Bowel Symptoms

Last November I found a wonderful book by a woman urologist (researcher
in California) who by accident discovered that the diet she formulated
for her patients with chronic, severe bladder irritation also helped
relieved fibromyalgia. Her name is Larian Gillespie M.D., her book is
entitled "You Don't Have to Live with Cystitis." (It was a bestseller a
couple of years ago.) I had been suffering from terrible bowel pain and
distention, CHRONIC irritable bladder, muscle aches and pains and
stiffness, and what I thought were severe sinus headaches. But my
doctor could find no evidence of sinus infection or even swelling,
bladder infection or other cause for bladder pain, and my bowel looked
perfect upon close physical inspection. Nevertheless, 95% of every
single day I suffered at least one of these kinds of severe,
nearly-disabling pain. Having been a vital and dynamic person all my
life, my chronic pain was also severely depressing, given that no one
could find any reason for any of it!

Enter Dr. Gillespie's book. Trying to find solutions on my own, since
my doctors had no idea what to do for me, I read Dr. Gillespie's book.
After only a couple of weeks strictly on the diet, my bladder ceased to
be irritable, and almost never does now, even though I am no longer on
the diet. The shocking thing was that it also ended my bowel pain and
bloating! I reread her book, looking for clues. Obviously she was onto
something, something maybe she didn't even realize yet. Sure enough,
she mentioned several other disease processes that her patients reported
had been relieved when they tried her diet for their bladder pain.
That's the first place I ever heard the word "fibromyalgia." Without
her book, I don't know how I would have ever heard of it. I called my
doctor and told him of the startling success I'd had with the diet and
that they might want to try it with other patients whose bladder or
bowel pain seemed to have no clinical cause. Luckily, the practice my
doctor is co-director of happens to do a lot of cutting-edge research,
so they were open to my suggestion and excited by the possibility of
finding a cure for intractable problems they'd not been able to treat
before.

From there, I started trying to find information on fibromyalgia. It
was only a hunch that that was what I had, and when I surfed the net and
found a list of symptoms, I finally KNEW that's what I had. It was such
a relief to have a name for it. My doctor didn't seem too interested in
diagnosing me with FM at that time. Because of paresthesias (numbness
and tingling) in my hands and feet whenever I exercised (I used to lift
weights and do a lot of aerobics), he wrote in my chart that I had
"fibromyalgia of the hands." Now I know how absurd that was.

However, as I continued to study every possible source of information
on FM and the various treatments that existed, I grew more and more
certain that my own diagnosis was correct. If my regular physician
wasn't going to be receptive to it, I would find one who is (even though
I LOVE regular physician--he had always been very supportive, warm and
informative except for the FM diagnosis). I read on the Web that the
Arthritis Foundation publishes a pamphlet on FM and conducts support
groups for it! I was thrilled to know an organization this widely
respected and supported was so specific and forthcoming about FM. I
called my local chapter immediately (as you might have gathered by now,
I am a woman of action...), and they mailed me not only a wonderful
brochure but also a list of doctors in my area who were familiar with
treating it! I was so excited! I decided I would make one more try
with my regular doctor, as I wanted him to be aware of how
well-developed the literature and study of this disease was becoming.
To my delight, when I went in to see him, I didn't even have to get out
the Arthritis Foundation pamphlet or list of referrals. He made the
diagnosis and immediately phoned a psychopharmacologist to consult on
adding amitriptyline to my present antidepressent regimen. The nightly
amitriptyline (in a very small dose of only 12.5 mg) has helped me sleep
MUCH BETTER, but it has done virtually nothing for the aches and
stiffness all over my body except for lessening my severe neck pain (a
definite help, given how painful and how stiff my neck had been).
Nevertheless, I wanted to find something that helped with my on-and-off
severe fatigue, achiness and mind fog.

I surfed the net and found Dr. Hitzig's postings. I am quite
interested in his protocol, given my personal affinity for his return to
the ancient concept of "balance" in medicine and my own experience with
several different antidepressants. (I am a science research buff,
particularly of biochemistry of the human boidy.)

So my next step is to try his protocol. I haven't decided whether to
go down to Maryland to try it or let my regular doctors learn to
administer it. My lack of patience makes me want to run to Maryland
immediately if not sooner. My pocketbook insists that I consider the
lowest possible cost alternative (that is, waiting for my doctors to get
trained in it and then undergoing treatment here at home, where my HMO
would cover it).

Well, that's my story up to this point. I refuse to sit idly when
there is some stone I can turn over in my search for an effective
treatment. I will post any new helpful findings on this news site, so
all of the "FMily" can give them a try.