Fibromyalgia is one of those disorders that still put a lot of question marks up for those who suffer from it and those who are treating those who suffer from it.
It’s interesting to see how various hormones and treatments react with the disorder as well; sometimes, we can find things that we never realized would help the symptoms out.
That being said, there are a lot of interesting relationships between growth hormones and fibromyalgia. Let’s take a quick look so that we can understand the relationship better and so that we can understand how it may be able to tie in with our treatment.
Are Those with Fibromyalgia More Likely to Have Growth Hormone Deficiencies?
Let’s start from the top. In order for our bodies to grow as they should, and to develop correctly, we need to have a number of different hormones. The most important one, usually referred to as just “GH,” is the human growth hormone.
We develop a ton of it as we’re growing up, and then, as we get older, it slows down a lot. That’s why we stop growing at some point, that’s why puberty occurs, and that’s why certain parts of our body are unable to reproduce themselves in our older ages.
That being said, GH helps to make another hormone, called IGF-1, which comes from your liver to repair damage to your body (injuries, etc).
That being said, those with fibromyalgia are actually a lot more likely to have a lack of growth hormones in their body – specifically the IGF-1 that we just talked about.
Now, of course, this happens because the body doesn’t have enough of the GH in the first place, meaning that our bodies aren’t getting the jump start that they need in order to ensure that it’s fixing itself and getting the right signals that it needs in order to function correctly.
Because of this, it’s becoming a more commonly accepted theory that, in fact, the lack of GH (and in turn, the lack of IGF-1) actually plays a pretty big role in what is going on with the fibromyalgia.
Without all of that GH, we’re going to feel a lot more pain, our injuries are going to be more common and they’re going to last longer, and we’re going to be more tired.
There are, likely, other sources of what is going on as well, but GH may very well be one of the big links that fibro researchers have been seeking.
Can Growth Hormones Be Used in Fibromyalgia Treatment?
This begs the question, then. If GH is part of the problem, can it also be part of the solution? If we don’t have enough GH going through our bodies at a time, if we provide more, can we help develop more IGF-1 and can we make it so that we’re feeling less pain in the long run?
This a great question, and since Growth Hormone Therapy has been used in other contexts, it’s been a pretty natural conclusion for doctors to end up using on fibromyalgia patients as well.
So, what can growth hormone therapy do? There are a few types out there. First off, we can work with something called the human growth hormone therapy. This type of therapy, in short, helps the body to get GH from an outside source.
The body is, obviously, not making enough GH for it to actually be able to work correctly.
By using the human growth hormone therapy, a person should be able to find relief from their symptoms because there is more GH, and in turn, more IGF-1 being pumped throughout the body.
This, in turn, makes us feel more energetic and reduces energy. Of course, there are some issues with this whole thing that you have to keep up with – and, for many people, the problem comes in the form of cash.
It can cost up to $1500 every single month for someone with fibromyalgia to get the treatment that they need in this way, which is a big dent on the pocket. Even if medical insurance covers some of it, that’s still going to cause some financial trouble for some people.
But, in many cases, that’s what it takes. It’s also only found in really limited quantities for some people.
Okay, so if we can’t get easy access to human growth hormone therapy, what are we supposed to use instead? There is another way to do things, which is sort of a “back door” to the GH issue.
There’s one other chemical in the body, called somatostatin, that may affect the way that GH is developed. If you have too much of it in your body, the GH is not going to develop as easily, thus making it so that you have reduced levels of GH in your body.
So, doctors have found a way to stop the somatostatin from going out of control. By reducing the amount of this that is being developed, it’s easier for the body to create GH, and thus, allows your body to develop the IGF-1 a lot more easily than it would have before the treatment.
That being said, it’s still being tested, but many of the tests that have already happened have had pretty positive, long term results for the people involved in them.
Because it’s less expensive and you don’t need as much treatment, it’s usually considered to be the first option when it comes to growth hormone therapy for fibromyalgia patients.
Even though growth hormones aren’t necessarily the “magic pill” that will help all fibromyalgia sufferers with their symptoms, it’s definitely a step toward what can be helpful for a particular case.
In many cases, it can help you deal with a cause instead of the symptoms of the disorder. Your doctor has more information about this and can help you to determine whether or not it’s the right way for you to go about the issue for your own treatment plan.
Further reading:
http://www.myalgia.com/growth_hormone_deficiency_in_fib.htm
http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/fibromyalgia_growth_hormone.html
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