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There are many theories about what causes fibromyalgia. One is that it's due to an overly stimulated sympathetic nervous system. Here's some background on that system and how you may be able to use your subconscious to help calm it down.

If you have fibromyalgia you know only too well the bizarre collection of symptoms that can accompany this condition--pain throughout the body, fatigue, digestive upsets, cognitive problems, sleep difficulties, and others.

One theory that seems to account for most if not all of these symptoms is that they occur because the sympathetic nervous system is running amok. What is this system, and how does it manage to cause all these problems?

The Sympathetic Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system is one of several nervous systems in the body. Here's where it fits into the overall hierarchy:

The central nervous system (CNS) consists of the brain and spinal cord. It's the seat of consciousness and provides central control of the body.

Complementing it is the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which has two parts. The first, the sensory-somatic nervous system, connects the CNS to the body's outer environment. The second, the autonomic nervous system, connects the CNS to the inner world of tissues and organs.

The autonomic nervous system is further divided into two parts. One of them, the sympathetic nervous system, stimulates the fight or flight syndrome. The other, the parasympathetic nervous system, calms the body down after danger has passed.

In fibromyalgia, an accident or other trauma may somehow trigger the fight or flight syndrome into constant activity, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• One clue that this may be so is that the primary neurotransmitter used to excite this behavior is norepinephrine, a chemical that is often found in abundance in the spinal fluid of fibromyalgia sufferers.

• Another clue is that fibromyalgia pain shows up in tender points, many of which are in the neck area. This same area contains a large number of interconnections for the sympathetic nervous system.

Hyperactivity of the above sort would explain the fatigue and sleep problems that go with fibromyalgia, and might also explain the alternating diarrhea and constipation that often occur. Lack of sleep in turn could account for difficulties in memory and concentration. The pain itself seems to be associated with the abundance of norepinephrine.

The Possible Calming Effect of the Subconscious

It may be possible to focus your subconscious on norepinephrine and the sympathetic nervous system through the use of visualization statements. These statements represent the specific language that your subconscious wants you to read back to it to help ease your pain. They're simple and are targeted directly at the main factors that could bring you relief.

You can obtain these statements by learning how to communicate directly with your own subconscious mind. The process is straightforward and can be done at home by working with a facilitator over the telephone. You you need no special skills and no previous experience in working with the subconscious.

It's possible to ask the subconscious about norepinephrine levels. Depending on your situation the subconscious will probably suggest visualization statements to help decrease this chemical to attempt to lower the pain level.

In addition, it's possible to ask about making the Alpha-2 receptors of your sympathetic nervous system more receptive to catecholamine. Catecholamine is thought to produce a calming effect on the sympathetic system.

Other questions to the subconscious concern the immune system and the endocrine system, both of which may be implicated in fibromyalgia.

Programming the Subconscious

Fibromyalgia has no known cure, but the subconscious is quite powerful. When programmed through the very visualizations that it suggests you use, it may be able to turn episodes of uncontrolled fibromyalgia pain into events over which you have a degree of control.

Ben Plumb is CEO and President of The Visualization Group, Inc. The company's service is delivered by people like himself who personally suffered from years of chronic pain, and used the visualization method described in this article to obtain relief when nothing else worked.