While I was reading the article about the Pepsico “Skinny” can, I couldn’t help but see the large advertisement off to the side about Cymbalta, a drug that is advertised as having been “indicated for the management of Fibromyalgia”.

I get asked questions quite often by readers who have Fibromyalgia. People contact me because I have written in this blog before about the beneficial effects that many Fibromyalgia suffers receive when they drink ionized water. I try to keep an open mind about everything, so I decided to investigate Cymbalta.

The advertisement encouraged readers to “ask their doctors about Cymbalta”. The advertisement also offered a FREE 30 Capsule Trial offer. No diagnosis… no prescription… just click here… fill in answers for a couple of prompts which the drug company can’t possibly confirm as factual and… PRESTO… you will have drugs show up at your door. You can only get one trial order, but anybody with a little imagination could obtain several trial offers.

Since it is so easy to obtain this drug, I checked into the side effects. Here is what the link focused on:

Antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens, and young adults. Suicide is a known risk of depression and some other psychiatric disorders. Call your doctor right away if you have new or worsening depression symptoms, unusual changes in behavior, or thoughts of suicide. Be especially observant within the first few months of treatment or after a change in dose. Approved only for adults 18 and over.

The link continued with:

Cymbalta® (duloxetine HCl) is not for everyone.

Do not take Cymbalta if you:

•have recently taken a type of antidepressant called a Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOI) or Mellaril® (thioridazine)
•have uncontrolled narrow-angle glaucoma (increased eye pressure)

The link then recommended that you talk to your healthcare provider:

•about all your medical conditions, including kidney or liver problems, glaucoma, diabetes, seizures, or if you have bipolar disorder. Cymbalta may worsen a type of glaucoma or diabetes
•if you have itching, right upper belly pain, dark urine, yellow skin/eyes, or unexplained flu-like symptoms while taking Cymbalta, which may be signs of liver problems. Severe liver problems, sometimes fatal, have been reported
•about your alcohol use
•about all your medicines, including those for migraine, to address a potentially life-threatening condition. Symptoms may include high fever, confusion, and stiff muscles
•if you are taking NSAID pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners. Use with Cymbalta may increase bleeding risk
•before stopping Cymbalta or changing your dose
•if you experience dizziness or fainting upon standing while taking Cymbalta. This is likely to occur in the first week or when increasing the dose, but may occur at any time during treatment
•about your blood pressure. Cymbalta can increase your blood pressure. Your healthcare provider should check your blood pressure prior to and while taking Cymbalta
•if you experience headache, weakness, confusion, problems concentrating, memory problems, or feel unsteady while taking Cymbalta, which may be signs of low sodium levels
•if you develop problems with urine flow while taking Cymbalta
•if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during therapy, or are breast-feeding
Most common side effects of Cymbalta (this is not a complete list):
•nausea, dry mouth, sleepiness, fatigue, constipation, dizziness, decreased appetite, and increased sweating

The site then encourages you to report negative side effects of Prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

WOW.

I’m not a physician and I don’t pretend to be. As such, I’m not allowed to offer medical advice without getting into a heap of trouble. However, I can suggest that you read up on the effects of ionized water on Fibromyalgia, and consult your physician. Water is water… it is natural and it doesn’t come with a long and scary list of side effects.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not meant as medical advice. It is recommended that you consult your health care provider with health issues.

Related posts:

1. Dealing with Fibromyalgia with Alkaline Foods and Water
2. Breast Cancer: Minimizing the Side Effects of Chemotherapy with Alkaline Ionized Water
3. High Blood Pressure – Miami, FL

Fibromyalgia is a pain…..literally.  It has been described to me by sufferers as “arthritis on steroids”.  The disease is not a killer, but it certainly makes life miserable for the six million people suffering from the disease in America. 

Susan C. Eiguren, NC, provides a simple and good description of fibromyalgia and why it seems to “move around and cause pain everywhere” as follows:

” “Fibro” means connective tissue and “myalgia” means muscle pain. So fibromyalgia is a painful condition affecting the connective tissues of our muscles. If you were to see a cross section of one of your muscles, you’d see yarn-like strands of fibre, each of which is wrapped in connective tissue. Bundles of those yarn strands are gathered together and each bundle is wrapped in more connective tissue.  All those bundles are wrapped together in connective tissue which forms the muscle. The muscle is then connected to bones by tendons or to other muscles by ligaments. (Both tendons and ligaments are connective tissues too.”

You can see how a connective tissue problem can cause pain all over in and around your muscles.  Now that you have a basic understanding of what fibromyalgia is, and why it is so painful, we can address what can we do about it? 

We can start by acknowledging that medical doctors don’t cure fibromyalgia.  In fact, the prescriptions they often make to mask the pain or help you sleep typically increases the toxicity in your body.  Don’t blame the physicians, as they have never received training on how to help people proactively live healthy lives.  What a crazy system!  There is hope, as there are a few forward thinking physicians who are learning how to focus on the importance of what we put in our bodies as the logical solution on how to prevent future problems.  I spoke to an enlightened physician this week who certainly “gets it”. 

I believe your best bet is to visit a Naturopathic Doctor, who has trained for years on how to diagnose symptoms and provide natural cures.  If our social system paid for visits to Naturopathic Doctors, we would have a much healthier and happier population.  The minimal cost of a couple of visits to a Naturopathic Doctor for preventative guidance would certainly save the system billions of dollars per year down the road.

What do you do if you can’t afford to visit a naturopathic doctor, or you want to avoid the cost of their services?  Well, you can do what they would tell you to do.

Naturopathic doctors will tell you that your body is probably too acidic and explain to you the importance of being alkaline. 

Our bodies are meant to be alkaline, and our highly acidic diets puts enormous stress on our systems.  When you eat foods that create acid in your body, most of the toxic waste is eliminated from your body by the bladder and bowels, and some is eliminated by breathing and through the skin.  However, some of the waste is stored in protective fat cells, and some is absorbed into the blood stream and carried throughout your body.  

The key to dealing with almost any disease, and especially fibromyalgia, is to eat an alkaline diet and drink alkaline ionized water.  While converting to an alkaline diet is often a struggle, drinking ionized water is simple and very effective.   That doesn’t mean you can drink alkaline ionized water and continue to fill your body with acidic foods. I found that starting with the water allowed me to experience the benefits of being alkaline, which encouraged me to slowly convert to a more alkaline diet as the benefits became more and more obvious.  

I have spoken to a number of people who have struggled with fibromyalgia for many years.  Several have found that they can experience almost total relief from fibromyalgia on an ongoing basis simply by drinking alkaline water and being more mindful of their diet. Nothing works for everyone, but I have talked to too many fibromyalgia sufferers that have found relief by drinking the water to simply discount it as “voodoo magic”

If you suffer from fibromyalgia, I recommend that you speak to your Doctor, or better yet, a Naturopathic Doctor, about how to become more alkaline so that you will be able to deal with, and eventually overcome the painful disease.

As always, the information in this article is provided by quoted sources or the personal opinion of the author.  It is recommended to consult your health care provider on important health issues.

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