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids that actually correct the underlying deficiencies and then correct the symptoms rather than just covering up the symptoms with the medication. But if we look at selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, these are something that are these are medications recommended all the time for fibromyalgia. In fact, the first couple of medications recommended or approved for fibromyalgia were antidepressants, Novella and Cymbalta. And those medications, again, they can be helpful, but we need to realize that there are some inherent challenges with these medications. One is they all have potential side effects. Ironically, these medications can cause anxiety and depression, but they can also cause diffuse achy pain. They deplete your natural sleep hormone, melatonin. They can cause brain fog, weight gain.
All sorts of potential side effects can show up with these medications. And you need to realize that these medications are oftentimes no better than a sugar pill. When we look at a meta analysis or research that shows it looks at a bunch of different studies, we see that if you take an antidepressant, it’s really no more effective than taking a sugar pill. And 70% of those studies now we look at what these medications do. First of all, you need to realize these medications don’t make serotonin, they don’t make norepinephrine. Serotonin is an incredibly important stress coping chemical. This neurotransmitter helps to raise your pain threshold, helps to reduce anxiety and depression, helps to correct irritable bowel syndrome and helps with mental clarity. So obviously, it’s something that those are fibromyalgia need to optimize because you’ll hear many of these interviews in the summit that those are fibromyalgia, are notoriously low in serotonin. That’s one reason why they have a low pain threshold. But these medications don’t make serotonin. They only help you hang on to what you have. So if you look at a normal brain and then you look at a fibro gray, right. If you’re taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and there’s nothing to really take, it’s not going to do much. It’s like using a gasoline additive in an empty gasoline tank for those are fibromyalgia.
After years of poor sleep and just have the stress of having a chronic illness like fibromyalgia, you deplete these stress coping chemicals including serotonin. And so using a gasoline additive in an empty gasoline tax usually doesn’t yield much as far as positive results. What I want to share with you is that serotonin, like a lot of chemicals that the body needs, actually comes from our diet. You can take it in a supplement, but you should be getting in your diet. Now, some people with fibromyalgia can’t get enough of the amino acid in proteins and the amino acid is tryptophan or they have a genetic glitch that blocks the conversion of tryptophan to its more active form called five hydroxy tryptophan. And so that you can, rather than taking a gasoline additive, you can use an over-the-counter supplement to help you create more serotonin. And that is the preferred method of most of the experts that are sharing with you. Certainly, it’s my preference is to encourage you to use more more natural approach rather than using a drug that is a get this doesn’t make serotonin only helps you hang on to what little or any that you have. Why not use a natural approach that will literally fill your brain out with gasoline? So there’s all kinds of things that can be helpful and be dramatically helpful even though they’re natural.
So don’t discount some of the speakers and some of the things that we’re sharing with you. Yes. The majority of us really try to use all natural supplements and avoid prescription medications, although there’s a time and there is a place for prescription medications. But what you’ll hear in today’s interviews are a lot of people talking about some of the natural approaches that they have found to be helpful with their fibromyalgia patients. For myself, looking at patients, you know, looking at the history of patients over the last 22 years, what I see is if I can start getting that serotonin level built back up, get them going in a deep restorative sleep, we’ll see a dramatic reduction in their symptoms, whether that’s pain fatigue, irritable, bowel restless leg syndrome, brain fog, anxiety, depression, whatever it is. So don’t discount the fact that you’ve got a complicated illness and you come to the conclusion that something natural is just not going to be strong enough. It’s a whole different paradigm. We’re looking to use the raw ingredients that make the hormones that make the brain chemicals, that make the enzymes that help you digest the food. We’re looking to use these natural substances that the body has become deficient in to help you to correct these deficiencies that are creating the symptoms. So keep an open mind and enjoy today’s interviews.
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