Fibromyalgics with hypoglycemia must follow a low-carbohydrate diet as prescribed or they will not feel better.
by Dr. Kenneth F. Muhich —
Hypoglycemia syndrome is a condition of low glucose (blood sugar) levels. Glucose is a source of both physical (muscle) and mental (brain) energy.
The brain, representing only 2 percent of the body’s weight, has no energy stores of its own, yet it requires about 60 percent of the body’s available glucose and consumes about 120 grams per day, regardless of whether we are asleep or awake. Approximately one teaspoon of glucose is available in the blood at any time. Many doctors believe that hypoglycemia is due to insulin resistance, which is also a condition shared with diabetes.
Hypoglycemia can be induced or intensified in fibromyalgia patients and can exacerbate already existing symptoms. A high percentage of both female and male fibromyalgics suffer from fibroglycemia — what I refer to as the combination of both conditions. Symptoms greatly overlap those of fibromyalgia, but sugar cravings, accompanied by tremors, sweating, anxiety, panic attacks, heart palpitations, faintness and frontal headaches — especially if hunger-induced — are solid clues to the diagnosis.
That is why part of the treatment protocol I use includes treating hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia must be treated concurrently or patients will not fully recover, despite reversal of fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgics with hypoglycemia must follow a low-carbohydrate diet as prescribed or they will not feel better. Though not mandatory, fibromyalgics with carbohydrate cravings will experience a jumpstart with similar dietary modifications for the first 30 days of treatment.
Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) release insulin, a hormone that induces kidney absorption of phosphate and also drives it into various cells and intensifies symptoms. The treatment works because elimination of sugars and starches prevents the wide fluctuations of blood sugar that allow a surge in energy and decrease bouts of fatigue.
Dr. Kenneth F. Muhich is a chiropractic physician at Stetson Chiropractic Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., who has almost 20 years of research to develop a successful protocol for the treatment of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. www.stetsonchiropractic.com, dcken2000@cs.com or 480-948-4955.
Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 29, Number 3, June/July 2010.
February 26, 2012
Fibromyalgia, Health, Health Concerns, Nutrition