Treating Fibromyalgia

My girlfiriend has fibromyalgia, so I've been researching it intensively for the past few weeks.

There's been a lot of good research since 2000 or so, and it seems many doctors just haven't kept up to date.

There have been attempts to describe FM as a psychological disease, and sections of the brain do seem to perform differently in people with FM. However a huge part of the problem seems to be this; people with FM just can't get deep sleep. And without deep sleep, your body doesn't produce much Human Growth Hormone. Insufficient levels of HGH account for a huge number characteristics of FM's symptoms including elevated neuropeptide Y, low levels of cortisol and abnormal leptin levels.

Restoration of human growth hormone to normal levels drastically reduces symptoms (but doesn't eliminate them completely) after 6 months.

Other effects of FM include inability to produce sufficient dopamine in response to pain and an abnormal 'gatekeeping' function that causes people to be hypersensitive to external stimuli.

FM seems to be caused by extreme stress, and half of all cases of post traumatic stress disorder are equivalent to FM.