Do you hurt all over? Are you always tired, yet can’t get a good night’s sleep? If so, you may be suffering from fibromyalgia and not know it, says Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, nationally recognized authority on pain, and author of the book Pain Free 1-2-3!
“Fibromyalgia is one of the most under-diagnosed conditions in the country—85 percent of people suffering with this devastating, yet very treatable illness, have not been given the correct diagnosis,” Dr. Teitelbaum tells Newsmax Helath. Unfortunately, patients often have a difficult time getting properly diagnosed and treated, because symptoms can be confused with other illnesses. Also, symptoms can be so vague that they are dismissed by doctors or treated as a mental problem, not a physical disease.
Currently, less than 2 percent of the general public is recognized as having fibromyalgia, but if new diagnosing guidelines are accepted by the American College of Rheumatology, the percentage will jump to more than 5 percent. Since women are more prone to the immune disease than men, 1 out of 12 women may be suffering, often in silence, because their complaints have been ignored.
Symptoms include a combination of severe fatigue and widespread pain that lasts at least three months, as well as brain fog. But the symptom that sets fibromyalgia apart from other conditions, such as multiple sclerosis or arthritis, is the inability to get a restful night’s sleep. “You either have severe insomnia or you wake up feeling you haven’t slept,” says Dr. Teitelbuam.
Patients often suffer for years, going from doctor to doctor trying to find out what’s wrong with them. “Most doctors are clueless,” he says. “They don’t even know how to pronounce the name of the disease.
“Most doctors are not familiar with the disease, they’re not trained in the disease, and they don’t know how to diagnose the disease,” he says. “They figure, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you, so you’re crazy.'”
Now, a simple quiz you can take at home can pinpoint if your pain is caused by fibromyalgia. To take the test, go here.
Even if you have other medical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), if you can’t sleep and have widespread pain, you may have secondary fibromyalgia, which should be diagnosed and treated. “If you have another disease, it’s important to find out if you have fibromyalgia, because if you go to your doctor and tell them you are having horrible pain, they’re going to keep giving you more powerful and toxic medications to treat lupus or RA,” says Dr. Teitelbaum. “The drugs aren’t going to help, and they’re going to make your body more toxic.”
If you believe you have fibromyalgia, or if you have any form of chronic pain, you can use Dr. Teitelbaum’s SHINE protocol to get well:
- Sleep. Get eight hours of sleep each night.
- Hormonal support. Low thyroid, adrenal estrogen and testosterone levels can all lead to chronic pain.
- Infection, impingement, and inflammation. Infection and inflammation are common causes of pain and can be dealt with using natural products such as fish oil and frankincense (boswellia).
- Nutrition support. A healthy diet with adequate vitamins and minerals is essential. Several studies have linked low levels of vitamin D with chronic pain.
- Exercise. Exercise should be matched to each person’s capability.
“The majority of people who follow SHINE are pain-free in three months,” says Dr. Teitelbaum.
You can speed your recovery by taking a special nutrient called ribose, according to Dr. Teitelbaum. “Studies show you’ll increase your energy by 61 percent in three weeks and reduce your pain.” He recommends taking 5 grams of ribose powder mixed with water three times a day for three weeks, and then reducing the dosage to twice a day. He also recommends a vitamin powder called Energy Revitalization System. “It replaces 35 pills a day.
“You don’t have to live with pain,” says Dr. Teitelbaum. “You can get your life back.”
For the original article, visit newsmaxhealth.com.
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