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Thumper tries HGH for Fibromyalgia symptoms... film at 11
Fibromyalgia is Latin for "Holy Frijole, everything on me freaking hurts." Or something like that...

Still...there are no whiners here.

Imagine...

...having a Charlie horse--all over your body.

...having the flu--all the time.

...feeling like you've been backed over by a tractor...every single day.

...waking up and being afraid to step out of bed because you know--without a doubt--that when your foot hits the floor, a knife will cut through your body, and the feeling won't stop.

...not being able to sleep.

...fatigue seeping from every pore of your body, running in thick rivers that pool at your feet like concrete shoes.

...feeling like every muscle in your body is on fire, and nothing will put it out.

...feeling like you're about to come apart at the seams--and your doctor tells you it's "All In Your Head."

Just Imagine.

©1997,2005 K.A. Thompson

One of the theories about Fibromyalgia Syndrome is that there may be an endocrinological base--that the pain associated with FMS may exist because of a lack of, or the body's inability to use existing supplies of, Growth Hormone.

On June 26, 2002, I had a tumor removed from my pituitary gland; this tumor left me with diabetes insipidus, premature menopuase, and as discovered recently, a lack of Growth Hormone.

The problem is, no one knows how long the tumor was there, and no one knows whether or not I was deficient in Growth Hormone prior to developing the tumor.

Because of some of the studies regarding Fibromyalgia--something I have lived with since January 1997--and Human Growth Hormone, I have opted to give HGH replacement a try. It may be a way to work past the pain of FMS, a way to build lean muscle mass, lose body fat, and hopefully, offer measureable hope to recovery.

This blog will chronicle my progress, or lack of it. I will include details of how it makes me feel, the exercise routines I will use to help speed up loss of body fat, dietary changes, and any changes in body shape and pain reduction.
FMS Links

Dr. Devin Starlanyl
American Fibromyalgia Association
FMS Network
Chronic Syndrome Support Association
Living With FMS
7/22/2004

Ok. I've had 3 doses of synthroid and have magically dropped 2 pounds.
Coincidence?
Perhaps...

I started the growth hormone injections about a year and 3 months ago. Longer than the doc thought I would stick with it, I think. He made a point of telling me that most of his adult patients who try it get tired of the daily injections after 6 months and stop. I think maybe they didn't have the physical motivation.

This has been tumbling through my mind lately. When I started this, I think I was walking in the pool for about 25-30 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Once in a great while I'd work up to a good run, but not as often as I'd like. It doesn't seem like it took very long for me to run in the water--at a good clip--for longer than 30 minutes, and the swimming just followed naturally. I went to 45 minutes in the pool, combining running and swimming, to just swimming (nonstop) for a full hour, several days a week.

These days I'm working out 5 days a week, doing Boot Camp aerobics (that's YMCA-speak for "We're Going To Torture You) and a Hi-Lo Impact Class that combines weight training with cardio work; it's a 90 minute class and I follow it with half an hour in the pool. I may be adding a 6th day to my routine next week, when the Y re-adds a cardio kickboxing class to the schedule (taught by the same woman who does the Boot Camp class; she's good, but her class is a workout; I'd been going to her kickboxing class for a couple of weeks before it got canceled...) It's tiring and I have post-exertional aches and pains, but it's evident that's what they are--just the after effects of a good, hard workout.

This might not be important in the grand scheme of things, at least not to anyone but myself. But I do still have FMS--I get reminders of that every now and then--but my pain levels remain consistenly low, and my physical abilities have inched forward every week. While I'm certainly not in the shape I was in 10-12 years ago, I'm doing a hell of a lot better (and face it, I was in my 30s then and am in my 40s now.)

The gains have certainly motivated me to not stop taking it. After all, it's a tiny needle and the little pinch one feels from it is a lot better than the pains of not using it at all...

link | posted by Thumper at 10:39 AM
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