Fibromyalgia Remedies NYC - Dr. Alicia Armitstead

In my experience, fibromyalgia is usually a combination or due to all four illnesses, (weak adrenals, an unbalanced thyroid, a stressed out nervous system, inflammation from a leaky gut) and that's where Western medicine is missing the mark. They say there is no specific cause for fibromyalgia and, therefore, no cure. They treat patients by helping them live with it. I have helped patients overcome fibromyalgia with natural remedies, so t's not a way of life.

-Dr. Alicia Armitstead

Natural Remedies for Fibromyalgia at the Healing Arts NYC Health and Wellness Center in Manhattan NY 10017 and Connecticut

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, often accompanied by fatigue, sleep disturbances, memory issues, and mood changes. The exact cause is unknown, but it's believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. 

Diagnosis is typically based on symptoms and ruling out other conditions, as there's no specific test for fibromyalgia. It affects about 2-4% of the population, with women being more commonly affected than men. Fibromyalgia can significantly impact quality of life, affecting work, relationships, and daily activities. Despite its challenges, many people with fibromyalgia learn to manage their symptoms and lead fulfilling lives with proper care and support.

How the Traditional Medicine Treats Fibromyalgia

Traditional medical treatment usually involves a multidisciplinary approach, including medications, physical therapy, exercise, and stress-reduction techniques. While there's no cure, symptoms can often be managed with appropriate treatment and lifestyle changes. 

In my experience, fibromyalgia is usually a combination or due to all four illnesses, (weak adrenals, an unbalanced thyroid, a stressed out nervous system, inflammation from a leaky gut) and that's where Western medicine is missing the mark. They say there is no specific cause for fibromyalgia and, therefore, no cure. They treat patients by helping them live with it. I have helped patients overcome fibromyalgia with natural remedies, so t's not a way of life.

Everything she tried didn't work, even the pain medication the doctors gave her. As a last resort, they suggested an antidepressant, but Sarah knew depression was not the real issue. She was depressed from the pain and her quality of life. Depression was just a symptom and not the root cause. 

Sarah was desperately looking for answers, and I knew I could help her by muscle testing her body to get the feedback to see if the root cause of her fibromyalgia was due to weak adrenals, an unbalanced thyroid a stressed out nervous system, inflammation from a leaky gut or chronic infection or a combination of these four reasons. We can help by giving the organs the right nutritional support, reducing inflammation and pain.

Common Fibromyalgia Symptoms We Help Patients Overcome

• Chronic body pain
• Fatigue
• Impaired cognition
• Difficulty sleeping 
• Muscle numbness
• Stress with or without anxiety and depression 
• Chest pain
• Stomach pain 
• Allergies 

Fibromyalgia and the Adrenals

One of the causes of fibromyalgia is the adrenals not working properly. The number one thing that affects adrenal health is stress. If your stress is high, the adrenals produce adrenaline to keep up with the stress. The adrenals can only keep up for a short period of time, so if the stress is chronic, the adrenals burn out, leaving you feeling exhausted. If the adrenals stay depleted, you, too, will feel depleted. This is called adrenal fatigue syndrome. 

If the adrenals do not get addressed at this level and your body does not heal from adrenal fatigue syndrome, then it can turn into fibromyalgia. To help heal the adrenal glands, we muscle test what foods to avoid that would bother the adrenal glands. Sugar is commonly taken out of the diet with adrenal fatigue. Consuming foods high in sugar causes a rapid rise and then falls in your blood sugar, which the adrenals respond to by releasing cortisol. Caffeine is also very common to take out of the diet while the adrenal glands rebuild. When we drink caffeine, the adrenal glands release adrenaline, and that's why we feel more alert. It helps the adrenal glands eat small meals throughout the day to stabilize blood sugar levels. 

Fibromyalgia and the Thyroid

Another root cause of fibromyalgia can be due to the thyroid, especially if you have an autoimmune condition of the thyroid called Hashimoto's. Actually, if you have any autoimmune disease, the chances of getting fibromyalgia are increased. Sometimes, people don't realize they have a thyroid imbalance when they come to us. It either does not show up in blood work, or their doctor is not checking the thyroid on the blood work. Either way, we can detect a thyroid imbalance with muscle testing.

To help the thyroid, we use muscle test supplements to get biofeedback from your body and build a supplement program specific to your thyroid. Besides supplements, adding seaweed or celery juice to your diet can help. Seaweed has iodine in it that the thyroid needs to function. Celery juice is best taken on an empty stomach. It depends on the person, but most patients test for 8 ounces of celery juice daily for about three weeks. Celery juice, which is a thyroid hormone, can cleanse the thyroid of toxins and increase T3 production. 

Celery juice also helps fight infections, and chronic infections can lead to chronic inflammation, which can cause fibromyalgia. The most common chronic infections I see fibromyalgia patients have are Epstein Barr, mold infection, coronavirus-19, yeast infections, and SIBO. My goal for these infections is to do a muscle test for the right herbs to boost your immune system and fight them. One of my favorite supplements to do this is Immuplex, which is an organic food supplement that is a great source of zinc, iron, copper, chromium, folate, and vitamins A, B6, and B12 and antioxidant vitamins C and E. With such good nutrition, the immune system is supported, as is the body's inflammatory response. 

We also use light therapy to kill the infections. We scan your body with a specific machine to collect information. We then put that information in the light frequency machine so that the lasers we use with blue, red, and infrared light are personalized. This personalized light therapy is so effective that we have to be careful not to cause a die-off reaction. Such a reaction occurs when you kill too many germs at once. A patient can feel more tired and nauseous, have diarrhea or constipation, or have headaches. Our goal is to make you feel better, not worse, so to help prevent a die-off reaction, we suggest a binder, such as Bindgenic.

Fibromyalgia and Leaky Gut Syndrome

Many times, these chronic infections come from bad gut flora and cause such severe inflammation in the gut that holes start occurring in the gut lining, creating leaky gut. Symptoms of leaky gut include bloating, gas, cramps, food sensitivities, and aches and pains. Leaky gut may contribute to the development or worsening of autoimmune diseases, including Hashimoto's. That's why the root cause of fibromyalgia is usually a combination of causes. 

If the inflammation in the gut builds up enough, fatigue and pain can start occurring in other parts of the body. One sign that the pain you are feeling could be coming from the gut is if it changes daily. One day, it is your shoulder, the next day, it is your knee, and so on. 

Fibromyalgia and the Nervous System

Another reason why there is chronic inflammation stuck in the body is if stress has caused the nervous system to be off balance. When the nervous system is not working properly, the body does not get the right messages from the brain. If the brain is offline from the body, then neurological impulses are like static in the body, causing inflammation and pain. The type of stress that causes such distress in the body can be due to dehydration, lack of sleep, not eating properly and emotional stress. We address all aspects at our office to help your nervous system get back online. With a strong nervous system, the body's ability to heal itself starts working again.

When emotional stress hits, of course, the nervous system feels it. With the right nutrition and emotional support, the nervous system should be able to stabilize. If you feel emotional stress is why your nervous system is stuck, we will muscle test you for our Emotional Release Technique. We use this technique when negative emotions get stuck in the body and need to be released. Once the negative emotion is identified through muscle testing, then, magnets are used to reset the nervous system and release the stuck emotions. Stuck emotions equal a stuck nervous system, so using the emotional release technique is another way of supporting the nervous system. 

Sometimes, when emotional stress hits the nervous system and the nervous system can't stabilize, it's not due to a stuck emotion in the body but a subconscious belief that is in the way of our mind being able to relax. If your mind can't relax, then neither can your nervous system. The mind will keep the nervous system stuck in fight or flight. Psych-K is the muscle testing technique we use to identify what subconscious beliefs might be getting in our way. The subconscious is the part of the brain that runs the show. It is a hundred times faster than your conscious brain, and we act on it without even knowing it. Psych-K helps when your mind keeps racing and it's hard to focus during the day or sleep at night. It also helps if you wake up with anxiety or have obsessive thoughts you just can't control. 

Exercise is also helpful when you have fibromyalgia, but it's such a catch-22 because if you exercise too much, you can be in more pain the next day, so finding that sweet spot is important where you are exercising, just enough to help the body but not overwhelm the body. 

As patients are on their way to health, we also help reduce flare ups of inflammation and pain. Flare-ups can be due to weather changes, overexertion, stress, poor eating, and poor sleep.

Sleep is really important for a strong nervous system and for reducing inflammation. I suggest to my fibromyalgia patients to be asleep before 11 pm. Your body performs the majority of its repair and recovery from 11 pm to 1 am. The gallbladder dumps toxins during this time. If you are awake, the toxins back into the liver and your bloodstream. If you are asleep, toxins go where they should, which is into the large intestine to be taken out through the bowels. It also helps to go to bed and wake up simultaneously each day, even on weekends. This rhythm makes it easier to fall asleep and get up.

I also tell my fibromyalgia patients to avoid all screens 30 minutes before bed, including TV. Blue light from the screens stimulates the brain, which disrupts the pineal gland, making it harder to fall asleep or sleep well. The same goes for reading material that is stimulating. If you read before bed, read books that are relaxing and peaceful. This would be a good time to take a hot bath or shower. Heat has a relaxing effect on the body. Using lavender essential oil in the bath, body wash, or pillow spray can even be more relaxing.

If you lie in bed with your mind racing, keeping a journal and writing down your thoughts before bed might be helpful. This allows you to download your thoughts to paper and clear your mind. It also helps to avoid caffeine and other stimulants because they can have a long-lasting stimulatory effect on your nervous system. In general, other foods to avoid for people with fibromyalgia are gluten, alcohol, sugar, dairy, and nightshades: tomato, potato, eggplant, and peppers.

Also, don't eat right before bed. The body trying to digest can impair sleep. Eat at least 2 hours before bed. Worse is eating grains and sugar or alcohol, which causes a spike in blood sugar and then the crash. When the body crashes, sleep isn't as deep, and in severe cases, you wake up in the middle of the night and need to eat something. Sleep eating occurs in severe cases.