Fibromyalgia
When I was 16 yrs old I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. That’s right, 16 yrs old! I wasn’t overweight, but I all of a sudden started having a lot of pain in my hands, so much so that I couldn’t even write. I would have shooting nerve pain that would go from either of my hands all the way up the side of my neck. When standing or walking one of my legs would occasionally give out on me. I was tired all the time and my body hurt. I had to stop physically going to school and had a teacher come to my home and I had to do my homework on a tape recorder.
PCOS
I got married to my husband when I was 20 yrs old. For over 9 yrs we were unable to conceive a child and were too poor to seek help. We were finally able to see a fertility specialist when I was 30. My BMI was normal, I did skip at least one period per year, and I had some unwanted body hair. My blood tests showed I had high testosterone, high estrogen, low progesterone, and a high AMH level (egg reserve) which meant I wasn’t ovulating. I was diagnosed with Polycystic ovarian syndrome. With medical help we were able to conceive our 2 children.
Insulin Resistance
Because of my PCOS diagnosis I often wondered if I had insulin resistance, especially since the fertility specialist said I would be more likely to get it. I wasn’t over weight as a teenager, but it’s always been easy for me to gain weight in my middle. I could easily loose the weight if I changed my diet. A couple years ago I had a bunch of cortisone injections in my feet, all in one day. I felt HORRIBLE for a couple days. Dizzy, nauseated, insomnia, I just felt crappy! About a day and a half after I got the injections I had the thought to check my blood sugar. I had a glucometer for my childrens metabolic disorder. My blood sugar was always between 80-90. It was 127! And that was when I was starting to feel a bit better. I wondered how high it was 24 hours prior. Cortisone is a steroid, and if you have insulin resistance it will cause your blood sugar to spike. I had my answer, I have insulin resistance.
Insulin Resistant Cells
Now, I’ve been able to identify one main thing in my life that caused me to get these three conditions. One issue when you have insulin resistance is that your body does not have enough cells that accept insulin. The only way to make cells that are not insulin resistant is to get your body MOVING. When you are exercising and building muscle you are creating new cells that are not insulin resistant. You don’t need to be exhausting yourself or exercising for long periods of time. Walking, low intensity weight training, low impact exercises etc. But what caused me to have so many insulin resistant cells?
The Culprit!
When I was 12 yrs old I started having severe pain in both of my feet. So much so that walking became difficult, and I was the type of kid who loved to run. I was born with extremely fallen arches. In other words I had flat feet and walked pigeon toed. My parents took me to a podiatrist (foot specialist) and I ended up having surgery on both of my feet to create arches. The doctor used a peg to hold up the bones in my feet to create an arch. The surgery was successful in creating the arches, but my body recognized the pegs as a foreign object and started attacking the pegs to try and get rid of them. Due to this, my ankles were constantly swollen and my feet now hurt for a different reason. Since my growth plates were still growing, my doctor left the pegs in for 2 yrs so my feet would grow in the right position. 2 yrs later I had another surgery to remove the pegs. I ended up needing orthotics to help keep my feet in the right position, and to this day I still need orthotics to help with the pain in my feet.
Throughout my teenage years I was not moving my body due to the pain in my feet. I was not making new cells and I was eating sugar and simple carbs. My Mom made good healthy meals, but I was a big snacker. My cells did not handle the way I was eating well. Without new cells my body started to become distressed and it started to hurt. I found out I had fibromyalgia when I was 16 and was told I would have it the rest of my life. I remember praying to God one day before I knew I had fibromyalgia, when the doctors told me I had either a brain tumor or MS, and asked God to take me home if I was meant to die, or to show me the way to heal myself. Not long after my prayer I met my Husband. His oldest sister did a health program and offered to help me. I felt the peace of the spirit and knew it was the right thing to do. I learned through my diet changes that the source of my pain was SUGAR. Every time I had sugar I would get the shooting nerve pains in my body, specifically my hands. I went off of all refined sugar, refined flours, processed foods, and focused on eating whole foods for 2 yrs, along with taking supplements. I went into remission when I was 18. To this day if I eat too much sugar and can start feeling the pains in my body return.
My Fibromyalgia was caused by old cells that were insulin resistant due to my lack of physical exercise, because of my poor feet.
Insulin Resistance and Hormones
When cells become insulin resistant, they don’t respond well to insulin and can’t easily take up glucose. As a result, your pancreas makes more insulin to help glucose enter your cells. This can lead to higher levels of insulin in the blood. High insulin levels can lead to hormonal imbalances.
- Insulin is known to increase androgen (testosterone) production and disrupt the balance of hormones.
- Your cells become metabolically dysfunctional due to insulin resistance and can be laden with excess fat. Their ability to produce hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and even thyroid hormones can be compromised.
My PCOS was caused by the disruption of my hormones due to insulin resistance. My fibromyalgia was caused by insulin resistance. My insulin resistance was caused by my lack of physical activity and poor diet starting in my early teen years. They are all connected!
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How I manage my PCOS and insulin resistance.
Exercise
First and foremost, you have to start making new cells that are not insulin resistant. Personally this is the hardest part. When you’ve gone most of your life not exercising much and with pain that makes exercising difficult, it’s hard to get into that habit. I love doing simple weight lifting exercises and even body weight only exercises. You don’t need an elaborate amount of different exercises to do. Find some upper body ones you like, some lower body ones, and alternate between them. The key I have found is consistency. Just make sure you are doing something 5 days a week and to do stretches each time.
Diet
- No phytoestrogens like Eggs: I see a lot of PCOS diets out there that look pretty good except for one thing that does not make any sense to me. They have you eat eggs! If one of your PCOS symptoms is estrogen dominance then you need to avoid phytoestrogens. I love how good I feel when I am eating eggs, but my ovaries will start screaming at me! If I eat eggs my already high estrogen levels get even higher, my ovaries swell up and become very painful, and not to mention how moody and bad my PMS gets.
- No refined sugars! This can be a hard one for many, but it was the main change I made that got rid of my fibromyalgia pain. I’ll be doing a sugar free and egg free recipe section in the future.
- No simple carbs. Make sure you are getting complex carbs from whole grain sources. This will help your blood sugar and gives you good fiber.
- Veggies! Get a good amount of veggies every day. Half your plate should be veggies
- Protein. 1/4 of your plate should be protein. If you eat meat then make sure it’s organic and free from added hormones. If you don’t eat meat then make sure you get some good natural protein sources such as quinoa, seeds, nuts, legumes and such. When you combine a grain with beans it becomes a complete protein. Beans with rice, peanuts with rice, hummus with pita bread etc.
- Fruit. This is a great snack but should be less than the amount of vegetables you eat.
- Anti-Inflammatory drink: With these conditions you more than likely have inflammation in your body. I love how my body feels when I have a quick anti-inflammatory drink every morning, and it makes it so I’m less hungry. I’ll heat up about 1/2 cup of water, add 1Tbsp of lemon juice, and then I add the following spices according to my own liking (probably around 1/4 tsp), ceylon cinnamon, ginger, clove, and then a dash of cayenne pepper.
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Supplements
Over the years I struggled knowing what to do to help regulate my hormones and how to help my body with my insulin. I knew the best thing I could do was turn to the master healer for guidance. Through much prayer asking God what I needed specifically for myself, and I encourage you to do the same when it comes to deciding what you should be taking, I have found these supplements that have significantly help me.
- Myo inositol and D Chiro Inositol: Inositol is a type of sugar made by the body that helps your body process insulin. Though inositol is a sugar that your body makes, diets hight in sugar can inhibit inositol production. When I started taking inositol I had to start taking it slowly since one of the side effects was bloating and gas. I took 2 capsules once a day for a week or two, then increased to 2 capsules morning and night for a week or two, and then started taking 4 capsules once per day. After a month or two my menstrual cycles went from every 31-38 days ( and the occasional 48), to every 27 days! It also improved my PMS symptoms, and helps with anxiety and depression. Lastly inositol helps lower testosterone levels.
- Vitamin D3 with K2: Women with PCOS are at risk for low vitamin D levels because of hormonal imbalances. K2 helps the body absorb vitamin D. Vitamin D can also help lower blood sugar.
- N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC): NAC can improve insulin sensitivity and stabilize blood sugar. Helps fertility in men and women. It also improves mental health conditions and can help with anxiety, depression, and OCD. My son’s past psychiatrist recommended NAC 600mg twice per day for my son’s anxiety and OCD type symptoms. My children, ages 6 and 8, and myself take 600mg twice per day. My children use an unsweetened powder that I mix with some water and a little water enhancer. NAC is also great for your immune system.
- Omega 3 fatty acids: In PCOS it can help lower inflammation, reduce insulin levels, and decrease testosterone levels.
- Magnesium: Studies show that women with PCOS may have low magnesium intake. Increasing magnesium may help with insulin resistance and lower testosterone levels. Not to mention help you sleep at night.
- Indole-3-Carbinol: Estrogen dominance puts you at risk of cancer. Indole-3-carbinol helps with estrogen dominance and is shown to lower your risk of cancer.
- Shilajit: Shilajit is great for balancing hormones and regulating your menstrual cycle. It’s also used for weight loss, cognitive health, energy, skin, hair, iron deficiency, menopause, and altitude sickness. Not to mention it is great for mens fertility. Because it helps with iron deficiency you shouldn’t take it if you have sickle cell anemia, thalassemia or hemochromatosis. Also it lowers blood pressure so don’t take it if you are on high blood pressure medication.
It has been a real eye opener to see how my early life and choices have effected and caused most of the physical trials I’ve had in my life. Yes, my poor feet had and still do have problems. But, even though it hurt to walk when I was a teen, there were still many different exercises I could have been doing that could have prevented me from having so many insulin resistant cells. We literally are laying down the foundation of our future health when we are young. What a responsibility I feel as a parent to make sure my children are living healthy lives and developing good habits for their health and futures.