11 years late to this topic so probably the original request is obsolete...? but here's my story for the future, anyhow.
About 25 years ago my mother assessed her own health and determined she had "24 of the 48 symptoms of fibromyalgia"--achy joints, poor sleep, brain fog, grouchiness, and many more.
For the past 10-15 years she would say her fibromyalgia is in "complete remission" -- at least, when she avoids the right foods.
The causes of fibromyalgia -- along with MS, "syndrome X," and "the stuff women get when over 40," and all the autoimmune crud in general -- the causes are multifactorial, as you might imagine. So the solutions are of
course also multifactorial: dramatic lifestyle changes in many areas. There is not, nor ever will be, any silver bullet. Diet is a big piece. So is movement/exercise. So is healthy spiritual status, to include forgiveness. Swapping chemical cleaners and body products for plant-based ones. Reducing EMFs. Lots of things.
Unfortunately, as I've heard from health coaches, "the more change someone needs, the less he can handle." So it has to be a gentle process of encouragement and guidance, and it will never succeed without buy-in from the "patient" -- who ultimately has to take final responsibility for his or her own health and do the hard work of getting better. It will take years of discipline and some permanent habit changes. But, the body rebuilds ALL of its cells every 7 years or so, so "reverse aging" really is possible to a degree.
But you can't go back to ease and comfort. You CAN manage autoimmune stuff to a place where it has little to no impact on your life -- you can overcome it in real ways -- but it's like alcoholism: you can never go back to eating pizza and soda like an ignorant teenager and expect no consequences. Processed foods have to be diligently avoided as much as possible.
I affirm what was said above about the GAPS diet: that is worth looking into. Also elimination "test diets" to determine specific allergies (and there will be allergies in almost all of these cases, probably to several food groups). The "Whole 30" month-long diet is a decent place to start: clear rules, defined time-span, obvious quick results which create encouragement and momentum.
Then, once problem foods have been (at least temporarily) eliminated, you can work on healing the gut. This will involve:
1) pro-biotic supplements (high-quality stuff that won't die in the stomach acid);
2) pre-biotic fiber (soluble and insoluble), ideally from whole foods like fruit, veg, seeds, beans, nuts;
3) specific healing plants like aloe vera (cut the gel into cubes and put in smoothies) or prickly pear or any other cactus, and other mucilaginous "slimy" things like
flax seed (ground fresh), marshmallow
root tea, licorice root tea, sassafras, etc.;
4) live, unpasteurized fermented foods: sauerkraut is the simplest to do at home (but pickles are tastier!);
--and probably 5) some quality digestive enzyme and/or hydrochloric acid supplements: typically the stomach has too little acid, not too much (as Tums will incorrectly tell you).
The gut must be healed first. Putting quality food (or supplements) into a ruined digestive tract will only waste money, result in discouragement, and potentially even cause new allergies (from undigested proteins sneaking through a "leaky gut" intestinal lining).
After this: gentle detox protocols (juicing, detox teas, infrared sauna, and of course lots of clean water); continued whole foods (perhaps slowly and cautiously re-introducing previously non-tolerated foods); increased exercise routines -- now possible since some weight has been lost and
energy levels are improved; and appropriate mental/spiritual work: counseling, connectedness at a healthy church, etc. Also just good fresh varied colorful
local foods: join a CSA and learn how to cook rutabaga and whatever other weird stuff they send you. Learn what grows locally -- spicebush, black walnut, paw paw, plantain, dandelion, wineberry, venison -- and find out what it's good for: if it's not grass, it's probably edible and
medicinal. (Also free.) Walk; it's good for the lymph. Walk in nature: seeing green "fractal geometry" is good for the mental health, and sunlight is good for the circadian rhythms and the vitamin D and the eyes and lots of things. Play. Have fun. Laugh.
Finally -- I am not here to "sell stuff," but my mother would tell you that she would be dead today (instead of in excellent health in her early 70's) if it were not for some very high-quality nutritional supplements, sourced from better-than-organic whole foods (U.S. standards are inadequate but other nations have better standards which any good company should abide by), and crafted with good science -- distillation under nitrogen in O2-free conditions, etc. -- by real scientists, not goons in white coats chasing some miracle berry cure-all from the Amazon or whatever. I refer anyone who is interested to www.NeoLife.com, or PM me. There are a few other good companies and products out there, but many are not much better than snake oil, sadly, so choose with care. But bottom line: a serious auto-immune case probably indicates a physiology that is compromised
enough that dietary changes alone will not be sufficient: the body needs more nutrients than it can consume or digest (because, you know: also probably trying to lose weight, in most of these cases?) in time to heal. And slow progress looks to sick people like "no progress" and then they give up.
Ok, so there's my story.
Healing is possible, but it's hard. But hey: life is hard. Being healthy is difficult and expensive. Being sick is difficult and expensive. But we do get to choose.
And in the end: we still all die. So to counterbalance everything I said above: don't make "not dying" the goal of life; don't make health an idol. Live in such a way that you can *die well* when your time comes. And there are some pretty un-health-conscious folks who have figured this out, so be able to learn from them even if their diet stinks.
This gets back to "healthy spirituality"; but basically: if you live in fear of death, chasing health will not solve your problem; you need to look elsewhere.
'kay, done.
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