Top Natural Remedies for Fibromyalgia

I believe I've had fibromyalgia since my teens but wasn't diagnosed until age 34 (I'm now 73). I developed fibromyalgia in the 1940's or 50's, before fluoridation, artificial sweeteners, antibiotics, plastic storage containers, teflon, mercury fillings, and other products that we often think may cause fibro. I was able to ignore my diagnosis at 34 for most of my life until I had a very bad flare 5 years ago. It cleared up after about 8 months but then a series of very stressful events began and I just got sicker and sicker, to the point of being suicidal. I have been trying all sorts of things for help (but I don't and won't ever take prescription meds for fibro, due to side effects). I have had good relief from pain by taking creatine (I get an inexpensive pre-mixed preparation from the grocery store made for athletes). It truly changed my life and gave me hope. More recently I was tested for Vit D and found my numbers are very low. My Dr. prescribed megadoses for it until next November. The issue with Vit. D is that the lack of it has very similar symptoms to fibromyalgia. I would encourage any fibro sufferer who hasn't been tested for Vit. D do so before beginning anything else. In my area, the test costs $85 but I would recommend giving up something else if need be, to pay for it. I think my fibro symptoms are generally cleared up for now (I will never be free from fibro, just trying to keep it in the background). I recently did three weeks of H202 internally for general cleansing, and now have started on ACV for hypertension and arthritis pain. Nothing to report on that yet tho. The last 5 years have been very difficult for me and I know many others are in the same boat. I say to you, hang in there, keep reading and trying everything you think might help.

I suffered from Fibromyalgia for 3 years, which I believe was triggered through a traumatic experience I went through. For those who suffer, you know the unbearable pain, not to mention the fatigue. It affected the entire left side of my body from my temple to my toes, 24 hours a day and getting through my work day was about all I could do. The tightness, tenderness, and pain was unbearable and there was never relief for me. I tried prescribed medicine, physical therapy, massage therapy and chiropractor care, all to no avail. I used to walk 30 miles a week and I couldn't anymore, the pain was too much. I was starting to become sedentary and then depression hit, then I started gaining weight, 30 pounds in all gained. At one time during this struggle I had told my doctor it felt as if I had slowly been poisoned. I had tried some of the things suggested on Earth Clinic's web site, the borax, apple cider vinegar and baking soda, vitamins, and they helped some but my pain was still very overwhelming. Then I wondered, what if I had been poisoned? So I took a look at my environment and at what I was eating. I stopped drinking bottled water and bought a stainless steel water bottle that I fill every day. I got rid of all my plastic storage containers - no more heating and reheating things in plastic containers in the microwave. I use glass. Then I started to slowly change my diet, eliminating MOST processed food and changing to organic for ALL fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, etc... Next, I threw away all of my household cleaning products and now use a particular organic brand who's soap is all-one, just some really hot soapy water will do the trick for most jobs. Guess what? I started feeling better! This process took about 4 months but I was beginning to feel better. I felt better enough to try YOGA which has been a tremendous help. I am now a firm believer in YOGA and its healing effects on the body. The deep breathing and stretching the muscles has been a saving grace for me. The first 2 weeks were painful but it started to get easier and then it started feeling really good to do it. Now I am doing another excellent exercise program that is building my muscle strength and stamina back up and I'm still feeling better. The amazing thing is that I am ABLE to do it! I'm not pain-free yet, but my pain went from a 10 (being unbearable pain) to a 2, it's there but it's minimal. This process has taken about 7 months to get there and I feel positive that this will leave my system because of the changes I made in my environment, my diet, and because of YOGA. I know what a horrible struggle FM is and I am thankful I have found something that works for me. I hope this helps someone else out there struggling.

Hi All: I've tried almost every remedy under the sun for fibro and the only two which have helped me a little is magnesium and inositol. Magnesium helps with pain and inositol helps with exhaustion and depression. The three things I've discovered which helped the most are a lot are walking in the morning or whenever you are in the least amount of pain, avoiding food allergies and taking armour. I walk for an hour but you can walk for twenty or thirty minutes too. Studies have shown that aerobic exercise reduces fibro pain. I also lift light weights every morning. I would say that the walking reduces my pain by fifty percent. The other thing is, I realized I was allergic to gluten, artificial sweetener and citrus, that includes citric acid. Avoiding all of these things help quite a bit. I also wait until the afternoon to consume non gluten complex carbohydrates like rice bread. For some reason, I think this lowers the hypoglycemic reaction somewhat. Also, avoiding caffeine if you can do it really helps. It helps with pain when you drink caffeine for a little while then a few hours later you will have more pain and exhaustion than before drinking it, most likely. I know I did, anyway. Many fibro's are intolerant to gluten and complex carbs and are hypogylcemic. So, it's important to eat a lot of protein. I am a vegetarian and think this might help also. Lastly, fibro's sometimes are undiagnosed hypothyroids. If you are on the cusp most allopathic doctors won't help you but many naturopaths will prescribe thyroid medication. Just beware that once women reach menopause if you are in the hyperthyroid range you will have a slightly increased risk of developing osteoporosis. Once I started taking Armour, a natural thyroid medication some overcast or cloudy days actually were bearable. It takes a while for the tissue effect to catch up to change in blood levels though.I know this is a lot of information but it's taken me thirteen years of experimentation to find these things, and I am certain they helped me when other things failed. Every case of fibro is different though so different things will help for different people. Hope this helps. Sincerely, Anonymous

Guaifeisin, and its herbal form guaicum potentially can help-its thought to help eliminate excess phosphates in the blood. Dr St Armand recommends not using essential oils if using guaifeisin, as it is thought to interfere with the guai working.(more info in elsewhere on the web)

Pain management is excellent, i.e. pacing, so that activity is stopped before the pain increases. (i.e. not continuing doing an activity until the pain increases, which can worsen the pain long term). Then gradually, the actvities can be increases in time etc.

Acupuncture, oesteopathy, energy healing, shamanic healing also help me, but most of these only work fairly short term, and have only worked long term when I did these reguarly e.g. weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

however, the long term benefits may increase if used with the pacing. the shamanic healing, and spirtiual/ energy healing in particular i have yet to try while being able to keep to my pain management program. (I know have a young child!), so I will find out soon (when I finally get enough help again) if these can work long term.

Herbs such as chammomile, scullcap, passionflower can help reduce pain, but only worked for me for a while, before i became tolerant, so just use these sporadically for extra.

Also, meditation/relaxation exercises are wonderful, and can easily be done daily- relaxing the muscles, which reduces pain. (breaking the pain cycle of pain=muscle tension=more pain etc etc)

Also a healthy diet, vegan, sugar free and gluten free, with the more raw foods the better helps so much too.

Tens machine, and acticare help too- as does acupressure, indian head massage etc.
5http helped give me better quality of sleep, which helped too.

I still have had to use mainstream medication, but with this various help, I manage just to only use one mainstream medication (tramadol).

I am taking Spectro 3 vitamin/mineral supplement, magnesium taurate for the depression, extra calcium, B-50 complex for all the vitamins the candida depletes your body of, digestive enzymes to eat up all the waste material you are killing - with each meal and in between, a good probiotic to replenish the good bacteria an hour after each meal and at bedtime (read "You're Nuts Because of Your Guts" at Cure Zone.com, 70% of your immune system is in your digestive tract, 90% of Seratonin is made in your gastrointestinal tract), coconut oil (Spectrum organic unrefined - has yeast defeating properties and is a medium chain fatty acid which is very good for you and is supposed to help you lose weight, read The Coconut Diet by Cherie Calbom), MSM (500 mg per 30 lbs. of body weight),I take 1000 mg(pure, no fillers) twice a day to help strip the mucous membranes where yeast live in and restore PH in your GI tract, liquid molybdenum (a mineral) to help break down the acetaldehyde toxin the yeast produces and Oxymune oxygen drops to help build the immune system even stronger, and gently bounce (do not take feet off) on a mini-trampoline to help clear toxins from my lymphatic system.

So far, my CFS and Fibromyalgia are much improved, the thrush in my mouth is losing its hold. Pink skin is starting to appear at bottom of a totally white coated tongue. Totally yeast infected ears are almost totally cleared up (intense itching and yucky yeast residue are gone) I am making slow but progressive progress.

My understanding is that this overgrowth of systemic candida is due to a suppressed immune system, however you got it; overuse of antibiotics, birth control pills, use of steroids (prednisone),etc., all the bad things doctors give us to help us get well have made millions of us terribly ill. I am doing everything I can to build up my immune system. Read Ed McCabe's book, "Flood Your Body with Oxygen", in which he explains over and over again how YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM RUNS ON OXYGEN. This disease is a parasite and you are the host, it thrives in an anerobic environment (no oxygen), and the more oxygen you force into your body, the weaker this parasite becomes, but you must keep at it every day and never give up. I once recovered from this terrible disease doing yoga morning and night for a half an hour at a time. I felt great for about 3 months -- I looked wonderful, I felt wonderful, I couldn't get sick no matter how many sick people I was exposed to, my immune system was that strong and then I quit the yoga thinking it was the MSM that had done the healing, so it's back to gentle exercising to build up the immune system. Excessive exercise will just depress your immune system even more. Read up on how yoga builds up the immune system and detoxifies the body through urination, elimination and sweating. I believe due to the constant deep intake of oxygen with the deep breathing involved in the yoga poses and the constant twisting and bending involved that detoxified my liver, kidneys, pancreas, etc. my immune system became so strong nothing could exist in my body but great health.

These are good tips on this page. Fibromyalgia seems to have a better response when alternative (more holistic) therapies are used and it takes time to "undo" the damage that has accumulated. My experience shows that by avoiding drugs, you can recover faster (and reverse fibromyalgia). Here's what I did:

I turned to yoga (very low impact, what seniors and bedridden people might do). With that circulation in the muscles improves and toxicity is also expelled. Diet is very important (avoid milk, sugars and refined products). I believe the candida diet helps to give your whole immune system a break so that it can heal naturally. Detoxification with herbs is also important to get rid of the toxins that have accumulated in the body (no side effects with these). If there is depression, add B vitamins to combat it and also read positive materials and keep in the company of positive and supportive people. Remember that thoughts are temporary and can change (do not give them importance as they will change eventually!) Be strong internally....you can reverse this condition. Do not underestimate the healing power of REST. The body lets you know when you need it (just listen!) High energy vitamins and supplementation of magnesium helped me as well. Acupuncture helps to get rid of pain and restore energy flow to help it get balanced (pick someone good!) Deal with your emotions and let go of whatever you are holding on to. Be good to yourself. Forgive yourself and others around you and see the power of healing (be receptive) change your condition. I was diagnosed almost two years ago, came off all medication within two months after beginning yoga. Turning to natural alternatives has improved/practically reversed this condition. I can now think about going back to work. Find a good naturopathic doctor who has worked with fibromyalgia.

I have fibromyalgia, among other health challenges. Part of this is having thick, sticky body fluids. Saliva, blood, the fascia sticks to the muscles and organs...

I started oil pulling a little more than a month ago, using Organic EVCO, followed by a good rinse, gargle, and brushing with hot water.

I have since noticed that my saliva isn't sticky, and the white coating on my tongue is GONE! My acupuncturist did a double take when she looked at my tongue after just one week. My teeth had looked cracked, and felt just bad in general, with thin areas of gum. Now the cracks aren't visible, the gum is getting plump and pink, and my teeth "feel" like they are going to stay in my head! After having 3 molars pulled, they started shifting like crazy, but they are settling down now.

Recommended this to a friend who wants to quit smoking, she said it sounds harmless enough, and if it helps her to quit, yay.

Thanks for introducing me to OP, I've added it to my regular routine! (Spitting it out in the shower after the pipes are heated from the water has so far prevented any clogs!)

oil pulling sesame oil. after reading on your site about oil pulling March 2008; I tried it and it worked wonders for my fibromyalgia pain. I used the recommened amount 2 tblsp; swissed it around in my mouth for 15 minutes, spit it out, brushed my teeth and drank two glasses of water. I have tmj--i did not think i would be able to do this for 15 minutes due to jaw pain but after 2 1/2 minutes my jaw pain left. The stiffness, pain and soreness in my body was gone before the 15 minutes was up. I have been suffering from fibromyalgia since 1991 and this is the only thing I have tried that gave me immediately relief. Today I sent my sister-in-law who lives in Louisiana a large bottle of sesame oil. Bless you and I thank you and your readers so much.

I began oil pulling 7 months ago and I suffered with chronic fatigue for 14 years. It cleared up that issue within a matter of days. I was confined to bed rest and had limited mobility but the oil pulling dramatically shifted things for me so much so I am now more fit and active and don't need to rest. I had been livimg this way for years and oil pulling gave me my life back. It also cleared up a skin problem I had when nothing else seemed to work. Recently, I came down with fibromyalgia and my doctor would not be prepared to treat me as it is not a "recognised illness". I was in chronic pain and was suicidal. I could barely move my tongue inside my mouth and could not walk. I was so ill, I had never experienced anything like the severity of this before. I kept oil pulling and changes occured incrementally every day until after a couple of weeks my health was back to normal. Oil pulling has changed my life and I would recommend it to anyone. It is a POWERFUL remedy.

I started a new product last night for fibromyalgia pain due to post surgical neuropathy. The product is new and is called Temporary fibromyalgia pain and discomfort Relief. It does help the pain but the anxiety sucks. I couldn't figure out why in the world I had anxiety then decided to look up this ingredient via the internet. Bingo! It causes jitters and anxiety. Funny you would think that whatever they gave you for painful nerves would be calming not mood enhancing.

Good thing CVS will take things back. I will return this item and let others know that is a side effect.

Thank you, Kathleen M

Thank you Ted for opening my eyes to PH balancing. I have fibromyalgia and cfids. My story began about 12 years ago with stomach problems, h pylori, acid problems, depression, anxiety; and the list goes on and on. over the years the condition got progressivly worse with symptoms such as numbness and tingling in arms hands feet,pain everywhere,headaches,insommnia,visual disturbances,hair loss. I began using the formulas in your posts and have found them to be helpful. especially baking soda and baking soda with lemon and lime,magnesium citrate. I have also been trying thr borax water as well and am hopeful this will add more healing power. I also have found a good Dr. who is helping too,she started me on compounded T3 therapy and antivirals because I have epstein barr syndrome. Thank you again for helping me and so many others with no hope. Patti from Canton

I wanted to put this out there--I did not want to post it before running it by the site. By the way because of the site I am off lipitor now after 12 years.

FYI--my wife was diagonosed with fibromyalgia in 1997. We tried all the doctors, MRI etc. We have the best health insurance. Finally tried something called bio-puncture--injections of natural remedies directly into her back for pain. Worked slightly but it took me to find a master herbalist in Phila. Well long story short--he tested her blood with a radiotronics machine. She had traces of lupus, pagents disease, bursitus. He made a homeopath remedy for a two week period. After two weeks we went back and retested. He found another four things that were there also. Another two week remedy. Well--after a month her pain all but vanished. She has been on muscle relaxers and pain pills for years.

To top it all off I was told I had herpes in my twenties. I made him test me and was told I had bartholonis. It mimics herpes and he made me a remedy. I used to take everclr which was an immune booster and only had problems a couple of times a year. Well I stopped taking the herbs and no sign of the blisters. I thought I had herpes for thirty years and never had it.

Since there is nothing like this on here, I wanted to let you know. I tell everyone about the site. I believe this man is a miracle worker. I am taking my wife back again soon to be retested. How can something like this not be out there? You can check his site--at first I thought the testimonials were bogus--but not anymore. His site is earthmotherherbs.Org. By no means am I promoting it--from what he tells me very few people are trained in this radiotronics machine. What is earthclincs take on this? Of course I don`t want my name used in the herpes section but this was a miracle. Please reply with your thoughts.

While visiting earthclinic's site to see what I could fine to help my anxiety, I saw information about 5HTP as another source to use for anxiety. So I wanted to find out more information about this little pill, because it was a toss up between the two (Rhodiola) I decided to use the Rhodiola which worked out perfect. I then did some more research on 5HTP to see what other benefits it was good for, and I found out that it was recommeded for Fibromyalgia. Such as sleepless nights, waking up 4-5 times in the night, the headaches, the pain in the joints, stiffness upon waking up in morning, I felt like the tin man on the wizard of oz. I also had other related problesm. I have been taking it now for five months and I am a happier person, more energetic, not as moody as before, mine is more clear and well the list goes on, and I don't wake up stiff like before; so getting more rest has made me more alert.

In addition, I have a question for anyone out there to answer if possible. Since I take Rhodiola and 5HTP together I wanted to know if this harmful since both are a mood relaxing vitamin. I take the one for anxiety the other for the Fibroymyalgia. In addition, after reading more information about 5HTP and some side affects I was wondering if I should stop using it for awhile. If anyone has an answer please respond. I want to say though that since I have been using it I have had no side affects that were bad only good ones.

I am taking Sam-E for Fibromyalgia. I have experienced amazing results for reducing flare-ups and increasing length of time between flare-ups. Amazing. Also tried your cayenne pepper for sore throat today with superb results.

I recently discovered Tart Cherry Extract. I take it in the capsule form 7000mg. Once per day when Not doing Krav Maga. Krav Maga days I take 1 before, during & after class, about 4 day a week. I've found that it's taken away a lot of the pain & seems to stay in my system, as long as I take at least 1 per day.

Bi Thiamine takes away about 50% of fibro pain also, so I take 3 100mg pills & a multi-vitamin along with the cherry extract once per day.

Try it. I hope it helps you.