FAQs: Protocol

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1. Personal Responsibility
2. Can I eat stevia, fennel seed, and flax seed?
3. What is the difference between FMS and MPS?
4. Polymyalgia
5. How will I feel when I start the Guaifenesin Protocol?
6. Are there different versions of the Guaifenesin Protocol?

1. Personal Responsibility
     The Guaifenesin Protocol demands a life change, and complete understanding of what you must do for yourself, as does the treatment, for say, Diabetes. When my husband was diagnosed with that he had to learn for himself what he could eat and could not eat. He did not have a physician or nurse with him to read his labels. Until he learned for himself what to do and how to do it, he could never be healthy and always had misadventures. There was no diabetesdoc at the end of an email who would tell him if he could eat cheerios. He was given the guidelines and he had a choice of embracing them and getting his health under control or being half-committed and thinking a little bit of sugar couldn't possibly hurt, then feeling lousy much of the time.

Our protocol is the same. There are only a few words you need to look for on labels. You need to learn them, or write them down and carry them with you. They are:
      Look for OILS, GELS or EXTRACTS containing a plant name. You can't use them on your skin or as medications.
      Look for SALICYLATE, SALICYLIC ACID. You CAN'T use them, or and chemicals with SAL in them. You can't use them on your skin or in medications.
      In Sunscreens you can't use octiSALate, or homoSALate, MEROXYL or MERADIMATE.
      Look for MINT, MENTHOL, MENTHYL. If a chemical has MEN in it you can't use it on your skin or in medications. "On your skin" also means the skin inside your mouth. NO MINT FLAVOR -. No mint flavor in anything.
     You can't use bark extracts like CAMPHOR, BALSAM, PYGNOGENOL, BISABOL.
     You cannot use BIOFLAVINOIDS in vitamins or any supplement.     

This is extra credit.
You don't need to know it but if you do, you'll have more products to use:
There are some salicylate-free plant PARTS. CROWS is an easy way to remember these salicylate-free plant parts: these seeds or grains do not contain salicylates - Corn, Rice, Rye, Oats, Wheat, Soy. (The other parts of the plants DO contain salicylates, but the seeds or grains do not.)
      You need to avoid all oils, gels and extracts with a plant name EXCEPT if the name is Corn, Rice, Rye, Oats, Wheat, or Soy.

      This is posted on the website --under salicylate free products. This is what you need to know to be successful at the protocol. I realize that it sounds like we are blaming the patient, but it's true that nearly all failures on the protocol stem from a person not grasping the above.
      If you choose to do the Guaifenesin Protocol you are choosing to be empowered and to get yourself well by taking control of this salicylate issue. And, when you do, you will feel more at ease, more in control, and will have taken a step to help yourself. top

2. Can I eat stevia, fennel seed, and flax seed?
All foods are fine. To identify a food check the package. If it says "Nutrition Facts" it is a food and you can eat it.If it says "supplemental or supplement facts" it is a medication. So then you would need to check it using the rules for medications: no plants oils, gels or extracts, and no bioflavinoids or salicylates.

Stevia is confusing because it is labeled as a supplement.  This is because it is not FDA approved so it is labeled this way to circumvent the laws.  It is okay to use as a food.

3. What is the difference between FMS and MPS?
Dr. St. Amand feels that fibromyalgia is caused by a system-wide energy deprivation. This lack of energy accounts for all the systems in our bodies functioning marginally and for the spastic, contracted areas in muscle. He believes that it is a disturbance in phosphate metabolism, diminshing the ability of the cells to make energy properly.

He believes this common denominator explains the contracted painful areas in FMS muscles and myofascial tissue. He believes it causes the fibrofog and the fatigue. Bursitis, tendonitis, and myofascial tissue simply describe WHERE the problem is, not what causes it. He does not believe that myofascial lesions are caused by a different disturbance. Injuries can cause energy deprivation also, but are limited to the specific area in question. If you look at a cell overworked by exercise and one overworked by FMS we don't think you would see a difference, that is, the end result would be the same.

You can have pain in the myofascia all over your body or in one area. If it is part of what we call fibromyalgia then it is not localized in one area only. Part of the definition of FMS is that the pain must be in all four quadrants in your body of longer than three months' duration. The real name of the Myofascial pain disorder that is either part of FMS or closely related to it is "Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome.' The key is the word chronic, as opposed to acute--that is of a certain time with sudden onset and clearing characterized by a single injury or incident. top

4. Polymyalgia - Is the Guaifenesin Protocol useful for people with both polymyalgia and fibromyalgia?
No, guaifenesin only treats fibromyalgia. Polymyalgia is a distinct separate condition diagnosed by a blood test known as a sed rate. It must be aggressively treated with steroids or it can result in blindness. Once can continue using guaifenesin while being treated for polymyalgia. Pain from polymyalgia resolves very quickly after steroids have been administered.

5. How will I feel when I start the Guaifenesin Protocol?
When you start guaifenesin there are several things you may experience. Some people actually feel better for 24-48 hours. This is not a common reaction, but it happens because the guaifenesin begins to help the body excrete phosphate right away, if it isn't blocked. You may feel nothing at all. Remember that you won't feel differently until you get to your therapeutic dose. This means that the majority of people won't feel anything for the first week on guaifenesin simply because a dose of 300 mg twice a day (the reccommended dose for the first week) isn't high enough to begin reversal.

Once you've hit the dose that works for you (most people will experience this at 600 mg. twice a day, and ninety percent will feel it by 1800 mg. of guaifenesin a day) your symptoms should exacerbate. You'll be more tired, more achey -- as if you are coming down with a flu. You may be more emotional, your irritable bowel may flare, you may be absolutely exhausted. Your symptoms, any and/or all of them can get distinctly worse. When this happens you'll know you're at the correct dose.

Some people do reverse without a distinct worsening. Their symptoms might get only slightly worse for a short period. But their maps will show clearing. These people feel as if they have a straight line of clearing instead of the up and down cycling. These people are in the minority, but if a mapping confirms you're making progress, even though you haven't felt much worse, you may be one of the lucky ones. top

6. Are there different versions of the Guaifenesin Protocol?
Our answer is NO. There are many people who claim that variations of the protocol work for them, and that is fine, but what may work for them is not the protocol. We believe that the protocol must be followed exactly, as it is written.

Quite often I am asked to respond to questions citing various experts such as PhDs who have never treated a patient except him or herself.  They have ideas and experience that may pertain to only one person. Others claim that the dosing guidelines needn't be followed as written. This is incorrect. Dr. St. Amand has carefully tailored his work with thousands of patients so that is applicable to everyone.

Dr. St. Amand has been using the HG diet for decades--- with thousands of patients. Yes, the diet can be difficult to start. The more you live on carbs the harder it is to start the diet. You can fiddle and you can try to get around it, but the bottom line is that if you do the diet as written you will get better.

We always say "experiment at your own risk." This does not imply that experiments don't work, only that they may not. We work hard to make sure as many people as possible succeed using our protocol and our diet. It is only common sense for you to take advantage of what so many patients have taught us is the best way to do things.top