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Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment for fibromyalgia

Messages
759
Location
Israel
I hope I have picked the right forum for this.

I want to ask if anyone has tried Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment?

I found this paper on Hyperbaric Oxygen for Fibromyalgia alone which was strangely ignored back when it was published in 2004:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15174219
It found that Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment helped Fibro. However the numbers are small.

I have a physically healthy friend who visits a HBOT treatment center here:
http://www.assafh.org/sites/en/Pages/27YearsAfter.aspx
She has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) She is in a study where they are trying to see if HBOT helps ADD. She told me that everyone sleeps better with the treatment and that SPECT show more blood flow in the brain. Reduced cerebral blood flow is known to happen in M.E/CFIDS

Is there anyone here who has tried this?
I would be so grateful for any information, however small.
 
Messages
759
Location
Israel
The thread you pointed out is more about people using an oxygen concentrator mask at home. What I am referring to going to a center and sitting in a hyperbaric chamber where first the air pressure is changed and then given high oxygen to breath. I think that is a different thing (?):thumbdown:
There's a picture of these chambers in the link I posted.
Thank you for answering though. This forum is quick.

Edit: Thanks to your link I managed to do another search with better terms and found this thread http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/hyperbaric-oxygen-anyone.157/#post-5411 but would still like to hear from more people.
I see that using hyperbaric oxygen chambers is a completely different thing to breathing oxygen for an hour with a little mask at home.
 

Ember

Senior Member
Messages
2,115
I've been through 60 dives without much effect. My FMS symptoms pale beside my ME symptoms though, so I may have had symptomatic relief of FMS without even noticing it.
 
Messages
759
Location
Israel
Thank you so much for answering Ember.
I was beginning to give up on finding someone who had done 60 treatments and who has M.E.

That makes sense in light of the Turkish study I've posted as they recruited people with fibromyalgia alone and only measured pain relief in that. Thanks again.
 
I did 40 dives in a mono chamber at 2.4 atmospheres while also on oral abx primarily for Lyme, but also have been Diagnosed with FMS and ME/CFS. This was back around 2007.

If you have the money and medical access, I'd suggest trying.

Pros:
1) Warm hands and feet from increased vascular growth that has remained somewhat to this day. Hands were like hot packs for a few weeks/months afterwards, now mostly normal to slighly cold occassionally. Used to be like ice all the time.
2) Used to get sinus infections all the time. After this, haven't had one since.
3) Cognitively, helped reduce Lyme Rage, also known as ranting or very irritable.
4) From talking with other patients who tried HBOT, reasonable to expect additional improvements if were able to afford and had access to ongoing HBOT with a monthly maintenance of probably one dive per week.
5) Temporarily increased stamina, but more than offset by increased symptoms when flaring.

Cons:
1) Had to travel halfway across the country to find a somewhat affordable option. And I live in Houston, TX.
2) Expensive as going cash rate is $125/dive or more in most locations in U.S.
3) Had the worst herxhiemer reaction around my sinus infections and flared all other symptoms to misery while diving.

If I had affordable and local access, I'd be diving more. If you want the best results and worst herx's, combine with antibiotics.

To clarify, after over 200 dives one user who had tinnitus (I also have) had this resolve and for the slight to significant stamina improvements noted by users with ME or chronic Lyme you had to continue a weekly dive to maintain or fades over time.
 

HowToEscape?

Senior Member
Messages
626
"Herxheimer reactions"

Sets off me spidey-sense. While this is such a thing, it's rare and happens only in specific circumstances. It's quite commonly used by con artists to explain why a medical scam that causes harm is "really" removing some evil infection only they can diagnose. It's a great scam, since it <could possibly> be true (like you could possibly win powerball), it answers wishful thinking and agrees with the idea that pain/suffering is virtuous and rewarded. Hx is specific to certain proteins from the death of a few specific types of bacteria, including syphilis and Lyme. If you have Lyme it needs to be hit with something far stronger than HBOT.

Pain for gain is true for training 440 sprints, not true for most of life.
 

mellster

Marco
Messages
805
Location
San Francisco
While it may have some positive short term effects, I think going a somewhat opposite route with CVAC (www.cvacsystems.com) can yield better long-term effects. Inducing short therm hypoxia (reduced oxygen) and variable pressure on the body (through simulated ascends/drops in altitude) has shown to exercise the cells, increasing the efficiency of red blood cells and oxygen transport/usage while reducing oxidative stress. And where it is available it is much much cheaper (and doesn't necessarily need a prescription).
 
Messages
759
Location
Israel
To Timaca and CFS-Fibro-Lyme,
Thanks for writing.
I think your experiences will be helpful for people with Lyme.

I don't have Lyme desease and I believe that there is a difference between those who have M.E/CFS caused by Lyme desease and those who don't.
There were some papers published showing biochemical differences which I'm too tired to remember now.
You have a definite cause in Lyme and a serious antibiotic treatment while M.E/CFS does not.
I still apprecitae you writing.

That thing about it stopping you having cold hands and feet is really encouraging. I 've had cold hands and feet from the very first day I got Mononucleosis that led to my illness. I had no idea that this could improve it.

Also your improvement in sinus problems is interesting. I read that sinus pain can get worse in HBOT. That frightens me as I get sinus pain a lot....so it's good to read that it helped you in that.
Even though I believe Lyme is different to what I have it is at least encouraging to read those 2 symptom improvements.


To "Howtoescape":
That's a good point about Herxheimer reactions. Many Alternative medicine practioners I went to would often say
"It will get worse before it gets better" about their treatments. That way if I got worse after their treatment I'ed still force myself to carry on with them...and they would profit.
Most chronic illness are of a cylical nature where there are both good and bad periods. If you happen to feel better after a bad period you mistakenly attribute it to the treatment...or at least I did.
The problem is that HBOT is not really alternative medicine. It's definitely proven to seriously help in carbon monoxide poisening, certain wounds, severe aneamia due to blood loss for example...all without doubt.

However In Fibromyalgia it is experimental.
This Turkish published study looks very serious, even though they don't have a placebo...but it's for fibromyalgia alone, not M.E/CFS with Fibro. I can imagine some of those Fibro cases in the study are older ladies who can exercise but just have the pain and trigger points....that's not me.

To make things more complicated, the doctor who offered me hyperbaric oxygen treatment told me that he had experience with some fibro only patients who were helped on an experimental basis. Again they only had pain, no cognitive/immune problems or other symptoms. He wasn't dishonest in that he knew I had M.E/CFS but still emphasised the Fibro patients he saw improve had only the pain symptoms alone. He told me that these Fibro patients also felt worse before feeling better. It's very confusing.
 

Nielk

Senior Member
Messages
6,970