What diet works best to control Fibro pain?

Symptoms & Treatments
12

GI = Gastrointestinal symptoms - Gastroenterologist, gastroscopy and/or colonoscopy.
To make sure there is nothing serious going on a gastroenterologist should check your stomach by looking into it (gastroscopy) incl. the esophagus, or your duodenum as well (esophagogastroduodenoscopy, EGD) and your gut (e.g. colonoscopy)

Ideas how to try diets

Myself I’ve tried and now do a combination of many diets, but they didn’t change my fibro in any way, I do them for IBSD, general health & genetically high blood fats (to hopefully get/keep off of statins).
All the same there is evidence from studies that for fibro at least
:one: a Mediterranean diet will be generally helpful, as well as :two: sorting out fibro or IBS triggers with an elimination diet.

  1. I’d get used to pinpointing and tracking symptoms with a food diary, esp. any IBS-type symptoms, those & their triggers may give you ideas. With accurate descriptions & pain amounts.
  2. Just eating healthier improves your health generally. Weight might also be an issue.
    That would mean unsaturated fats (olive oil, or better still omega 3 from flaxseed oil, plus 1-3 tbl./day linseed oil) rather than saturated, complex carbs rather than simple (like sugar), 5 smaller meals, not too late in the evening (or if blood fats are high 3 meals spaced apart). The Mediterranean diet is considered as one of the most generally healthy. More veg than fruits (more green veg than coloured), wholemeal, praps organic, more plants. Many people say no/low sugar, coffee and alcohol (as well as drugs & meds).
  3. I’d watch for where it’d hurt most, cravings, like chocolate, and praps have a look at that, e.g. Trudy Scott about that & amino acids.
  4. Careful with anti-inflammatory herbs & spices (ginger, the related curcumin/turmeric, garlic etc.) They can improve pain, but increase symptoms if you have hyperacidity/IBS (I don’t tolerate any of them).
  5. I’d actually start where it easiest for you, to get under way, and might be a clue.
  6. I’d do it elimination diet wise - only I’ve been doing that for decades due to my IBSD long before fibro.
  7. Overview of the relevant & acknowledged types I’ve found to date (I do about half of this, plus mainly raw food):
    a. No: fructose/fructans; gluten; grain; nightshade; sugar; dairy; meat; dairy & meat; or dairy & grains.
    b. Low : Carb incl. Keto(genic), FODMAP; incl. fructans; and candida; histamine; oxalate; or salicylate.
    c. Combinations : paleo; AIP; plant; virgin; Mediterranean; pegan; elimination; Hay; organic; whole food; fasting. (See below for quick details.)
    BTW - US grain types are apparently less ‘natural’ than European and it makes quite some difference if they are wholemeal or not.

Recent research has no clear evidence for pain improvement, the research needs to get better the researchers say, but the articles below recommend this for fibro:

  • vegetarian, dairy-free, then both: vegan (lots of nuts & tofu/soy),
  • gluten-free,
  • Mediterranean, which pretty much involves low fructose/-ans, then go low FODMAP anyway.
    Not sure if this is the “easiest order” for these, it was mine, after having tried all I do 80% all of them.

Pagliai, 2020: Nutritional Interventions in the Management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome
Supps: Vitamin D, magnesium, iron and probiotics.
Diet: olive oil, replacement diet with ancient grains, low-calorie, low FODMAP, gluten-free, monosodium glutamate & aspartame-free diet, vegetarian, Mediterranean.
Lowry 2020: Dietary Interventions in the Management of Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review and Best-Evidence Synthesis
vegan, low FODMAP.
Supps: with Chlorella green algae, coenzyme Q10, acetyl-l-carnitine or a combination of vitamin C and E

Lattanzio, 2017: Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Metabolic Approach Grounded in Biochemistry for the Remission of Symptoms: explains low fructose/fructans (serotonin).

A few short specifics on the above, excerpted from my treatments list

C.1.10 low carb/Atkins, incl.:
C.1.11 Keto diet / ketogenic diet (high fat, low carb, low protein) and
C.1.12 low FODMAP ( f ermentable o ligo-, d i-, m ono-saccharides a nd p olyols, i.e. all short-chain carbs), incl. fructans (see fructose free above),
C.1.13 candida diet (= low on simple carbs)

C.1.17 paleo diet (palaeolithic, caveman, stone-age, = no dairy, grains, sugar, legumes…), incl.:
C.1.18 AIP diet (Autoimmune protocol) / anti-inflammatory: paleo minus nightshades, nuts, seeds, sweeteners and egg; no wheat/gluten, milk
C.1.19 plant paradox (lectin free) for leaky gut
C.1.20 virgin diet (no gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, corn, peanuts and sugar)
C.1.21 Mediterranean diet: un saturated fats (e.g. omega 3: flaxseed oil) fats & complex carbs
C.1.22 pegan, a vegan form of paleo, for fibro (‘nutrition docs’ on German TV/youtube)
C.1.23 elimination diet using diary for food sensitivities contributing to IBS & stomach hyperacidity or pain, or the whole30 elimination diet.
C.1.24 Hay diet (“separate” proteins & carbs in one meal), seperate plant & dairy protein) for IBS

Nordic diet similar to Mediterranean diet:

A new one for me is the Nordic diet. It’s a bit of an umbrella term, but often is meant similar to the Mediterranean diet, and I’ve realized that I tend more towards that than the Mediterranean diet. However studies have only looked at and shown help with cardiovascular/heart, inflammatory diseases, type 2 diabetes and chronic disease in general, not with fibromyalgia or pain generally.
Lankinen 2019 regarding inflammatory diseases compares Mediterranean Diet MD to Healthy Nordic Diet HND: “Both of these dietary patterns emphasize the abundant use of fruits and vegetables (and berries in HND), whole grain products, fish, and vegetable oil (canola oil in HND and olive oil in MD), but restrict the use of saturated fat and red and processed meat.”
German links: ZdG and NDR

Experiences here on this forum mainly second the above...

A few examples:
NIH Releases Dietary Supplement Database with Personal Tracker and Smartphone Application
Acid: Heartburn, reflux, stomach burning - #3 by JayCS
vegan: Feeling defeated today - #5 by mommyinpain
Ginger: Fibromyalgia and Weight Management - #11 by Luna01
artificial sugar, yogurt (dairy) and Nightshade plants: What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro
Vegetarian, gluten, fructose, not nightshades, Flax Seed Oil What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #2 by Bast75
Gluten free, sugar What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #3 by Jewelbird
Paleo What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #5 by Cathy58
Dairy, gluten, sweeteners What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #6 by Sherry
Good food: What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro
gluten, sugar, wheat and dairy, empty carbs What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #11 by Cindy_H
nightshades What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #18 by Petunia_Girl
Caffeine, sugar, sweeteners, fructose, simple carbs, saturated fats, red meat, alcohol, gluten, dairy, nightshades What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #19 by Justamom72

Terms/diets referred to on this forum, but not mentioned/explained above yet:

Alternative diets with no evidence: Fen-Phen, NAET, HCG, Blood types, Maker's diet, "?Beyond? Diet"

Fen-Phen diet (weight; drug combination fenfluramine/phentermine, dangerous): Weight gain...Injections or Meds? - #9 by Auburnm
NAET practitioner (Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques, combines anti-allergy diet with acupuncture in an improbable way): What are Your Good & Bad Foods for Fibro - #14 by NIR
HCG diet (human chorionic gonadotropin injections, no medical evidence) Hcg? - #7 by littlejld
blood types: Foods for blood types: Blood type foods
“The Makers Diet” by Jordan S. Rubin (a Christian diet programme, claiming a biblical diet will heal) Blood type foods - #3 by Funnygirl71
(Not sure what is meant with “Beyond diet” = low carb: Has anyone been on these medications? - #18 by irishroots