Fibromyalgia (Hypothyroidism), Inflammation, and Lacto-Fermentation

by Charrow, creator of beautiful things

Stop the Thyroid Madness has mentioned several times, suspicion that fibromyalgia (and chronic fatigue) is not its own separate illness, but rather a facet of hypothyroidism:

…from Dr. John S. Lowe: in most cases, fibromyalgia is the result of “hypometabolism of select tissues”, i.e. “the clinical manifestation of inadequate thyroid hormones due to thyroid hormone deficiency and/or resistance.” (page 75, The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia, 2000)

i.e. in most cases, “fibromyalgia” is simply a symptom of undiagnosed or under-treated hypothyroidism. When Lowe wrote what I quoted above, he referred to it as a hypothesis–a soft way to propose to his medical colleagues that there may be more to this story. But patient experience has repeatedly found it to be completely true. When patients stop letting the inadequate TSH lab test dictate whether they are “normal” or not, and when patients stop treating their hypothyroidism with the inadequate T4-only meds like Synthroid and go with natural desiccated thyroid…symptoms of “fibromyalgia” have been completely removed.

So, when I came across an article on Modern Misfits awhile back, I was intrigued.  The article is called Fibromyalgia Mystery Finally Solved! A brief excerpt can show why I was extremely reaffirmed, that lacto-fermentation is a cure to treat all ills… and yet, it’s no medicine. It’s just healthy eating.

Up until recently, many physicians thought that the disease was “imaginary” or psychological, but scientists have now revealed that the main source of pain stems from a most unlikely place- excess blood vessels in the hand.

What I’d like to know is if hypothyroid patients have the same excess of blood vessels in their hands, correlating with STTM’s thoughts on fibromyalgia being undiagnosed hypothyroidism. Only time may tell.

However, this interesting article led to some really great discussion, which I would like to share with you.

Now to wait for a cure!

Actually, with that information (that fibro/chronic fatigue/hypothyroidism is conducive to hand numbness/body pain because of this), there are a lot of natural things that can be done – no need in waiting for a synthetic drug to cover over symptoms. There are many botanical healers that would cure this root issue!

I would be interested to learn what kind of botanical would be safe to take yet destroy or “shut off” excessive nerve fibers.

This study is AWESOME because it proves that fibromyalgia/hypothyroidism isn’t “just neurological,” it is very clearly an inflammatory issue. If fibro sufferers have “excessive” nerve fibers in their hands (or any part of their body), and there is inflammation in the blood vessels, there is GOING to be pain. Just imagine all those nerve endings being compressed together when the inflammation goes on, whereas someone with fewer nerve endings has a bit more “room” when inflammation hits.

The thinking that nerves must be shut off is headed in a twisted direction, based on a faulted idea of the root cause… it’s rather straight-forward from the knowledge that this is about inflammation in extra nerves/blood vessel. It’s not about shutting off body parts. It’s about decreasing or lessening the inflammation that happens throughout the entire body of nerves… the extra nerves are simply making the inflammation that much more noticeable, more quickly, through pain/extremity numbness/tingling – there’s not as much free space.

What causes inflammation? Poor gut health. Not joking. It’s what I point to for most health issues.

• Had cancer, went through standard hospital protocol, and then find yourself sick? You just had all your gut flora killed – eat lacto-fermented foods.
• Have endocrine problems and find your supplements aren’t working effectively? Boost your gut flora with lacto-fermented foods and your gut will start being able to process the nutrients you eat and supplement with.
• Get sick with colds all the time? Cut out processed foods, GMOs, and eat lacto-fermented foods.
• Crippling pain in your joints? Reduce the inflammation by creating healthy gut flora – eat lacto-fermented foods.
• Migraines? It’s inflammation in the brain and blood vessels – guess what you should do.

Really, gut health is vital to whole-body health.
Without a healthy gut – okay, let me be precise here… without eating traditionally, without preparing and eating lacto-fermented foods at every meal, as we had in every society before this, for thousands of years – we have rampant: cancer, mental disorders (I have seen many stories now, of people being cured from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, and more with the addition of whole-food real fats, healthy salt, and lacto-fermented foods), chronic pain, diabetes, endocrine disorders, and so much more.
We MUST eat lacto-fermented foods for good whole-body health, or continue to suffer the dramatic consequences for omitting them. (You may love that link as much as I do – he’s very geek-speak!  )

Probiotic pills have nothing on lacto-fermented foods.

So, the prevention and cure for fibromyalgia, from this point forward, should become very straight forward: eliminate inflammation to the point that you no longer have issues.

Since I approach health with a “ladder of care,” I don’t jump to surgery for my first solution to a health crisis (and this is certainly a health crisis). I start simply and work up if needed. It is often that the simplest solutions, life diet, heals many health issues.

Here are five simple things to remove or add to a health life diet, to reduce inflammation for anyone, but this article specifically speaks on fibromyalgia.

I continue to gather information on a variety of topics, including hypothyroidism and lacto-fermentation. Please feel free to send good health information my way.