Exciting new development. I hope it leads to some treatment options.

So do I. At least they're recognising that it's not just wanting to be sick and that the pain from being touched is real.

Very interesting article. A great find, Aggie! Thanks for posting.

You're welcome.

Yes, thank you Aggie.

Fibro here. Bookmarking.

Breezed through most of the thread here.

Has anyone tried marijuana for their fibro? We don't live in a legal state. My son is considering relocating us to Washington state, where it is legal. It provides wonderful relief.

I also saw someone mention Vitamin D. My rheumy tested my levels a year ago, and I was extremely low. He says chronic inflammation causes this. (Of course many docs argue about the presence of inflammation with fibro. I also have Lupus.). He put me on a high-dose replacement therapy, and I felt a little better. I think I went from 14 to 60.

Welcome JW, nice to see you here.

We don't have a Vit D problem with our sunshine here, luckily. Days without sunshine are about as rare as days with sunshine in the UK.

I've never tried marijuana. It's another thing that's legislated against here but so common in this province that you can get high on the fumes when they do controlled burning of the dry grass during the winter. They do the controlled burning to prevent "veld fires" running wild when the lack of rain poses a potential problem during the winter. I could smell it when we went out this morning. So although it's not sold, people just grow it because it's an indigenous plant.

The Vit D problem needs to be checked by a blood test. And it can't be replenished with sunlight if you're low. It requires a prescription. (We aren't far enough north here to have a problem either.)

Read here for clarity.

I live in sunny Florida and have extremely low Vitamin D. I take 50,000 IUs every other week right now. I take it weekly and then the MD tries to lower to monthly and I always drop too low and then end up back at bi-weekly and then ultimately weekly again.

I meant to say welcome, Just Wondering! I am sorry you have Fibro, but glad you are here.

If I lived in a legal state I would try marijuana. Here I can lose my job for trying illegal or non prescribed drugs so I can't.

Just Wondering wrote:The Vit D problem needs to be checked by a blood test. And it can't be replenished with sunlight if you're low. It requires a prescription. (We aren't far enough north here to have a problem either.)

Read here for clarity.

I see my doctor twice a year, getting blood tests done to check my levels. Being very fair-skinned, I have to expose myself to low sunlight because my skin has become very thin and cracks and becomes painful if I stay out in the sun for too long.

This:

Exposing 25 percent of the skin's surface area to 10 minutes of sunlight three days per week will maintain adequate levels in the majority of people; however, people with darkly-pigmented skin need more. Only a few foods contain vitamin D naturally, such as fatty fish; other sources are dietary supplements and vitamin-D-fortified foods, including milk and orange juice."

explains why African children get rickets, which is fairly common here. Not many Africans traditionally eat fish or drink orange juice. It's one reason why the food ProNutro was developed in the 1980s (I think it might have been earlier) to help with the problem. It's better now that all of our population have access to free medical care and advice.

Dawn wrote:I live in sunny Florida and have extremely low Vitamin D. I take 50,000 IUs every other week right now. I take it weekly and then the MD tries to lower to monthly and I always drop too low and then end up back at bi-weekly and then ultimately weekly again.

That's too bad that you are having trouble maintaining proper levels. Are you having an ongoing inflammation?

I took 10,000 a week for 12 weeks. I haven't been retested in a while, but I was at pretty optimum levels after replacement therapy.

Your dose is soooo high!!

Agrippina wrote:

Exposing 25 percent of the skin's surface area to 10 minutes of sunlight three days per week will maintain adequate levels in the majority of people; however, people with darkly-pigmented skin need more. Only a few foods contain vitamin D naturally, such as fatty fish; other sources are dietary supplements and vitamin-D-fortified foods, including milk and orange juice."

Yes, it's true that not too many foods are a good source of vitamin D. Aside from marine sources (fatty fish, cod liver oil) and fortified foods, egg yolk is one of the best natural sources. It's unfortunate that the hysteria (much of it absurdly exaggerated) surrounding egg yolk and cholesterol discourages people from regular consumption of this valuable source of vitamin D... and other nutrients (eggs are a relatively cheap source of high-quality protein).

Yes Mike. There are a few issues around eggs that tend to get people not wanting to use them. On the one hand you have the "fundamentalist vegan brigade" who won't even consider recommending eggs, even those that are produced by hens who don't have exposure to a "cock." (no pun intended). The consumption of eggs, despite their nutritional value is condemned by these people because they are animal products, even when they don't come from factory farms. I buy my eggs from the local farmers who literally do have chickens than run around a farmyard all day and they are wonderful. Great big giant jumbo ones that sometimes have three yolks. I refuse to give up eggs, even though I don't really enjoy them unless they're well-cooked, but I eat them because of the iron and Vit D.

The other is the fear-factor of cholesterol. If you have three eggs a week, you are not going to explode your arteries with the fat unless you are also eating huge slatherings of butter on your white bread with a chunk of fat steak in between the slices. If you don't eat fatty meat, or even red meat, and you eat healthy bread with low fat margarine, the 3 eggs you have in a week are not going to kill you.

Quite right! Indeed, for most people it would probably be perfectly safe (from a blood lipids point-of-view) to eat an egg daily. Of greater importance than the amount of cholesterol consumed is the total intake of saturated fat. It is this saturated fat that serves as the "raw material" from which the liver manufactures cholesterol. In the war on heart disease, eggs have been targeted with a zeal disproportionate to the actual risk that they present. Indeed, there's a lot that dietetics got horribly wrong in the '70s and '80s... margarine is better than butter (wrong), coconut fat is bad for you (wrong), etc, etc.
And yes, authentic free-range eggs are a good choice!

I hate margarine but my DH insists that he wants it, so we compromise, I buy butro.

Agrippina wrote:Yes Mike. There are a few issues around eggs that tend to get people not wanting to use them. On the one hand you have the "fundamentalist vegan brigade" who won't even consider recommending eggs, even those that are produced by hens who don't have exposure to a "cock." (no pun intended). The consumption of eggs, despite their nutritional value is condemned by these people because they are animal products, even when they don't come from factory farms. I buy my eggs from the local farmers who literally do have chickens than run around a farmyard all day and they are wonderful. Great big giant jumbo ones that sometimes have three yolks. I refuse to give up eggs, even though I don't really enjoy them unless they're well-cooked, but I eat them because of the iron and Vit D.

The other is the fear-factor of cholesterol. If you have three eggs a week, you are not going to explode your arteries with the fat unless you are also eating huge slatherings of butter on your white bread with a chunk of fat steak in between the slices. If you don't eat fatty meat, or even red meat, and you eat healthy bread with low fat margarine, the 3 eggs you have in a week are not going to kill you.

as a slightly ironic fact, cockerels do not have penises link. the reason I know this is purely accidental, it was an article on science daily a while back (also, had to be careful with search terms,)

and the cholesterol thing is overplayed anyway, the BHF has a page here on it, and their advise is that saturated fat intake is far more important than the number of eggs.

also, as a vegetarian I have little issue with eggs, I have a small flock in the back garden (currently 3 chicks as well) so all the eggs we get are from them (not a fan of the goose eggs as much, but we get an egg every couple days there)

Just Wondering wrote:

Dawn wrote:I live in sunny Florida and have extremely low Vitamin D. I take 50,000 IUs every other week right now. I take it weekly and then the MD tries to lower to monthly and I always drop too low and then end up back at bi-weekly and then ultimately weekly again.

That's too bad that you are having trouble maintaining proper levels. Are you having an ongoing inflammation?

I took 10,000 a week for 12 weeks. I haven't been retested in a while, but I was at pretty optimum levels after replacement therapy.

Your dose is soooo high!!

I don't know of any inflammation. I will talk more to my doctor when I see him in July. Strange, isn't it? I am glad you are at an optimum dose now.