Naturopath and nutritionist, Dr. David Brady’s taken a kind of media driven, rock-star approach to alternative health. He’s got the flashy website; he’s written the book with the catchy title, “The Fibro Fix: Get to the Root of Your Fibromyalgia and Start Reversing Your Chronic Pain and Fatigue in 21 Days“; he’s doing interviews all over the place; he’s got his own brand of supplements; he’s a “Doctor Oz” expert (!); he hosted an online “Fibro-Fix Summit”; he’s doing podcasts — the man is out there promoting his stuff.
An “Oz doctor” Brady’s got the media thing going
His website’s claim that Brady has published in “leading peer-reviewed medical journals” is pretty sketchy, though, with few publications listed on PubMed. Brady has, however, contributed several review articles to alternative health and other journals not listed on PubMed, and is a contributing author to several integrative health textbooks. He’s also Chief Medical Officer of his diagnostic lab. In short, he’s a busy man.
He’s got a message. If you think you have FM, you probably don’t. Your doctor may have told you that you have fibromyalgia, but the odds are that Dr. David Brady would probably disagree.
Most people, Brady rather audaciously proclaims, who think they have fibromyalgia (FM), have what he calls “Pseudo-FM”. Don’t feel badly, though, if you’re in that group: according to Brady, you have a lot better chance of healing if you are. In fact, one of the best signs that you didn’t have what Brady calls “Classic FM” is if you’ve been cured of whatever you have.
First, though, let’s look at an unusual aspect of Brady’s approach – his belief that FM is a psychosomatic disorder which presents with a distinct personality profile.
The Psychosomatic Naturopath
Early life stresses, inflammation and psychological factors play a major role in Brady’s conception of FM.
Brady’s a naturopath and functional medicine doctor, but psychology and trauma are important factors for him. Brady doesn’t mention his psychosomatic leanings much in “FibroFix” but is clear about them in his review papers, calling “classic FM” a “bonafide psychosomatic” disorder caused by persistent hypervigilance and overactivated limbic system pathways, and likening it to a mental illness.
In another paper and in his book he states that:
“these classic cases probably represent the somatic manifestations of extreme emotional stress and/or psychologic illness, yet are distinct from a true somatization disorder in which there is no real physical illness.”
He’s certainly not alone. The idea that fibromyalgia is a kind of psychosomatic disorder, triggered by physical, emotional or sexual abuse ,has a long history in research. A 2017 review, “The management of fibromyalgia from a psychosomatic perspective: an overview” emphasized the importance of considering and treating the comorbidity of FM with psychiatric disorders and psychological factors that affect pain management.”
Recent studies have found higher rates rates of “psychosomatic syndromes”, PTSD, anxiety and depression in FM patients than in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Yet the story may not be so clear-cut. The fact that FM patients appeared to be in considerably more pain than RA patients suggested they were under more stress. (Remarkably, the study used different pain measures for the two groups and didn’t investigate whether pain levels affected the rates of anxiety, depression, etc.). Plus, the rate of possible “psychosomatic syndromes” was almost as high in RA (79%) as in FM (100%) – suggesting that FM doesn’t have anything like a lock on “psychosomatism” in rheumatological diseases.
Brady even uses psychological factors at times to help separate chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) from fibromyalgia patients; people with FM have them and people with ME/CFS apparently don’t. (Who knew??)
“Well, if the condition seemed to come on historically after a viral type illness, and the main complaint is fatigue, and there’s not a significant body wide pain, body wide achiness component, and, particularly, if there’s none of those other central, psychological type of issues like depression, anxiety, panic attack, then you’re not dealing with classic ….fibromyalgia.”
Brady’s attempt to back up his interpretation of FM as a kind of psychological illness isn’t particularly convincing. He uses the fact that antidepressants often work “well”, at least in the short term, in FM, as evidence for the important role psychological factors play in the illness, yet ignores the fact that some of those same antidepressants reduce pain in FM patients who are not depressed; i.e. they’re often working as pain relievers, not antidepressants.
Early Life Trauma
“Our best guess is that it (fibromyalgia) usually originates early in life due to emotional or physical stress or trauma.” Dr. Brady
Early life trauma plays a major role in Brady’s conception of FM. Brady agrees that not everyone with FM experiences it but states that it’s common and repeatedly refers to it. (All of the patient examples of classic FM in Brady’s “FibroFix” book had some sort of early-life trauma.) He repeatedly cites a 600 person study which found higher rates of emotional, physical or sexual trauma were associated with FM onset.
The “aha” moment for Brady with one patient, for instance, came when he’d discovered she’d been in an automobile accident which killed her brother. Brady stated:
“And usually there is often sort of a history, when you really talk to these patients, of kind of a difficult or tumultuous early life. It could be abuse. It could be physical abuse. It could be verbal abuse. It could be sexual abuse. That’s the most damaging.”
“But it could just be being in an unsafe environment or an environment that was never steady, like: moving all the time; being a child of divorce; an acrimonious relationship between mother and father; a very authoritative, demanding parent, particularly a father figure to a young girl where she could never feel she would measure up, never be good enough no matter how well she did.”
After asking about a person’s pain, Brady gives patients his own child abuse quiz:
“What was your upbringing like? What was your childhood like? What was your relationship like with your parents? Your siblings? Did anyone else live in your household? Grandparents, aunts, uncles. What was the relationship like with them? Was there any abuse going on? Was there any loud yelling? Was there alcoholic … Raging alcoholic dad for instance.”
Brady believes early life stress sets the stage for the development of FM in many.
It’s pretty clear that early life abuse can set the stage for chronic pain in later on. A recent review article, “Psychological stress in early life as a predisposing factor for the development of chronic pain: Clinical and preclinical evidence and neurobiological mechanisms” laid out a number of physiological pathways (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; monoaminergic, opioidergic, endocannabinoid and immune systems; and epigenetic mechanisms) that studies suggest could contribute to that.
The study evidence regarding fibromyalgia is less clear, however, than Brady makes it out to be. One study found that 65% of women with FM patients experienced sexual abuse but so did over 50% of the healthy controls. Another found that 37% of FM patients and 22% of healthy controls had experienced childhood abuse. A third found no evidence that rates of childhood sexual or physical abuse were higher in FM than in rheumatoid arthritis (emotional neglect was).
Brain Wallitt’s study found a “clinically modest, yet statistically significant” effect of physical abuse on the amount of pain experienced in FM. The effect was so modest, though, that the authors stated that, “Group differences are of small magnitude and might not directly impact clinical practice.”; i.e. it appears they hardly affected pain levels at all.
Another study found that several of the associations between early life trauma and FM disappeared when depression was taken into account; i.e. FM patients without depression did not have an increased incidence of physical abuse and emotional neglect. Another study found no evidence of increased sexual or physical abuse in FM.
Two meta-analysis studies, however, confirmed the link between childhood trauma and “functional somatic syndromes” such as FM, IBS, TMJ, ME/CFS, etc. Individuals with some sort of childhood trauma were 2.7 times more likely to come down with one of these disorders. Study quality, however, was generally poor and one meta-analysis found that the poorer the quality of the study, the greater association that appeared between FM and childhood trauma.
One of Many Diseases
FM is not alone; early life stress is associated with an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (odds ratio – 2.0-3.4; similar to FM), autoimmune diseases in general, hypertension, asthma, cardiovascular risk, arterial stiffness — the list goes on and on.
Despite Brady’s emphasis on early life stress in FM, it’s possible there’s nothing particularly special about the rates of childhood abuse in the disease. A history of childhood abuse is associated with a 25-50% increased risk of diabetes, a 45% increased risk of heart disease, a 50% increased risk of arthritis (50% increased risk).
Migraine presents an interesting study in the importance of sexual abuse and disease. Migraine, like FM, is a pain disorder which largely affects women. One study indicated that 47 percent of migraine patients had been victims of physical or sexual violence compared with 36 percent of young women without migraine. So yes, migraine was associated with an increased risk of childhood trauma, but only to a degree. The study concluded that abuse increased one’s risk of coming down with migraine by about 40%.
Missing Risk Factors
In his focus on psychological factors, Brady also misses other kinds of trauma that can increase one’s risk of pain sensitization. Much evidence, for instance, suggests that premature birth can, through its effects on the HPA axis, result in increased pain sensitization. Surgery during childhood or burns can set up a similar pain sensitization process. Having another pain disorder has the same effect; it appears that any kind of trauma or injury puts one at least at some increased risk of coming down with FM or a similar pain condition.
The problem is not that Brady links childhood trauma to FM: the problem is the central role Brady gives the factor. It appears to be the only risk factor Brady is contemplating and that’s too simplistic.
Brady’s Fibromyalgia Personality Profile
Brady’s gut-level assessments of “the fibromyalgia personality” are embarrassingly naïve. No one has the ability to assess personalities anecdotally and Brady’s pop psychology is not convincing.
“These people tend to be overachievers, very fastidious. They like to be in control of everything and in their environment. So therefore, they are high achievers. But they never feel they can meet the mark. Now, that’s not in every classic fibromyalgia patient. But it’s really, really much higher in their history than people who don’t have fibromyalgia.”
“They’re (the classic FM patients) always in defensive posture if you will. So they tend to have personalities that align with that. They tend to be always worrywarts about everyone around them, they’re very much caretakers, they’re worried about their kids, their spouse, if something bad is going to happen to them how do I take care of them. And they’re all about facilitating and protecting everyone else and they don’t take care of themselves essentially. And eventually it all comes crashing down.”
“But that’s why they have anxiety, and panic. They’re always waiting for the worst to happen. They tend to be very fastidious and very neat. They need everything in its place, they want order, they hate chaos.”
The problem is that it’s very easy to find components like this in many of us. Authoritative parents, divorces, acrimonious relationships are common, neat-niks, caregiver personalities are common throughout the population. Brady’s FM personality, in fact, hews very close to the debunked migraine personality – of high-strung, perfectionist, anxious women – which dominated the migraine field for years and set migraine research back decades.
The study evidence does not bear out Brady’s intuitions.. Two 2012 studies found that perfectionism is not elevated in FM nor does a personality profile distinct to FM exist.
Classic Fibromyalgia
If you have classic FM, you’ve got a brain injury – never something easy to treat. Central sensitization is causing your nervous system to treat all sorts of ordinary sensations as pain and you’re fatigued. Your overloaded nervous system may be having problems with high-stimuli environments, leaving you feeling overwhelmed in malls, large stores, freeways, etc.
Cognitively you’re slower than before and your concentration has suffered. With all the brain circuits that are tottering it’s perhaps no surprise that depression and anxiety are common. Plus, you’re not sleeping well. You may be able to do some exercise but heavy exercise is definitely out.
You might respond pretty well to low-dose levels of anti-depressant or anxiety medications or biofeedback or behavioral techniques designed to lower your stress levels. You’re also fairly rare: Brady believes probably 2/3rds of people diagnosed with FM don’t have it.
Brady’s “Total Treatment” Program for “Classic” Fibromyalgia
So you have “classic FM”. Congratulations on getting a diagnosis but the news is actually not so great – calming down your central sensitization is going to take some doing.
Brady believes that mood disorders and FM have similar causes (serotonin issues, micro-inflammation of the brain and a history of stress, trauma or abuse). Stress causes inflammation, which contributes over time to development of mood disorders and ultimately to more complex disorders such as FM and IBS.
His goal is a laudable one – remove inflammatory influences via diet, supplements and stress reduction practices, and to reinforce the nervous system functioning enough for it to recover. Brain inflammation is addressed via dietary changes, supplements, botanicals, lifestyle modifications, GI flora optimization, alleviating leaky gut and drugs.
Serotonin and substance P play critical roles in Brady’s conception of the pain sensitization and irritable bowel issues occurring in FM. He uses supplements (5-HTP (50-100mgs with meals), St John’s Wort (300 mgs/3x’s day), SAMe (1,600 mgs/day), melatonin (3-9 mgs), phophatidylserine (50-100 mgs/day), L-theanine (1-200 mgs/day), GABA (1-200 mgs/2-3x’s day) and calming botanicals (Valeriana, Passiflora, Scutellaria, MelissaI ) to boost serotonin, support the adrenals, and provide mood support.
Stress reduction techniques are an important part of Brady’s treatment protocol.
(Brady sells different packages of supplements (Fibro-Fix Classic, Sero-tone, Neuro-Fx and FibroMag) on his website.)
Exercise – greatly modified exercise – is important. Brady wants his FM patients to slowly and gently get to 10,000 steps a day. Ten thousand steps sounds like a lot but it’s simply what most people walk in a day – it’s not an indication of a cure.
Brady also strongly encourages forms of gentle movement, relaxation and stress reduction such as: “counseling, desensitization techniques, forgiveness therapy, guided imagery, heart-rate variability training, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, Tai chi, yoga”.
Supplements and drugs are only going to take you so far biochemically though. What’s really needed is some brain work. Cognitive behavioral therapy, brain mapping, and EEG directed biofeedback are used to train FM patients to get their brains into calming states – a “super important” thing to do.
Phone apps can use heart rate variability measures to help one induce states of calm. Meditation, yoga, desensitization techniques, guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, forgiveness therapy, prayer; anything that resets one’s stress meter is very important.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with using behavioral techniques to treat pain. Pain itself increases the risk of being diagnosed with anxiety, depression and having negative anticipations and catastrophic thinking. Every one of these factors increases pain levels. Calming techniques and mindfulness meditation are used effectively to reduce pain levels, as well the consumption of opioid drugs in many pain conditions.
Brady mostly eschews the FDA approved drugs for FM; sleep medications and antidepressents. Low dose naltrexone (LDN) is mentioned briefly but, as of the writing of “Fibro-Fix”, did not appear to be part of his treatment protocol. Medical marijuana – possibly the most effective pain reliever of them all in FM – is not mentioned.
Sleep hygiene, of course, is important. No blue lights (no iPad or laptops unless they have a blue light filter) are allowed after about seven to eight o’clock at night. Wakeup time is 7:00, 7:30 in the morning.
Exercise, starting with increasing flexibility and range of motion, is important as well.
Aside from more of an emphasis on stress reduction, Brady’s program is similar to that of other alternative health doctors. Brady reported of one classic FM patient, “Jennifer”, who suffered from global pain, who had a history of anxiety and depression, a verbally abusive father and normal blood tests, including thyroid.
Jennifer’s clear indicators of FM (to Brady – past history of trauma, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and IBS) suggested she had “classic FM”. She was put on Brady’s 21-day Fibro-Fix Foundational Plan plus 5-HTP, melatonin, GABA, calming herbals and nutrients, CoQ10, mild stretching and exercise, daily meditation and psychological counseling.
Pseudo FM: the Alternate Diagnoses
The most singular thing about Brady’s book and approach is his emphasis on the prevalence of misdiagnosis in FM. Brady believes that misdiagnosing FM is so common that about 75% of FM patients don’t really have it but have another disease that can probably be treated.
Missed Diagnoses
- Anemia – take complete blood counts – check for low RBC, altered hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin.
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate / C-reactive protein test – check for systemic inflammation or infection.
Musculoskeletal Conditions
Brady believes a common mistake is not finding a musculoskeletal condition. Brady believes that about 20-30% experiencing global pain have a musculoskeletal problem, not FM.
During his examination Brady is, “looking for things like muscle tightness, muscle spasms, trigger points of myofascial pain syndrome…if they have a lot of that where they’re complaining of pain, then I’m thinking “Wait. This might be a structural, musculoskeletal issue, not a pain perception issue,” particularly if they’re not anxious, depressed, and have IBS.
If your pain is in your soft tissues and you mostly experience muscle pain, then Brady believes you probably have FM but if it’s in your joints you probably have some sort of inflammatory arthritic condition such as rheumatoid arthritis. If you do indeed seem to hurt everywhere but also suffered some injuries in the past that could account for that, you probably don’t have FM, even if you’ve been treated for those injuries.
In Brady’s experience, musculoskeletal diagnoses are often missed in “FM”.
Another way to tell if “classic FM” is present: if physical therapy such as physical medicine, PT, chiropractic, massage, body work, produced a lasting effect, the patient didn’t have classic fibromyalgia: they had myofascial pain syndrome or some other musculoskeletal problem.
Spinal Facet and Sacroiliac Pain – can emanate far past the aggrieved facets but unfortunately MRI, x-rays and bone scans are of no help in diagnosing this condition. Unfortunately, other than stating that this difficult-to-diagnose condition exists, Davis provides no help in how to diagnose it.
Missed Evidence of Structural Damage – Brady is entirely correct that x-rays and MRI’s do poorly in assessing the causes of chronic pain, but it’s probably far more common for doctors to misinterpret scans in the other direction and over diagnose structural damage leading to needless surgeries and more pain. In “Fibro-Fix”, Brady points out that he’s come across people with misalignments, postural problems, tendonitis, pinched and disc degeneration who have been misdiagnosed as having FM. (Oddly enough, I found no mention of chiari malformation.)
Myofascial Pain – Trigger Points – are commonly missed. These ropey lumps or knots in the muscles often found in FM are distinct from tender points. They’ll respond to massage and other kinds of physical therapy (while tender points will not).
Besides gentle stretching and exercise (Brady has a nice section on stretching), Brady uses supplements (proteolytic enzymes, bioflavinoids, turmeric, ginger, boswellia and EPA) to reduce inflammation associated with musculoskeletal issues. Calming herbs are also used.
Brady acknowledges the high degree of professionalism of most physical therapists, but mostly eschews PT approaches focused on strengthening and increasing mobility in favor of practitioners who know how to do myofascial therapy. For those delving into the world of soft-tissue work, Brady recommends practitioners using Active-Release Technique, Graston Technique, Receptor-Tonus training, St. John’s Technique and/or myofascial release. As does Dr Liptan, Brady highly recommends light massages (aka Swedish).
Metabolic Disorders
- Hypothyroid – Hypothyroidism is probably the mostly commonly missed diagnosis. Besides fatigue, weakness, cold intolerance and depression, Brady points out that low thyroid can also produce muscle stiffness and pain, pins and needles sensations, muscle weakness and sluggish deep tendon reflexes. Thankfully, Brady delves to some extent into the complexity of thyroid diagnostics with a warning that standard thyroid tests may not sufficient. His book, “FibroFix”, has an excellent overview of the topic.
- Adrenal dysfunction – Morning serum cortisol and urinary catecholamine metabolites can be useful in assessing adrenal dysfunction. (Brady is compelled to note that low cortisol and high catecholamine levels are found in PTSD.) The treatment? Psychological counselling and stress-reducing lifestyle modifications.
- Mitochondrial Problems – organic acid tests are done to check these.
Brady doesn’t mention other misdiagnoses, including some that are surprising for a functional doctor. They include mast cell activation syndrome (MAST), Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mold issues, restless leg syndrome, polymyalgia rheumatica, hyperparathyroidism, Sjogren’s Syndrome, gluten intolerance, lupus, early onset multiple sclerosis, sleep apnea or other sleep disorders, and prescription drug use.
Check out Dr. Martinez-Lavin’s quite different list of missed diagnoses in FM:
It Takes A Functional Doctor
Brady may be right about one thing; FM is probably harder to treat than other so-called “functional disorders” which often appear to show up as fatigue, pain, or sleep issues but without an overt pathology. Brady’s experience indicates to him that “many functional issues require only simple lifestyle changes.” If you have gut problems there are supplements and dietary changes that can fix that; ditto with cellular energy production.
Brady’s approach is relatively simple but he does present some compelling cases of “pseudo-fibromyalgia” he was able to resolve.
One of his cues that a patient doesn’t have FM concerns drugs or treatments that don’t work. Donna’s inability, for instance, to improve her symptoms (fatigue, pain, insomnia) on antidepressants and Ambien gave Brady an important clue that she didn’t have FM at all.
Functional medicine doctors offer more treatment options than most MD’s.
A workup indicated low normal thyroid markers, inefficiencies in energy production and detoxification, and low serotonin metabolites. Donna went on Brady’s 21-day Fibro-Fix plan plus CoQ10, L-carnitine, D-ribose and B-complex vitamins, Nature Thyroid and 5-HTP. Within 30 days Brady reported that she was much improved and 60 days later was completely well.
The next patient story (Christine) exhibited problems with energy production, and like Donna, was put on the Fibro-Fix Foundational plan plus CoQ10, L-carnitine, D-ribose and B-complex vitamins and probiotics. Within 60 days her symptoms were 90% gone as well.
Of course, if it was that simple many of you wouldn’t be reading this blog. Brady doesn’t present much help for harder cases who’ve already tried and failed on the alternative medicine circuit, but for those new to alternative medicine, his book presents real possibilities.
Conclusions
Brady’s focus on early life trauma is surely over-stated and his fibromyalgia personality profile should be ditched as soon as possible. Early life-trauma does set the stage for some FM patients, but there’s little evidence that it’s that much more of a contributor to FM than it is to other diseases.
Others will know better than me how effective they are, but Brady’s suggestions for overcoming FM and other health problems mostly make sense to me. At times his conclusions (“just adopting an organic food diet – ideally free of processed grains, gluten-containing grains and dairy – is generally life-changing for those suffering with pain and fatigue disorders” made me – a longtime ME/CFS/FM sufferer (with an excellent diet) made me cringe. Brady does, on the other hand, offer quite a few options for those with classic FM and other diseases.
Brady’s concern that his patients take a “package approach” to the disease – that is, embark on multi-faceted program which includes dietary changes, supplements and herbs, physical therapy, perhaps some drugs plus stress reduction – makes sense.
One has to question, though, just who gets “fixed” using Brady’s approach. (People with less severe cases of FM?) Brady’s protocol surely does help many, but fixing fibromyalgia probably happens more rarely than his book title suggests. In this regard, Dr. Liptan’s approach in “Figuring out Fibromyalgia”, where she simply claims to offer the most effective treatments, is the more honest one. Still, Brady’s “Fibro-Fix” book surely provides helpful options for many who are not up on functional medicine.
Given the books emphasis on misdiagnoses, it’s surprising how many alternate diagnoses Brady missed in his 2016 book. His distinction between “classic” and “pseudo” fibromyalgia should alert doctors and other practitioners to the missed diagnoses that may very well permeate the field, and cause much suffering.
“Naturopath”
“Appears on Dr Oz”
“Has own range of supplements”
Yep, pretty much all the red flags flying there.
You said it, Ben!
Agreed, ha!
So many red flags here. I share your thoughts, Ben.
Total scam. I attended a seminar based on this man’s “theory”. Hundreds of vulnerable people there. They offered ” training” courses costing thousands of dollars. Blame the victim, then fleece them.
Thanks Ben
Wonderful! Yet another ‘expert’ telling us that ‘it’s all in our heads’! What, exactly, is the ‘good news’ in that?
You got it there mate $$$ covered vague enough……ahh I got mad but mostly laughed at his ridiculous theories.
It is these types of “proclaimed experts” and their theories that have hurt FM patients for decades. A classic Chiari is only a very small part of the potential structural problems. We need to understand exactly what is causing high intracranial pressures – probably in many or most patients. A big clue to abnormal CNS pressures is that fact that FM symptoms/ pain typically worsen as low pressure systems move in. Plane rides are also difficult due to pressure changes. Explain that “Dr.” Brady.
Interesting. My ex-girlfriend with FM had a horrible time when low pressure systems moved in.
My partner has EDS + POTS and I have FM, ME/CFS, POTS, an autoimmune connective tissue disease and some missed hypermobility spectrum symptoms. Whenever low pressure systems hit us here in a very temperate rainforest type environment, we tend to be wiped out and have much worse pain. We pop joints more than a bowl of popcorn while cooking! Even hips and spines. Its remarkable, honestly, and it has made me wonder how many people with fibro are at least minimally hypermobile or would be if their inflammation was under control (that they supposedly don’t have, I was told the same and they were wrong!). Not that it is the answer, but connective tissue diseases outside of knowledge of autoimmune and the two big genetic names: marfans and osteogenisis imperfecta is pretty sadly lacking in doctors and the public. I wish there were more comprehensive studies on all these conditions and how each one reflects on pain, instead of us all being forced down the “thing I don’t understand”/pain = mentally ill route.
Cort. This is the first time I have ever heard of someone else having severe pain with low pressure systems. It has plagued me all of my life. A storm 200 miles out would cause leg pain and if I had some other injury at the same time look out- the pain would move to my back and become almost unbearable.
Nailed it.
” big clue to abnormal CNS pressures is that fact that FM symptoms/ pain typically worsen as low pressure systems move in. Plane rides are also difficult due to pressure changes. ”
Haven’t flown a plane since my illness worsened, but long plane flights is even in healthy people a major cause of cardiovascular risk/problems. The lack of leg space and thus movement causes blood flow to reduce and blood pooling/clothing to start. Major cause of plane thrombosis. The reduced pressure won’t help neither. It acts as an “anti-pressure stocking” in reducing pressure of the skin that helps return blood flow to the hart.
Low pressure systems should do the latter too. This lower pressure should reduce working of lymphatic system too (reducing blood pooling induced problems’ cleanup). Should also act on intra cranial pressure: lower pressure in rest of the body and skull has some amount of flexibility. Wasn’t there research on positive results of patients in pressure chambers?
Fits with my believes that in both FM as ME combined blood flow and breathing problems play big role.
What are the symptoms of breathing problems?
Hi Lynne,
With breathing problems I mean the inability to breath sufficient and sufficiently deep all day round. Diaphragm movement plays an important role in blood circulation and more in particular getting pooled blood drawn back in circulation reducing hart preload problems. With many of us having hart preload problems we would likely require deeper breathing. However, we also have weakened muscles with less strength and endurance. So the muscles supporting breathing get easily exhausted.
I believe exhaustion of these muscles plays a role in the common fast and undeep breathing pattern. While hyperventilation may or may not be needed I believe slower and deeper breathing would be better. I for one sure was unable to breath slower and deeper for long periods. One or two minutes was fine, one hour however was plain impossible before getting professional breathing exercises.
Before I could not imagine that people could follow commonly found advice like breath in, hold your breath for a few seconds… that holding after breathing in was taking so much strength/endurance I lacked. I also could not breath in slowly. I just did not have the strength. Breathing out was the easy part.
At night, when I believe blood circulation becomes critical low, I breathed faster and deeper then when walking to get things going. I believe it was lack of sufficient breathing that caused me to be anxious during night, sleep restlessly and move around a lot in bed. Now it is better but more improvement is needed. Learning to breath well proved to be a far greater challenge taking more time then I ever could imagine but I am happy I started doing so. Before each morning my chest felt as if a truck had ran over it.
It strikes me that Dr. Davis’ symposium a couple of weeks ago-I don’t remember the scientist- cfs people have cells that do not utilize as much oxygen as they should. And (Although I am not stating this properly.) We have a decreased blood supply.
Yes indeed. That is a preliminary finding. 🙂
Dr, Brady is out to make the bucks, trying to sell his books and expensive products. Unless you have fibromyalgia, you don’t know what the hell you are talking about. It’s the latest get rich schemes by these doctors. Take a $vitamin and it will disappear. Or try my new $idea and it will get better. You just dangle this $stuff out to people who need help, real help.
And, these quacks just perpetuate the “it’s all in your head” or “it’s somehow your fault” crap that leads to despair and depression–not the other way around.
Exactly!!!
Good grief!!
What a crock he is. Of course his detailed approach costs a fortune as well.
I have worked with functional doctors in the past. It’s mostly bullshit. Yes, they do help some, who don’t even bother to google their condition and who have absolutely no clue what a healthy diet is, but that’s about it. Also, because most of them aren’t MDs, they can’t prescribe so they tend to demonise pharmaceuticals, over-psychologise everything and use all kinds of quack therapies. It’s such a waste of money..
I’m also amazed at how most of the doctors tend to overestimate their success rate. They present a few cases where supposedly their prescribed therapies helped someone and brag about it at conferences and online, which tricks other people to believe that they can be helped. Never again.
Success rate is a great question. I’m sure that Dr. Brady helps people. I have no doubt about that. I just don’t know how many, Even if his program is much less comprehensive than Dr. Teitelbaum’s (his website calls the book “comprehensive”) I think its pretty good. I think a lot of us though have probably tried something similar.
Of course, never forget that the ones who benefited from the program, probably aren’t on this website – they’ve moved on. It’s the ones who are still searching who are here. The people on here are a kind of select sample.
Could not agree with you more. Been there and done that with too many Physicians. That said , The Combo of Holistic
and Conventional Medicine Combo have helped me. Not from Brady but other. Sounds like a Get Rich -Solution-Like some I have already been to.
Pompous and buying into the same old theory. I don’t mean to dismiss male fibro patients, I know you all have your own struggles, but this stuff is routed in centuries old medical misogyny and it is ruining . It’s repackaged hysterical woman, neurasthenia, frigid mother, every stereotype etc. A basic reminder women historically have died from medical misogyny and continue to suffer. Jennifer Brea’s doctor quoted this guys basic ideas (though not the source, this school of thought) and she got worse because of trying to listen to him.
I don’t disagree that trauma can affect pain, I think for many it is an important part of their personal health journey as humans regardless of their illnesses.
I agree, Shy. This just reeks of old-fashioned misogyny. I can’t believe doctors are still getting away with this BS. It breaks my heart.
After seeing that study which found that perfectionism was not increased in FM I was surprised to see Dr. Brady touting a perfectionist FM personality. Whether Dr. Brady realizes it or not, it fits closely with the migraine personality created by a male doctor which held sway in the medical profession for years – until someone finally did a study which found it was completely wrong. That was decades ago
It was weird seeing a doctor in this day and age fall into the same trap. I don’t think it’s common though.
I agree. It would be nice if fibromyalgia were all in my head, then I could just think my way out of it, but alas, I must work hard to be functional, including medication, diet, exercise.
I agree.
Reading this has reminded me of what I am about to tell you below and it makes me feel sad that all the work that I was involved with when first diagnosed back in the 90s & early 2000s sometimes appears to not have progressed at all 🙁
Being an ex-nurse who has been living with Fibromyalgia after a car accident back in 1998 (yes correctly diagnosed by a rheumatologist & researcher here that did some of the original brain blood flow scans in FMS patients).
Years before that car accident during my nursing career, I was always interested in reading old medical & nursing books and can always remember reading with absolute horror in an ambulance training manual, (in Australia) instructions on how to treat FEMALE hysteria (because after all, females obviously were hysterical beings that were completely uncontrollable for the MALE ambulance officer…) in the 50s it would have been rare for any woman to be in the ambulance service…
anyway, the treatment was to give any poor woman suffering any sort of trauma a… ice water douche…!!!!
another one of my eye-popping my god moments!
I can remember thinking “how did they come up with that…” like what man thinks that having icy water forced up inside a woman’s private place would settle a woman who is distressed????! Where does that come from? I also wonder how many of those poor women ended up in psychiatric facilities because they protested at that treatment or fought not to have it?
Obviously, I could also imagine that many females would shut the F… -up if that was being forced on them. (in the hope that if they stopped being upset this treatment would stop)
This treatment probably had a high success rate if you asked the men that perpetrated this insult on a woman…. proving their point 🙁
I remember thanking my lucky stars that I lived and practiced nursing in my time (the 1980s and 90s) not 20-30 years before…
Given what some so-called experts perceive as FMS and then go on to tell us how to treat it… Is it any wonder that the above treatment has not been added to the FMS treatment list?
This so called expert again has added to the ridiculous assumptions based on the fact that because FMS is much more prevalent in woman than men…. it has to be a psychological disorder…
I am not trying to make light of this (it makes me angry) but sometimes you just have to shake your head and hope that this guy’s riches are short lived and that he moves on to help some other group (that will shower him in more fortunes) before he does too much damage to our cause. 🙁
What a joker. I had a great childhood no trauma, emotional physical or sexual and I’m in agony. My sister in law has had a severe brain injury in which she nearly died and doesn’t have fm. People like this do my head in, they make harder for people with fm to be taken seriously. He needs to go play doctor somewhere else!!!!
Hey, I wonder if the cancer community would welcome him – they can have him
Brady has so much good evidence in front of him, and so much help to offer us all, it is a shame he has pinned so much on the “childhood trauma” thing. Cort, you are absolutely right:
“…the problem is the central role Brady gives the factor. It appears to be the only risk factor Brady is contemplating and that’s too simplistic…”
I certainly agree, and I think you do too, about Brady’s suggestions for treatment regimes and for more careful diagnosis of patients. Certainly people who have recognisable “other conditions” that can be treated in their own right, should be correctly diagnosed and not shoved into a convenient catch-all “too hard” basket of “FM”. Brady’s suggestions are excellent. His suggestions are also excellent, for diet, lifestyle change, paced exercise, etc.
But it is easy to get confused about what the “label” of Fibromyalgia actually means. I only recently discovered that officially, it really only refers to the “heightened Central Nervous System” condition. This has the result that a lot of people (including myself in the past) are angry that our very readily identifiable biomechanical symptoms are being ignored. We assume that the medical experts are “wrong about what FM is”, when in fact it is us that are wrong, and what the doctors ARE doing wrong and are doing us a grave disservice, is failing to identify the very real physical condition that has actually triggered “Fibromyalgia” in us.
It is like they are examining a political prisoner who is undergoing daily torture, and they conclude, “oh, you have Fibromyalgia, your central nervous system is in a heightened condition” and not bothering to even admit that there are evidences of physical pain present!
I concluded in recent years that “Fibromyalgia” is actually myofascial dysfunction where dehydration and toxicity results in the fascia being sticky instead of lubricated, hence the clumping and knotting and the painful nodes and the trigger points – because of course this is MY particular problem. But I was wrong – FM is the Central Nervous System dysfunction and the physical cause of it is something the dam doctors should have identified in its own right.
However, I suspect that most people diagnosed with “FM” have this “myofascial pain syndrome” as it is the one underlying physical condition about which the least is generally understood. Most people with the OTHER underlying physical conditions have a good chance of getting those properly diagnosed and treated. Brady’s entire protocol is, more than coincidentally, perfect for those with the myofascial dysfunction I describe.
I can believe that he (and others like Dr Liptan) could “heal” some patients spectacularly quickly if they are in the early stages of the problem when they adopt the right protocol. In my case, because I had FM for 25 years before I started the right multidisciplinary protocol (I was always doing something wrong, earlier even if I was doing some of the right things) it is taking years for the condition to be undone.
Maybe Brady has discovered some patients who “only” have the CNS dysfunction as the result of childhood trauma, rather than myofascia dysfunction or other diagnosable physical conditions, but it is unhelpful in the general confusion on the subject, to now claim that that is “the only real FM” and everybody else’s is “pseudo”. You could just as easily say that everybody else’s FM is the “real” one and it is the people with the purely childhood-trauma-induced heightened CNS who have the “pseudo” condition! Brady should stick to referring to the heightened central nervous system and the resulting tight muscles and painful nodes, as “FM”, and call the “childhood trauma” cohort something specific to distinguish them from the myofascial dysfunction cohort and all the other identifiable cohorts.
In the case of the (I believe common and badly understood) myofascial dysfunction cohort, there will always be more than one “trigger” that unfortunately coincided. One of these will always be stress. However, the reason that most people suffering stress don’t automatically also get FM, is that those who do get FM also suffered exposure to a toxic substance, or got an undiagnosed infection, that led to a cascade of effects that dehydrate the myofascia and render it “sticky”. It is also possible that people suffering low stress, or doing the right mix of daily activities, do not get tipped into an FM condition in spite of toxin issues, because the myofascia does not end up getting stuck in the “tensed muscle” position. Do you see? It is an unfortunate combination of things that triggers the condition, and then it has its own vicious circle; the toxicity is constantly increased BECAUSE the vessels (blood and lymph) of the body’s flushing and repair system are strangled in tight and knotted fascia. And of course the heightened CNS – a result OF pain – keeps more and more muscles parasitically tense and helps more and more nodes of stuck tissue to develop. No wonder I was in such a mess after 25 years of this.
Many of the “remedies” such as hands-on myofascial release, are a waste of money unless the whole vicious circle has been put into reverse by a multi-disciplinary protocol. Brady is over-optimistic about the potential for patients with “myofascial pain” syndrome to respond to these therapies on their own. His own multi-disciplinary protocol is the right one for these people. He does suggest that if hand-on therapies fixed someone who had been diagnosed with “FM”, then it probably wasn’t “FM” at all – I agree with this.
Well said Phillip,
I too liked a lot of his recommendations. I liked the fact that he recommended the right kind of physical manipulation. I wonder how many people have just myofascial problems and not FM – and if myofascial therapies are enough. I agree that the underlying cause of myofascial problems has not been identified and the whole thing is a sticky mess! 🙂
While I obviously object to what I believe is Dr. Brady’s over-emphasis on childhood trauma and psychological factors, it’s unfortunate if his main message – that there are treatable parts of FM, as well know it, that many people are probably not aware of – is obscured by that.
A very balanced review, thank you!
Just what we ME/FM sufferers need… another “Doctor” with lots of media coverage to tell the uninformed masses that our diseases are all in our heads. Oh brother!
VERY disappointing this so-called doctor is getting any airtime or press, since he is recycling the hysterical women/misogynistic junk. My first red flag was the Dr. Oz association. Sorry, I couldn’t even finish the article and may have missed some good points. But I prefer to spend my limited energy reading reputable research and the experiences of ethical doctors. What a miscarriage of justice for our under-served community that people like this are able to re-energize the psychiatric BS.
And in our own forums no les . . .
Let’s see, what is the clinical term for “Dr.” Brady………..? Full of shit. That’s it! “Dr.” Brady is not a mental health professional but is trying to act like one – he’s a charlatan who thinks he knows everything and can do everything – textbook narcissism. I can make this working diagnosis because I am, indeed, a well educated, competent, proficient and experienced mental health professional.
Ladies, DO NOT allow the medical patriarchy to attribute your mostly female disease/disorder to mental health problems and/or psycho somatic disorder and/or somatization disorder. Women and women’s health problems have been trivialized and placed “in our pretty little heads” for far too long. If FM, ME/CFS were diseases/disorders that mostly affected men there would absolutely be no FM, ME/CFS “personality type,”no attribution to psychosomatic/somatization disorder and millions of research dollars would be allocated towards treatment and a cure.
Your symptoms are Real. Never allow anyone tell you otherwise. Never. “Pseudo FM?” No! You’re a Pseudo “Doctor” “Dr.” Brady.
Well said Jamie Lee – it’s embarrassing that he’s getting even the slightest attention from one of our heroes.
Every effort should be towards standing as a united front against this type of dangerous hogwash, and instead geared towards supporting truly courageous warriors – some who are taking down the entrenched establishment with a scalpel – and others with a machete.
Garbage like this does nothing but provide cover and prolonged life for the scrambling cockroach Wessely Cult.
I come here looking for a write up of the OMF symposium and find this instead?!
0/10 !!
come on cort, give us the good stuff we’re hanging out for!!
🙂 FM is part of HR’s mandate too. I’m working on the Symposium – it’s a bit bigger subject. It’s coming along though.
The only trauma I have suffered has been at the hands of the medical profession and quacks like “Dr.” Brady. I suffer from PTSD every time I read an article like this.
Actually, according to the leading researchers in trauma recovery what you are referring to is a very real kind of trauma. In order to meet the definition of “trauma” an experience is perceived by the person experiencing it as potentially life threading, and or there is a significant feeling of helplessness. For people who are severely ill, who have struggled for years trying everything under the sun to get better, to be told “it’s in your head” can feel life-threatening. When I was at my sickest I believed I was dying, and I probably was. Severe illness and medical procedures (even dental work or minor surgery) can cause C-PTSD. Not all cases of Fibro/ME/CFS are caused by PTSD, but C-PTSD often does cause Fibro/ME/CFS especially when there is an additional sever-stress trigger like a virus. It’s all connected.
Here here Pam. This pain weasel has screaming migraine just trying to wrap my poor ME/FM mind around how such a charlatan made it into this online patient community.
Why are we helping those bent on destroying us again?
Yuck! enough already…maybe he should get together with simon wesley and go bowling!…I wish they would both go away
We are taking in toxins for enough years to be affected.
Dear Cort,
You mentioned a book from Dr. Liptan, this is good! She has wrotten a second one and it is the “supra sumo” on Fibro!!!
The name: The Fibro manual. A Complete Fibromyalgia Guide for You and your Doctor”.
Please read it and comment!!!!
I like it! I like her even-handed, common sense approach. I thought it was interesting that she went light on supplements and pushed massage.
Thanks Raquel for the tip! One of many good things to come out of this discussion!
If you want to know if you have fibromyalgia, take the Epicgenetics FM/a test that tests for cytokines specific only to FM. Then you will also have your genome sequenced for research and receive a curative vaccine, hopefully next year. The test is covered by insurance. I’m somewhat the poster boy for this test and am anxiously awaiting the clinical trial. Dr. Bruce Gillis, CEO of Epicgenetics, is pretty convinced this will work for people who have passed the test.
What??????? Curative vaccine????!!! Specific cytokines???? Really !!! I led a large support group fr 13 years. A significant number of people developed FM after some kind of trauma – especially neck whiplash from a minor car accident. This observation was consistent with published research out of Israel, where about 20 percent of 161 whiplash people developed FM, study by Buskila et al. There is no vaccine now or ever that is going to help these people.
Steve, I’m in Boston. Went to MGH to see Oaklander, and had the small fiber neuropathy test which was positive. I very much want to do the Epicgenetics test and participate in the study. My insurance (Harvard Vanguard) does not pay for it so it would cost $900 out of pocket.
The cytokines are produced by brain inflammation, whatever the cause. The vaccine works on stopping the brain Inflammation. Read the published studies at the FM/a website. So what causes whiplash pain, just local nerve damage? It has to involve the CNS for interpretation. Gillis has peer reviewed research on cytokines and controls vs. FM vs. SLE vs. RA. A Phase II study is coming out and will need volunteers who’ve passed the test with a requisite number of pain cytokines. I hope to be the first guy jabbed. Why wouldn’t you try a harmless vaccine paid for by insurance? If you first flunk the test, you don’t have FM and need better diagnosis.
I haven’t heard of the “fm/a” website. Can you please give a full url? Thank you.
This is a good explanation and the hot links will get you to the test info and signup. I “passed” the cytokines blood test and am awaiting theEpicgenetics FDA approval to get the TB vaccine that Gillis is convinced is a one-shot cure for brain inflammation FM. It will be administered at Massachusetts General Hospital Immunology lab, not too shabby, and close to me, hopefully within the next year. I’ll take this instead of a bunch of expensive and scary Pridgeon antivirals based on a different disease model. I’m kind of shocked that more people aren’t on this harmless hopeful cure. Lots of FM people have their own disease model and are convinced they know what’s causing their problems. Good luck.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170419005324/en/EpicGenetics-Assistance-Leading-Medical-Centers-Expands-Clinical
When my primary dr–who was also the rheumatologist at that clinic– diagnosed me with fibromyalgia after 3 years from pain onset; 2 things were made clear to me.
1. I had fibromyalgia–a condition I had never heard of.
2. other than handing me a tri-fold brief pamphlet from an arthritis group, as well as a tricyclic med and flexeril, he wasn’t going to have time to treat me, his specialty being real arthritis, and I should find a different job.
My mental health was not called into question until several years later when I was in the office of another Dr who did not believe in fibromyalgia, refused to refer me to the rheumatologist in her clinic and instead desired that I would see the psychiatrist that she was referring me to. I was I tears soon after leaving her office alone with my sheet of paper listing some of my symptoms and some questions–none of which she wanted to see or hear.
My thought right now? Lazy Dr with zero interest in having her uninformed theory challenged.
I’m going to give the person in this article the same description. He doesn’t really say how many he has helped–no doubt if his patients are not helped, they are at fault.
My mental health was not at all
Interesting, as a person raised and later formally trained it “alternative” I call it complimentary helth field, and living the “lifestyle” as such I should have never gotten sick in the first place, if you believe all this.
Completely drained after reading that garbage- why even post it ?
NOW THAT is a reasonable inquiry.
I agree that the endless psychological approach from some is frustrating and causes me to feel anxious about my future (with a diagnosis of FM that is totally counter-productive. What I find worrying is that Dr Brady is recommending supplements that are not always harmless. For example St John’s Wort can affect serotonin levels and should not be taken with some medications, including triptans and the contraceptive pill. Also, many with FM have underactive thyroid and it is recommended that you do not take mineral supplements for two hours following taking levothyroxine. Does Dr Brady’s book mention these things? Because if not it is sloppy and dangerous work.
In which century will the medical profession start doing proper research. The ignorance of these deseases are mind boggling. We need a medical soecialist that have these deseases to do the research. It is possible for these doctors to understand without experiencing it. I’m going to bed take my cocktails of meds and forget about “the know it all’s shit”
Sylvia – when you wake up (unrefreshed and aching), check out Keith Geraghty’s exciting published article in the new issue of the Journal of Health Psychology today.
It’s the kind of research we should all be cheering for, and promoting in unity.
It’s the article that should be front page kheadline news coverage on every advocacy website.
Also, it’ll make you feel more supported and not so betrayed if you read David Tuller’s news (virologyblog) about his latest joint effort to submit a FOIA on the Demon Crawley’s PACE Cult follow-up.
There’s lots of great news today, despite the shadow that this bogus piece casts.
We all know Cort is a wonderful voice and advocate – but sometimes I do wonder where he’s coming from . . .?
Thanks for the tip on the Geraghty piece. If you have a problem with the blog please say specifically what it is. Give me a chance to defend (or explain) myself 🙂 Thanks!
You’ve got nothin’ but love from me, Cort – in many of my posts I refer to you as “one of our heroes.”
One of the things I respect most about you, is that it appears you do not censor speech. That is remarkable in this time, and makes you a true American and a worthy journalist.
Aside from the valuable reporting you engage in, the best thing about your public website is that you get to choose what you write about, and so do your followers.
Here, in this case, I have a problem with Brady, et. al. Nothin’ to do with you, really, except for I don’t feel like he was worthy of the energy you exerted to cover his abusive theories/practice.
One young Woman in the UK had tests done on her Neck a scan she had vascular issues & then went to Germany was operated on by a top Vascular Surgeon she is now fully recovering her gut issues are
resolving the Doctor said it will take up to one year with good nutrition to bring her energy levels back to normal he even went as far as saying she is Cured she was diagnosed with EDS 3 Hypermobility her
Surgery is not offered in the UK She needed to go to see him…Also as I have mentioned countless times (HFI) is involved in EDS3/CFS no doubts the question is what percent & this Doctor who claims that
Vitamins/Minerals are any answer is wrong they contain Sucrose Fructose ingredients they are in everyhting even medicines & yes hospital procedures…This is not a Trauma illness it is Genetic Born conditions
of connective tissue disorders 100% with numerous complications as a result of bad inherited Genes, rule out CVID, VEDS & HFI including Marfan’s & see where you stand then move forward…Alarm Bells are up
‘red flags’anytime a Doctor puts out his name to sell his unproven products & OZ always has these types of Doctors presented…I recall one Lyme Doctor on OZ saying it was a Cause another Doctor came out &
said he was a Nut so I do not believe what OZ puts out it is a Drama daytime Show with tons of Medical Hype b.s. & also the question still rises have we been Poisoned by Antibiotics pushing Genetic traits into this/these illness? http://www.floxiehope.com
95% of patients diagnosed with /CFS/Fibro have ‘UNDIAGNOSED’EDS types some have multiple ‘crossovers’like EDS3/VEDS etc. the other 5% have other types of connective tissue disorders a Quote by Senior Professor
Dr. Rodney Grahame Hypermobility Unit London Rheumatologist & the RNOH Hospital in Stanmore UK also some do not have EDS3 which can be misdiagnosed they could have EDS IX instead low Copper levels or
Wilson’s Disease so check your Copper levels a simple Blood Serum test under $100.00 at any private labs it is treatable the NIH now into 3rd Phase trials using Copper injections in EDS IX Patients. Lyme, Mold no
doubts is not it is undiagnosed connective tissue disorders & chronic fatigue is a ‘symptom’ of Genetic illness the term CFS should be scrapped entirely it is a waste basket stupid misdiagnosis & yes one
can also have multiple spontaneous spinal fluid leaks/tears see Dr. Ian Carrol’s findings at Stanford Pain Clinic see his YouTube awareness Videos it goes with EDS/CFS/Fibro & also now they are looking at
Marfan’s & was seen in Parkinson’s one patient thus far…
I wasted money & time buying Dr Brady’s Fibro Summit interview package.
He kept saying in his interviews that Fibro doesn’t present with any soft tissue abnormality! He said our muscles feel normal on palpation. Rubbish – come and count my ropey knotted muscles, popping joints, contracted fascia, swollen tendon areas, etc.
I’ve got FM/CFS and used to be a registered remedial massage therapist for years before this condition brought me down.
However, I do agree with the heightened stimuli response Dr Brady discusses. Fluro lights, loud malls, action movies, freeways, power tools and even kids making a pile of noise – is all too much these days.
And yes, low pressure systems are number one factor to increased pain/fatigue/foggy brain. In fact I can guess the weather correctly 100% of the time about 48 hours ahead. Storms hurt the most.
Summer heat = fatigue but less pain. Why does FM/CFS cause heat intolerance as per “adrenal fatigue”?
Winter = more pain but less fatigue
Herbal supplements are so individual. For instance, the adaptogens now stimulate me. Even gentle TCM kidney tonic herbs like Rehmannia make me rattle…jittery.
Like Cort mentioned once, there’s often a honeymoon period with supplements, then they backfire on you. So I’m not sure I’d dare try Dr Brady’s recommendations.
Bowen therapy (myofascial/nerve/muscle treatments) provide me the most relief. However, I need them more often than I can actually afford.
Anyway, thanks for the interesting article on Dr Brady. I found the exact same things with his book! Funny to find out others seem to agree with me!!!
This doctor Brady shouldn’t be practicing medicine n of course there’s people who shouldn’t do the things that they do. From what I read he’s only in it for the money n money talks more than anything. This disease is murder especially for a doer like myself.Dr. Brady better stop yacking ABT this disease cause he may end up reaping what he sows. I have been googling n reading ABT fibromyalgia n I have a good doctor. I have been taking relief factor n you can order this on Google. I took this to my doctor gave doc all the information on this natural supplement n he approved it. I am off 4 medications n I am doing better than before. Doctor also gave me a write off for my taxes it cost 59.00 don’t remember the cents. I started taking this in April of this year. I am feeling better n it’s nice to have a mormal bowel movement. I am in the process I making lifetime changes with the foods I eat. Along with this disease you also worry ABT the weight gain←this is tough not giving up. Even though I can touch my toes without bending my knees I still want to lose weight.I also take additional vitamins that are helping me n I often speak to other fibromyalgia patients. What works for me may not work for you. I also started caring for myself more. I care for my spouse who has beat cancer 5 times n that wasn’t easy for me. My spouses family helped me n I was there for all his care I took all my vacations caring for him st the hospitals stays. One thing you must always do is stay positive daily n not let the pain rule your life. Since I’ve modified my diet the inflammation has gone down what you eat affects you. I was diagnosed in 2010 n I had this for ABT 3 years until I finally had doc check me. It has been a challenge n since I’ve been taking the relief factor. I’m feeling better I can’t say enough ABT this product. This product is not for everyone but it worked for me. I couldn’t exercise like I use to n I had to retire from the food service industry at the age of 53. I have been working since I was very young. I will no longer be able to do the work of 8 people. I am thankful for what I have n I am not gonna let this disease rule my life. I tell everyone I meet to do their homework n share their ideas with your doctor. A doctor who has a lot of faith will do well with all his patients n he will continue to have more patients than he can handle. I believe that’s what makes a good doctor like the doctor I have.
Yeah, this dangerous exploiter, Brady, is gonna need classic FM patients to engage in progressive forgiveness in a minute . . .
Dr. Byron Hyde’s MISSED DIAGNOSES is a superb example of how a publication on complex medical matters that are confused and often misdiagnosed should look; the publication commented on here is a steaming pile.