The puzzle pieces are starting to fit together.  Unfortunately, if fibromyalgia were a puzzle, it wouldn’t have a border, it would be printed on both sides, and you may need a scissors to make some of the pieces actually fit.  That said, some of the pieces are falling together.

Two ideas for “cures” have intrigued me, and now they seem to be coming together.  First, the thyroid angle. There is a theory that seems to have been dismissed that people with fibromyalgia are thyroid deficient (type I – actually having a low thyroid level) or thyroid resistant (type II – good thyroid levels but not processed properly and a boost is needed).  At the same time, there is the theory that fibromyalgia is actually part of an infection process.  These two theories meld into one with Garrison and Breeding (soon to be in library), who says that fibromyalgia can be cured with thyroid treatment and possibly with antibiotics.  It sounds a bit like some patients could be prevented full-on fibromyalgia by identifying the infection process and treating it right away.  Others can be “cured” by thyroid treatment.  I have to read more, but there are some very interesting possibilities with this.  First, I need to find out what the consequences of untreated hypothyroidism are.  Do they mirror fibromyalgia as much as the symptoms do?  Second, I need to find out why this really solid theory (tested by John Lowe with at least two studies) has been completely discounted and swept under the rug.

Garrison’s article is from 2003.  Lowe’s latest article was from 2011, shortly before he died.  Garrison is also dead, and I can’t seem to find anyone (yet) who is carrying on with their work/theories.  It’s very frustrating.  But it’s early yet.  I’ll keep plugging away and grouping pieces together.  Sometimes there’s a happy accident and an impossible puzzle comes together.