Ask anybody without fibromyalgia what he or she knows about the disease and you’ll be fortunate if they’ve even heard of it. If they have, you’ll be even luckier if they really understand it. Unfortunately, fibromyalgia is relatively unknown and widely misunderstood even among friends and family of fibromyalgia sufferers.
One widespread misunderstanding is that pain is the single symptom. Yes, the chronic pain is the most prevalent and debilitating symptom, but unfortunately it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Look under the surface and you’ll catch a quick look of a number of other symptoms rearing their dreadful heads. Along with them are symptoms like melancholy, exhaustion, sleep disorders and cognitive impairment.
Combine all these symptoms together and they present a vicious cycle. The pain leads to increased levels of stress and anxiety. This extra stress, combined with the pain, can lead to sleeping disorders and depression. All of this takes an extreme mental and physical toll on the sufferer and often exacerbates the pain.
Rhodiola Rosea and Fibromyalgia
Rhodiola rosea is a root that grows in Himalayas, high-altitude areas. It’s also called golden root. It is linked to an extensive array of advantageous effects. Rhodiola grows in mountainous and Artic regions. As a healing herb rhodiola relieves depression and elevates the mood. Rhodiola improves performance and reduces exhaustion by being an adaptogen rather being a stimulant and it is confirmed by experiments.
Rhodiola blocks monoamine oxidase and affects endorphins in a positive way. This blocking mechanism changes the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. In the past, rhodiola was used in northern climates to fight seasonal despair which originate in sunless and traumatic winters. When the fibromyalgia patient gets caught by high levels of constant worry, the symptoms of exhaustion and “fibro fog” set in. This increases the possibility for illnesses that are stress related to be experienced. Examples of illnesses that can be caused by high levels of stress include heart disease, high blood pressure, inhibition of the immunity, and even stroke.
Rhodiola can result in the body’s capability to combat illnesses that can be practiced as a result of strain and is known as adaptogen. Rhodiola can oppose fibromyalgia symptoms efficiently including mental over tiredness, headache, sleep disorders and gastrointestinal complications. A group of herbs said to help adapt and build a resistance to anxiety are known as adaptogens. Let’s take a nearer look at how it can ease some of the other symptoms of fibromyalgia. Many fibromyalgia patients suffer from fibro fog, a physiological cognitive impairment. The symptoms that go with this condition frequently include the incapability to focus concentration, complications in retrieving information from the short-term memory, as well as attention challenges.
Patients are expected to undergo less episodes of fibro fog who take rhodiola. Rhodiola Rosea helps protect against strain by blocking the release of cortisol, the hormone released in reaction to stress. It can have a destructive effect on those suffering from chronic stress though cortisol is necessary for our body to respond to infrequent instances of anxiety. Cortisol levels concerning fibromyalgia are also influenced and helped by rhodiola. People with fibromyalgia have very low cortisol levels in the morning, coupled with the effects of insomnia. This is the opposite of healthy people, whose cortisol levels are highest in the morning and taper off until the evening.
These upturned cortisol levels may clarify why fibromyalgia patients have such problem in sleeping, even when pain levels are decreased. Consuming rhodiola in the evening with dinner might be capable to reduce cortisol levels in fibromyalgia patients as well as reduce the high levels of neurotransmitters which provoke stimulation. Rhodiola is an anti-viral it modify action in the immune system and may be an efficient treatment against certain viruses, antioxidants defend your body against oxidative stress and harm due to free radicals, which are fundamentally dysfunctional molecules that are tied to many illnesses.
Evidence suggests that rhodiola fights inflammation much like a class of anti-inflammatory drugs. Rhodiola also boost exercise ability in healthy people. The excitement to turn to energy boosting drinks like coffee and energy drinks can be great for any person suffering from unvarying exhaustion. Unluckily, these do more damage than good often enhancing the problem. Rhodiola Rosea provides a natural energy boost free from side effects. It enhances energy and boosts productivity by increasing the capacity of red blood cells to carry oxygen.
Increasing oxygen levels in the blood stream improves a variety of cellular functions and results in increased energy and resistance. For many fibromyalgia sufferers, the problems connected with “fibro fog” are both annoying and uncomfortable. Symptoms of fibro fog can include memory loss, lack of attentiveness and focus, speech difficulties and bewilderment.
Rhodiola Rosea can give a major boost to your cognitive function and help you to recover your mental clearness and focus. In addition to reducing anxiety and boosting energy, Rhodiola Rosea can lift up mood and fight melancholy. It has been used a substitute treatment for melancholy because of its efficiency and because not like many conventional antidepressants, it has no serious side effects.
References:
- Rhodiola Rosea for Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome By Adrienne Dellwo via Very Well
- Rhodiola for Fibro via Progressive Health
- PubMed.gov, Bartecchi CE. “Fibromyalgia and complementary and alternative medicine.” Mayo Clinic Procedures. 2005; 80(6):826.”
- University of Maryland Medical Center. edu, “Fibromyalgia”
- PubMed.gov, Shevtsov VA and Zholus BI, et al. (Mar 2003). “A randomized trial of two different doses of Rhodiola rosea extract versus placebo and control of capacity for mental work”. Phytomedicine 10 (2–3): 95–105.
- PubMed.gov, Darbinyan V and Kteyan A, et al. (Oct 2000). “Rhodiola rosea in stress induced fatigue—a double blind cross-over study of a standardized extract with a repeated low-dose regimen on the mental performance of healthy physicians during night duty”. Phytomedicine 7 (5): 365–71.
- PubMed.gov, Darbinyan V and Aslanyan G, et al. (2007). “Clinical trial of Rhodiola rosea L. extract in the treatment of mild to moderate depression”. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 61 (5): 343–8.
- PubMed.gov, Spasov. A.A., Mandrikov, V.B., Mitonova, I.A., 2000b.” The effect of Dhodaxonon psycho-physiologic and physical adaptation of students to the academic load.” Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology 63 (1), 76-78.
- PubMed.gov, Olsson E.M.G., von Schéele B., Panossian A.G. (2009). “A randomized double-blind placebo controlled parallel group study of an extract of Rhodiola rosea roots as treatment for patients with stress related fatigue”. Planta Medica 75 (2): 105–112.
- PubMed.gov, De Bock K, Eijnde BO, Ramaekers M, Hespel P (Jun 2004). “Acute Rhodiola rosea intake can improve endurance exercise performance”. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 14 (3): 298–307.
- PubMed.gov, Walker TB, Altobelli SA, Caprihan A, Robergs RA (Aug 2007). “Failure of Rhodiola rosea to alter skeletal muscle phosphate kinetics in trained men”. Metabolic Clinical Experiments. 56 (8): 1111–7.
- PLOS Computational Microbiology.org, Amos Ben-Zvi, Suzanne D. Vernon, Gordon Broderick (Jan 2009). “Model-Based Therapeutic Correction of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Dysfunction.” PLOS Computational Biology. 2009.
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