What Causes Fibromyalgia?

No one knows for sure what causes fibromyalgia. Here are some theories:

Illness or extreme physical or emotional stress causes fibboromyalgia
Minor repeated trauma to the muscles causes fibromyalgia
The sleep disturbance that is associated with fibromyalgia causes fibromyalgia
An abnormality in the central nervous system causes fibromyalgia
A misalignment of the spinal column, particularly the upper neck causes fibromyalgia
A vitamin D deficiency causes fibromyalgia
Insufficient, properly digested protein causes fibromyalgia
Multiple hormone deficiencies cause fibromyalgia
Problems with the immune system cause fibromyalgia
An increase in free radicals causes fibromyalgia
Mecury poisoning causes fibromyalgia
Aluminum poisoning causes fibromyalgia

There are many things to account for in trying to determine the cause of this syndrome called fibromyalgia. Consider the following list of symptoms:

Chronic fatigue not relieved by extra sleep or rest
Headaches
Dryness of the throat and excessive water consumption
Urinary tract irritation
Aches and stiffness in muscles/bones (arthritic-like pain)

• In lower back
• In neck area
• In jaws
• In arms, shoulders, legs

Muscular weakness
Muscle spasms (involuntary twitching)
Tingling sensations in fingers (especially) and feet
Gastrointestinal disturbances

• Abdominal pains
• Blood in stools
• Diarrhea
• Bloated feeling (gas)
• Constipation
• Tenderness in stomach area

Feeling of nausea (flu-like symptoms)
Pinkish-red or bluish-red spots (like bruises, but round or oval) on
the skin that fade and clear up in 7-10 days.
Skin rash or itching, especially after showers or bathing.
Mouth sores (also from fluoridated toothpaste)
Loss of mental acuity and ability to concentrate
Depression
Excessive Nervousness
Dizziness
Tendency to lose balance
Visual disturbances

• Temporary blind spots in field of vision
• Diminished ability to focus (possible retinal damage)

This list of symptoms is taken from page 393 of a book by George Waldbott titled, "Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma," published in 1978. These are symptoms of fluoride poisoning. Jason A. Uttley makes a very good case for arguing that the cause of Fibromyalgia is fluoride poisoning:

http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/fibromyalgia.html

I believe that a major cause of fibromyalgia is an accumulation in the body of excessive amounts of fluoride, aluminum, mercury and likely iron as well. I believe that fibromyalgia is made worse by less than optimal intake of vitamin D, magnesium, boron and iodine.

What Can We Do About Fibromyalgia?

To address the aspect of excessive amounts of fluoride, aluminum, mercury and iron in the body, there are five things to do:

First, reduce your fibromyalgia symptoms by reducing your intake of flourides. Drink fluoride free spring water, distilled water, reverse osmosis water, or water treated to remove fluoride (usually with some aluminum compound as a catalyst and then further filtered to remove any aluminum from the treated water). Use fluoride free toothpaste. Don't cook in teflon cookware. Don't take fluorinated medications or supplements. Don't drink teas or other beverages with a high fluoride content. A number of people have reduced their fibromyalgia symptoms simply by reducing their intake of fluorides.

Second, reduce your fibromyalagia symptoms by reducing your intake of mercury, aluminum and unneeded levels of iron. Don't use salt containing aluminum. Don't us baking powder containing aluminum. Don't use atiperspirants containing aluminum.

Third, reduce your fibromyalgia symptoms by reducing the fluoride in your body. This is easier said than done. The only substance that I know of that might possibly do this safely is boron, which the body needs in small amounts, but it is toxic in large amounts - one could say the same thing about iron, or idodine or even table salt. I take a multivitamin (SuperNutrition Opti-Pack Iron-Free) that contains 3mg of boron per daily dose. (Boron is essential for bone building) I assume this is a safe dose, but it may not be therapeutic for fluoride removal. There just isn't much on this subject.

Fourth, reduce your fibromalgia symptoms by reducing the mercury, aluminum, and unnecessary iron in your body. Consider taking oral chelation therapy, IP6, boron.

Fifth, reduce your fibromyalgia symptoms by treating the symptoms of fluoride poisoning. This is basically what people have been trying to do to help fibromyalgia sufferers. One hopeful course of action mentioned in the article by Jason A. Uttley (the EarthClinic link) is to support the kidneys.

I think this is all very interesting, and really applaud the fact that you would care enough to go to the trouble to help others with a condition you do not have.

But one thing bothers me. What about people like myself who suffer from secondary fibromyalgia? I never had a symptom a day in my life until I developed a chronic pain condition in my abdomen. A year after that the fibromyalgia set in, with all the symptoms, all the tender points and everything.

At that time I did a lot of research myself, and spoke to or e-mailed a number of well-know rheumatologists to try to find a way to treat or cure the fibro despite my chronic pain. The most common answer I got then was that fibromyalgia, at least like mine, is most likely caused by a disruption in the normal cycle of living caused by my chronic pain. I couldn't sleep, eat, work or exercise in any normal pattern, and this caused a huge upset in how my body functioned, leading to FMS.

Do you think there could be more than one cause, or more than one condition that mimics fibromyalgia? From what I've read, it's the tender points more than anything else that confirms the diagnosis, and I have them all. But mine have never been as terribly severe as those of others I've read about here. Any thoughts on that?

Has anyone ever put the connection to their fibro. to the fact that they took an antibiotic in the fluoroquinolone class? I ask this because the symtoms can be almost identical. These antibiotics have fluoride in them also. These antibiotics are: cipro, levaquin, avelox, floxacin, and a few others that all have the same long lasting (years) side effects. If you have taken an antibiotic in the last few years before you started to get fibro. then it is possible that you had a reaction. Just google in the anti. you took and look at the side effects. It might be what is causing you problems.These Fluoroquinolones are very hard on the muscles and tendons amongst other things.

If your fibromyalgia symptoms are not related to fluoride poisoning, then it is possible they are a kind of connective tissue problem. Try checking out the following website:

http://www.ctds.info/index.html

The answer to your question is yes, someone has made the connection between their fibro and taking an antibiotic in the fluoroquinolone class. The first link in my first post is authored by a person who got fibromyalgia after two months of being treated with Cipro.



The second link is specifically about problems with Cipro. It is authored by three people who belong to "Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC)." People can decide for themselves what they think about the similarities between the Cipro side effects listed and their fibro symptoms. Be sure to read the long list of additional side effects that are not expanded on in the main part of the article.

Has also been linked to fluorosis, as well as some OTC green algae products.

I am beginning to think that fluoride poisoning is only one possible cause of fibromyalgia. I think that trying to tie ischemia and fluoride poisoning to fibromyalgia was a very good place for me to start. I am now starting to wrestle with the cause of fibromyalgia from a broader perspective - perhaps too broad. But it's a good way for me to continue my investigations and ruminations. I can always make another course correction later on.

What I am now thinking is this, fibromyalgia is the result of incomplete healing. Fluoride poisoning fits into this idea of incomplete healing in two ways. First, in high enough quantities, fluoride can cause serious wounding of the body. Second, even in relatively low quantities, fluoride can interfere with the body's messenger chemicals, keeping certain processes clogged in the on position. This could prevent the body from turning off certain responses to wounding such as the production of substance P. I don't have any hard evidence yet to back up my idea, but it just kind of makes sense to me at this point. There are many ways in which the body can be wounded, so yes, I now believe there are multiple causes of fibromyalgia.

Your abdominal pain is an important part of your health condition. Not knowing the cause makes it difficult to even try to answer your last question. Fluoride poisoning can cause digestive problems. If something caused your sympathetic nervous system to work overtime - heart rate up, blood pressure up, muscles ready for fight or flight - that could affect your digestive system even possibly leading to leaky gut (by keeping blood flowing to your muscles instead of your digestive system). I am still trying to make a connection between fluoride poisoning and ischemia in muscles. Regardless of cause, some sort of ischemia could account for your painful tender points. Whether or not an overabundance of some sort of chemical messengers produced when one part of the body is seriously wounded can cause ischemia in other parts of the body (when the wound fails to heal for a long time) - I just don't know.

One more thought, mental stress and chronic pain can lead to magnesium depletion. Magnesium is required for muscles to relax. Magnesium deficiency can cause muscles to be chronically tensed which can lead to ischemia, which can lead to pain. I use magnesium taurate as my magnesium supplement. If the pain in your tender points is not severe, massage could also be very helpful.

As you say, the tender points are a diagnostic tool. What they signify to me is a persistent, pervasive (all over the body) overcontraction of muscles. I am not familiar with using the tender points to diagnose fibromyalgia, so I can't say for sure, but it seems to me that these tender points are points near where various muscle groups attach to bone. If this is the case, then pain at these points can be caused by tight muscles with restricted range of motion such that normal activity causes stress at the attachment points. Fibromyalgia is not about the tender points, it is about tight muscles that will not lengthen to accomodate normal range of motion.

The million dollar question is what causes the tightening of these muscles? As I mentioned earlier in my thread, I am pursuing the idea that ischemia is involved in the involuntary tightening of muscles. So, I ask myself this question - is there something that can cause the tightening of arteries which causes ischemia which causes voluntary muscles to tighten and also causes pain. Apparently, fluoride can cause artery tissue to tighten:

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/co...tract/258/1/66

One person, Walt Stoll, believes that fibromyalgia has to do with being in a state of sympathetic nervous system dominance (severe chronic "bracing" he calls it), which causes the muscles to be chronically stressed. I don't believe that this is the cause of fibromyalgia, but sympathetic nervous system dominance for whatever reason, could be a part of the problem of fibromyalgia.

If you are one of those people who believe that Fibromyalgia and Mycoplasma are connected then here is a link that you might be interested in:

http://www.newtreatments.org/doc.php/Mycoplasma/29

Has anyone investigated the relationship of CFS and ciguatera fish poisoning?
A 96% correlation is pretty high! Here is a place to start:

http://www.ncf-net.org/forum/CiguateraEpitope.htm

Tea tree oil and mycoplasma pneumoniae:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract