The FibroManual: A Complete Fibromyalgia Treatment Guide for You and Your Doctor

by Ginevra Liptan

Overview

The most up-to-date, comprehensive treatment guide to fibromyalgia, by a renowned physician who herself has the condition
 
If you suffer from fibromyalgia and are struggling to get help from your doctor, you’re far from alone. Ten million Americans experience the widespread muscle pain, profound fatigue, and fuzzy brain (“fibrofog”) that have long frustrated both patients and doctors. In this unique resource, Ginevra Liptan, M.D., shares a cutting-edge new approach that goes far beyond mainstream medical knowledge to produce dramatic symptom improvement.
 
Dr. Liptan’s program incorporates clinically proven therapies from both alternative and conventional medicine, along with the latest research on experimental options like medical marijuana. Since many health care providers have limited fibromyalgia expertise, The FibroManual includes a thoroughly sourced “health care provider guide” that enables readers to help their doctors help them.
 
Alleviate fibromyalgia symptoms in four simple steps (Rest, Repair, Rebalance, and Reduce) and you will
 
• restore deep, restful sleep
• achieve long-lasting pain relief
• optimize hormone and energy balance
• reduce fatigue
 
This accessible and empowering resource provides essential information about understanding and treating fibromyalgia from a physician who, as both patient and provider, understands the illness from the inside.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101967201
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	157,064
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ginevra Liptan, M.D., is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine, board certified in internal medicine and trained in functional medicine, a holistic approach that blends both Western and alternative medicine. After developing fibromyalgia as a medical student, Dr. Liptan spent many years using herself as a guinea pig to find successful treatments, and she has fine-tuned her approach by treating thousands of patients. She is one of the few clinical specialists in the world to focus solely on fibromyalgia. She directs the Frida Center for Fibromyalgia and serves as medical advisor to the Fibromyalgia Information Foundation.

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Excerpted from "The FibroManual"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Ginevra Liptan.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction: The F-Word xi

1 Figuring Out Fibromyalgia for Myself 3

2 What Fibromyalgia Is-and Isn't 9

3 The Chain Reaction That Causes Fibromyalgia 17

4 Blocking the Fibromyalgia Chain Reaction 24

5 Helping Your Doctor Help You 30

6 The Four R's of Fibromyalgia Treatment 36

7 Rest: Taming the Hyperactive Stress Response 45

8 Rest: Fixing Fibromyalgia Sleep 55

9 Rest: Medications to Increase Deep Sleep 70

10 Repair: Digestion 86

11 Repair: Therapeutic Movement 96

12 Repair: Unsticking the Fascia 112

13 Rebalance: Energy Production 122

14 Rebalance: Inflammation 133

15 Rebalance: Adrenal Hormones 148

16 Rebalance: Thyroid and Sex Hormones 162

17 Rebalance: Mood 173

18 Reduce: Fatigue and Fibrofog 184

19 Reduce: Pain Hypersensitivity 193

20 Reduce: Opiates for Pain Relief 212

21 Reduce: Medical Marijuana for Pain Relief 223

22 Reduce: Pain from Other Sources 232

23 Reduce: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 239

Acknowledgments 247

Appendix: A Health Care Provider Guide to Fibromyalgia Management 249

References 275

Index 341

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/01/2016
This is a welcome addition to the crowded fibromyalgia book market. Liptan (rheumatology, Oregon Health & Science Univ.) is an MD with training in integrative medicine who suffers from fibromyalgia herself and runs a private clinic devoted to the disease. This combination of expertise and experience is evident throughout the work, which seamlessly combines the doctor's and patient's perspectives and discusses a combination of conventional and alternative treatments and self-care—free of hype and backed up by extensive citations to medical literature. She covers the symptoms and causes of fibromyalgia, followed by ways to improve rest and sleep, repair various body systems, reduce inflammation, pain, and fatigue, rebalance hormones, and improve mood. Also included is a short summary of conventional treatment recommendations written for physicians and intended for patients to share with their doctors—a useful addition, since many primary care providers know little about treating the condition. The text is generally clear and understandable, though readers without much medical knowledge may struggle with some terminology. VERDICT Here is that rare medical book for consumers that is packed with evidence-based recommendations across a broad spectrum of treatment modalities that does not sound like a medical school text. Highly recommended.—Janet Crum, Northern Arizona Univ. Lib., Flagstaff

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