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That's an aweful lot of meds to take. I take Malic Acid, St John's Wort, MSM and my synthroid. And other assorted vits and minerals like ester C, calcium, beta carotene, E, b-6 (water retention) and Condrotin/glucosimine, flaxseed oil, wheat germ oil for general health. I've order some salmon oil to try.

Your mom should see about weaning herself off some of them and I'd bet a lot of her symptoms would disappear. I still maintain most of the symptoms we are complaining of besides the initial FMS ones are caused by the DRUGS we are given and not monitored for side effects. Docs tend not to consider side effects when we complain of a new health problem. It took about 2 months on estrogen before the worst of my "new" symptoms manifested themselves. The immediate one was the acid. Slowly over a period of 9 months the others made themselves felt, VERY painfully.

When I was put on Lodine the acid got so bad that I was on a strong dose of Tagamet 2 times a day and it BARELY phased the acid.

I've gotten more relief from the vit/min therapy than I ever did from the chemicals. Some of the natural stuff also causes the GI side effects for me. Black Cohosh is one of them as is cronium pictolate.

I now closely monitor every thing I put into my body for side effects, which is a lesson I learned the hard way.

My mom does have terrible acid reflux (for years now) and, yes, she is also on Premarin...since she was 21!

I have been praying to find a solution for her. Thank you all. I will pass all this info on to her.

My fibro is very tolerable. I am not feeling very well lately since on the guaifenesin (which is actually a good thing). You're supposed to feel worse as the body is cleared of debris and then feel better.

Looking back, I also think I've always had it (my mom since childhood, too). Constant legs cramps as a small kid, always tired. My grandma, on the farm, use to say, "You need more pep!", and would get out the Geritol. :) I was only 8!

GailA: Thanks for your comments. I was fearful for my sister's life. She had rheumatoid arthritis, fibro plus other autoimmune disorders.

Out of desperation I went to the Internet and over and over found about a condition called "leaky gut syndrome". I gave her the info and told her to decide for herself if she thought it made sense.

She had liver damage from all the drugs. Her change in direction from drugs to natural therapies and diet have made a huge difference but she's still having trouble with fibro.

I like Dr. Walt Stoll's webpage.