Fibromyalgia as Food Allergy

Topics from  Aching & Fatigue

What is Fibromyalgia?

Case Examples

 Type III Food Allergy Pattern

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Eat well and be happy

Fatigue and musculoskeletal pain are two of the most common human symptoms. Non-specific pain syndromes have been described in the medical literature over many years. The onset of most viral infections and many other well-known diseases begins with aching, fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. Viral hepatitis, for example, may simmer for months causing aching and chronic fatigue.

Nonspecific symptoms occur in the early stages of the other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosis and multiple sclerosis. We think that non-specific pain is often an expression of delayed pattern food allergy - a non-specific hypersensitivity disease - an can be alleviated by proper diet revision. Staple foods such as milk, wheat, eggs, meat and coffee are often responsible.

Different causes can be suggested for generalized pain and tenderness. Food allergy and other food supply problems are usually not considered. Toxicity from industrial and domestic sources is also seldom considered. The recognition that chronic pain can be an expression of non-specific hypersensitivity disorders has been slow in coming. The acceptance of diet revision as a prerequisite for recovery is even slower.

We are inclined to see digestive tract problems as a first step in the production of fibromyalgia. Symptoms of gastrointestinal tract dysfunction are central to the wider range of clinical manifestations of food allergy and should be seen as evidence that there are problems down-stream (the rest of the body and brain) related to the food supply. Other diagnoses cluster around the central gastrointestinal tract dysfunction - migraine, fibromyalgia, depression, chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, asthma, and arthralgias are typical associations. Thus, a patient with irritable bowel symptoms, fibromyalgia, depression and asthma may have 4 major manifestation of food allergy, not four separate clinical problems. Increased entry of food antigens into the blood stream is one way to explain this package deal.

Let us consider  Dr. Kelly Krohn's (Oregon Health Science University ) description of symptoms associated with fibromyalgia. She stated:  "The majority of fibromyalgia patients have a large number of other symptoms - often a major source of frustration and lead to a reduced quality of life. Many physicians are not familiar with the polysymptomatic nature of fibromyalgia patients. The most common problems are:

1. Abdominal pain - most often due to irritable bowel syndrome
2. Numbness and tingling in the extremities
3. Cold intolerance -- often associated with Raynaud's phenomenon
4. Urinary frequency and urgency - irritable bladder
5. Restless legs
6. Sleep apnea - more common in men with fibromyalgia
7. Secondary growth hormone deficiency
8. Secondary psychological reactions
9. Sicca symptoms: dry eyes and dry mouth"

We call this collection of symptoms the type iii pattern food allergy and invented the Alpha Nutrition Program to solve the problem.

A Look at the Symptoms

A.J. Rowe, T.G. Randolph, and Fredrick Speer were among the first American allergists to associate the pain-fatigue cluster of symptoms with food allergies. Rowe described "allergic toxemia" in 1930 with the symptoms of drowsiness, mental confusion, lack of initiate and ambition, irritability, fatigue, aching, and a feeling of being poisoned. Rowe developed a number of elimination diets to treat allergic toxemia and reported that a wide spectrum of mental-emotional and physical symptoms could be relieved by diet revision.

Dr. Theron Randolph and Fredrick Speer also associated the aching and fatigue with food and inhalant allergies. Speer referred to the "allergic-tension-fatigue" syndrome and described "motor fatigue". Dr. Wm. Knicker and a host of other researchers and clinicians studying food allergy went on to describe a complex of immune mechanisms that play a role in the chronic patterns of food allergy.  Knicker advocated the concept of "delayed pattern food allergy". The mechanisms of delayed pattern food allergy are diverse, complex, and different from the mechanism that causes the hay fever type of allergy.

• the abnormal entry of large food molecules into the bloodstream

• the formation of immune complexes

• the action of chemical mediators released by activated immune cells

• the activation of cell-mediated immunity

These food allergy mechanisms are not revealed by skin tests nor reliably by any other test that is currently available.

The Alpha Nutrition Program is designed to reduce food allergy, food toxicity and to increase the beneficial effects of healthy foods. The most definitive clearing program starts with a food holiday to find out what role food had be playing in causing the illness. Food is replaced by an elemental nutrient formula (Alpha ENF), composed of nutrients in their pure for a clearing period of 10 days or longer. Alpha ENF allows a sick person to return to a baseline of more normal functioning, with reduction in levels of pain and tenderness. Increased mobility follows and exertional tolerance is improved by slow, gentle increments in activity levels.

Some patients have lost tolerance to many foods and only feel well if they eat a small number of carefully selected foods for period ranging from several weeks to several months. Their tolerance to food usually increases within six month to a year, but relapses tend to occur years later if they eat carelessly again. Some patients are also hypersensitive to chemicals in their environment, and often need special protection from cigarette smoke, household solvents, perfumes and paints.