XIIII. Toxic Bowel in Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia

53. Dr. Fors, a lot of individuals with chronic myofascial pain disorders, like fibromyalgia, also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, is there a correlation?

That's a great question, and you're actually on to something very important in chronic pain disorders. Research has shown that 70% of all Fibromyalgia (FMS) patients are also diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), that's a very high correlation for any two conditions. Canataroglu's research in 2001 pointed out that there may be an underlying shared cause for both FMS and IBS.

A very important factor that maybe underlying IBS is an imbalance of bowel flora. In other words, there is a high growth of "bad" bacteria, yeast, and other microbes and a low population of healthy bacteria in the bowel. Many people do not realize it, but you gastrointestinal tract must be populated with a very high level of beneficial bacteria for you to be healthy.

In a healthy GI tract there are actually more beneficial bacteria than there are cells in the human body. Some have jokingly asked the question; being that beneficial intestinal bacteria out number us are they here to support us or we them? In actuality a normal healthy stool should be 2/3 dead beneficial bacteria.

54. Why is this imbalance of gut bacteria so prevalent in our society?

Because of our poor Standard American Diet (SAD) and high anti-biotic use, there is a very high incidence of dysbiosis or overgrowth of "bad" bacteria, yeast, and microbes in the human gut. Its important to realize that when we take an antibiotic we are killing off the beneficial bacteria in our gut. The normal beneficial gut bacteria keep "bad" bacteria, yeast, and microbes from growing in our gut and causing problems. These beneficial bacteria also help protect the intestinal lining keeping the mucous membrane healthy, and lessening the occurrence of irritability. These beneficial bacteria supports the absorption of nutrients and enhances our immune system function. Looking at our intestine is like looking at the root system of a giant oak. Remove the beneficial bacteria from the soil and you destroy the mighty oaks ability to thrive and survive. Eventually the tree becomes sickly for no outward reason, and topples over dead.

55. How does the overgrowth of "bad" bacteria and yeast cause problems like FMS and IBS?

It turns out that dysbiosis or overgrowth of "bad" bacteria, yeast, and microbes in our gut produces toxins that effect our sympathetic nervous system causing symptoms like that of FMS and IBS. Through affecting our sympathetic nervous system these toxins from bad bacteria and yeast cause pain, stiffness, headaches, insomnia, gut irritability, and fatigue. It turns out that these toxins, like those from yeast overgrowth, can also effect our cellular mitochondrial function causing inefficient energy production. As explained earlier in our interview a decrease in ATP production in our muscle cells can lead to an increase in pain-causing myofascial trigger point formation and fatigue. This decrease in energy production from "bad" bacteria and yeast toxins in our gut, is very similar to the process previously described involving environmental chemicals and industrial toxins we are exposed to. It's the same process with the same outcome of pain and fatigue, it's just that one exposure comes from inside of our self or endogenous toxins, and another exposure comes from our outer environment or exogenous toxins. Either way you need to improve liver detoxification systems, and protect mitochondrial production of energy, both previously described in our interview. However, with a growth of "bad" bacteria and yeast in your gut acting as a reservoir of endogenous toxins, you need to first remove these "bad" bugs from your gut.

 56. You have convinced me, so how does an individual remove these offending "bugs" from their gastro-intestinal tract?

Anyone who thinks they may have dysbiosis, or an overgrowth of "bad" bacteria and yeast, can verify this with a comprehensive stool analysis through their health care provider. Common symptoms are bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, cramping of the bowel, abdominal discomfort, headaches, fatigue, insomnia, and a feeling of sick all over

To remove these offending agents in your gut there are effective herbals such as berberine from barberry root, or extracts or Oregano and Red Thyme. Studies by Biedsall and Kelly (1997) found berberine to have significant activity against bacteria, fungi, parasites, worms, and viruses. Berberine also inhibits toxin formation by these microbes, and they block the absorption of these toxins. There is an excellent nutraceutical for this purpose created by me for Biospec Nutritionals called Dysbi-Ease. Dysbi-Ease helps in the removal of the "bad bugs" from a toxic dysbiotic bowel. As you are removing unwanted pathogens from your gut you want to put back in or reinoculate your bowel with beneficial bacteria. An excellent probiotic that I have created for Biospec Nutritionals for this purpose is Probiotic 5.

Dysbi-Ease Probiotic 5

In the removal process with Dysbi-Ease it is usually best to start out with one tablet two times daily. If the overgrowth is severe you may need to increase dosage of Dysbi-Ease slowly until you reach a maximum of two tablets three times daily.  With reinoculation, dosage of Probiotic 5 is usually one capsule two times daily.

57. This sounds like it gets at the cause of the problem, but is there a natural product that can help with the symptoms of cramping and intestinal discomfort?

If you have intestinal discomfort with bowel cramping, a nutraceutical that safely and effectively promotes relaxation of the bowel and relieves symptoms of indigestion is the Metagenics nutraceutical Intesol. Intesol is a good product to naturally relieve gastrointestinal disturbances and contains herbs that have been known since ancient times to relax a cramping bowel. It contains guaranteed potency of Chamomile, Peppermint, and Lavender extracts.

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