(I sent this to a friend and thought maybe it might help someone else, too.)

• I would tell your mom to have a hormone test done that tells the exact levels of her hormones. (She may have to hunt to find a doctor who does that. I go to an awesome lady doctor, a D.O. She’s a true blessing!) I have a hormone test done every 4-6 months. My first test, done over a year and a half ago, showed that I was real low in progesterone, and my estrogen/progesterone ratio was way off. It’s important to have a certain ratio of hormones, so my doctor put me on natural, compounded progesterone that the pharmacist makes especially for me. I could tell a big difference in my fibromyalgia after I had been on progesterone for a couple of months.
  
• I also take CoQ10, enzymes, acidophilus, lots of high quality vitamins (fibro inhibits the absorption of vitamins and nutrients so it’s necessary to take high percentages), MSM, kelp, lecithin, magnesium malate , calcium, fish oil and other supplements.
  
• I try to eat more fresh, raw foods and limit processed foods as much as I can, although that’s hard. I especially try to eat raw foods high in enzymes and also lots of fresh fruit. I need to work on doing that more, though.
  
• I take supplemental enzymes to help with my absorption of nutrients.
  
• I make sure I get plenty of lean, quality protein every day for my muscles.
  
• I try to stay away from sugar (that’s also hard) and especially any kind of sugar substitute. One doctor told me that sugar itself is better than any of the sugar substitutes, so that tells you how bad sugar substitutes are. I use “Stevia” for sweetening tea, etc., and I only use KAL brand Pure Stevia Extract that I get at a health food store.
• I try to stay away from things made with white flour as much as possible. I look for whole grains or bread made from sprouted grains.
  
• For hurting muscles, Capzasin is the best topical ointment. It’s hot and runs interference for the pain. You can buy Capzasin at Wal-Mart over the counter.

Hope this helps!
Charla

“Every second of our lives, more than 2,700 different types of enzymes are performing a complicated interlocking network of activities which no computer could even begin to imitate, sometimes at breathtaking speed,” written by Linda Rector Page, N.D., Ph.D in her book Healthy Healing. This just demonstrates how vital enzymes are to our bodies! A lot of people have depleted their enzyme supply and must rely on food sources and supplements for these vital enzymes.

Here are some awesome foods, teas, & herbs that contain high levels of enzymes:

• Green tea & black tea
• Ginger, Milk Thistle, Licorice
• Avocados
  
• Bananas, grapes, & kiwi
• Dates & figs
  
• EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  
• Pineapple, mango, & unripe papaya
• Raw honey
• Sprouts

If we add the above to our diets, we’ll be doing ourselves a huge favor, not only health-wise, but there are some yummy things on the list! These are especially good foods for people with fibromyalgia.

Oh, what women have to go through with their hormones! First, it starts at an early age around twelve or so when many experience cramps and that “yuchy” feeling once a month. That goes on for a while until they reach their thirties when many start experiencing the symptoms of premenopause which include PMS, weight gain, infertility, fibroids, endometriosis, etc. This goes on until perimenopause when symptoms such as greater weight gain, irregular periods, heavy bleeding, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, mood swings, thinning skin, fatigue, memory loss, etc., begin to occur.

I wish I had known in my thirties and especially my forties what I do now. So many things affect our hormones such as diet, lack of exercise, stress, hormones in our toiletries and in the beef we eat, toxins, etc. These things affect our hormones to the extent that our hormones get out of balance and start causing the above mentioned symptoms. I am now using natural hormone supplements prescribed by my doctor. Let me stress the word…natural. They are not synthetic. They are compounded by the pharmacist, made especially for me, and are definitely making a huge difference in the above mentioned symptoms and fibromyalgia.

If you’d like to read more, then I recommend reading this chapter called“Hormone Balance Made Simple” by Dr. John R. Lee, who was “an international authority and pioneer in the use of natural progesterone cream and natural hormone balance.”

If you would like to read more about enzymes, here are a few resources. Just click on any of the five choices below:

• Edward Howell,
• Enzyme Nutrition by Dr. Edward Howell
• Enzyme Nutrition: The Food Enzymes Concept by Dr. Edward Howell
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Whole-istic Solutions: Digestive by Dr. Robert Parker & Dr. Joel Robbins
  

Also, there’s a book called “America’s #1 Guide to Natural Health, Prescription for Nutritional Healing.” Part One, Enzymes, has some great information.

The faster we “spend” our enzymes, the sooner we run out. What about the person who tries to eat healthy by eating lots of cooked veggies, eats whole grains, takes vitamins, etc.? When food is heated to 118 degrees or above (low to moderate heat), most of the enzymes are destroyed. The more cooked veggies, canned fruit, and processed foods a person eats, the faster they use up their enzymes. If that person inherited limited enzyme activity and rarely eats raw (live) foods, then they will run out of enzymes sooner than someone who inherits a large enzyme reserve or eats a lot of raw foods.

I know I like to save money when I can on good buys. I also like to save enzymes when I can by eating raw foods since enzymes are involved in all of the biochemical processes that go on in our body. In order for our body to absorb enzymes from food, they need to be eaten raw. It would be ideal if we could eat a diet of 50% raw foods. But if we could just eat one raw food at every meal, we would be doing ourselves a huge favor! I can tell a big difference with my fibromyalgia when I eat more raw foods. I definitely feel better!

You may be asking what in the world do money and enzymes have in common. Let me see if I can explain. When you have a certain amount of money, it’s easy to understand that the faster you spend it, the sooner you will run out. It’s the same way with enzymes. The late Dr. Edward Howell said, “It seems that we inherit a certain enzyme potential at birth.” Whatever we get, that’s it. So it’s like spending money, and the faster you use up your enzymes, the sooner you run out. So why are enzymes so important? Enzymes are needed for every chemical reaction that occurs in your body. Without enzymes, vitamins and minerals and hormones can not work … at all. That’s how crucial enzymes are for your body. And I know with my fibromyalgia, enzymes make a big difference!

Some of you may be wondering exactly who was this Dr. Howell. Well, he was a doctor from Illinois who was the first researcher to discover how very important enzymes from raw foods are to human health and nutrition. In fact, in 1946 he published his first book about enzymes and kept researching after that.
(Watch for a later post “Money & Enzymes - Part 2″)

I started having trouble with my hormones several years ago, but I just attributed it to perimenopause.  I wish I had known then what I do now.  Due to a breast biopsy in 1993 which turned out to be non-malignant but still put me in a higher risk category, I said that I would never take hormone therapy.  I had PMS every month which I grew to dread.   And I didn’t know until last summer, but I started having symptoms of fibromyalgia a few years ago during perimenopause.  I knew my body was changing because things I used to be able to do I could no longer do without my muscles knotting up and bothering me for a week or so.  It wasn’t the soreness a person feels from a good workout.  It was different.  And then last year when our dog tripped me and caused me to fall, fibromyalgia set in full force.  The three months during the summer  were difficult and depressing.   Not only did I have extremely sore, bruise-like places in different places from my neck down to my ankles, but I had chronic fatigue and other symptoms that go along with it.  That’s when an answer to prayer occured and I was able to go to this wonderful doctor who had been through a lot of what I was going through herself.  After consultation and saliva testing, I went on a natural compounded progesterone prescription and some nutritional supplements.  I had said I would never use hormones, but this natural progesterone made a huge difference in the way I feel.  I’ve been using it for a year now and my fibromyalgia symptoms have eased tremendously.  Also, I have a wonderful husband who gave me daily muscle rubs summer before last which helped ease the aches and pains.  But I’ll have to write about that in another post.  I’m just so thankful to feel as good as I do now.

A lot of doctors prescribe synthetic hormones for hormone related problems.  After researching various sources through the years, I decided I would never use synthetic hormones myself.  I do use a natural hormone cream, though, natural  compounded progesterone to be exact.  My doctor gave me a prescription for it last year to help correct estrogen dominance that was causing me a lot of problems.  She had been through a lot of the same things I was experiencing and so she prescribed for me what she used herself.  And it made a huge difference and really helped to alleviate my problems.

I wish I had known about natural progesterone cream back when I was having PMS for one week or longer every month during perimenopause.  And I especially wish I had known about it when I started having fibromyalgia symptoms.  There are a lot of problems caused by estrogen dominance and natural progesterone helps to correct that imbalance in hormones.

If you’ve ever had a problem with PMS, then you can relate to feeling miserable during that time.  Some people refer to it as “pretty mean syndrome,” but I prefer “pretty miserable syndrome.”  True, irritabilty is often a symptom of it.  But a girl can feel miserable from PMS and not be mean.   The symptoms include but are not limited to the following:  backache, headache, bloating and weight gain,  anxiety, depression, food cravings such as chocolate (yum), cramps, fatigue, insomnia, water retention, mood swings, and the already mentioned irritability…sometimes major irritability.  I’m sure our family members can attest to these!  LOL   But for the poor gal experiencing a multiplicity of these symptoms, relief is sometimes hard to find and it’s just a matter of enduring until the symptoms pass.  There are some natural helps out there, though.  I’ve received some natural PMS relief samples.  Although I don’t have PMS anymore, I do have trouble with fibromyalgia pain some days.  The next time I do, I plan to use these samples which I think will be very helpful from what I’ve read. 

When one of my friends told me a year and a half ago that she has fibromyalgia, I said, “Fibro-what?” I had never heard of it. And to my surprise when my dog tripped me and caused me to fall a few months later, fibromyalgia set in with a vengeance. At it’s worst, it’s awful to deal with! We researched and read a lot and discovered that I had been having mild symptoms starting several years ago. So now we know what we’re dealing with and through the course of the past year have been blessed to find things that really help me. I plan to share some of these things through other posts. And if you happen to have fibromyalgia, I sympathize with you.