I would love to find someone who has been where I was/am in health that can relate to me and guide me thru the protocol as it helped them. I hope that this is not out of place or too long and if so, I apologize. I'm new and very excited about how things are going so far. Please read below for my story:

I'm 28, married and have 3 kids...first ever fibromyalgia symptom (according to doctors) was mild nagging upper back pain. It started a few months after my first child in 2003...progressed into deep throbbing pain withing 3 yrs and after my 2nd child, I had my 1st spasm...spasms have gotten so bad and so frequent that I fear them. The longest one lasted 14 hours and put me in the ER... and when it was over, I threw up everywhere, slept for a week and lost 10 pounds. My most recent spasm was about 6 months ago. They tend to last about 2-3 hours but can last longer...and sometimes I go months without them and then there are months I have them every week...one 3 day weekend I had two everyday. I absolutely would rather die than have a spasm. When I say spasms, think of having the wind knocked out of you while being crushed by a truck and someone twisting a knife in and out of your shoulder blade...for hours, nons-top while you cry out to God to take your life because He refuses to help you. It was that bad.

I have seen tons of docs...the 1st told me I had mild scoliosis and put me in phys therapy which was a joke because I worked out like a crazy woman...I stretched, I ran, I lifted, I cycled, I danced! Physical therapy made me want to pull my hair out, it was so boring. Then a few yrs later, the spasms start getting so bad, I start getting depressed, go to doc...who gives me tramadol and flexeril...which I read shouldn't be taken together...lovely! This doc at least sends me to a nuerologist at a medical college (I drive over an hour to get there). Then he does everything every other doc has done and tells me nothing is wrong...tells me to come back in September for an EMG. EMG is normal. I have had x-rays (scoliosis showed), MRI (bulging discs in my neck), aldolase levels are raised slightly, body temp always slightly low, possible hypothyroid (numbers keep bouncing just below normal and then back to normal)...everything else is normal. Family doc thinks I'm a head case apparently because she keeps pushing psych meds that I refuse to take.

I found that certain foods (mainly Sugar and simple carbs) irritated my back more...also, lack of exercise makes me ache...if not taking tramadol, I felt weak and semi-paralyzed...like a 28 yr old trapped in a 60 yr old's body..this was pre-tramadol as well...the tram gave me energy and motivated me to do things that otherwise, I would not...because I'd rather have slept all day long...I felt nauseous and sick most of the time, especially after eating. I never had the energy to play with my children. My fatigue was so severe, I fell asleep while driving. As soon as I got up in the morning, putting on clothes was a chore. Even though I had love in my life and children and a wonderful husband, I don't understand how I lived so many years feeling so miserably and NO ONE HELPED ME! Doctors are so careless! I recently gained 20 pounds in 6 months doing nothing different. My skin was getting bad. Dry but breaking out. I asked several times for help because I felt so tired, sick..at one point, I couldn't breathe and still have shortness of breath. I just can't get a deep, even breath. Guess what my lovely doc says? "Double ur anxiety meds." HA! Little did she know, I wasn't even taking them to begin with! I'm anxious because I hurt, am tired, cannot breathe and I secretly wish to be dead rather than to live like this forever. Symptoms got worse and worse over the years.

This was only two weeks ago. Since starting iodine, I feel like I have gotten my life back. I feel ashamed to have lived in a stupor like a zombie for so long, just trying to get by each day. Even in the midst of detox symptoms, I have done more in two weeks than I have in the last year! I feel awesome! I LOVE life! I am losing inches, not weight yet but who cares!? I have apologized profusely to my husband for being so sick and lazy and thanked him for loving me so much. He basically took care of me and three kids for the last 3 years as I had been progressively getting worse. Even though I am so happy now, I want to cry for my old self and the years wasted. I want to help those around me. I see obese women and tired men and feel so bad for them. I want to help! I'm awake and alive! I'm even smarter. Now i relaize that it isnot healthy to accept a life f deteriorating health just due to aging. A 60 year old shouldn't have even felt the way I did.

Are there any other young moms out there who can relate to my story? How successful have u been in healing and at what point do u feel u are healed and are just maintaining? I'd appreciate any and all feedback. ;)