Treating Fibromyalgia with Herbs
"Can you help me?" Sandy petitioned me. Her shoulders ached ferociously; she could hardly stand. Sandy had left her lucrative sales job of eight years only to remain on her couch all day, hardly able to make lunches for her two children, ages nine and 11. This once vibrant 36-year-old mom had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a condition she was tired of fighting. According to Sandy, one day she was standing in her office at work when the muscle aches "just came on." Thinking she had the flu, she did her chicken soup, aspirin, and flannel jammies. But the pain worsened and pulled her away from her job, her family, and eventually, herself. Three years of tests, drugs, different doctors, despondency, insomnia, muscle aches, trigger point pain, and her resignation from symptom-suppressing drugs had left Sandy surrendering sadly to life at the sidelines with no chance to get into the game.
I have been a medicinal herbalist for nearly thirty years and know all too well that doe-eyed look of despair when caught in a physician’s headlights. The patients worries, "What will happen to me next?" Finding a viable, non-side effect producing solution to this debilitating disease, "fibromyalgia," is all the patient wants. As a clinical herbalist, planning healing protocols for complex medical conditions with nutrition and herbs is what I do.
I was lucky enough to discover herbs: the whole plants, the roots, leaves, twigs, bark, berries, seeds, and flowers many years ago before the days of chemically processed nutraceutical extracts. Mother Nature naturally combines plant constituents for their synergistic capabilities to catalyze each other to their highest potencies. For that reason, I still use real herbs the way they have been used for centuries on health problems: colds, PMS, menopause, eczema, acne, heart attacks, candida, painful menses, diabetes, diarrhea, constipation, various cancers, and all those in-betweens, including depression, stress, anorexia, low energy, and dizziness. I knew the future would be a healing journey for Sandy since there are no perfect herbal prescriptions for every precise illness. I had to research the evidence about this syndrome and match this information to the known healing properties of the plants in order to make her treatment effective.
Contrary to popular allopathic medicinal rhetoric, there are hundreds of double-blind scientific studies exemplifying the inherent value of herbal therapies. China and Germany are world leaders in this research with the German E-Commission Monographs touted as the single best source on the efficacy of Western herbs. While you will not find these studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are other highly respected scientific venues where these are presented.**
I work with these findings, my female intuition, and three decades of practice: growing herbs and trying each herb on me one-at-a-time ("a simple," an old and venerable practice recorded by the apothecaries of the Renaissance). I have noted how each herb worked on individual men, individual women, and individual children; how each herbal remedy worked in separate climates, on separate illnesses, with separate people in separate professions. The records are dissimilar between the recovery times of a person loaded with toxins before a surgery and a person who had detoxified before a surgery. The records also differ between a person who eats well versus the person who stuffs down cheeseburgers, french fries, and a Coke daily. For real health and healing, there is no quick diagnosis, and no quick fix.
There are additional scattered attributes my herbalists’ eye scans for, including diet and exercise habits, other health problems long neglected, a previous misuse of vitamins, herbs, and drugs, or consistent exposure to a debilitating factor (i.e., stress, chemicals, and germs). Keeping in mind these miscellaneous tidbits, I see two basic problems with fibromyalgia: a toxic elimination system and an overworked immune system. The place to start then is the detoxification of the digestive and lymphatic systems and thereafter, begin the rebuilding of the immune system. Foodwise: eliminate sugars, dairy, white flour, alcohol, red meat, junk foods, caffeine, and alcohol, and increase intake of vegetables and fruits. Spiritwise: chill out, relax, hang up your sign, "Gone fishin." Herbalwise: Use the whole herbs, not chemically processed herbal extracts.
All of the following have helped my clients with fibromyalgia:
- Oat bran can lower cholesterol, soothe nerves, provide bulk, and gently encourage elimination. When going through a major cleansing, oat bran keeps everything moving along.
- Aloe juice aids in healing the stomach, hemorrhoids, and other colon problems. This is a good nutritive complement for the intestinal tract.
- Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is the angel protector of the liver, cleansing and amending it. So favorable to regenerating damaged liver cells, milk thistle is a must for recovering from drug or alcohol abuse. As the body is reviving, include this wonderful seed and for a time thereafter too.
- Burdock (Arctium lappa) is a superior blood cleanser. An anti-microbial, it soothes the kidneys during detoxification. Burdock benefits skin problems, especially ones related to the discharge of wastes.
- Pau D’Arco (Tabebuia avellanedae), a powerful antibiotic, contains iron which assists the body in the easy assimilation of nutrients and the easy elimination of wastes.
- Stillingia (Stillingia ligustina), a potent alterative, stimulates the glands, especially the liver, and helps rid the body of pollutants and toxic drugs.
- Oregon grape root (Berberis aquifolium), named by none other than Lewis & Clark, this herb rejuvenates the liver and the thyroid. Loaded with minerals, it aids the elimination process while strengthening the immune defenses.
- Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), an herbal stimulant to the adrenal glands, supports blood circulation and the lungs. Recovery from illness is stressful to the body; licorice helps the body as the body helps itself.
- Poke root (Phytolacca americana), an anti-rheumatic, aids in cleansing the lymphatic glands while stimulating the immune system. It can activate metabolism while reducing inflammation. This is a very powerful herb and should only be taken in small quantities for a short period of time.
- Black cohosh (Cimifuga racemosa), with an estrogen like performance, normalizes female hormones as well as being an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant. A menopause must!
- Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) contains plant steroids that are needed for progesterone, a partner of estrogen, which can ease raging hormones back into equilibrium. Both black cohosh and wild yam are indispensable for stabilizing female hormones.
- White willow bark (Salix), a safe, natural anti-inflammatory, quiets pains in the connective tissue because it is a source of salicylates. Mild on the stomach, this one is good for headaches too.
- Zinc and vitamin C - The granddaddy of all vitamins, Vitamin C helps with over 300 metabolic functions, especially tissue repair and immune system support. Zinc helps protect the liver from chemical damage while promoting the immune system. Vitamin C and zinc have a beneficial relationship, so take them together.
- Calcium and magnesium - Calcium helps with bones, teeth, and gums, and aids in neuromuscular activity. Magnesium must be present for calcium to be absorbed. A deficiency will not only impede calcium uptake, but can interfere with nerve transmission and muscle impulses. Magnesium deficiency has also been related to depression.
Additionally, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, and a regular exercise program all contribute to the person’s ripening good health.
Recovery times will vary depending on the person’s stress levels, repeated exposure to toxins, previous length of illness, diet, exercise regimen, and daily rest.
Sandy was my client for six months and helped tremendously by the above. The last time I spoke to her, she was taking tae kwon do, leading both her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop and her area Girl Scout Council, developing a business, and nurturing her family’s new puppy. Way to go Sandy!
References:
Hoffman, David, The Herbal Handbook, 1988, Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont. Tenney, Louise, Today’s Herbal Health, 1997, Woodland Publishing, PleasantGrove, Utah. Balch, Phyllis, and James F. Balch, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 2000, Avery, New York, New York.
**For choice information, check into the website of the American Botanical Council (ABC):www.herbalgram.org/. A nonprofit education and research organization, ABC has the most current news and data on the medicinal use of herbs.
About the Author:
While practicing as an medicinal herbalist for the past 30 years, Marguerite Dunne, owner of the Herbs-on-Hudson apothecary, also earned a BA in Sociology/English, a double master's degree in Education, and certification in herbology. She has lectured, written articles, made media appearances, and has her own radio program every Friday on WTBQ 1110 AM (WTBQ.com). A clinical herbalist, Marguerite has a consultation practice in Cornwall-on-Hudson , New York and New York City . She is also profiled as the featured herbalist in the recently published book, The New Healers ( Vista Publications) by Dr. Barbara Stevens Barnum.
You can contact Marguerite at: askmd@herbs-on-hudson.com
