Fibromyalgia is a condition with no known cause and no known cure. The Mayo Clinic defines fibromyalgia as "a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple tender points--places on your body where slight pressure causes pain."
Most people with fibromyalgia also suffer from intestinal bowel syndrome, another condition with no known cause or cure. Probiotics can help relieve the symptoms of IBS.
Fibromyalgia
About 2 percent of people in America are diagnosed with fibromyalgia as of 2010. It is a condition that mostly afflicts women. Sometimes it occurs after physical or emotional trauma, but most of the time there is no apparent triggering event.
People who have fibromyalgia are also more likely to suffer from sleep disorders, chronic fatigue, depression, headaches, IBS, lupus, arthritis and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Recent theories about the cause or causes of fibromyalgia focus on the concept of central sensitization of the nervous system, which may lower the threshold of pain for fibromyalgia sufferers by increasing their sensitivity to pain signals.
Treatments for Fibromyalgia
The range of treatments for fibromyalgia include medication for pain and depression. Drugs for epilepsy, such as neurontin, help some patients. Physical therapy and exercise ease symptoms for many patients. Counseling is important, too, since fibromyalgia is such a difficult condition to live with.
According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, the elimination of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, fried foods, red meat and processed foods may help. Some doctors prescribe intravenous vitamin and mineral supplementation treatments.
Probiotics
According to Katherine Zerensky, nutritionist at the Mayo Clinic, probiotics, the "good" bacteria in the gut, may help with digestion and offer protection from the destructive properties of "bad" bacteria. Probiotics can be taken in supplement form or attained from foods such as yogurt, miso and some juice or soy drinks. Look for labels with wording such as "live and active cultures."
Probiotics may help treat conditions such as diarrhea, IBS, intestinal infections and may even prevent or reduce the severity of colds and flu. Probiotics may help anyone who has recently taken antibiotics, since antibiotics strip the gut of bacteria, including your good bacteria.
IBS
Intestinal bowel syndrome is a long-term or chronic disorder of gastrointestinal functioning. Symptoms include diarrhea, stomach pain, bloating and gas. Although it has no known cause, researchers theorize IBS could result from an excess of "bad" bacteria in the small intestine, perhaps caused by the malabsorption of food.
Probiotics may improve the balance of microflora in the small intestine, and thus help with IBS symptoms.
Probiotics and Fibromyalgia
Probiotics are often a useful tool to relieve the IBS symptoms that afflict most fibromyalgia patients. As the National Fibromyalgia Association states, "Glutamine plus probiotics are also among the supplements often used for fibromyalgia. These are intended to promote an optimal environment for absorption of nutrients and are based on the theory that fibromyalgia symptoms may be caused by gut malabsorption of nutrients."
