Onset of Fibromyalgia at 40

At 40 years old, I was in the best health of my life. Then, seemingly overnight, I became almost bedridden. I couldn't get out of bed, had no energy, and felt like my head was underwater, unable to think clearly. Both my work and my personal life were suffering. Within three months, I gained 30 pounds. When I visited my primary care physician, she spoke with me for about five minutes before diagnosing me as prediabetic, advising me to change my eating habits and start exercising. I explained that I was a gluten-free vegan who primarily consumed non-processed foods and had been running five miles a day. Nonetheless, she insisted it was my diet and lifestyle and that I keep a food diary and start metformin.

I knew I wasn’t prediabetic and needed someone who would truly listen to me. That's when I went to Rita Rutland and her team at Restorative Health. When I spoke with Rita, she immediately agreed that prediabetes wasn't the issue. She listened to me, asked questions about my lifestyle, my diet, and believed what I told her. She suggested we examine my hormones instead. Her instincts were spot on—tests revealed that my hormone levels were severely low. Rita recommended a natural approach, starting with supplements to boost my adrenals and increase my hormone functions. After one month, I could feel a difference. The brain fog had cleared and I was starting to feel like myself again. After three months, my energy had fully returned, I was back to working out, and the weight began to come off.

As my medical care provider, the team at Restorative Health were aware of my fibromyalgia diagnosis and the chronic pain I endured.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and tenderness in localized areas. People with fibromyalgia often experience a range of symptoms, including:

• Chronic Pain: Pain that affects multiple areas of the body, often described as a constant dull ache

• Extreme Fatigue: Despite sleeping for long periods, individuals with fibromyalgia often wake up tired. Sleep is often disrupted by pain, and many patients have other sleep disorders, such as restless legs syndrome and sleep apnea.

• Cognitive Difficulties: issues with concentration, memory, and the ability to focus on mental tasks. Often referred to as “fibro fog”.

• Other Symptoms can include: headaches, depression, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ).

The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown. The condition may be triggered by physical trauma, surgery, infection, or significant psychological stress. Some theories suggest that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way the brain processes pain signals.

Fibromyalgia has recently been discussed as a sleep disorder, characterized by the body's inability to enter the deep sleep cycle necessary for self-repair. The widespread pain results from the body's failure to reach the deep, slow-wave sleep necessary for tissue repair and recovery. This leads to inflammation and pain. This pain further disrupts the sleep cycle, making it even more challenging to achieve deep sleep, creating a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

My symptoms include widespread pain, particularly concentrated in my major joints such as the hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and quadriceps. I have lived with the pain for over 20 years and have learned to endure it, but what I cannot tolerate is the brain fog and the inability to think clearly and perform my job when the flares hit.

Ketamine as a treatment option

We discussed various pain management options. Rita informed me about recent breakthroughs using ketamine for chronic pain relief. Initially, I was apprehensive, associating ketamine only with its reputation as a party drug. Rita was patient with me, and we discussed the treatment extensively for over a year. When my pain became unbearable and increasingly disrupted my life and work, I reached a point where I was willing to try anything. I scheduled an appointment with Rita to address my fears and discuss the details. She assured me she would support me throughout the entire process to ensure my comfort levels and my safety. Together, we determined the most suitable method of ketamine administration for my pain management and proceeded.

Once again, Rita's recommendation proved to be accurate. Ketamine significantly alleviates my chronic pain, breaks the pain cycle, and enables me to sleep. While not a cure, it provides more relief than any other treatment I have tried—and I have tried nearly everything. I also started using ketamine nasal spray for daily maintenance and to manage difficult evenings, allowing me to sleep. During severe flare-ups, I received ketamine infusions.