Fibro Friends

Personal Update

Dear Fibro Friends,

Over the past year and a half I have continued my search for effective therapies to help persons with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia syndromes. You can trace this search by reading my blog posts on specific therapies and subjects, however I feel that now is a good time to write a summary of my recent health "adventures".

I spent the majority of last year exploring various forms of energy medicine that employ electricity to stimulate healing. The science behind these therapies is based on the principle that all living beings are primarily energetic and governed by electrical impulses. Specific frequencies and amplitudes of electricity have been found to promote healing at the cellular level and provide the catalyst for restoring balance in damaged molecular systems of the body. The field of modern energy medicine, which includes low level laser, microcurrent, pulsed electromagnetic field, and static electric field therapies is developing rapidly and provides effective nonpharmalogical treatments for many chronic conditions.

After reaching a plateau in my improvements with LENS (Low Energy Neurofeedback System) I started using NeuroField, a pulsed electromagnetic field therapy developed by Dr. Nicholas Dogris, which is used in conjunction with LENS treatments. This therapy involved commuting once a week for five months to Orinda, California to work with a wonderful therapist named Dr. Candia Smith. I made progress in my sense of well being, emotional stability and energy, however these combined treatments failed to improve my sleep or muscle condition. For more information on this and on energy medicine in general read my post "Energy Medicine of the Future". http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2011/03/energy-medicine-of-the-future.html 

In the spring of 2011 I was contacted  by Justin Brost who manufactures a static electrical field technology called the Energetic Fitness System. The unique aspect about this form of energy medicine is that rather than employing specific digital frequencies determined by a therapist to treat different conditions, the energy field creates analog harmonic frequency patterns that are rapidly changing and different for each person, theoretically providing the frequencies each person needs to heal and balance their body. Brost's business is located in Bellingham, Washington about and hour and a half drive north of Seattle. I traveled to Bellingham, Washington ten times to try this technology out and then purchased my own unit. Although I initially had a very good response to EFS over time I became reactive to it and it was no longer therapeutic. For more information on this read my post "The Energetic Fitness System" http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2011/07/energetic-fitness-system.html 

Then during the summer of 2011 I traveled twice to Portland, Oregon to try Frequency Specific Microcurrent with its developer Dr. Carolyn McMaken. McMaken uses specific frequencies that treat people with fibromaylgia caused by cervical spinal trauma. She insisted that I did not have any kind of fibromyalgia since my muscle pain is triggered almost entirely by physical exertion. McMaken treated me for a number of other conditions including concussion, liver toxicity, parasympathetic nervous system toxicity, and DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Although I initially had a good response to FSM the effects were not long lasting. McMaken referred me to a neurogist in Durango, Colorado named Dr. Catherine Willner who uses FSM in her practice. Willner tried some additional FSM frequencies on me that were not helpful. For more on this read my post "Frequency Specific Microcurrent" http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2012/01/freq.html.

Although none of the forms of energy medicine that I explored resolved my remaining symptoms, I feel that my overall health is better than before I used them. There are many anecdotal accounts of healing in persons with chronic illness using these technologies and they are all safe so I encourage others to give them a try. My personal opinion is that these therapies are excellent for treating acute inflammation and muscular and skeletal injuries, however they are not as effective in resolving long term systemic conditions such as chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia syndromes.

In October of 2011 I discovered by chance how beneficial female hormone replacement therapy is for my particular situation. After eight years of taking Activella, a combination of a plant based estradial and progestin, I decided to decrease my dose by one half. One week later my muscle condition and sleep became dramatically worse and this persisted for two weeks until I figured out the connection. A week after I went back on my regular dose, my symptoms improved to the point where they were before the decrease in hormone replacement. I spent several months researching the possible connection between female hormone levels and fibromyagia. To read about this and the conclusions I reached read my post "Hormone Replacement Therapy - An Effective Adjunct Therapy forFibromyalgia".  http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2012/02/hormone-replacement-therapy-an-effective-adjunct-treatment-for-fibromyalgia-and-chronic-fatigue-synd.html  

At the recommendation of Dr. Willner I went through a series of tests at Swedish Neuro Sciences in Seattle, Washington to assess my muscle condition. About half the doctors I have consulted think that my muscle pain is a form of fibromyalgia while the other half insist that I don't have fibromyalgia. My personal opinion is that I do have fibromyalgia but because of all the improvements in other areas of my health due to the therapies I have pursued, specifically Oral Systemic Balance and LENS neurofeedback, I do not present myself as the typical fibromyalgia patient (no fatigue, brain fog or all body pain). I was willing to undergo this rather lengthy process of testing which involved blood tests, EMG muscle and nerve testing, and MRI and muscle biopsy to see if anything would turn up. Laboratory tests showed no sign of muscle disease however there was evidence of an old injury and nerve reinnervation. To read more about my personal understanding of the muscle dysfunction that I have and which I think is common to many people with FMS read my post: "Fibromyalgia - a Perspective on Muscle Dysfunction and Effective Treatments".  http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2011/10/f.html 

Most recently I embarked on a new therapy which appears at least in this early stage to be the missing piece of the puzzle for resolving my remaining health issues. I am working with a scientist who has developed a technology called Human Probiotics which reinstates beneficial human sourced probiotics or "vitamins" that are no longer produced by a person's microflora. The reintroduction of these microbes into a person's gastrointestional tract or gut repairs the immune system and "turns the genes back on" correcting methylation problems and restoring serotonin levels. The therapy involves monthly trips to the Boston area. So far my response has been excellent with consistently better sleep, muscle function and less reactivity to foods. I am optimistic that I am on the last stretch of recovery for which I  am extremely grateful. The therapy is a process and only time will tell how successful it will be for me as well as a few others I know who are also pursuing this. Stay tuned for a future post on this subject. The best way to do this is to subscribe to my blog which you can do by clicking "Subscribe to this blog's feed" which appears at the bottom of the "Categories" column on the left hand side of my blog: http://www.fibrofriends.typepad.com.  

Everyday I think about those suffering with chronic illness and how much courage and faith this takes. The support and friendship I recieve from my "fibro friends" is immeasurable and inspires me to move forward in my search for solutions to difficult health issues. It is my firm belief that chronic fatigue and fibromyagia syndromes are totally reversible conditions and that the treatments to do that have already been discovered, we just have to find them! To that end I continue to dedicate my personal search and this blog.

Sincerely yours, Darden

Frequency Specific Microcurrent

Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) is a system of energy medicine that employs low levels of electrical current in millionths of an ampere to stimulate the healing of specific health conditions. The frequencies used in FSM are square wave electromagnetic pulses created by a battery operated device that supplies electricity on two channels firing at the same time. Specific frequencies address specific conditions with the frequency thought to address or neutralize the condition on one channel and the frequency thought to address the tissue on the other. 

The history of electromagnetic therapy devices started in the early 1900's when many medical and osteopathic physicians were exploring the use of frequencies to treat patients. In 1934 Maurice Fishbein of the American Medical Association clamped down on electromagnetic therapies by declaring them "unscientific" and threatened to revoke the medical licenses of physicians who used them. Electromagnetic research and treatments declined and their equipment was removed from the market by the FDA in the mid-1950's. In the 1980's microcurrent began to be used by physicians in Europe and the United States for stimulating healing in wounds and fractures. Units delivering micro amperage current were approved in the category of TENS by the FDA for pain management. (TENS or Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is a device that blocks pain using higher levels of current than FSM measured in milliamps, which was patented in 1974).

In 1994 Dr. Carolyn McMakin, a chiropractor practicing in Portland, Oregon began using microcurrent frequencies obtained from the clinical notes of Dr. Harry Van Gelder, a retired osteopath with additional frequencies obtained from the writings of Dr. Albert Abrams and Dr. McWilliams. She discovered that the frequencies appeared to do exactly what they were purported to do with no other effects, in other words the frequency listed to decrease inflammation reduced redness and swelling and the one to stop bleeding reduced bleeding. After successfully treating patients with frequencies and observing their effects McMakin began teaching the technique in 1997 to other health practitioners who were able to reproduce the same results. FSM is currently taught in seminars throughout the United States and in Ireland to medical and naturopatic physicians, chiropractors, physical therapists and acupuncturists. There are frequencies to address over 200 conditions including inflammation, scar tissue, herpes virus/shingles, nerve pain, brain fog, wound healing, and acute PTSD. One frequency combination or protocol has been found to eliminate the full body pain associated with fibromyalgia caused by spine trauma. 

In July of 2011 I traveled to Portland, Oregon to see Dr. Carolyn McMaken to found out if FSM would be beneficial for me. After a lengthy intake of my medical history, McMaken declared that I did not have fibromyalgia since my pain was not random and triggered almost entirely by physical exertion. In my opinion fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue are syndromes that encompass a wide variety of overlapping disorders and McMaken was simply stating that I did not have the kind of full body fibromyalgia pain caused by cervical trauma that responds to FSM. McMaken treated me with for a number of other conditions that she thought might be beneficial including concussion, liver toxicity, parasympathetic nervous system toxicity, and pituitary. She diagnosed the potential benefit of a frequency by my symptoms and also by feeling the muscle tension in my arm which softened in response to some frequencies during treatment. After my treatment session I felt positively intoxicated for about a half hour, a response according to McMaken that typically happens the first several times a person does FSM . 

McMaken thought that the pain I experience after using my muscles was similar to a condition called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness which FSM has shown to help and has a published study on these results. Although McMaken had never encountered anyone like myself who had this condition in a chronic way, I personally know many people with fibromyalgia who have this condition which I describe in my post "Fibromyalgia Muscle Dysfunction". Delayed Onest Muscle Soreness or DOMS is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercies resulting from muscle damage caused by eccentric exercise. DOMS is a universal symptom experience by most people who take a break from exercising or do an unfamiliar eccentric exercise. This symptom typically goes away once a person becomes accustomed to the exercise. In my case I am not able to tolerate exercise no matter how gradually I build up to it and damage my soft tissue with a very small amount of demand and stretching. The only remedies I have found is to limit my activities, practice EMG biofeedback on my muscles and rest.  A month after my initial visit I returned to Portland to see if FSM frequencies for DOMS would help my muscle condition. Prior to my first treatment I took a strenuous walk and did some yoga stretching. The next day I challenged myself further with a longer walk and more exercise followed by another FSM treatment. I felt intoxicated after both treatments and did not developed symptoms of muscle soreness. Dr. McMaken felt that the treatment was successul and sold me for $2,000 a Custom Care microcurrent unit distributed by Precision Distributing Precision, a company operated out of her residence in Longview, Washington. The unit was loaded with a number of frequency protocols for conditions that might be helpful for me including DOMS which I was instructed to run whenever I experienced muscle soreness. After I returned home I experienced another several days of respite from my muscle condition and continued with moderate activity followed by running the DOMS protocol on my Custom Care unit. Gradually over the period of a week my muscle condition returned and the frequencies appeared to become ineffective and then provoked an agitation of my nervous system. 

Unable to help me any further Dr. McMaken referred me to Dr. Catherine Willner, a neurologist and close colleague of McMaken's who resides in Durango, Colorado and practices FSM. Dr. Willner is an intellectual with impressive knowledge of both conventional and alternative medicine who practiced for ten years at the Mayo Clinic. She spent seven hours with me discussing my health history and did one session of FSM. Dr. Willner was puzzled by my unique set of symptoms and recommended that I do further testing at Swedish NeuroScience in Seattle to diagnose possible muscle pathology. She recommended that I experiment with additional FSM protocols at home. In order to add these protocols to my Custom Care Unit, it needed to be shipped back to Dr. McMakin, a process that took ten days. Further experimentation with these FSM frequencies on my own produced no positive results. When I requested to return my unit for a refund Dr. McMakin said that this was not possible. Since my unit includes many other frequencies that I did not use including wound healing, sinus cold and shingles, it may prove helpful to me or others I know in the future. 

Although I did not experience a resolution in any of my remaining health issues with FSM I feel overall a bit healthier than before I did the treatments. I know from personal reports that FSM has benefited many people with specific conditions particularly in the area of pain relief. I also know that FSM is very safe and low risk so in this way it is worth investigating for those suffering from chronic illness, however the success of the therapy is dependent on the proper diagnosis of the practitioner and whether there is a protocol for the patient's conditon. For more information and to find a FSM practitioner go to: www.frequencyspecific.com. For information on other forms in the emerging field of energy medicine read the post "Energy Medicine of the Future" http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2011/03/energy-medicine-of-the-future.html 

Custom Care microcurrent unit. Black graphite gloves are inserted between a wet towel and placed between treated area, usually the back and abdomen.