I don't want to be dismissive, insensitive or otherwise hurtful to anyone with fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis. But these are diseases which, in many cases, can be cured easily by the mind. Hear me out.
These diseases typically manifest AFTER a trauma or depressed state has set in. They rarely affect people with positive mindsets. The diseases are typified by symptoms wherein the body attacks itself. It is the physical manifestation of self-loathing. This is science, not religion or spirituality I am talking about. Not "laying of hands."
My ex had RA after depression kicked in while she in her late 20's. By 30, her feet looked like old woman feet, curled and knobbed, and she was losing sight in one eye. We began focusing on positive thinking and visualizations. We removed a lot of negative stressors from her life and tried to generally calm things down. She also changed her diet to stop foods that made this worse. She did lose vision in one eye, and had to have a lens surgically implanted, but after that, within a year, everything had reversed. A few years later, her feet had gone back to normal and she was jogging every day, without any pain. It was as if all the arthritis simply disappeared.
About six years later, now we are split up, and her new PTSD / bipolar issues have reignited her RA and she is losing her other eye entirely, and will probably be blind. Because we are split up, I can't help her this time, and she is not helping herself. It's painful to watch her deteriorate under her own self hatred.
The brain brings about the conditions for fibro or RA, or other diseases where the immune system attacks the body. The brain only reacts on the commands of the mind, so changing the mind (how you think) changes the brain. The brain CAN produce the corrections to the immune system once it is convinced, at the subliminal level, that the body is not its enemy. This results in the release of endorphins and other corrective actions that switch off the immune system's attacks; in effect, the mind tells the brain "everything is okay", and the brain tells the body the war is over, pull back the troops. Again, this is science,not voodoo. I wouldn't advocate something as simple as "think positive" if you broke your leg, for example. There are entire clinics attempting these techniques, some with success, in reversing cancer. I don't have an opinion on that, but I do know that RA and fibro are EASY.
I am not advocating stopping any meds or treatments. But they will not work alone, and only reduce the symptoms. To cure it, you have to reduce your stress, do positive visualizations, affirmations, eat right, and possibly meditate. Fibro and RA are some of the easiest diseases to "reverse" using these techniques. To keep it cured, you have to make these changes for life. (Although slipping off the diet can be done, if you go back to a normal diet, so long as you stay away from terrible-for-you foods.)
EFT (emotional freedom technique) is one of the tools that works well on these diseases too. EFT doesn't do all the stuff they promise it will (like reverse PTSD in all cases), but against fibro or RA, it can help with the visualizations and reprogramming the brain into a positive state.
If you have an iPad/iPod, you can download some free (?) positive visualization guided meditation programs. I am sure there are many out there on the web for PC, too.
CAVEAT: yes I know the irony here. You have to be positive to reverse the fibro, but you are already depressed because of the fibro (or other reasons.) You have to break that cycle somehow. That's the most difficult part, but it can be done.
