Fibromyalgia is a common syndrome of chronic widespread soft-tissue pain accompanied by weakness, fatigue, and sleep disturbances. It is characterized by chronic widespread aching and stiffness, involving particularly the neck, shoulders, back, and hips, which is aggravated by use of the affected muscles.
According to the Marshall PathogenesisA description for how chronic inflammatory diseases originate and develop., fibromyalgia is caused by groups of microbes which downregulate activity of the Vitamin D ReceptorA nuclear receptor located throughout the body that plays a key role in the innate immune response., a nuclear receptorIntracellular receptor proteins that bind to hydrophobic signal molecules (such as steroid and thyroid hormones) or intracellular metabolites and are thus activated to bind to specific DNA sequences which affects transcription. which plays a key role in maintaining the function of the innate immune responseThe body's first line of defense against intracellular and other pathogens. According to the Marshall Pathogenesis the innate immune system becomes disabled as patients develop chronic disease.. Physical or psychological stress may exacerbate the disease, but it should not be considered ultimately responsible for it.
The Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. treats fibromyalgia by reactivating the innate immune response. In the course of treatment, patients' disease symptoms may become worse due to a process called immunopathologyA temporary increase in disease symptoms experienced by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed..
Pain – MP patients should always use 40mg of olmesartan (Benicar)Medication taken regularly by patients on the Marshall Protocol for its ability to activate the Vitamin D Receptor. every four hours before resorting to pain medications. However, when the usual strategies for managing immunopathology are not enough to control pain, MP patients rely upon pain medications. Except for corticosteroidsA first-line treatment for a number of diseases. Corticosteroids work by slowing the innate immune response. This provides some patients with temporary symptom palliation but exacerbates the disease over the long-term by allowing chronic pathogens to proliferate., there is no pain medication contraindicated specifically because a patient is on the Marshall Protocol. Opioids are the preferred method of dealing with extreme pain in the MP cohort. See article Pain medication and muscle relaxants.
Fatigue – The systematic use of stimulants to manage symptoms of fatigue is not recommended.
Insomnia and poor sleep – The inability to sleep or sleep deeply is a common symptom of chronic inflammatory disease and can be exacerbated during periods of immunopathology. Restful sleep can help a patient to cope with other symptoms. It is not necessary to get all one's restful sleep at night. In fact, if a patient can, sleeping during the day may give him or her enough energy to accomplish any responsibilities for the day. See article, Sleep medications.
Cognitive dysfunctionThe loss of intellectual functions such as reasoning; memory loss; and other neurological abilities that is severe enough to interfere with daily functioning. – Cognitive dysfunction (also known as brain fogThe loss of intellectual functions such as reasoning; memory loss; and other neurological abilities that is severe enough to interfere with daily functioning.) is the loss of intellectual functions such as thinking, remembering, and reasoning of sufficient severity to interfere with daily functioning. Patients with cognitive dysfunction have trouble with verbal recall, basic arithmetic, and concentration.
Physical activity and exercise – The choice to exert oneself through physical activity or exercise should be made in the light of the stage of one's disease and the effect that extra activity has on the immune system. In different patients under different circumstances, exercise is capable of either suppressing or increasing the immune response. MP patients who can perform their activities of daily living while recovering on the MP are as fit as they need to be. Their focus should be in regaining their health with the MP. With improved health will come improved abilty to exercise and increase endurance.
Almost a year ago (February 2013) I was on this discussion topic with others. I am retired and have a lot of time on my hands, so I did some work as a member who cares.
This is statistical data taken from the progress reports of you, the members of this forum. I do not know any of you and I read so many reports I could not tell any of you what has happened to anyone single person.
My report is on SUBJECTIVE data, it is not based on any one measurable test or physical reading. It is based solely on the testimony of members who have used the Marshall Protocol.
During the summer of 2013 I looked at 2,000 records of people using the Marshall Protocol.
My method was to bring up a members progress report. I would make note of the major disease listed by the member. I would then page down to the last page of the progress report and find the last, or last meaningful reply and try to determine if the member was reporting improvement in health, a decline in health or worsening of symptoms. Sometimes this was just that the person said they felt better. Sometimes this was looking at the change in toleration numbers.
I then determined that they were in some way reporting success on the protocol. Or they were reporting no success. In some cases I could not tell from what the person had written whether they had success or not.
We don't have a controlled study group here but we do have a lot of honest testimony from a lot of people who were very sick when they signed on to this site. Who took the time to make weekly or other periodic reports. Who have voices (your voices) to say this Marshall Protocol treatment works or does not work.
Not unlike vitamin D metabolism, the human stress response is governed by a sophisticated hormonal system, one which is also dysregulated in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. Successful management of both stressors and a patient's stress response can temper disease symptoms while the Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. (MP) is facilitating recovery from disease. These diseases cannot be cured or resolved through lifestyle modifications including "stress management" any more than HIV, tuberculosis, polio, or any of the other forms of infectious disease can.
Physical stress or trauma has also been accepted as a partial contributor for several chronic diseases. However, psychological or physical stress does not appear to play any greater role than many factors which drive disease. There appears a difference between stress causing disease and stress being one of many factors which can influence the progression of disease. Other factors such as the presence of microbial pathogens appear to play a more prominent role.
Sigmund Freud and Jean-Martin Charcot were born 150 years ago, but their ideas about the effect of the subconscious on disease continue to resonate in the scientific community.2) Freud and colleagues argued that unconscious mental processes such as sublimated rage could manifest as physical symptoms. However, with the advent of superior technology, one by one, many diseases once supposed to be caused by psychological stress have since been attributed to other factors including infections.
While there is no denying the existence of some sort of "mind-body connection," there is minimal compelling evidence that as the 19th century Swiss physician Georg W. Groddeck claimed: "Illness has a purpose; it has to resolve the conflict, to repress it, or to prevent what is already repressed from entering consciousness."4) Despite the stark absence of evidence supporting these views, it is not unusual to read papers describing how patients with long-term so-called psychological illnesses may be subconsciously manifesting them, because it would allow them to have more "care, attention, disengagement, or even financial benefits."5) Nor, is it uncommon for new theories to spring up along these lines. In one example, a 2008 continuing medical education publication taught physicians that when a celebrity becomes ill, healthy people are suggestible enough to develop long-term illnesses consistent with the celebrity's descriptions of their conditions. Such claims are recklessly speculative, harming patients and stalling needed research.
Treating patients who complain of so-called medically unexplained symptoms with cognitive behavioral therapy or, in the case of chronic fatigue syndrome, graded exercise therapy, may do more harm than good.6) The emergence of metagenomic technologies offers a more sophisticated set of tools for detecting and characterizing microbes in these disease states. Perhaps it is only the use of this technology that will finally relegate the notion of patient as attention-seeking victim to historical relic.