Over eight million Americans suffer from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, heightened sensitivity to light and sound, and other debilitating symptoms. Traditionally viewed by the medical community as inexplicable and incurable, most patients are told they must learn to live with the symptoms. Now, leading rheumatologist Dr. David Dryland introduces a new way of looking at fibromyalgia in his revolutionary program based on recent scientifically-grounded but little-known research that reveals the true origins of the condition and how to recover from it. His program includes highly effective lifestyle changes and a temporary regimen using the widely available medications Mirapex and Requip to immediately reduce or eliminate pain. For years, Dr. Dryland has treated his own patients with this protocol at an extremely high success rate, and in this book he shares his insights and offers readers a step-by-step plan for their own recovery.

The Fibromyalgia Solution will help you:

• Develop an individualized treatment plan with your doctor
• Use non-drug treatments that will relieve painful symptoms
• Determine which symptoms can be attributed to fibromyalgia and which cannot
• Learn how to reclaim your life from this debilitating condition

Chapter 1

Sophie's Story

Sophie, a successful young woman in her early thirties, had been sick for almost a year by the time she first came to my office. Her world was rapidly unraveling, and neither she nor anyone else could figure out why. When I walked into the exam room, she handed me a comprehensive chart of everything that had happened in her life over the past sixteen months. She had painstakingly pieced together a record, month by month, listing the symptoms she had experienced, the doctors she had seen, the treatments she had sought, and the medications she had taken. She also included her activity level as well as an overview of events in both her work and personal life. She put the chart together because she just couldn't make sense of her complex symptoms: their variety, when they occurred, or why they got worse. She instinctively knew that somehow all of her diverse and seemingly unrelated physical ailments had to be linked to one another. She hoped I could tell her how.

I looked at her chart. Before pain and illness invaded her body, it seemed as though Sophie enjoyed a great life. She owned a house, had a good job, and lived in a beautiful area. On any given weekend, depending on the season, you might find her exploring the mountains on horseback, running white water in her kayak, skiing with friends, hiking up a new trail, or camping under the stars. I scanned her chart carefully, noting that as her symptoms increased, her activity level steadily decreased.

Sophie explained to me that she had pain just about everywhere. Like many other fibromyalgia patients, Sophie woke up every morning feeling as though she was in a train wreck the night before. After lying on her aching muscles all night, her bed felt like a slab of concrete, and she felt too tired to get up but too uncomfortable not to. She suffered frequent neck spasms, her ribs hurt when she took a deep breath, her back hurt if she sat for more than a few moments, and her arms and wrists ached as if she had been beaten with a steel bat. It hurt for Sophie to grip or even lift the smallest of everyday tools, such as a pen or coffee mug. She couldn't drive, feed her horses, hold hands with her husband, or even scratch her dog on the head. She had to drink everything out of a straw because lifting a glass full of liquid was out of the question. She had made her living as a writer but could no longer bear the pain of sitting at a computer for hours at a time.

In addition to her constant pain, Sophie felt sick all the time. Her allergies had been overwhelming that year. She had never had asthma before, but this past summer she could hardly walk up a hill without having an asthma attack. She felt like she had a never-ending case of the flu and collapsed by 2 p.m. every day. After 2 p.m. she watched the clock, waiting for it to be late enough to go to bed. On better days she would take a short walk, but any other activity was out of the question. Walking even made her arms hurt more. That was the thing, she said. Everything hurt so much more than it should. She had tried to ski once that winter, but when she fell on her hip, it hurt intensely for a week instead of just being bruised and sore for a day or two. She became afraid of taking part in any activity in which she might risk a fall or injury.

When Sophie came to see me, she had already seen fourteen healthcare providers, including one in an emergency room. She had tried well over a dozen different medications for sleep, pain, and possible infections. There were X-rays, an MRI scan, an extremely painful nerve-conduction test, painful trigger-point injections, and a comprehensive set of blood work to test for possible conditions and diseases. Nothing explained the pain and illness that Sophie couldn't shake.

Each doctor's visit was an emotional roller coaster. She wanted answers desperately, but she didn't want to find out that she had lupus, carpal tunnel syndrome, nerve problems, rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme disease, or any of the other things she was being tested for. When tests came back negative, she felt relief but also anguish that she still didn't know what was wrong. She, too, felt a bit like she was starting to lose her mind. With so much pain, how come nobody could find something wrong with her? Two of her doctors halfheartedly whispered the word "fibromyalgia," but one specifically said he didn't want to give her that label.

Fibromyalgia was the one answer Sophie knew she didn't want. She had done her research, and every time she read about fibromyalgia, the symptoms sounded all too familiar. The problem she saw with fibromyalgia was that doctors didn't really know what it was, and according to every Web site she looked at, people with fibromyalgia didn't get better. It seemed like a last-resort diagnosis, and that wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to "learn to live with the symptoms," which is the prognosis most fibromyalgia patients receive. She wanted to know how to get better. She couldn't bear the thought of moving through life in such a slow, painful way - one in which time was measured in pain-filled moments rather than joy-filled hours or days. One of her deepest fears was that the pain would prevent her from having children.

Does Sophie's story sound all too familiar? Chances are, you're reading this book because either you or someone you love struggles with fibromyalgia. Can you relate to the patients who come into my office and tell me they feel like their lives are literally collapsing? They are women and men who, until their bodies were assaulted with endless pain, fatigue, and other inexplicable symptoms, were healthy, active people who were either enjoying their lives or at least making the most of what life had to offer them. As a whole, my patients are ambitious, driven, hard workers who care deeply about leading a meaningful life. Many of them were previously diagnosed with fibromyalgia and told that the best modern medicine might offer is help with some of the symptoms. If you've heard a similar story in your search for answers, don't believe it. Fibromyalgia is no longer a dead-end diagnosis.

Copyright © 2004, 2007 by David Dryland, MD

About the Author

David Dryland, MD, is a Yale-trained clinical rheumatologist with a busy practice in Medford, OR. Having successfully won his own battle with fibromyalgia, Dr. Dryland has developed a ground-breaking treatment protocol that his own patients have followed with success. Through his educational seminars and writing, Dr. Dryland is changing many popular misconceptions about the origins of fibromyalgia and how to effectively reduce or eliminate fibromyalgia symptoms. A much sought-after speaker, Dr. Dryland leads seminars and workshops on how to recover from fibromyalgia and control the fight or flight response. He lives in Ashland, OR with his partner Laurel and his three children.