Hello there.....it's nice to meet you all.

I am a 55 year old female who has suffered with chronic fatigue and severe fibro for over 20 years.

I have lost 17 pounds on Atkins and need to lose 20 more.

I do think it helps with the pain. I know I am better off the sugar and flour.

I also think it's helps me sleep better, and I know it helps my joints getting this weight off.

I got off it during the Holidays and I'm in one of the worst flares I've had in eons....shame, shame......I got back on it yesterday morning, so hopefully I will feel the difference soon.

Well, nice to meet you guys.....looks like a lot of support and fun here.

Blessings and Health to all you fibromites, Chocolat

Hi chocolat

Nice to meet you, I'm new too. Not new to the 'condition', but new to this particular board.

I'm recovering pretty well now from FM/CFS/MPS and all related disorders including Leaky Gut Syndrome finally! It took finding out what was 'really behind' my inflammatory problems to start recovering, but now I'm on my way.

I've been running a support group for those with candida for about 4 years, and for a while in the beginning of treating myself for candida, I believed that candida was the 'sole' cause of FM/CFS. However, after TOO long on the anti-candida diet, antifungals and colon cleansing, I realized that it was "not" going away, and that something more had to be wrong.

That was when I got really really sick. My stomach started to hurt very bad all the time, and I got SO thin... I had no appetite and thought I was just going to die. ALL this "while" I was thinking I was doing right - staying on the anti-candida diet, etc. That was when I found out that a "good" thing like "whole grains" can give you a "whole lot" of trouble!! I truly thought I was doing a good thing adding these whole grains to my good diet, but every time I ate them I was causing more inflammation, until one day my body just kind of collapsed. I was having anxiety and panic-attacks so bad, that I was a nervous wreck. I also ended up with a bladder infection and sicker than a dog. This inspired me to have the specific test for Gluten/Grain intolerance. What I found out 'knocked my socks off' I was completely INTOLERANT to Gluten and Grains (corn, rice, soy). The doctor told me that "intolerance" is completely different than "allergies". Here is a great quote on this:

ALLERGY vs. INTOLERANCE

There is a great deal of confusion and misinformation about food allergies and gluten. Gluten intolerance is not a food allergy. It is an inherited condition that leads to a mucotoxic, or inflammatory response due to the reaction to the gliadin molecule in gliadin sensitive individuals. Sub-clinical gluten intolerance has a genetic basis, meaning it passes from generation to generation. Gluten intolerance is found most frequently in those with Irish, English, Scottish, Scandinavian, and other Northern European and Eastern European heritages. The latest research study published in the British Medical Journal in November of 1998 found previously unheard numbers of people suffering from celiac disease, the medical condition related to gluten intolerance. They found approximately one in 150 people with this condition. It is suspected the levels of sub-clinical gluten intolerance are much higher. Sub-clinical gluten intolerance and celiac occur less frequently in non-European populations.

It is important to note that many people who are gluten intolerant do not test positive on food allergy testing for wheat, oats, rye, barley, and other gluten containing grains. Do not be mislead by the fact that you do not test positive to these gluten-containing foods. You still must avoid the offending gluten foods if you are gluten intolerant. Many people live for thirty or forty years with sub-clinical gluten intolerance and do not experience obvious symptoms. Some people who are constitutionally strong and have good adrenal function and eat moderate amounts of gluten containing foods may never experience obvious symptoms. With or without obvious symptoms, intestinal damage is still taking place.

[I]Pretty unreal huh? It took me 3-4 months of being completely off of the grains and BOY did I start to feel well. NO anxiety, NO panic-attacks, no stomach pains, Mentally STABLE (yeay!!!), and now at 6 months in I can say that I now know that the eating of those foods was what kept my gut in an inflamed state, and allowed candida/parasites to 'set up shop' and NOT go away no matter what I seemed to do (except quit the intolerable foods!). I also don't have FM symptoms anymore which blows me away No muscle pain, knots and sleeping problems. I can only think that things will get even better, because the docs (who did my testing) told me that at about 1 year is when the small intestinal villi (which help digest nutrients, etc.) will be healthy again, and most of the inflammatory problems will be gone in the intestines.

Well... seems i've been talking an awful lot today... nice to meet you chocolat!

wendyJM1

"FEAR IS THAT LITTLE DARKROOM WHERE NEGATIVES ARE DEVELOPED"

Hey Wendy...thanks for writing. Yes, Yes, Yes.....on all you said. Getting my gut healthy was tops. Taking a multi-enzyme is a must also. Now my body is getting nutrients it needs....though I am in a terrible flare right now, for I fell off the sugar/flour wagon badly during the holidays.

Have you ever heard of taking Hyalouronic Acid for Fibro ? I got some yesterday and started taking it. Folks are saying they are getting rid of the pain and stiffness with it. It's in our body already, but we do not make much of it as we age kind of thing.

I'll report in a week and tell you how I am.

We have a 30.56 BAROMETER today, so I'm not moving very fast at ALL this morning !