(To a person recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia) I am so sorry to hear that...

because I've been there... with CFS...and borderline fibromyalgia.

I wanted to offer you some hope. I was off work for nearly three years. But able to work full time now. Due to a naturopathic doctor who understood what was going on, and to my constant focus on researching and asking questions of anyone who had improved their condition, and my REFUSAL to give up.

Your doctor may not understand, and if s/he doesn't, that does not mean that you are making it up.

I have been gone from these boards for a long, long time, getting my life back together, earning money, making up for lost time.

I can tell you this: of the many things I did to get well, it IS very important that the thyroid is working properly. The best thing I did for my thyroid was to take BarleyLife -- the kind WITH kelp. The barleygrass powder and the iodine in the kelp has a synergistic effect. A site called biomedx explains that iodine does not absorb till the pH balance (acid/alkaline balance) is nearly perfect. The barleygrass (or raw fruits and vegetables) would raise the alkaline reserve too.

Another important thing is to look up the Hallelujah Diet.

Another thing that is important is to get a naturopathic/alternative doctor to evaluate you for adrenal exhaustion/insufficiency and for blood sugar imbalances. You can do this at regular doctors at times but their tests are so far from reality, it is amazing.

Blue Green Algae helped me. It is expensive and I only finished the bottle a friend gave me and did not get more. But I am about to now, for how good it made me feel.

B12 is another common deficiency in those with FMS and CFS. Chlorella, Brewer's yeast, Blue Green Algae, Brown Rice, Rejuvelac, some seaweeds (I think) are some sources...

Fresh vegetable juices were very helpful. If you do carrots, do something with them to cut down the sugar content so you don't stress out your blood sugar system. Celery is a good thing to add to it. When I first started juicing, I was so tired that it was all I could do, at my mid twenties, just to stand at the juicer for 5 minutes, pushing carrots through. I had to lie down on the floor afterward, or quickly lie down to take a 10 hour totally dreamless sleep, before it would give me energy to be able to do the cleanup, by then the pulp was getting stinky. But the first time I juiced vegetables, the ones that I was about to lose because I had no appetite... I had energy for two days and no symptoms. That's what got me onto this.

Another thing that helped me is Dr. Schulze Superfoods. He is an amazing guy. You can find his products at good prices on ebay. Another good product of his is the Colon cleanse # 1 and # 2. He has a liver cleanse too, but I have not tried it. I did it a different way and cleansed of gallstones.

What's crucially important is that you is that you reconsider your definition of food if you want to get well. I am not the only one saying this any more. If you click on the link on the top of the boards about what has helped other people, you will find other people saying the same thing: eat whole foods, don't eat processed foods (it would take BOOKS and BOOKS to explain why this is true). When I ea eat processed foods, what happened to me starts coming back. We were never meant to eat packaged/altered/chemicalized/highly sugared/colored/microwaved/etc products. Until you understand that, it will be hard to heal. Go to your cupboards, your fridge....with few exceptions -- if it is in a package, a box, a jar, etc., it is making you sick. We think other people get away with it, but they do not. They simply have better genetics and when they come down with the consequences later on, it is considered "aging".

Dr. Richard Schulze's attitude is that "There is no such thing as an incurable disease."

Anther underlying condition that can underline Fibromyalgia and CFS is chronic systemic candidiasis, another condition that is not acknowledged too much in regular medicine. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables in their natural state and avoiding processed foods helps a lot with that, so does raw garlic, Olive Leaf Extract, and products I have not tried (Candex, and ThreeLac).

If you want to get well, research about what pH balance means and why it is important to your acid and alkaline balanced properly.

If you want to get well, find ways to build your bloodstream. It nourishes all your organs and glands. FMS and CFS is often regarding the endocrine glands, which is why it results in hormonal fluctuations.

The most superior food as far as nutritional quality has not been cooked... purple cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, these are things I used to get well... but raw. And alfalfa sprouts.

If you want to get well, find someone who has the same burning desires you do, and stick with each other, and research together.

Let go of all unnecessary obligations to give yourself rest as you figure things out. And understand that friends will drop off but that you must live anyway, and you will find strength in yourself.

There's so much more that I could say, but I've learned over time: there are two kinds of people: the kinds of people who want to get well and would walk through fire and ice to do so -- would do it if it was the last thing on earth possible (even if they don't actually achieve the goal due to things they don't know or haven't encountered or their particular body chemistry or situation), and the people who are content to live their life with limitations and consider it God's will or something.

I fought HARD to be well. It was worth it.

45 hours a week work now, working on moneymaking online, studying for medical transcription, and getting to tell my doctor THANK YOU.

It was worth it. Hope some of the things that helped me can point you in the right direction.

YOU CAN DO IT!!