"So glad to come across your website!!! www.fms-help.com. What a blessing to have this resource."

"Thanks again for all your eagerly anticipated newsletters that I receive. I can't wait each week for more insightful news from you."

"Regarding the Vit D question www.fms-help.com/090810.htm, in a nutshell - I have FMS; CFS; SLE; Rickettsa (akin to Lyme's Disease); m-protein immunofixation; Complex Regional Pain Syndrome also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy; migraine sufferer. If I weren't so positive, I'd have a miserable life. For what it's worth, this has been my experience: Two years ago my Vit D blood levels came up extremely low. My doctor prescribed Vit D supplements (I think it was 15,000 iu but I stand to be corrected - it's been awhile), one to be taken once a month. It make me violently ill the first time. Came the next month I tried again with the same result. We agreed to give up on the idea. Then all the Vit D info started hitting the Internet and the more I looked into the more convinced I became that it was the answer. But it had made me ill!! I did some more investigating and found not all Vit D is created equal. The prescription supplements were Vit D2. All the info says take Vit D3. So I mail ordered Vit D3 2,000 iu. After the second day my energy levels improved, my depression felt better. I've been taking that for 2 months and since more and more research point to much higher doses for therapeutic use, I started taking 20,000 iu Vit D3 three days ago. In the last 2 months my depression has been so much better, and after 3 days of 20,000 iu my depression is even better. The last 3 / 4 months my CRPS/RSD has been relentless and my body, especially arms, pretty useless with all the pain. Today, the third day, the pain in my arms is better. I have even been doing some chores and went out shopping. I can hardly believe it. In short, I believe the problems are created when Vit D2 is taken. I have scads of info regarding the use of mega doses D3 for chronic illnesses. People need to do the research and then make an informed decision."

6. ONE MAN'S FOOD IS ANOTHER MAN'S POISON

http://products.mercola.com/nutritional-typing/ - free test for nutritional typing

7. ME/CFS "VIRUS LINK" FOUND IN CHILDREN

From a reader--

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11204884 - Snippet: "Scientists at the Universityy of Dundee study found abnormalities in the white blood cells of children with ME/CFS, suggesting they had been fighting off infection. ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), causes debilitating tiredness. About 150,000 people in the UK have ME/CFS, 15,000 of whom are children. The condition is characterised by physical and mental exhaustion following normal activities. Symptoms can include muscle pain, sore throat, tender lymph nodes, multi-joint pain and headaches."

8. UMBILICAL (NOT EMBRYONIC) STEM CELLS

From a friend who met this family--

http://www.stemcellschina.com/index.php/en/component/content/article/228-video-update/1345-video-update-2010-07-05

"This video is about Reuben, the 6 yr. old boy in the next room [at the hospital] in China and the Tan family. They rejected embryonic stem cells. Let us pray that Reuben will continue to improve."

FROM DOM: The love in Reuben's mother's face and voice is so beautiful!

FROM DOM: Just watched a documentary: "Curse of the Lottery, Part II" on TV. You do NOT want to win the lottery!!! People have been killed for their money - even by family members!!! They are also hounded incessantly by those who want handouts and won't take no for an answer!!!! Sure doesn't look like it brings happiness. Found some good thoughts on the subject of gambling and the lottery at http://www.greenwichbaptistchurch.org/Booklets/gambling.html - "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" (1John 2:15). The love of money and desiring to be rich are harmful. "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1Tim. 6:10). "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown man in destruction and perdition." There is more to life than material possessions. "Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15). God wants us to be content with His provision. "Let your conversation (conduct) be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have." (Hebrews 13:5). "But godliness with contentment is great gain" (1Tim. 6:6)."

"In Fosamax Follies from a short while back we discussed the tragic case reports of many patients on long term bisphosphonate treatment suffering osteonecrosis of the jaw or low impact femur fractures. An alert reader than sent in a link reporting that alendronate (Fosamax) use also resulted in a greater than 50% increased chance of atrial fibrilliation (a serious potentially chronic dysrythmia of the heart). (see also)

Well if you happened to miss it there is now another reason to stay away from Fosamax and the bisphosphonates in general.

Long Term Use of Oral Bisphosphonates May Double Risk of Oesophageal Cancer

"People who take oral bisphosphonates for bone disease over 5 years may be doubling their risk of developing oesophageal cancer, according to a study published on bmj.com.
...

In an accompanying editorial, Diane Wysowski, MD, from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Rockville, Maryland, discusses the differences between the 2 studies. She said that "the possibility of adverse effects on the oesophagus should prompt doctors who prescribe these drugs to consider risks versus benefits." She also suggests doctors "tell patients to report difficulty in swallowing and throat, chest, or digestive discomfort so that they can be promptly evaluated and possibly advised to discontinue the drug."

Ah, that's rich.

I was thinking there was another side effect with this drug that I was forgetting until I realized that it was Avandia that I had been thinking about. However it was too late, I had already Googled "bisphosphonates side effects" and stumbled upon these two articles concerning this gem of a drug.

Bisphosphonates Cause Rare Eye Inflammation

"Though exceedingly rare -- only four cases have been reported in the medical literature -- inflammatory eye disease may occur soon after an injection of a bisphosphonate, according to a letter in the Sept. 25 issue of theNew England Journal of Medicine(NEJM)."

And

U.S. warns of severe pain with osteoporosis drugs

"Patients treated with widely used osteoporosis drugs may develop severe and sometimes disabling pain in muscles, joints and bones, U.S. officials said on Monday in an alert highlighting the previously known risk. ... The prescribing instructions for the drugs already mention the risk of severe pain in a list of "precautions" for doctors. Manufacturers said cases of incapacitating pain were uncommon.

The muscle, joint or bone pain "may occur within days, months or years after starting a bisphosphonate," the FDA said.

Some patients reported the pain was so severe it interfered with normal activities and they required aids for walking.

In some cases, pain disappeared after stopping a bisphosphonate, "whereas others have reported slow or incomplete resolution," the FDA said.

FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said the agency is reviewing hundreds of reports of pain in bisphosphonate users, noting that prescriptions for the drugs number in the millions. Potential side effects typically are under-reported, she added."

So let me just see if I have this straight, you take this drug long enough, you may be in debilitating pain that may or may not resolve on discontinuing the drug, your eyes swell up, your jaw bone collapses, your thigh bone fractures, your heart goes into arrythmia and you develop a cancer of the throat. But hey Mrs. Smith that dexa scan is looking super. Far be it from me to tell you what to do."

To say that I was sick was an understatement.... I was SO SICK I thought I
was going to die. I thank the Lord that we had financial resources to
hire a nanny during the day and a night nurse at night to
help me during this time. My husband was starting a business so we
needed someone to help. I felt like I had the flu really really bad.
Over the course of a couple years I started to feel better but
still was very sick. [Two years later] I found out my father had
cancer and relapsed very bad again. This time I went to the Mayo
clinic (no help) I was told I better get a flu shot so in December
a month after my relapse I summoned enough energy to go get a flu
shot. This was a horrible idea as I really feel I developed Guillain
Barre syndrome from that shot. I felt a cold chill slowly go up
my spine and I literally felt the sickness hit my brain. I was
severely incapacitated for 2 more years. I couldn't take medications
because I had severe reactions to them.

I still to this day have very severe reactions to any medication I
take. I have now reached 47 years old and this past year I've been
having some other bizarre symptoms that I've never had before.
I don't know if its the CFIDS, hormonal changes in my brain, or severe
depression. It happens in the winter really bad (leads me to think
it's depression) but it coincides with my menstrual cycle.
I'm getting episodes of severe depression with suicidal thoughts and a
fuzzy brain fog headache with it. I I have never had this depression
before.... maybe feeling down but this is bad. I have even
had times where I wake up in the middle of the night and feel like I'm
going crazy or even slight hallucinations. I think I need to get an
MRI because I don't know if this is the CFIDS or something
I need to worry about."

13. PARASITES & ZAPPING

From a reader--

"In reference to the woman who has parasites on her live blood analysis www.fms-help.com/090810.htm--

We bought Hulda Clark's "zapper" after reading her latest book(2007) Cure and prevention of all

cancers. The zapper is used along with Hulda's clarks herbal protocol, wormwood, cloves and

black walnut. The zapper sends out a frequency that kills bacteria, flukes, worms and virus in the

blood and lymph system. The herbals kill the parasites where they can't be reached by the

zapper frequencies, digestive tract, internal organs,nasal passages, etc. The zapper is a simple unit

with elastic wrist straps. Nothing is felt when zapping. You zap 3x for 7 minutes, with 21 minutes

between zapping.

Hula feels that we ALL have parasites due to our close proximity to domesticated animals,

our food supply, undercooked meats, raw vegetables etc.

My husband passed a 11 inch ascaris worm from his esophagus after zapping. We were absolutely

shocked! We thought the herbs and zapping had made his digestive tract very inhospitable

to the parasites.Our family physician prescribed a worm medication and he continues to zap.

During his working life my husband was the local Zoo dentist and he also

does dental work for cats and dogs for a local vet. He does not use gloves and

he may have picked up his parasites from the animals he worked on.

I suggest that the woman with parasites read Hulda Clark's book. I bought our

zapper from www.healthysigns.com. They are very nice and will answer any

questions you might have re the zapper and herbs. Hulda suggests zapping

at least 2x a year."

14. LOW BLOOD VOLUME, ORTHOSTATIC INTOLERANCE & CFIDS

FROM DOM: I noticed today when I took my blood pressure that there was a drastic drop of 20 points when I took my BP standing, vs. sitting, and the drop was 30 points from lying down to standing. The subject of orthostatic intolerance has been mentioned by many other readers over the years. Search my newsletter archives at www.fms-help.com/newsletters.htm. I found this article http://www.cfids.org/about-cfids/orthostatic-intolerance.asp. Snippet: "Orthostatic intolerance (OI) is the development of a set of characteristic symptoms while standing or sitting upright. It has been associated with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in both adults and children....There are several hypothesized causes of NMH (neurally mediated hypotension) and POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) relevant to CFS; regardless of the cause, all lead to inadequate blood circulation that may reduce the amount of blood getting back to the heart and brain. Patients may have low blood volume throughout the body or their blood may pool excessively in the extremities or both....Researchers have identified several physiological abnormalities in CFS patients that are consistent with autonomic nervous system problems such as NMH and POTS.....Effective treatment for NMH and POTS in CFS must be individualized. In general, treatment for POTS and NMH helps greatly to alleviate some symptoms, but rarely fully resolves the CFS." [Maybe POTS is the reason for my inability to travel more than 30 miles.] Here's another good article http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/diagnosis/oi.html - Snippet: Who You Calling a Wimp? - Bell and other clinicians, including Dr. Nancy Klimas, have long commented on their patients' (reported and observed) intolerance to being in an upright position, while they may feel "pretty good" while lying down. "When they get up," Bell said, "suddenly they have a lot of symptoms, so I suspected that what we call "fatigue" in chronic fatigue syndrome is really orthostatic intolerance. A patient might lie down for three hours and feel pretty okay, then get up for just 10 or 15 minutes before they're forced to lie down again to restore some blood flow to the brain."

From a friend--

"You could increase your blood volume by additional salt (and water!) and make sure you hematocrit is maxed."

FROM DOM: If this subject is of interest to you, use the Google search box below to search my site and newsletters for references to low blood volume, Dr. Cheney, orthostatic intolerance, neurally mediated hypotension, etc.

15. LONGING FOR UNDERSTANDING

From a reader--

"Referring to topic 24 'Health and Wealth' www.fms-help.com/090810.htm, I feel a kinship to what you are saying. I recently attended a Ladies Conference at our church and speaking to one of the pastors there whose wife also had FM, I asked about her health. "Oh, she's been delivered of FM", he says, and advises me to make an appointment with the resident deliverance pastor who would pray for me to also be delivered from this ghastly illness. He recounted how his wife had suffered for years in pain and nightly screams but was finally free. The pastor who prayed for her had a word of knowledge that she had an open door of Free Masonry in her family line and in breaking that link, she was set free. I am so frustrated right now and feel that as a Christian, I dare not even attempt to answer the cliche phrase "how are you?", especially to fellow Christians who believe that we are to "call those things which are not, as though they were" (cannot remember the exact verse of this scripture). As long as we say everything is fine with our health, we are walking in wealth. I really was struggling to accept this diagnosis as a 'Believer' and after visiting a neurologist this past week, and my MRI brain scan normal, I think I relented to the diagnosis, but then, here comes the pastor... What should I believe!!!! How do we validate ourselves? when all tests appear normal? All the Neuro could advise me was that the only person that could help me was me, myself and I!! Having exhausted most forms of specialists re my FM complaints, I fear to go down the path of turning to the church and being frustrated there as well. I have made peace with the belief that "God knows the plans" he has for my life. I have moved on from the anger at the changes I have had to adjust to since having FM and slowly accepted that I am the one that needs to live with this dreaded disease and I have to make the best of each day instead of slipping deeper into depression (also an adjustment). I don't want their sympathy, only understanding!"

DOM'S UPDATE: I felt "bulletproof" yesterday and traveled 51 miles to my mother's house - Donnie drove. I haven't been there in about a year! At 89, my mother is in much better shape than I am, and she comes to visit us. When I travel In the car, I sit on tempurpedic foam cushions to absorb vibration and wear dark glasses. I didn't have to put the seat back yesterday, as I usually do when we go somewhere. (My husband says it looks like I'm being abducted...ha.) Anyway, I haven't crashed yet, despite a busy day in church music today. I am thankful that I was able to get more than 30 miles from home. My travel troubles started in 2005 after I worked in toxic mold for a year. It has to do with my brain not being able to handle flickering light (like from the sun shining through the trees), and not being able to cope with excessive sensory input. But yesterday I felt so "normal!" Maybe this will continue!

P.S. Guess what I heard today?........."But you don't look sick!".........Ah! I thought you could relate!

II Corinthians 1: 4 - "[God] Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Visit Dominie's FMS/CFIDS Homepage at www.fms-help.com for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers and their families.