Living Well With Fibromyalgia

By Lynn Phipps, Guest Columnist

In 2016, as a guest columnist for PNN, I shared my story of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the offending ways I was treated by the medical community for having an invisible illness.

If my first column was about finding hope, then this one is about getting well and living well with fibromyalgia. I hope that you will be inspired by my story and know that there is a way for you to reclaim your lives from the devastating illness that is fibromyalgia.

For years I felt alone. I am not alone. Neither are you.

In 2003, I knew something was very wrong when I could no longer effectively do my job as a social worker. ​I was in constant pain, had a 24/7 headache and migraines twice a week or more, and could not fully concentrate. Insomnia and anxiety had me awake most nights.

Desperate to get well, I spent half of my paycheck on herbs, supplements, massage, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, ​Rolfing​and Reiki​. Nevertheless, I continued getting worse. When I could no longer afford alternative treatments not covered by my health insurance, my body crashed.

Having suffered from unrelenting migraines for months, my final career ending moment came when my back and neck spasmed, causing me to fall to the floor in my office at work. I remained on hands and knees for 20 minutes before being able to crawl to my desk to pull myself up.

I do not remember driving home, nor did I realize that moment signaled the end of my 20-year career as a social worker caring for those with disabilities (ironic, I know).

I was diagnosed by my doctor with fibromyalgia, chronic pain, severe headaches and migraines, light and sound sensitivity, depression, insomnia, anxiety and PTSD. 

The Guaifenesin Protocol

LYNN PHIPPS

Over the next decade, it became my job to research and find help for my condition. The problem was that none of the specialists looked at fibromyalgia as a cause for all that I was experiencing. And not one physician ever looked at food allergies or diet as a potential cause, even though I have a family history of diabetes.

That is significant because 44% of “fibromyalgics” also have a second and separate disease called hypoglycemia.  Another 15% of fibromyalgics have hypothyroidism, another disease with overlapping symptoms, including fatigue, muscle pain and impaired memory, to name just a few. I am unlucky enough to have this grand trifecta of illness. 

With nearly all hope gone, an internet search for headache specialists in northern California led me to Dr. Melissa Congdon, a fibromyalgia specialist. ​​It was through her that I finally understood that the headaches and migraines were related to the fibromyalgia, and not whiplash from a car accident or a repetitive motion injury from work, as every doctor and specialist had assumed. 

During my first appointment, my fibromyalgia diagnosis was confirmed by Dr Congdon. I was also diagnosed with hypoglycemia. Again, this is significant because about half of us with fibromyalgia also have hypoglycemia, with overlapping symptoms such as fatigue, pain and impaired memory.

In order to get our health back, these two separate diseases require two separate treatments: Dr R. Paul Saint Amand’s Guaifenesin Protocol and his HG Diet for fibroglycemia.,

The protocol requires taking the expectorant drug guaifenesin (Mucinex), which clears airways in the lungs and helps the kidneys reduce the buildup of inorganic phosphates in the body. The low-carbohydrate diet combats low blood sugar, which mimics many fibromyalgia symptoms.

Within 2 months of following the protocol and diet, I began to see improvement in generalized body pain, headaches and migraines, chronic fatigue and brain fog. After 20 months, I got “me” back, and so did my family. 

Many people have mentioned that they do not want to follow the protocol because they have heard that it will make them feel worse. To this we say, “It’s pain with a purpose.”  We strive for finding our own individual dose of guaifenesin that will leave us “functionally” worse, not incapacitated. As long as we do nothing, the phosphates will continue to accumulate throughout the body, causing fibromyalgia symptoms to continually worsen.

The Guaifenesin Protocol will clear the offending phosphates from our kidneys at a rate of approximately​ ​1 year of symptoms in just 2 months. I was symptomatic for 10 years before starting the protocol and had reversed all of my symptoms within 20 months. By the first year on the protocol, I was off of all pain medication. 

My Awakening

The 13 years that I spent bed-bound seem like a bad dream. It was quite an adjustment getting my health back after so much time. It felt as if I’d been existing in a semi-comatose state. While I’d been so ill, my mother passed from pancreatic cancer and both daughters moved out, graduated from college and started their adult lives. 

I had physically been there for all of that, but with such severe fatigue and brain fog, it all had a feeling of unreality to me. Upon “awakening” I was shocked by my appearance, as I’d been only 38 when I got sick and had “awakened” at age 51. My husband and I had to get to know each other all over again. Luckily, we fell in love all over again. 

After the brain fog and severe fatigue had cleared, I wanted to go back to work, but I knew that I could not be a social worker again. Many fibromyalgia symptoms are brought on by physical or emotional trauma. The stress of being a social worker ruled that out, so I decided to do something quite different. I put my years of watching HGTV while bedbound to use by becoming certified in home staging and redesign.  I enjoyed a successful home staging business for 3 years before retiring.

I now spend my days educating others on the Guaifenesin Protocol, helping those still suffering from fibromyalgia get their lives back, too.

(Editor’s note: For a contrarian view on the Guaifenesin Protocol, click here.)

Lynn Phipps lives in northern California. Lynn has created a website called Living with Fibromyalgia to assist beginners in getting started on the Guaifenesin Protocol.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to: editor@PainNewsNetwork.org. 

This column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represent the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

How I Found Hope for Fibromyalgia

By Lynn Phipps, Guest Columnist

The year 2004 began for me a decade-long nightmare. Bedridden with severe body pain and disabled from 3 migraines per week, I lost my career as a social worker, ironically working with people with disabilities. I lived with severe pain and bone crushing fatigue daily.

Before I became ill, I didn’t believe in fibromyalgia. I was so wrong.

My diagnosing physician treated me with the standard medications for fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, post traumatic stress disorder, migraines, anxiety, depression, and pain. None of the three FDA approved fibromyalgia medications worked. A combination of Norco and Butalbital taken every 4-6 hours managed the pain and migraines, giving me some ability to function.

Over time, I was able to take the pain medications less often, every 6-7 hours. I was taking care of my hygiene, my family and home again. The pain medications allowed me to move more, which is essential for managing fibromyalgia pain. I began exercise again for about ten minutes a day.

I remained his patient for 7 years until he yelled and humiliated me when I asked for a prescription for one migraine pill while out of town. I had forgotten to pack mine. He treated me like a drug addict and called me a liar. I was stunned, as that was the only time I had ever asked him for pain medication. I fired him.

Only one physician out of thirty was willing to take my case because it was so complex. I had to wait eight months for an appointment.

lynn phipps

In the meantime, I was seen by a PAC (physician assistant, certified) at a local clinic. I also tried alternative therapies such as acupuncture, massage, and herbal remedies. I tried hydrotherapy, saw countless physical therapists and chiropractors, all claiming they could cure me. Nothing worked. I was becoming fatigued to the point that I could no longer drive to my appointments. Discouraged, I gave up all hope of getting better.

I was referred to a pain specialist whose specialty was to find the nerves causing the headaches and cauterize them. The theory was that scar tissue would then form on the nerves, blocking the pain. It didn’t work. I was afraid at every appointment that he would stop prescribing Norco because he did not believe in pain medication. One year later, he did.

I couldn’t believe that a pain specialist would take away all of my pain medications. I hadn’t misused or abused them. I took less than prescribed. It was cruel. He helped me titrate off of Norco, because studies indicate they cause rebound headaches. He was right, but I was still in so much pain that I was not functioning. Two years with no pain relief had him referring me to a pain psychologist.

The pain psychologist determined that I was not a meanderer; that, in fact, my pain was legitimate. Vindication! He then changed my life by telling me that if I were ever to get well, I had to go to a larger metropolitan area.

A google search led me to an MD in San Francisco who specializes in treating fibromyalgia. A fibromyalgia patient herself, she understood my diagnosis. She explained that she got her life and career back after two years on something called the Guaifenesin Protocol, which includes taking an expectorant drug to clear airways in the lung. It was not a cure, but followed precisely, would reverse the fibromyalgia symptoms.

The basic principles of the Guaifenesin Protocol include finding the proper clearing dosage, eliminating the use of all salicylates (a natural chemical found in plants, as well as household and hygiene products) and following a low-carbohydrate hypoglycemic diet to combat low blood sugar, which mimics many fibromyalgia symptoms.

The Guaifenesin Protocol helps sluggish kidneys excrete the build up of phosphates, which are believed to be the cause of fibromyalgia symptoms, at a rate of six and a half times faster than without it. Over time, this leads to the reversal of fibromyalgia symptoms.

For the first time in three years, I felt hopeful. The doctor examined me and agreed with the  fibromyalgia diagnosis, stating I was one of the worst cases she had seen. She also reviewed recent lab work, discovering that my blood sugar was slightly elevated. She suggested a hypoglycemic diet. Within 6 weeks of the diet, I had more energy and less pain.

I have been taking Guaifenesin and following a hypoglycemic diet for 14 months. Before I made these changes, I had 62 of the 68 most generally accepted Fibromyalgia symptoms.

I now have only 14 fibromyalgia symptoms. I am taking only four prescription medications instead of thirteen. I am off all pain medications. And I am no longer bedridden.

Lynn Phipps lives in northern California with her family. Lynn has a degree in social work and is currently helping fibromyalgia patients navigate the Guaifenesin Protocol at FibromyalgiaWellness.info.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us.  Send them to:  editor@PainNewsNetwork.org. 

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represent the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.