Last week I shared an emotional recent accident with you. What I didn't share is I have Aflac.  I'm not an agent, so you can't get it here, but I'd like to share a few pointers with you, and if you have the ability to sign on - do it.

There is a 24 hour direct deposit option when you sign on with Aflac.  Yes, you can easily file a claim (also by app), snap pics of your diagnosis from a health care facility, and Aflac with drop money directly into your bank account - usually within 24 hours.  

I pay $8.68 twice a month to Aflac.  It is taken directly from my pay.  No worries, no bills.  I decided to download the app for easy "file a claim".  There is a "Wellness Option".  The month I signed on, I had a primary care visit (other doctor visits are acceptable, too).  I filed a claim (in less than a minute), and they dropped $60 into my bank account just for following my well-care routine.  

I quickly uploaded my claim for my foot injury.  Within 24 hours, Aflac direct deposited $290 into my bank account.  $200 for the emergency room visit and $90 for the sutures (less than 5 centimeters - more if it is a larger cut).  On my follow up visit to my primary care physician I received another $40 when the stitches were removed.  Yes, within a week I received $330.

Why I love Aflac: No hassles, no worries, they are honest-to-goodness decent people who don't argue your claim.  

If I have to see my primary for ANY reason due to an accident related injury it is $125 just to walk in the door.  There are so many other options.  Here is a guide of what to expect for reimbursements.  Many of the rates have increased since this printing.  

The reason I chose Aflac is simple- peace of mind.  I have never felt such peace just by signing onto a supplemental insurance company.  It is as if someone is paying ME for my pain and suffering.  I'm certain many of you can relate.  We drop things, slip, and our brains get foggy.  Just knowing that there will be some form of reimbursement when I'm down and out can really throw a bit of a positive spin onto an already dark situation.  

I decided to opt out for the affordable short term disability.  What happens if I can't work?  At least I know for only $16.58 twice a month I have a six month policy that will help me through the financial struggles while I file for disability.  My hopes certainly are that I will not need it.  But the reality always kicks me in the ass wondering, "How will I pay the bills if I relapse?" As bills are paid, I plan to boost up to a full year short term disability.

Fibro is often about fear.  How will I pay the bills if I can't work any longer?  How long will this recent accident lay me up for?  That fear causes wide spread pain.  What if you can take just a part of that away with some reassurance?  Think that will make a difference?  You bet it will!  Best of all it's affordable.  I can't even begin to describe the comfort I have now knowing that there is some reassurance when things go south.  

One last thing.  Aflac is cheaper through your work.  If you don't have it offered at your job, find out if they can bring an agent in.  You only need three employees to sign up.  And, my friends, it is worth more than its weight in gold - that I can tell you.  

I recently had an unexpected accident.  Accidents for patients of Fibro can be numerous at times as we lose our balance, become disoriented, and drop items for some unknown reason.  That last one still resonates constantly with me as glasses have a tendency to slide from my hand crashing to the floor.

But this last one was odd.  I was moving a rather large picture frame that unbeknownst to me had a cracked glass in its framing.  As I moved it, a huge triangle of glass landed directly on the top of my foot. And of course it happened to be the very point of the triangle.  Within a matter of seconds there was a five- inch pool of blood forming under my foot.   As I scrambled to balance, large three-inch droplets of blood began scattering on the tiles below me.  I quickly put pressure on the gaping wound, and began hopping to my closet to attain a large, thick dish rag.  Blood quickly soaked the dishrag, and I was forced to form a tourniquet.  This only enabled a quick spray to ensue covering my walls from three to four feet in length.  Something was wrong, I was bleeding out.  I had hit a main vein.  

I rushed hobbled over to my son's bedroom and yelled out, "I need to get to the hospital, I'm bleeding out."

My son rushes from his room and comes in contact with the tiles in the bedroom, hallway, and bathroom and yells, "Oh, my God, Mom, what happened?  Get in the car we need to go to the ER."

After 2 hours in the ER wrapped up tightly the blood began to stop.  I was sutured and sent home. Things seemed fairly presentable until the next day when I began experiencing signs of anemia.  

Symptoms common to many types of anemia include the following:

• Easy fatigue and loss of energy
• Unusually rapid heart beat, particularly with exercise
• Shortness of breath and headache, particularly with exercise
• Difficulty concentrating
• Dizziness
• Pale skin
• Leg cramps
• Insomnia

But, it didn't last a day.  In fact, it has been one full week since the accident, and I'm still reeling from it.  I began to peruse the internet trying to find an answer.  I suffer from CFS, of course with the fibromyalgia, and my energy reserve is always on low ready for sleep mode at any given time.

What I found was an interesting article on blood volume and CFS/ME.  I'd like to share it with you.  Who would have thought that blood volume interacts with these chronic illnesses?  No one understands why, but it makes perfect sense that those of us afflicted may need to take more time to heal ourselves when these types of accidents happen.  Of course I was told by the ER doctor that I'd be good to go in a day or so to work.  It happened Saturday afternoon, and Monday was a work day.  Wish I knew this and took a day or two off.

By Dr. David S. Bell

During a recent lecture I mentioned some old data concerning blood volume. I was asked to put my thoughts and what I had said on paper. Although it is not new information (the first ME blood volume paper was in 19951) I think it is still an important piece of the puzzle. The first slide is a description of what is meant by low blood volume as distinct from anemia.

In this slide, imagine three buckets and in each is all the blood of three different persons. The first is a healthy person with roughly five quarts of blood divided into two portions, the red blood cells which carry oxygen and the plasma. The second is a person with anemia. In this person the total volume of blood is normal, but the proportion is not. In anemia, the red cells are reduced compared to normal, and this reduction causes fatigue. In the third bucket, a person with ME has low blood volume, but the proportion of red blood cells and plasma is normal. The accumulated volume, instead of being five quarts is down to three or four quarts.

In the first study of blood volume in ME, eighty percent of ME patients were abnormal compared to historical controls1. This was subsequently confirmed by a study out of Miami2. In addition, the volume has been studied in POTS which can co-exist with ME in up to 40%3. And the blood volume can be strikingly low.

Let us put this in context. If a person loses 25% of his or her blood in a car accident, it can be fatal. But the body’s mechanism of anti-diuretic hormone, shunting, and other mechanisms can correct the blood loss quickly. In ME, these mechanisms are not at work, something that has caused me many sleepless nights.

The measurement of blood volume is rarely done now. The most accurate test is the Chromium51 assay. In this test, done in the nuclear medicine department of a University hospital, a tube of blood is drawn from the patient, carried into the back room and the red blood cells are labeled with Chromium51. The Albumin in the plasma portion is labeled with Albumin 125 and the blood is re-injected back into the patient. After an hour or so the labeled blood is mixed thoroughly with the rest of the patient’s blood, and another tube of blood is drawn and carried into the back room. There the amount of Chromium51 and Albumin 125 are measured. By calculating with the patient’s weight, a very accurate determination of the blood volume is made.

A newer test, the Daxor BVA-100 (Blood Volume Analyzer) is similar, although I have not yet seen results from ME patients as yet.

The Chromium51 test was devised in the 1960’s to see how much fluid a clinician should remove with diuretics in hypertension and congestive heart failure. The test is not needed for this now, but it was said that with this test you could predict who lived at the bottom of a mountain and who lived at the top. (At the top you need more blood because the air is thin). Some people have said the blood volume reduction is no big deal because astronauts get it. But their reduction is in the 15% range. It is caused by the lack of gravity permitting the blood flow throughout the body to increase, and the kidneys, a little confused, get rid of what they see as the ‘extra’ fluid.

A few years ago, a woman astronaut who had been in the space station for a while returned to earth and gave a short interview to the press. During this interview she collapsed and had to be helped off the podium. Her volume was about 83% of normal due to her time in space. After returning to earth about a quart of blood went into her legs because of gravity while standing and this caused such a drop in cerebral blood flow that she became syncopal. And she had a small drop in volume. In contrast, ME patients have a volume that can be as low as 50% of normal.

Mechanisms of Blood Volume Loss

Reductions in Anti-diuretic Hormone (ADH) – There are several mechanisms that come into play when the blood volume falls. The first is the hormone ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) which is missing in diabetes insipidus (not sugar diabetes or diabetes mellitus). In diabetes insipidus an injury or tumor of the pituitary causes ADH production to halt and persons with this condition urinate a great deal and carry around water jugs with ice water (sound familiar?)

There have been a number of studies on DI and ADH and without going into details, ADH can be produced in persons with ME hypovolemia. It is just that the pituitary does not seem to think that the hypovolemia is wrong or bad, no big deal. However something recognizes it as a big deal because people with ME can drink up to three gallons of water daily. When I asked an endocrinologist about this, he said it was ‘psychogenic water drinking.’

Reductions in Blood Vessel Diameter – After wrestling with this problem for many years, the only explanation I can come up with is that the cumulative sum of blood vessel diameter is reduced. The pipes are smaller than they should be. This would mean that the body has re-adjusted to the decreased flow of blood. Part of the adjustment is to shunt blood to the heart, lungs and kidneys and avoid the brain. An excellent theory would be that there is an autoimmunity4 to something that regulates blood vessel size, and this decreases both circulating blood volume and cerebral blood flow5, 6. The amount of autoimmune vasoconstriction would not need to be great as there are many miles of blood vessels in the body.

Treatment Anecdotes

IV Saline Given Early in the Illness

One reason I favor this theory is that with the administration of one liter of normal saline can nearly reverse the symptoms of ME in about three quarters of patients. This effect, however, wears off within 24 hours and then everything reverts to the newly established normal decreased flow. A similar mechanism may be at play in septic shock, where, at a certain point, even with antibiotics and fluids, the mechanism causing the shock cannot be reversed.

However, and this point is very controversial, I saw two adolescents with two to three months of typical ME (note that it cannot be diagnosed until six months of symptoms have elapsed) and gave them saline infusions daily for a week. For both adolescents, the symptoms they had disappeared never to return, although I have not had contact with them now for several years.

Prior to these two adolescents, I saw many ME patients who had the illness at three months, and all stayed ill past the six month mark. If this is true, then early recognition may offer a way to avoid full ME. This material cannot be published because it is so speculative, but if I had a child or relative with what looked like early ME, I would certainly give IV saline.

IV saline was a treatment I used for 22 adults with ME. As mentioned previously, 20% of ME patients had a volume above 80% of normal, and IV saline did not help them. Ironically, they were the most ill of the patients I treated. When I tried to infuse saline they had to stop after about 200 cc’s. From what they said, I could imagine that their cerebral circulation was so constricted that trying to force more fluid into the vessels could not be tolerated. But, there has been almost no research in this area.

Blood Transfusion

Many years ago I published a book online called Faces of CFS. In this book I described a woman with very severe ME who had a blood transfusion. About six weeks before this episode, she had a standard blood volume test which showed her to have about 64% of normal blood volume. She had been feeling ill one day and had ingested two gallows of water or other liquids.

Then, probably because she took too many ibuprofen tablets, she vomited blood. At the emergency ward, a hematocrit (Hct) showed anemia, due to a low volume to start then diluted with two gallons of water. I don’t think the vomiting blood contributed anything. But she was given two units of packed cells to be on the safe side.

The next day she felt wonderful; she felt ‘almost normal’, the first time she had said that in the years I had known her. Because she had been a nurse at the local hospital, she saw a hematologist who took her on. After about six weeks she gradually began to decline back to where she had been prior to the transfusion. After a few weeks of decline, the hematologist gave her another transfusion, and again she felt well. This continued for many months until the hematologist said he could no longer give the transfusions because of the risk of her developing allergic reactions to them.

Many years ago there was a condition called ‘idiopathic hypovolemia’, a condition diagnosed by a low blood volume that no one could explain7. Some hematologists treated it with blood transfusion with good results. In what I have read concerning this condition I have not seen the symptoms described, perhaps because the symptoms were so typical of a low blood volume. I have always wondered if they were actually treating ME.
However, there is an important point to this treatment. It does not cure the illness, even when the symptoms have been largely relieved. It makes a person feel better but there is still ‘something there’; people can get back to work or return to school, but the hypovolemia is not the primary effect of getting ME, it is a secondary effect.

IV Saline II

There are a few other anecdotes I would like to share. I had a 38 year old man who was employed by the Navy who had developed typical moderately-severe ME. After his initial evaluation I ordered a blood volume test followed by the usual screening blood tests. His volume was about 70% of normal for his weight and sex. He was also hypertensive and very bright.

As no one had been able to control his hypertension, I suggested that we might try to treat his hypertension with an infusion of saline. Any hematologist or cardiologist reading this might faint straight away, because you normally do not want to volume expand someone with hypertension, but this is a true story. The patient agreed.

He lay resting on the examining table for ½ hour while his blood pressure and pulse were recorded, roughly 180/115 blood pressure and 110 pulse even though he was not particularly nervous. One liter of saline was infused slowly while Paula took his blood pressure frequently and I paced the halls taking Valium™.
The blood pressure came down to 90/60! He had ‘hypovolemic hypertension,’ meaning that because his blood volume was low, the muscles around his arteries had clamped down causing it to look like standard ‘too much blood’ hypertension. In retrospect, he remembered that diuretics made him feel worse.

IV Saline III – Sleep

Another weird anecdote: one patient with low volume and typical ME got a liter of saline and promptly fell asleep. She had a particularly bad sleep disorder with prominent insomnia, and whenever she had a saline infusion she would sleep well, with ‘restorative sleep.’ She would prefer saline to any sleeping pill available.

Military Anti-Shock Trousers 

A third anecdote: I accompanied one patient to Dr. Streeten’s office, a patient with very prominent orthostatic intolerance. When she stood quietly she would start swaying, become confused, have excruciating pain and slur her speech. At the time Dr. Streeten was studying the effect of MAST (Military Anti-Shock Trousers) trousers on the orthostatic intolerance. These trousers, found in every ambulance, inflate with air to create a sort of total body cast for patients with fractures of the pelvis and other problems.

My patient was standing quietly with the trousers in place but not inflated, and she began to have her symptom exacerbation. Dr. Streeten then inflated the trousers to 35 mm Hg, and within seven seconds she shook her head and said she felt wonderful. The slurred speech disappeared along with the pain, cognitive and other ME symptoms. Dr. Streeten published these findings8.

The reason this is such an important study is that the only thing the MAST trousers could have done is to improve the blood flow through the brain. Because of the instant and dramatic effect, several of my patients went and bought a set of MAST trousers, but they are not practical. Although you may feel better, you cannot do anything being encased in a whole-body cast. I have always wondered what would happen for a patient with very severe (bed-ridden) ME to have this trial.
​
All of this is interesting, but just a part of the 9,000 studies that have been done and forgotten in the history of ME. I think this is a shame because there is something important about the low blood volume in ME patients. And it has a cause, even though it has not been found to date. Actually, it has not been looked for, as far as I can tell.

​References

1. Streeten DH, Thomas D, Bell DS. The roles of orthostatic hypotension, orthostatic tachycardia, and subnormal erythrocyte volume in the pathogenesis of the chronic fatigue syndrome. Am J Med Sci. 2000; 320(1): 1-8.
2. Hurwitz B, Coryell V, Parker M, Martin P, LaPierre A, NG K, et al. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: illness severity, sedentary lifestyle, blood volume, and evidence of diminished cardiac function. Clin Sci. 2009.
3. Stewart J, Glover J, MS M. Increased plasma angiotensin II in postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is related to reduced blood flow and blood volume. Clin Sci. 2006; 110(2): 255-63.
4. Fluge O, Risa K, Lunde S, Alme K, Rekeland I, Sapkota D, et al. B-lymphocyte depletion in myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome. An open-label phase II study with Rituximab maintenance treatment. PLoS ONE. 2015; 10(7).
5. Loebel M, Grabowski P, Heidecke H, Bauer S, Hanitsch L, Wittke K, et al. Antibodies to ß adrenergic and muscarinic cholinergic receptors in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Brain Behav Immun. 2015.
6. Tanaka H, Matsuskima R, Tamai H, Kajimoto Y. Impaired postural cerebral hemodynamics in young patients with chronic fatigue syndrome with and without orthostatic intolerance. J Pediatr. 2002; 140(412-417).
7. Fouad F, Tadena-Thome L, Bravo E, Tarazi R. Idiopathic hypovolemia. Ann Intern Med. 1986; 104: 298-303.
8. Streeten D. The role of impaired lower-limb venous innervation in the pathogenesis of the chronic fatigue syndrome. Am J Med Sci. 2001; 321: 163-7.

 2

If you've been following the blog and recently watched the movie Heal, you may be wondering what effect the autonomic nervous system plays into healing.  Just looking at the above chart tells you the sympathetic nervous system works to enable the body to heal.  But how do you get the nervous system to over ride and produce that healing? That my friends is the million dollar question.

No wonder why there is so much searching for these "mystical" interventions.  The medical field does not fully understand the body's role in enabling it to heal itself.  And, they certainly can't offer us more than  medications to mask the symptoms or pain.  It is  not wonder we are consistently avidly searching ways to heal ourselves.   

But, in order to learn these methods we must self teach.  There is  no other way, as western medicine does not accept many of these principals because they just can't see it working.  After all, if you can't conduct an efficient scientific study, then it can not be simply plausible.  It's not the medical professional's fault, it's simply the way they are trained.  

It is well-known that parasympathetic nervous system when engaged produces healing.  This can be ascertained the minute we leave the doctor's office ill with the a prescription and the words, "Rest and hydrate".  Well, rest is engaging the parasympathetic nervous system to heal your aliments.  And, yes, this would apply to other phases of healing as well as the common cold.

So what are these two autonomic nervous systems?  

The human nervous system has two major divisions, the voluntary and the autonomic systems. The voluntary system is concerned mainly with movement and sensation.  It consists of motor and sensory nerves, among many others. 

The autonomic system mainly controls functions over which we have less conscious control.  These include the digestion of food, maintaining the blood pressure and heart rate, and much more.  Its nerves leave the spine and connect to all the major organs and glands, either inhibiting or stimulating their activity.  

​The autonomic system has two branches.  These are called the sympathetic and the parasympathetic branches.
 
The Sympathetic Branch

This activates the glands and organs that defend the body against attack.  It is called the fight-or-flight system.  Its nerves direct more blood to the muscles and the brain.  The heart rate and blood pressure increase, while it decreases the blood flow to the digestive and eliminative organs. 

It also activates the thyroid and adrenal glands to provide extra energy for fighting or running away.  Nervousness, stress or feelings of panic are what one feels when in a sympathetic state of readiness.

The sympathetic system is catabolic, which means it tears down the body.  Energy is used to prepare for defense, rather than for nourishment or for elimination of wastes.

In a human being, the feeling of an “adrenalin rush” is caused by activation of the sympathetic system.  It may feel good at first, but is always followed by a feeling of fatigue.  The reason is that this branch of the autonomic nervous system uses up energy and depletes the body.

​The Parasympathetic Branch 

This is concerned with nourishing, healing, elimination and regeneration of the body.  It is more anabolic, or concerned with rebuilding the body. 

Its nerves stimulate digestion, and the immune and eliminative organs.  These organs include the liver, pancreas, stomach and intestines.  The parasympathetic nervous system, when activated by rest, relaxation and happy thoughts, is essential for balanced living and for all healing.
            
Moving yourself into a healthy parasympathetic state, and staying there as much of the time as possible, helps heal all health conditions, both physical and emotional ones as well.

The feeling often associated with the parasympathetic state can be one of lethargy or fatigue, as you are so relaxed.  Do not, however, believe this is unhealthy.  Rather, it indicates a state of repair and rebuilding in progress.

Antagonism of The Sympathetic And Parasympathetic Branches

Only one or the other system can be active at a particular time.  The sympathetic branch powerfully inhibits the parasympathetic system.  This is, of course, a survival mechanism because the emergency system, the sympathetic, takes precedence over the relaxation and healing.

Thus, either one or the other branch is activated most of the time.  To promote balance and healing, the goal is to keep the sympathetic system turned off as much as possible.  This allows the maximum healing to occur.  Simple ways to do this are to rest, relax and think happy thoughts.  As soon as you think fearful or angry thoughts, or become too physically active, the body shifts into a sympathetic stance.

ANALOGIES
 
The sympathetic nervous system may be roughly likened to the gas pedal of a car.  The parasympathetic is more like the brake.  Unlike a car, however, when the ‘brake’ is applied to the body, it begins to heal itself.

Emotionally, the sympathetic branch of the autonomic system is associate with fear.  The parasympathetic branch is associated with feelings of love.  Love always drives out fear.

Also, activating one’s sympathetic nervous system is like putting most of a nation’s resources into military service.  This may be needed, at times, for emergencies.  However, if continued too long, the nation becomes depleted, out of balance, and much poorer for lack of productive commercial activity – making things in factories, growing food on the farms, and so on.

A flexible oxidizer is like a car that can drive slowly and can drive fast, depending on the need.

​Relatively few people today have a strong and balanced autonomic system.  Most people favor the sympathetic branch over the parasympathetic branch.  Before discussing these types of individuals, let us discuss the ideal situation.
 
The Balanced Individual – A Flexible Oxidizer

When the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are working as they should, the tendency is to rest often and easily.  One can, however, perform at “top speed” with equal ease. When challenged by stress, the balanced person is able to respond with vigor and fortitude.

The parasympathetic system reduces the activity of the brain, the muscles, and the adrenal and thyroid glands.  When no situation is pressing, the balanced person can comfortably choose to rest and can go to sleep easily and deeply.  Babies often have this ability.  However, few adults have this capability today because they overuse their sympathetic system, which is the emergency alert system that inhibits rest and sleep.
 
In hair analysis terms, the balanced individual will be a flexible oxidizer.  This means the person is able and comfortable slowing down at bedtime and yet also able to run, play and even fight when needed.  These activities tend to speed up the metabolism.  Thus the balanced individual may be in slow oxidation, at times, and in fast oxidation at other times.

It is important to note that just because a hair analysis reveals a fairly balanced oxidation rate, however, does not mean the person is a flexible oxidizer.  In fact, the test may be skewed in many ways by toxic metals, living habits or other factors that can make it appear balanced or flexible.

For example, cadmium will raise up the sodium and, to some extent, the potassium levels on the test.  So if a person is a slow oxidizer, but they smoke cigarettes or have some other source of exposure to cadmium, the test may superficially appear balanced or flexible.

In fact, this is the reason why some people enjoy cigarettes.  However, the point is that many factors can cause the body to compensate for its imbalances at a superficial or even deeper levels.  Thus we never regard a first or even later hair test as the deepest reality.  Later tests will show deeper layers of adaptation and compensation in all cases.

In fact, there is no limit to how many layers of compensations and adaptations may be unloaded in a person who desires the greatest level of health and well-being.

FAST OXIDATION, A MORE SYMPATHETIC STATE OF BODY CHEMISTRY
 
Fast oxidation is an alarm stage of stress in the stress theory of disease.  This is also called a fight-or-flight reaction.  Fast oxidation is a more sympathetic state of body chemistry, meaning that the sympathetic nervous system (also sometimes called the fight-or-flight system) is activated more in these people.

We define the oxidation types based upon a properly performed and properly interpreted hair mineral analysis.  Some doctors use blood, urine or other tests to determine the oxidation rate.  However, we do not find these methods accurate or reliable.  Fast oxidation can be healthy or unhealthy.

Healthy fast oxidation.  Almost all babies, and most children up to the age of about 3 to 10 are naturally fast oxidizers.  This means that their adrenal and thyroid activity tend to be adequate or high. 

For example, medical science is well aware that newborns have a high heart rate, and even their body temperature tends to be a little higher than older adults.  These are symptoms of fast oxidation. 

Babies do well on lots of dietary fat and the high level of calcium found in mother’s milk.  These are other indicators of fast oxidation.  They also are usually warm and pink and have rather loose bowel movements.  These, also, are indicators of fast oxidation.

On their hair tissue mineral analyses, in general, they have low levels of calcium and magnesium and elevated levels of sodium and potassium.  This is the way fast oxidation looks on a hair mineral test. 

Babies and young children are in a sympathetic state, or fast oxidation, because they are healthier than adults with more etheric energy in their bodies.  They are also usually excited to be in the world.  Some also have a lot of stress that can keep them in fast oxidation.

Unhealthy fast oxidation.  This occurs in adults, in whom fast oxidation is not the normal state.  Some adults are in a fast oxidation state because of extreme stress, the presence of toxic metals, an illness, or perhaps for other reasons.  When these people follow a development program, their oxidation rate eventually changes to slow oxidation, which is normal for adults.

 Unhealthy Slow Oxidation.  This is very common.  It is revealed on up to 90 % of adult hair mineral analyses, for example.  It is basically the end stage of sympathetic burnout.  People in this condition have exhausted their sympathetic systems so much, their bodies flip into a default parasympathetic state we call slow oxidation.

It is a condition in which the sympathetic organs, the thyroid, adrenals and the muscles and brain, in fact, are operating more sluggishly.  These people are often tired, apathetic, and tend to get depressed easily.

This state is far more common in adults than it is in young children.  However, it is seen more and more commonly in children, as they are born far more toxic and depleted today. 

This state corresponds to an exhaustion stage of stress according to the stress theory of disease, another important concept to master if one is to use hair analysis prope

In this condition of body chemistry, one cannot fight back as well as in fast oxidation.  It is more of a state of acceptance and give-up.  It can cause symptoms such as discouragement, fearfulness, depression, apathy and even despair and suicidal thoughts when extreme.

The hair analyses of these people have elevated calcium and magnesium levels and lower sodium and potassium levels, providing the hair is not washed at the laboratory.  

This is, of course, the exact opposite of the fast oxidizer hair analysis.  The causes of this unhealthy parasympathetic states are quite a few.  Recall that it is just a late stage of excessive sympathetic activity.  This causes nutritional depletion, excessive tissue breakdown and eventually general destruction of the body tissues and organs. 

It is made far worse by lack of rest, improper diet, poor eating habits, worry, fears, angers and more.  Other causes include victim thinking, electromagnetic pollution, toxic metals and toxic chemicals in the food, air and water.

 HOW TO BALANCE YOUR AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM 

There is much anyone can do to keep the autonomic system functioning well.
 
Rest often and sleep a lot.  Nap often, and sleep at least 8-11 hours or more each night.  The hours before midnight are by far the best for sleeping.  Avoid excessive activity of any kind.  Even exercise is often overdone.  Exercise is a powerful sympathetic stimulant.  Avoid getting exhausted by any activity you engage in.  Be careful when using exercise to “run away” from stress, for example.  More rest is often what is really required.
 
Eat well.  The nervous system must be properly nourished to function correctly.  Animal protein is particularly helpful for the brain and nervous system as it contains fats and proteins essential for the nerves.  These include the omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids.  Excellent foods for the nervous system are eggs, meats, nuts, root vegetables and oily fish such as sardines and salmon.

Supplemental nutrients that calm the sympathetic system are calcium, magnesium, kelp, selenium, manganese and zinc, among many others. 
 
Reduce your stress level as much as possible.  Stress is a major activator of the sympathetic nervous system.  It can arise from within the body due to fatigue, muscle tension, spinal misalignment or nutritional deficiencies, among other reasons.

Stress can also come from outside, such as financial, work or family stress.  Other types of stress to minimize or avoid are living in a noisy environment, or in one with contaminated air and water.

Electromagnetic stress is also very real, although it cannot be seen.  Reduce your use of computers if possible, and do not keep televisions, computers and other electrical devices on when not in use.  Be sure to turn them all off when you sleep, and keep even clocks and radios away from your head in the location where you sleep.

Activities like driving and even exercise are also stress-producing, even if you are not aware of it at the time.  A simple lifestyle and gentle exercise is a step in the right direction to reduce or limit your stress.
 
Keep your thoughts and your emotions as uplifted and positive as you possibly can, all of the time.
 
Do your very best to stay in gratitude.  This will help keep you in a positive, uplifted state.
 
 Practice forgiveness.  This places you in a position of power and compassion.  It is much better than allowing yourself to feel like a victim, which always leads to a fight-or-flight response.
 
Cultivate contentment.   This is different from feeling you need to be ecstatically happy all the time.  This type of happiness, as most people know it, is often short-lived.  It is often an attempt to overcome feelings of unhappiness.  Contentment or joy, in contrast, is a state in which you are at peace with yourself and the world, even if the world around you is not to your liking.  You can learn to let the world go and choose contentment and joy rather than attempting always to control the world around you.
 
Do not to compare yourself with others.  This causes fear, and often anger and resentment. The world never seems fair from our limited perspectives.  There is much that is hidden.  If you knew more about others’ lives, you would be less anxious to trade places with them.
 
Train you mind to stay out of negative emotions.  These include worry, fear, anger and guilt.  These emotions turn on the sympathetic system and keep it active. Meditation, affirmations, counseling and other natural therapies all can help.  Also, surround yourself only with uplifting books, tapes and other forms of media.  Pick your friends and relationships carefully.  Work, school and all your activities either contribute to your contentment or detract from it.
 
Become aware of who and what truly give you energy, versus who and what mainly use up your energy.  This is rather complex.  Meditation of the type we recommend can help a lot to identify these feelings accurately, since one cannot go on feelings alone. 

Practice breathing deeply.  This is one way to control the autonomic system with a voluntary action.  Slow, deep breathing by itself turns off the sympathetic system.
 
CONCLUSION 

The health of the autonomic nervous system is a critical aspect to healing that is often overlooked.  Most people today have some degree of sympathetic nervous exhaustion.  It is, in fact, a major cause of all disease that should receive much more attention. 

On a brighter note, nervous exhaustion can also cause a person to begin searching for answers deep inside.  This can lead to changing your lifestyle and eating habits, and developing your inner potential. As more people become willing to change their thought patterns and lifestyles, they will experience a state of contentment and bliss that comes with having a balanced autonomic system.

​Officer Mike Chandler and a young civilian passenger find themselves unprepared and outgunned when fate puts them squarely in-the-crosshairs of a daring bank heist that is being carried out by a fearless team of highly trained and heavily armed men.

​Adam Carlson (John Krasinski), a reporter based in a small town in northern Alaska, can't wait to land a job in a bigger market. Then, the story of a lifetime practically lands in his lap: A family of gray whales is discovered near the Arctic Circle, trapped by rapidly forming ice. Along with the descending media comes Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), an environmental activist and Adam's ex-lover. Together, they try to rally an international coalition to save the whales before it's too late.

Held captive for years in an enclosed space, a woman (Brie Larson) and her young son (Jacob Tremblay) finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

​Sarah (Diane Lane), is 40 and recently divorced. Believing Sarah needs to date more, her sister, Carol (Elizabeth Perkins), creates an online dating profile for her. Simultaneously, Jake (John Cusack) reluctantly decides to try Internet dating. Sarah and Jake meet, and though both agree they are not interested in a serious relationship, their chemistry is undeniable. But, when Bob (Dermot Mulroney) suddenly shows interest in Sarah, her future with Charlie becomes unclear.

Millie is a hardworking, tough and protective Los Angeles single mother with an affection for homeless children. Her neighbor Obie is the local loose cannon -- and the only white man -- in an area largely inhabited by African-Americans, Latinos and Koreans. With racial tensions running high, Millie and Obie appear to be unlikely allies. But following the acquittal of four of the officers accused of beating Rodney King, the two of them must navigate the gathering chaos in the city.

An exploration of our obsessions with high places and how they have come to capture our imagination. Only three centuries ago, climbing a mountain would have been considered close to lunacy. The idea scarcely existed that wild landscapes might hold any sort of attraction. Peaks were places of peril, not beauty.

​When infertility threatens mankind with extinction and the last child born has perished, a disillusioned bureaucrat (Clive Owen) becomes the unlikely champion in the fight for the survival of Earth's population; He must face down his own demons and protect the planet's last remaining hope from danger.

A teacher sees such great promise in her 5-year-old student that she goes to unreasonable lengths to protect his talent.

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp), the world's foremost authority on artificial intelligence, is conducting highly controversial experiments to create a sentient machine. When extremists try to kill the doctor, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed. Will's wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), and best friend, Max (Paul Bettany), can only watch as his thirst for knowledge evolves to an omnipresent quest for power, and his loved ones soon realize that it may be impossible to stop him.

​Before heading to America to enter a prestigious university, a man decides to backpack around the world for a year. After 10 months on the road, he arrives in Kenya.

​Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby Bell, "the kind of pretty it hurt to look at," has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York.Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city-the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village-all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother. When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town's dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy.Full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage. This wondrous page-turner rushes through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom's Juke, to Celia Jennings's kitchen, where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin again with Ruby. Utterly transfixing, with unforgettable characters, riveting suspense, and breathtaking, luminous prose, Ruby offers an unflinching portrait of man's dark acts and the promise of the redemptive power of love.

With sales on St. Louis ribs gracing the shelves lately, it's a no-brainer to stock your freezer a bit tighter as these sales ensue.  Recent prices at Winn Dixie and Publix show rib sales at only $1.69 a pound.  Yep, that's right you can pick up a slab of ribs for $6-$10 dollars.  

But knowing how delightful these morsels are, taking the time and prep to produce a decent fare can be daunting especially during the work week.  

Well, look no further! Here's a great recipe that can have dinner on the table in less than 30 min.  Not only that, but these are by far the best ribs I've eaten for this type of cut.  They are moist, tender, and full of flavor.

Rub
1 tab. chili powder
1 tab. cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 tab. salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tab. brown sugar

Ribs
1 rack of ribs, rinsed and sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

In a bowl combine all RUB ingredients and stir well.

Make sure ribs are patted dry before slicing through.  Place in a large bowl.  Pour red wine vinegar over them.  Let sit 20 min. and drain.

Add the rub seasoning and toss until ribs are coated well.

Stand ribs in basket and air fry at 360 degrees for 30 minutes.  Check it half way through to see if ribs need to be turned. ​

Spring is almost upon us and the fruit of its bounty is beginning to line the shelves.  Best of all, zucchini can be found on average for 99 cents a pound.  You can get a good amount for under a couple of bucks to make this delicious side dish.

There is something about that mixture of almond flour and Parmesan cheese that takes these chips over the top.  You won't be able to stop with just one. Best of all, they're Paleo friendly and make great snacks.  

2 medium zucchini
1 tab. salt
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 large egg, beaten
Cooking spray

Slice zucchini into thin disks. Toss zucchini with the salt and let drain in a colander for 30 minutes.  Pat dry with a paper towel.

In a bowl combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.​

In another bowl place beaten egg.

Dip zucchini in egg then dredge each side with breadcrumbs to coat thoroughly.  Spray with cooking oil.

Place slices in the basket of the air fryer and make sure edges don't overlap.  Fry at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes.  

I found myself sick again after completing the seven day required regime of antibiotics for an acute sinus infections.  Before the illness had morphed into a brain-blasting, non-breathing catastrophe, It felt as if the flu was taking over.  I was unable to rise from my bed for several days before seeing my physician.  It was like Deja Vu.  

I had this experience right before I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  There was some unknown illness that reminisced of flu-like symptoms settling into my sinuses and chest.  No test would prove so, but nonetheless, I was terribly sick then confined to my bed for months.  

One thing I do remember with vigor is that each time my doctor unwilling prescribed antibiotics I'd feel much better during the course of therapy.  This went on for four months through three different prescriptions of various antibiotics. Each time symptoms began to abate only to return a day or two after that last pill was ingested.

​I cam upon an interesting article from Pro Health I'd like to share a few tidbits with you.  It was written by Gabe Mirkin, MD.  

Before I prescribe any medication, I ask myself whether it will help or hurt. All of the autoimmune diseases cause severe disability. Conventional medications neither cure these diseases nor stop the progressive destruction that they cause. Doctors prescribe immune suppressives that sometimes have deadly effects. Antibiotics are far safer that the drugs conventionally used to treat these diseases. So, if antibiotics can be shown to help control these diseases, they should be used long before a doctor thinks of using the conventional immune suppressives.

When a germ gets into your body, you are supposed to produce cells and proteins called antibodies that attach to and kill that germ. These diseases are felt by many doctors to be caused by your own immunity. Instead of doing its job of killing germs, your immunity attacks your own tissue. If it attacks your joints, it's called reactive arthritis; if it attacks your intestines, it’s called Crohn’s disease; your colon, it’s called ultra ulcerative colitis; and if it fills your lungs with mucous, it’s called late onset asthma. I do not believe that your immunity is that stupid.

Accumulating data show that all of these conditions can be caused by infection. Many diseases that were thought to be autoimmune turn out to be infections: stomach ulcers are caused by bacterium, helicobacter pylori and others; multiple sclerosis may be caused by HHS-6 virus; rheumatic fever is caused by the bacterium, beta streptococcus, group A; Gillian-Barre syndrome may be caused by the bacterium, campylobacter; Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis by E. Coli, Klebsiella and Bacteroides; and so forth.

​Shouldn’t We Be Concerned About Resistant Bacteria?

The argument that giving antibiotics causes bacteria to be resistant to that antibiotic is reasonable, but it has no place in discouraging people with these diseases from taking them. First, these people have serious diseases that cause permanent damage life and death. Second, the treatments that are available are toxic, shorten life, cause cancer, and have to be followed by frequent blood tests. On the other hand, I prescribe derivatives of tetracycline and erythromycin. These are extraordinarily safe and do not require drawing frequent blood tests.

If you were to become infected subsequently with bacteria that are resistant to these antibiotics, you would have lost nothing. No reasonable doctor would prescribe erythromycin or tetracycline for acute serious diseases, such as meningitis, pneumonia, or an abscess, because tetracyclines and erythromycins do not kill germs, they only stop them from multiplying. Instead, doctors prescribe far more bacteriocidal antibiotics that kill bacteria.

Many doctors criticize my use of antibiotics, but many antibiotics are far safer than conventional treatment, cost less, can be administered by a general practitioner, and often cure the condition, rather that just suppressing symptoms. I know that most physicians who develop these conditions will treat themselves with antibiotics because they know that conventional treatments with prednisone, chloroquine, azathioprine, and methotrexate are toxic and my treatments with erythromycins and tetracyclines are safe.

​The Hidden Epidemic—Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, and Ureaplasma

Mycoplasma, chlamydia, and ureaplasma are the smallest of free-living organisms. They are unlike all other all other bacteria because they have no cell walls and therefore must live inside cells. They are unlike viruses because they can live in cultures outside of cells and can be killed by certain antibiotics. However, they cannot be killed by most antibiotics, as most antibiotics work by damaging a bacteria’s cell wall. They can be killed by antibiotics such as tetracyclines or erythromycins that do not act on a cell wall.

If you feel sick and your doctor is unable to make a diagnosis because all laboratory tests and cultures fail to reveal a cause, you could be infected with one or more of these bacteria. The only way that you will be cured is for your doctor to suspect an infection with these germs and for you to take long-acting erythromycin or tetracyclines for several weeks, months or years. They are the most common cause of venereal diseases and are a common cause of muscle and joint pains, burning in the stomach, a chronic cough, and chronic fatigue. They can cause transverse myelitis (paralysis of the spine); gall stones; a chronic sore throat; red itchy eyes, pain on looking at light and blindness; arthritis; brain and nerve damage with symptoms of lack of coordination, headaches and passing out; spotting between periods or uterine infections; kidney stones; testicular pain; asthma; heart attacks; strokes; cerebral palsy; premature birth; high blood pressure; nasal polyps; stuffy nose in newborns; chronic fatigue; belly pain; muscle pain; confusion; passing out and death; coughing; bloody diarrhea; and anal itching and bleeding.

Mycoplasma, chlamydia, and ureaplasma infections are extraordinary difficult to diagnose and treat. No dependable tests are available to most practicing physicians that will rule infections with these bacteria in or out, and most doctors will not prescribe antibiotics to patients unless they have results of a laboratory test that confirms a specific infection. If you feel sick and your doctor unable to make a diagnosis because all laboratory test and cultures fail to reveal a cause, you could be infected with mycoplasma, chlamydia, or ureaplasma and will be cured only by taking long-acting erythromycin or tetracyclines for many months.

Usually the first symptoms from chlamydia, ureaplasma and mycoplasma are burning on urination, a feeling that you have to urinate all the time, terrible discomfort when the bladder is full and vaginal itching, odor or discharge. Other first symptoms include itchy eyes, a cough or a burning in your nose. The bacteria are transmitted through sexual contact, or you can be infected when an infected person coughs in your face or you touched nasal or eye secretions from an infected person and put your finger in your nose or eye. Your chances for a cure are high if you are treated when you have only local symptoms; but after many months the infection can spread to other parts of your body and make you sick or damage nerves, joints and muscles.

Once these infections are allowed to persist for months or years, they are extraordinarily difficult to cure and often require treatment for many months. Even if your doctor is willing to prescribe antibiotics, treatment can be difficult. Often patients do not take the medication long enough to be cured, or they may have a close contact with an infected person and become reinfected. One patient in four takes of medication as prescribed and almost all women who had chlamydia one month after treatment had been reinfected by new or old partners.

My recommended treatment: I often prescribe 500 mg of azithromycin twice a week and/or doxycycline 100-mg twice a day. Many physicians disagree with these recommendations, so check with your doctor to see if you may be a candidate for this treatment.

Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

Fibromyalgia means that a previously healthy person develops unexplained exhaustion, fatigue and muscle aches and pains that last for more that six months; all blood tests are normal and doctors can’t find a cause. One recent report shows that a large number of people who were diagnosed with having fibromyalgia really had polymyalgia rheumatica, which does have abnormal blood tests. A recent report shows that many sufferers have low spinal fluid levels of vitamin B12 can be treated with 1000mcg of B12 each day.

The diagnosis of fibromyalgia should be made only after all other causes have been ruled out. Many infections can cause fatigue and muscle pain.

The evaluation should include tests for infectious diseases; such as Lyme disease and Hepatitis B or C, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis or the helicobacter that causes stomach ulcers; autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis; hidden cancers such as those of the breast and prostate; hormonal diseases such as low thyroid; or side effects from a medication or illicit drug. Around 20 percent will be depressed. Most people miss work and complain of illness long before their diagnosis, but the majority will not have a known cause.

Chronic fatigue means that the primary symptom is exhaustion, but most also have constipation and diarrhea. Fibromyalgia usually means that muscle and joint pains are major symptoms, but muscle biopsies are normal, pressure points are not reproducible and ultra sound is normal. Multiple chemical sensitivities mean that patients think that their symptoms are caused by factors in their environment or they consult doctors who think the same thing. Untreated, the symptoms that that lead to any of these diagnoses will usually continue in adults for the rest of their lives. I have prescribed doxycycline 100-mg twice a day for several months, and sometimes azithromycin 500-mg twice a week, and some of my patients get better. However, this treatment is not accepted by most doctors. Please check with your doctor.

​Stomach Problems

If you have belching, burping, a sour taste in your mouth, mouth odor, a white-coated tongue or a burning pain in your stomach or chest that gets worse when you are hungry and better when you eat, you probably have too much stomach acid. Doctors may say you have ulcers, esophagitis, gastritis, duodenitis, achalasia, chalazia, hiatal hernia or reflux. These terms mean that stomach acid is burning your gastrointestinal tract. Most people who have these symptoms have an infection with a bacteria called helicobacter pylori.

If you have these symptoms, you need blood tests to see if you have helicobacter and a special x-ray called an upper GI series to rule out a cancer. Since there are several bacteria that cause stomach cancers ulcers, a negative blood test does not rule out an infection. I usually treat all people with gastritis symptoms with a one-week course of antibiotics: metronidazole four times a day, clarithromycin 500-mg twice a day and omeperazole 20-mg once a day for one week. At least 12 weeks later, you need a follow up blood test for helicobacter.

If your symptoms are gone and the titer drops, you are probably cured. If your helicobacter titer is still high, your helicobacter is probably resistant to metronidazole and your need to be treated for at least ten days with amoxicillin 500-mg four times a day, tetracycline 500-mg three times a day and omeperazole 20-mg once a day. If you have regurgitation of stomach acid into your esophagus (reflux, hiatal hernia), you may need to be treated with 20-mg omeperazole once a day and 10-mg cisapride four times a day. Virtually all physicians have now accepted the infectious causes of stomach problems. Only the manufacturers of over-the-counter remedies still try to make you believe that stomach pain is caused by stress.

Doxycycline, Minocycline and Tetracycline

Many doctors have asked why I treat some of my patients with acne, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and late on-set asthma with antibiotic, doxycycline, when minocycline is probably more effective. Doxycycline is a fairly safe drug, although it can cause a sore throat, sunlight sensitivity, pigmentation and abnormal liver tests. It causes sore throat and heartburn when it gets stuck in your esophagus, so take it with large amounts of water to wash it down to your stomach. To prevent sunburn, avoid excessive exposure to the sun.

Minocycline is fairly safe, but it can cause more serious serum sickness-like reaction, hypersensitivity syndrome reaction, and drug-induced lupus: characterized by fever, joint pain, a rash, a feeling of being sick, hives itching and severe pain. Other reported side effects include dark colored eyeballs, and liver damage.
Minocycline is more effective than doxycycline because it achieves much higher concentrations in the tissues where it does work in reducing swelling, killing germs, and stopping pain. Although minocycline and doxycycline are in the same class of antibiotics as tetracycline, we rarely use tetracycline because it does not achieve high tissue concentrations. Doxycycline achieves much higher tissue concentrations than tetracycline, while minocycline penetrates tissue far more effectively than doxycycline.

There is nothing worse than having a chronic health issue and being surrounded by disorder.  It has a tendency to weigh you down and form acute depression.  I have got on board the KonMari method with a few alterations. This craze is sweeping the nation and many people are becoming clutter-free with just a slight change in organizing and tidying their home.

I am unable to attempt the FULL renovations this series suggests, but I am able to section off smaller areas. Then by looking at item by item bring total order to that location.  Marie frowns on that, but when you are going through the daily motions that cause fatigue, undertaking such an enormous task is daunting.  Rather, I suggest taking a smaller area, place those items on your bed, and find only those that spark joy.  Then place them in a final home.  

No longer am I looking for things because everything is immediately viewable.  No more hunting, picking, and locating certain essential items because I can easily see them when I open drawers or cabinets.  Think of the time alone you'd save each day if you didn't have to look for things!

Let's face it.  We just can't let go of things.  It may be that they have special sentimental value or a financial waste to remove them.  I feel this no longer.  I am excited to break free and bless someone else with my no longer needed items hoping to bring them joy.  I just simply "thank" these items that have served me well.  

I've had a recent bout with an illness that left me dumbfounded.  With all my research in tow, you'd think there'd be an enlightening (a booming epiphany) when new symptoms manifest, but I can tell you with strains of illness varying each season, it is hard to come to grips with it all. 

On a Monday evening I felt a bit of a scratchy sore throat and a tad of fatigue.  By Tuesday morning I couldn't bring my head off the pillow, and slept deeply throughout the day.  This continued through Wednesday with severe muscle aches and cramping.  "What is this?" I thought.  It began as an onset of an upper respiratory infection.  

I scoured the internet for flu symptoms as I was waiting until the onset of fever and congestion.  

​When you get a cold or other upper respiratory infection, it usually starts out slowly. You may feel a headache, a mild sore or irritated throat, some congestion or any number of other cold symptoms. They start out mild and get worse after two to three days and then gradually go away.

That is not how the flu starts. The real flu - influenza - comes on suddenly and in full force. Most people feel completely normal when they go to bed and then wake up in the morning feeling like they were "hit by a truck". A majority of people who have the flu will have a fever, body aches, headache, and cough. Congestion is a symptom as well but is often not severe.

Contrary to popular belief, vomiting and diarrhea are not common symptoms of the flu. They are more common in children with influenza but only occur in about 10% of people that have it. If your primary symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea, you most likely have a gastroenteritis - or stomach virus.  

Influenza (also known as flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. People who are sick with flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

• Fever* or feeling feverish/chills
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle or body aches
• Headaches
• Fatigue (tiredness)
• Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.

I was missing the fever, runny nose.  I had experienced some sweating and chills.  But, the pain in my head  and extreme fatigue was what alerted me that this was not a normal cold.  

​If you're living with fibromyalgia, this time of year can be especially trying. That's because two of the most common fibromyalgia symptoms are all-over musculoskeletal pain and fatigue feelings similar to those experienced with a bad cold or the flu. In fact, about half of patients with fibromyalgia experience a “flu-like” illness that precedes the development of their symptoms.

So how do you know if you've come down with the flu, or if your aches and pains are due to fibromyalgia? There are important differences that can clue you in, including:

• Fibromyalgia doesn’t cause fevers. “Some patients will say that their temperature is consistently a little higher or lower,” says Kim Jones, PhD, an associate professor at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and head of the Fibromyalgia Information Foundation. But spikes in fever from fighting off an infection are not due to fibromyalgia.
• Fibromyalgia doesn’t cause coughs and congestion. Classic cold symptoms, such as coughs, sniffles, a runny nose, and a sore throat, are not fibromyalgia symptoms.

I was well aware of the above points but still  had no fever! So I waited a few days.  Suddenly without warning, my head exploded into a myriad of pain.  Pain could be felt at all sides on all levels reaching deep within my eyeballs.  It wasn't enough I had been sleeping for three days straight, now I couldn't breathe as the head pain tripled in intensity and my air waves soldered shut.  What if this breached my lungs as quickly as it did my sinuses?  I'd be in a whole hoot of trouble and unable to breathe.  I took a shower releasing a bit of an airway in the steam of it all and decided I could wait until morning.

I was luckily enough to get in early.  I can tell you by then I was a real mess unable to keep my head afloat on my very shoulders.  The doctor took one look at me and said, "You waited too long."

"How was I to know?" I thought.  "I'm always sent home unless I have some type of phlegm and fever."

"There are new strains coming out.  We've seen several in the office who have had the flu with no fever or severe chills," she explained. "You missed the two day window for a swab so we'll never know for sure."

She did note that the intense facial pain was due to an acute sinus infection that apparently began trying to drain in my nostrils.  Of course, little luck was had there as to why I was unable to breathe. Antibiotics were prescribed and I was sent home.  Lesson learned: when overwrought with severe fatigue and pain seek medical attention quickly. Here are some other remedies to make life a bit easier if you get the bug.

​Coping With Flus and Colds

If you do get sick this cold and flu season, here’s how to help yourself feel better:

• Drink fluids. Staying well hydrated is important for feeling your best with fibromyalgia, but it’s even more important during dry winter months and when you’re trying to fight off or manage a dehydrating fever.
• Take acetaminophen (Tylenol). If you want to ease the aches and pains of fibromyalgia or flu symptoms or the soreness of a vaccination, take acetaminophen instead of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), which have not been shown to relieve fibromyalgia symptoms and can cause more gastrointestinal discomfort.
• Treat your symptoms. Colds and flu are viral illnesses, so antibiotics won’t help. But there are ways you can treat your symptoms in order to feel better. If you are taking prescription medications for fibromyalgia or other health conditions, make sure you check with your doctor or read labels to avoid any negative interactions with cough and cold medications.
• Practice infection prevention. Wash your hands often, or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and minimize your contact with people who are sick. Fibromyalgia is not a condition of low immunity, but it’s good to avoid exposure to illness whenever possible.

​Finally, if you're confused about when to contact your doctor, follow this advice: “New headaches that are different from any in the past, and new symptoms that have not been experienced by you in the last few months, are worth running by your health care provider.”

​