For almost the last three months, I had been bothered by crippling and excruciating back/hip/leg pains that have plagued me about once a year all my life. The pains were particularly severe so that I questioned whether I would recover this time, as I’ve noticed for the past decade now that my recovery ability has been diminishing noticeably.
Since this pain overwhelms and becomes the focus of my existence, I spend most of my life constantly trying to find a cure for whatever ails me. Finally into the second month, with no clear momentum of recovery, I saw several articles in the ”’Honolulu Star-Bulletin”’ on a revolutionary new treatment for fibromyalgia using guaifenesen, most known and used commonly in cough syrups. I knew very little about fibromyalgia (FMS) other than it was one of those autoimmune diseases generally lumped in the arthritis class of degenerating/debilitating conditions with little prospects for recovery, with success being limited to the treatment/tolerance of pain.
What grabbed my attention particularly though was the mention of guaifenesen, which I suspected since my first prolonged serious use of it in the 1980s, had something in it that not only cured my recurring annual bronchitis, but also made me feel exhilaratingly great. When I informed friends of this fact and suggested that everyone ought to take it for these wonderful effects, as a daily tonic if you will, they countered that one could get hooked on cough medicine, since it hadn’t been but a few years since codeine was banned from cough syrups. Over the years though, I had been quick to resort to this product at the first sign of extended respiratory problems. But as I read of the symptoms of FMS and the effects of guaifenesen, especially that it had no known negative side-effects but actually many favorable ones for a wide-range of conditions, a lot of things immediately became clear to me. I attended the free lecture presentation given by the founding proponent of this treatment and noted the attendees and general quality of the experience.
After subscribing to their newsgroup and monitoring their discussions, I pronounced as my introduction to the group that it was The Next Big Thing — because it addresses a lot of things that up to now, have been considered unalterable facts of existence by many, falling into the general experience of aging and deterioration we all seem to become increasingly aware of at some point in our lives. The key I think is whether it can deal successfully with arthritis — which is the more familiar term for chronic ailments and pain. There seems to be little differentiation and distinction between the pain and symptoms of FMS and the more general category of arthritis, and that the treatment of one would be successful for the other. In fact, the chief proponent of this treatment, Dr. Raymond St. Amand, goes on to create an even more far-ranging broad category he calls Systemic Dysynergism — or the failure of the whole organism for a single, simple reason — easily rectified by the use of guaifenesen tablets, a cheaply available product that would supplant a whole host of supplements and treatments many use routinely for addressing the many difficulties of common everyday living. In fact, the successful implementation of the guaifenesen protocol is that it requires one to eliminate aspirin and its many derivatives gotten through the use of herbal products and nutraceuticals.
Since the 16th century, guaifenesen, whose origins are very similar to aspirin, had been used for the treatment of rheumatism. At the turn of the previous century, it was available as one of the many competing “patent medicine” treatments claiming to be the elixir for good health, of which Coca-Cola was among them. In the 1980s it was firmly established as the essential and effective ingredient in cough medicine — with codeine no longer available without a prescription. At that time, it was rumored also to be effective for vague other conditions, pending conclusive research and studies that never became conclusive. I was a shareholder at the time so I was particularly hopeful but nothing seemed to become of that and the company got sold for a modest premium.
So I was a little more than intrigued when I saw that guaifenesen might be an effective treatment for fibromyalgia — since learning about it, also seems to be the condition with the highest trajectory and momentum for impact among the demographics of society at the present time, encompassing if not synonymous with such conditions as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Alzheimer’s, arthritis, insomnia, allergies, tension and stress — the whole panoply of modern living and afflictions. But there is a simple remedy — apparently.
Ever since my first job out of college as a medical research subject (human guinea pig), I’ve thought of myself as an independent researcher for the various concerns that deeply concern me, which has usually brought me into the proximity of the next big thing, whether that was in exercise, political movements, science fiction becoming fact, the new age of communications and society, etc. I look for developments on the cutting edge — and thus disposed, inevitably find them, or they find me.
As a person who has a lifetime involvement in noncompetitive bodybuilding, I had been noticing with more than casual concern of the almost lack of responsiveness in my recovery ability for some time now. What I have noticed on the guaifenesen regimen (I do not adhere strictly to the doctor’s protocol, which has the discussion group administrators determined to convert me), is that my recovery ability seems to be revitalized and restored, which is a revival of my days of fearing no injury, disease and attempt because I knew I would recover — stronger and better for it. That begins to affect one’s whole outlook and psychology, and the premises of all one holds to be true in life. The present limitation seems to be largely that of effective information sharing — determining reasonably credible information and then sharing it with a vitally interested citizenry. Rather, what we still see with the present institutions of information transmission and control is the desire to hold on to a bygone era in which information is not shared but controlled and manipulated, edited, censored — so that a few of last century’s power freaks can ascend in their power struggle increasingly fewer subscribe to and participate. That is to say, they’re reliving and trying to win yesterday’s ball game — while the rest are yelling and engrossed in the present game, and they meanwhile have no idea what all that screaming and shouting is all about. They insist that they are where the action is, that their opinions are what everybody better dance to.
Welcome to the 21st Century!
”’Mike Hu is a Honolulu resident and can be reached at:”’ mailto:humikhu@aol.com ”’See his Web site at:”’ https://www.geocities.com/mikhu.geo/