Exploring the Role of Gut Inflammation in Depression Addressing gut health can have a profound impact on brain function, depression, mood, energy levels, and motivation—factors that antidepressants do not address. This interesting article includes Fixing the Gut: More Than Just Taking a Probiotic and ways to improve gut health and how a a sedentary lifestyle and junk food have roles in depression. Clinical strategies to dampen gut inflammation and improve gut health include: Adopting a whole-food diet similar to what our pre-industrial ancestors ate. Identifying and addressing food se ..read more

I am slowly adding information here about Pain Clinics around Australia that can help with Fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions.  As you probably know Fibro is a condition that we are often told requires a multidiscilinary aroach and this is what these clinics offer SOUTH AUSTRALIA The Living Well with Persistent Pain program is offered to patients at no cost, and utilises local primary health care workforce to support patients in their pain management in the community. It provides a holistic self-management course, case coordination, group sessions and one-o ..read more

What is Overactive Bladder? It may also be called sensory bladder or Urgency or Irritable Bladder or neurogenic bladder. These are terms used to describe a bladder condition that causes more frequent and urgent urination.  This need to urinate originates as a sensation in the bladder when the bladder fills.  Many people who have fibromyalgia, and other chronic illnesses, do not get these messages. The fibromyalgia connection with overactive bladder. In July 2023 we did a Poll on irritable bladder in our Fibromyalgia group asking Do you get ..read more

 In 'Key Milestones Contributing to the Understanding of the Mechanisms Underlying Fibromyalgia' two Australian researchers give a fascinating overview of what they consider to be the breakthrough findings in FM. Three nerves that transmit pain signals to the spinal cord have been found to be overactive in FM. Nerves should calm down and adjust to repeated stimulation, but in a process called windup the pain nerves that get activated in FM stay activated. They also respond more quickly to a stimulus and are apt to fire off spontaneously more. Twitchy nerves leading from aro ..read more

Fibromyalgia is a complex chronic pain condition. Because its symptoms are nonspecific it is difficult to diagnose. There were rumors last year of a new blood test for diagnosing fibromyalgia but unfortunately, the final stages of the clinical trials were never completed.  According to the research study I am reporting today no objective test exists to confirm its diagnosis. This is of January 2, 2022.  One potential diagnostic measure could be a blood test that showed biomarkers. This would be a way of detecting if someone had fibromyalgia through a blood test. This would provide an ..read more

Medical professionals, and those with chronic illness, have noticed that many people with Fibromyalgia also get Sjögren’s Syndrome. A study is explained here that works out whether this is a reality.  Sjögren’s Syndrome is an autoimmune condition that attacks the mucous membranes of the body. It is a systemic condition that can affect many parts of the body including the joints, lungs, and glands.  Fibromyalgia typically causes multifocal and migratory pain, and may be accompanied by comorbid symptoms associated with the central nervous system, particularly fatigue and sleep ..read more

Here I explain new data that was presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2021 Convergence showing that a sublingual tablet may reduce central sensitization in people with fibromyalgia who have non-restorative sleep.  According to the Institute for ChronicPain central sensitization is a condition of the nervous system that is associated with the development and maintenance of chronic pain. When central sensitization occurs, the nervous system goes through a process called wind-up and gets regulated in a persistent state of high reactivity. The information pr ..read more

I am a great believer in doing everything I can to support myself in reducing symptoms. Sometimes there are easy things we can do instead of taking medications or as well as taking medications. Things that are actually evidence-based and therefore proven to work. This post discusses GERD and one such important and studied simple approach to reducing GER and GERD symptoms.  Fibromyalgia often coexists with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). A connection has been made through research into 35,000 patients discovering that people with fibromyalgia have a high incidence of GERD and ..read more

 Soak on it More and more research indicates that Fibromyalgia patients suffer from magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is extremely important to many functions in the body, and a deficiency can cause several of the symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia. There are great benefits in taking an Epsom salt bath, rich in hydrated magnesium sulfate, which is easily absorbed through the skin. As listed on the Epsom Salt Industry Council website, here are some of the health benefits to be had from an epsom salt bath: Flushes toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the ..read more

 August 13, 2021.  As the byline of this blog is 'Discovering what works to help Fibromyalgia' it would be remiss of me to not include information about clinical trials into fibromyalgia. Clinical trials can help us discover and confirm so many things about a condition -  it causes, connections, preventatives and treatments.  Here is a list of some current trials into fibromyalgia, and related conditions, that are recruiting for participants in various parts of the world. Comparison of Focused ESWT by Frequency for Patients With Myofascial Pain Syndrome | Recruit ..read more