Researchers have found that people with fibromyalgia are low in vitamin B12 in the cerebral spinal fluid. And, reading the online presentation "Fibromyalgia: A Hypothesis of Etiology", you see the important role that vitamin B12 plays in helping the body build its blood supply.

Though I point out the importance of vitamin B12 for good health, it is not one of the supplements included in the program. Why? Because the body will get this vitamin from your food when digestive health returns, assuming you eat nutritious foods that contain the vitamin.

There are some people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome that are self injecting large doses of vitamin B12. My understanding is that the high doses of the vitamin is supposedly providing some kind of detoxing in the body. From the information I have read on vitamin B12 there is no reported danger in taking large doses of vitamin B12.

However, reading "The Complete Book of Minerals for Health" by J.I. Rodale and Staff, published in 1976, I came across this bit of information and wisdom that may be of interest. The following is referring to injecting iron-dextran, which appears to have been widely used in the late 1950's and early 60's. That is until laboratory tests with rats showed an increase in cancer injecting iron-dextran.

We think this last statement is most interesting. A number of perfectly harmless substances may produce cancer when injected into the body. Doesn't this seem to be weighty evidence showing that injections of anything are just plain not good for you?

Finally, the Australian Journal points out that the iron-dextran preparation has not been withdrawn from sale in Australia and counsels doctors to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to use it.

The lesson to be learned from this grim story is, we believe, to avoid injections whenever you possibly can. Injections of even harmless substances are dangerous. Injections are completely unnatural. The human body is purposely enclosed in a skin which is very effective in keeping foreign matter out of the bloodstream and the body cells. An injection is an insult to this integrity.

The article goes on to say that iron is best obtained by eating foods rich in the mineral such as Wheat germ, liver, meat, eggs, heart, kidney, lentils, dried mushrooms, blackstrap molasses, soybeans, sunflower seeds. Milk contains extremely little iron. Cereals contain phytic acid which tends to destroy iron in the digestive tract, so the milk and processed cereal which form the backbone of many American children's diets could readily lead to anemia.

Anyway, back to vitamin B12. If you are injecting the vitamin regularly, take care. I think that the positive results that are being seen by people following this program is showing that vitamin B12 supplementation, in any form, especially by injection, is not required to regain your health from fibromyalgia.

All the best,
Jim Clements