I'm compiling this information here, on one page, with the hope that it may benefit someone else as much as it has benefited me to learn it. If you are a regular reader of my diary and have read all this before, or if you just aren't interested in reading it, you won't be missing anything if you skip this entry. It's just a synopsis of what I've been doing health-wise over the last couple years.

Jump to:
Fibromyalgia, Depression, and Chronic Fatigue
Amino Acids and Vitamin / Mineral Supplements
Food and Nutrition
Exercise!
Sleep Apnea
Menopause and Hormone Problems
More Helpful Links
Gluten Intolerance - I finally understand!

Fibromyalgia, Depression, and Chronic Fatigue

From around 2002 to early 2006, after having been on Wellbutrin for depression for about three or four years, I noticed I was having more episodes of depression again, and they gradually became more frequent, longer-lasting, and more severe. I found out early in 2005 that I have Fibromyalgia also, and that it is closely linked with depression. I think it was in the Fall of 2005 that I came across an eye-opening article entitled Prescription Drugs Alone Will Not Cure Depression / Anxiety, by William Nelson, NMD that explains how and why anti-depressants eventually stop working. The paragraph that caught my attention and made me read further said:

Of the list of conditions the article lists as being associated with NDD, the only ones I don't find in my own life are bulimia, anorexia, and insomnia. Migraines (menstrual migraines), PMS, and menopause are also issues I battle regularly, and I had suspected for awhile already that it was all related with the depression and fibromyalgia. The article goes on to describe amino acid therapy, which can restore neurotransmitter levels.

The more I learned as I started researching this, the more I felt this giant sense of aha!. If you look at the list of common symptoms of fibromyalgia, knowing this about the neurotransmitter levels, it becomes even clearer that depression and fibromyalgia are just two sides of the same coin.

Amino Acids and Vitamin / Mineral Supplements:

It took me awhile, but in February of 2006, I started experimenting with amino acids and various supplements from the information I'd read about. One site that had a lot of information that was helpful was Dr. Murphree's site, particularly the Brain Function questionnaires. I also printed out the ingredients in his CFS / Fibro Formula vitamin and mineral packets, made lists, and went and bought most of the vitamin/mineral supplements to try them. (I also bought 5-HTP, GABA, and SAMe and started them at the same time.) Of course, I wound up spending more to purchase all those vitamin/mineral supplements seperately than I would have if I'd have just ordered Dr. Murphree's from the web site, and as soon as I run out of what I have at home now, I'm going to start buying the CFS / Fibro formula. Much easier, and probably better quality than some brands you can buy at the store.

I stopped taking GABA after a week or so, because I was sleepier than usual, all day, and I read that drugs like valium work by targeting GABA receptors in the brain. Since the brain function questionnaire and everything else I read about GABA indicated that it was more for anxiety than depression or fatigue, and I actually have rare instances of problem anxiety, I figured I don't need it every day and I put it into the medicine cabinet to take only if I need it. I emailed Dr. Murphree and asked about the sleepiness, and he said that GABA shouldn't cause that, but I did notice an improvement when I stopped taking it. It could have just been timing, but I'm ok without it.

After starting the 5-HTP, SAMe, and extra B-vitamins, I noticed a big improvement overall in how I felt (I wish I'd made notes about how long it took. I think it was gradual, but it seems, in memory, that I noticed benefits very early on. The improvement lasted, and over the next few months, my fatigue and "brain fog" seemed to happen less often and not last as long, and I had considerably fewer and shorter-lived episodes of depression. I decided to try and stop taking the Wellbutrin, since it was likely it had stopped working anyway, and I was fine without it. Back when it used to work, missing even a couple days would cause some change in how I felt, and I didn't even notice any difference after stopping it this time.

I stopped taking SAMe after a few months, mainly because it is so expensive, and figured I could start to weed out some things and see what happened.

In June (and into July) 2006, I had a depression episode that lasted for weeks and coincided with some on-again-off-again flareups of the FM. I had gotten lazy and forgotten my nighttime dosages of some of my 5-HTP over a couple weeks leading up to the depression, and had been eating a lot of breads and bagels, which I have learned (and re-learned, and re-learned some more) is not something I can do without bad effects. I'm still not sure if it is the wheat, the yeast, or maybe both, but it proves itself to be true time and time again. I also had been dealing with some stresses about upcoming major life changes, and I am sure all those factors combined to be what brought it on, to the degree it reached. Being in a new relationship after having been single for many years, I noticed things I hadn't had the occasion to notice so clearly before. Specifically, besides losing my sex drive, I found my ability to feel love was clouded. That scared me. I went back to Dr. Murphree's brain function questionnaire, after reading an article somewhere (I didn't keep the link) that said an increase in serotonin (which comes from the 5-HTP) can decrease sex drive, but that dopamine increases it, and I found the questions listed under the "O" Group and the "D" Group to both apply strongly to what I was feeling (and to what I often feel when depressed):

O Group (Opiods):

• Your life seems incomplete.

• You feel shy with all but your close friends.

• You have feelings of insecurity.

• You often feel unequal to others.

• When things go right you sometimes feel undeserving.

• You feel something is missing in your life.

• You occasionally feel a low self-worth or esteem.

• You feel inadequate as a person.

• You frequently feel fearful when there is nothing to fear.

D Group (Dopamine):

• You lack pleasure in life.

• You feel there are no real rewards in life.

• You have unexplained lack of concern for others, even loved ones.

• You experience decreased parental feelings.

• Life seems less "colorful" or "flavorful."

• Things that used to be "fun" aren’t any longer enjoyable.

• You have become a less spiritual or socially concerned person.

The O Group recommendation is DL- Phenylalanine (DLPA) and the D Group recommmendation is L-Phenylalanine. In the questionnaire, Dr. Murphree mentions with both L-Phenylalanine and DL-Phenylalanine, that L-Glutamine increases their effectiveness. I also saw on his web site that L-Glutamine is "A Brain Fuel which reduces sugar cravings". So I take all three of these now as well, and will see if there is a long-lasting consistent improvement over the next few months. I did notice within a week of starting them, I was able to pull out of that several-weeks-long depression and my perceptions of my emotions and feelings for people and activities returned, though of course, it may have just been "time" for that to happen (since my depression can be so cyclical). So time will tell. I'll update this page as time goes.

Food and Nutrition

I have known since sometime in the early 1990's that bread is a problem for me. I have periodically been successful at eliminating it from my diet for short periods of time, but so far I haven't stayed away from it completely for the long term.

In the fall of 2005, I tried a diet geared toward very slow metabolisms, and although I only was on it for a month or so (I don't remember exactly how long it was - it could have been a couple months), I felt a night-and-day difference in how I felt. I lost weight too. Other people noticed the difference in my moods and activity levels and how much more I was able to accomplish at work. The diet is difficult to do, though, because it requires that you eat 6 small meals a day, rather than 3 regular or large ones. I have a lot of trouble remembering to stop and eat every few hours, especially when my food cravings stop, which they did within a few days. It's pretty strict, and you only eat "real" foods - nothing processed. No milk products, no bread, no sugar, no nuts, no beef, and the types of fruits and vegetables you can have are limited to the least glycemic ones. I mostly ate chicken, eggs, turkey, fish (lots of fish), apples, blueberries, peaches, grapefruit, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, and oatmeal. I want to work toward getting back to eating that way again, and I'll put updates here about that too.

June 2007 Update: I finally understand Gluten Intolerance now, and what a difference it makes!

Exercise

Update 9/6/06: I've decided to give exercise a real, honest-to-goodness try as possibly a bigger cure-all than everything else combined. Check out my entries for August 31, September 4, September 5, and September 6 for the beginning of this experience. I started out depressed and negative and transitioned to positive in those four entries. I'm looking forward to seeing what major changes occur in the longer term.

Sleep Apnea

To quote my doctor, "Fibromyalgia is always, always connected to sleep problems". The day he diagnosed me, he referred me to a specialist for a sleep study to test for sleep apnea, and when they determined that I do have it, I was put on a CPAP (Constant Positive Airway Pressure) machine for sleeping. It took a full month to get through a whole night without taking the mask off in my sleep, and I had some adjusting to do to overcome some claustrophobia, but it was worth it and now I sleep better than I did for many years. For some great information about sleep apnea and CPAP machines, check out the link below for the CPAP Talk message board.

Menopause and Hormone Problems

I will add this information soon. Please check back.

So, for now, this is what I have to share.

Here are some other informative links. Some information is repeated on all of the sites having to do with fibromyalgia, but each one has something to offer that the others don't.