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The Guaifenesin Protocol & Treatment Instructions
Dr. Paul St. Amand has a developed a proven method for helping
many patients overcome symptoms using the guaifenesin protocol.
But before you undertake the guaifenesin treatment, Dr. St. Amand recommends
that you first locate a doctor who has a good understanding of your symptoms and rule out
any conditions that may be the cause.
Once you have found a knowledgeable physician, Dr. St. Amand
advises a basic work-up that includes a blood count to rule out anemia or infections that might be causing your symptoms. In addition, a thyroid test known as a TSH should be
included. Tell your doctor all of the medications and/or vitamins you are taking
and discuss whether or not you have hypoglycemia or carbohydrate intolerance.
Guaifenesin and Cycling
Dr. St. Amand believes that FM develops in a cyclical process. As FM first begins
to emerge, a patient experiences painful symptoms interspersed with periods
of normalcy. Then, the periods without symptoms become shorter, the symptomatic
episodes become more frequent, and the symptoms worsen. This is what Dr. St.
Amand calls cycling, and guaifenesin therapy can cause a reversal of this process.
Reversal cycles are generally intensified symptoms of whatever
you feel. For example, if your primary complaint is fatigue or nerves, this
symptom will become worse. If it is pain, this will become worse. Guaifenesin
treatment reproduces FM symptoms, often markedly, which signals the onset of
disease reversal. This is a crucial time for patients who often require much
encouragement during these early periods of intense cycling. With the correct
guaifenesin dosage your most recent symptoms will fade first, with each symptom
clearing in the reverse order in which they first appeared. Regression with
guaifenesin occurs at a rate of about for two months of treatment for every
year the person has had FM. Improvement is sustained initially for only a few
hours, later for days and eventually, for weeks. Duration of the illness and
responsiveness to guaifenesin determine recovery time.
Mapping
Mapping of tender points is strongly recommended for everyone while on the guaifenesin
protocol, particularly if you do not experience a clear response of exacerbated
symptoms during titration of dose, or don't show clear cycles within a few months.
Dr. St. Amand encourages patients to record periods of intensification and improvement
while they are taking guaifenesin. This mapping reveals a glance of partial
or total symptom clearing to confirm adequacy of guaifenesin dosage. Without
mapping it's impossible to give an accurate indication of whether a guaifenesin
dose is working successfully, or if it is too low or too high, or if guaifenesin
is being blocked by salicylates (more on this later). Dr. St. Amand suggests
you approach a physiotherapist, chiropractor, massage therapist, etc., (as most
physicians are not used to palpating the muscular lesions that make up the "lumps
and bumps" of fibromyalgia), with his mapping video to acquire a detailed
picture of your painful areas.
Guaifenesin Dosing and Administration
According to Dr. St. Amand, everyone should begin guaifenesin at 300mg twice
daily. Cycling can begin any time before the seventh day if this dose is sufficient
and you aren't affected by products with salicylates. You should feel significantly,
but tolerably worse. Statistics show that 300mg guaifenesin twice daily suffices
for 20 percent of patients. If you do not experience severe exacerbation of
symptoms in that time, increase to 600mg guaifenesin twice per day. Dr. St.
Amand holds his patients at 600mg guaifenesin twice daily for three more weeks,
until he sees the patient again and re-maps tender points. This guaifenesin
dose suffices for 70 percent of people.
Those patients not being mapped would do well to hold at a
dosage of 600mg guaifenesin twice daily for a month rather than the 3 weeks.
If you do have to raise your guaifenesin dose again it would be best to hold
for one month minimum each time.
Dr. St. Amand cautions that if you raise the dose of guaifenesin
too fast you will likely end up in too much pain or with too harsh an exacerbation
of symptoms. Additionally, you may not be able to accurately determine your
proper guaifenesin dosage and put yourself through a more severe reversal than
necessary. If the patient does not have a worsening of symptoms after a month
on the 1,200mg guaifenesin dosage, Dr. St. Amand recommend raising the guaifenesin
dosage to 1,800mg daily. At this point, 90 percent of patients will have found
their proper cycling dose. The higher guaifenesin dosages of 2,400mg on up will
only be needed by approximately 10 percent of patients.
For the higher guaifenesin dosages, when the amount of pills
for a day equals an odd number, Dr. St. Amand suggests people take the extra
pill in the morning, to avoid splitting pills (just for convenience). He usually
titrates dosage by 600mg, but if you prefer to raise your guaifenesin dosage
by 300mg that is acceptable.
Roughly 10 percent of patients have no severe symptoms with
guaifenesin during reversal. On occasion someone might feel little or no difference
in symptoms, but if mapped may show remarkable progress. Some of these patients
have a variably high pain threshold and don't notice much change despite evidence
of great success. Another minority of patients progress very slowly while taking
guaifenesin, with practically zero periods of improvement over a long stretch
of time. In most instances this indicates the person is at too high or low a
guaifenesin dose, or has guaifenesin blocked by salicylates; however a person
may also be exhibiting a personal and unique pattern of reversal. Apart from
6 patients who cycle on 4,800mg guaifenesin per day, the highest guaifenesin
dose Dr St Amand has had to use on his patients is 3,600mg daily. Very few patients
have cycled on 300mg guaifenesin daily.
Guaifenesin Blockers: Salicylates
The greatest source of patient error lies in the use of salicylates, aspirin-related
compounds that interfere with guaifenesin at the kidney level. It is important
that you do not use any aspirin compounds, as they completely block the effects
of guaifenesin. Before beginning guaifenesin treatment, it is imperative you
make sure you are not allowing any source of salicylates into your body. At
each dosing level, it is recommended you take an inventory of your product usage
to ensure guaifenesin will not be blocked by anything containing salicylates.
All plants manufacture salicylates, and the skin readily absorbs
these compounds into the body. Herbal medications, cosmetics and skin creams
or lotions containing herbs are also high in salicylates and must be avoided.
Among others, these include aloe, camphor, castor oil, witch hazel, ginseng
and plant-derived vitamins. You must read all ingredients contained in anything
you apply to your skin. These warnings do not apply to foods, including herbs
and spices used in cooking, even though some contain salicylates. Apparently,
the amount is insufficient for blocking because of the action of the digestive
tract, and because the liver processes small amounts through a process called
glycination. There are no restrictions on diet, unless you also have hypoglycemia.
Many pain medications contain aspirin or have the word 'salicylate' or 'salicylic
acid as part of the contents. You cannot use these. However, pain relievers
such as Tylenol, Advil, and other anti-inflammatory drugs do not contain salicylates.
As a precaution, assume you are very sensitive to salicylates,
and be very meticulous in conducting your search for them in topicals, supplements
and medications. Be assiduous in eliminating salicylates from your home, especially
in the early days of guaifenesin treatment, it is almost impossible to tell
physically whether or not one is blocking the guaifenesin. Further along in
the guaifenesin treatment when you have begun to experience long periods of
improvement, blocking may be easier to detect.
If you are unsure if a product contains salicylates, apply
this rule: When in doubt, don't. The reward is getting well.
The process to recovery is generally simple; however, some
people tend to make it very complicated, perhaps because they want to bargain
and not give up favored items. Those who are very sick consider it simple to
give up aloe in lipstick or to use one sunblock instead of another. Once you
get well, you never want to go back.
(Source: www.guaidoc.com)
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