Info box: For more information about Reliv, or to attend a seminar contact [email protected].

In the beginning, she couldn’t sleep. Then she couldn’t eat. There were migraines and backaches and sick days galore. Cape Elizabeth resident Janet Brown was sick. But she didn’t know why.

After undergoing what Brown describes as “every test known to man” she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. These conditions hijacked her life for three years. Until she discovered a nutritional soy-based multivitamin supplement called Reliv, which she said changed her life.

Reliv, a line of nutritional products, based out of St. Louis, relies on local grassroots networking and user testimonials to sell its products. Similar to the Mary Kay or Tupperware system, Reliv representatives work out of their home, networking with their families, friends and co-workers to sell their product.

For Brown, Reliv helped her when nothing else could. She believes it can help others too, so she made a career of selling it. “With Reliv, I can impact people’s lives more than any other job I’ve had,” she said.

Prior to her illness, Brown ran the Richards Pool in Cape Elizabeth. When she fell ill, she couldn’t work; she could barely get out of bed. Brown says she lost $200,000 in income and incurred $17,000 in medical expenses.

“I felt like I was dying,” she said. In three years, she went through six doctors and tried everything from an organic macrobiotic diet to vitamin shots. But all of these treatments failed to do anything to help her. “I didn’t get better, it did not heal my body,” she said.

The causes of fibromyalgia, described as a pain and fatigue disorder, are unknown. According to the Fibromyalgia Network, patients suffer from varying degrees of flu-like body aches. Women are diagnosed with fibromyalgia more than men, and some experts believe chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are one in the same.

Naturopathic doctor Peter Knight of True North in Falmouth said fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome stem from numerous causes, including nutrient deficiencies, or toxic or infectious origins.

“It takes quite a bit of investigative work,” to reveal the root cause, said Knight.

Knight said the treatment for these conditions is highly dependent upon the patient and their specific symptoms. No one static technique works across the board, he said. “I can’t say B-12 is the answer,” he said.

Brown’s symptoms drastically affected her family life for nearly three years. her youngest son Brett, who was then in junior high, experienced the change most directly, said Brown. “For a couple of years I didn’t know what he had for breakfast, what he wore to school,” said Brown.

Brown’s husband of 29 years, Curt, who works for Portland

Pipeline, was away from home during the week for work and only saw his wife on Sundays. From Sunday to Sunday he watched her condition worsen. “She couldn’t work, she couldn’t contribute…she was so down,” he said.

Brown remembers the day his wife’s life rebounded. They were sharing a relaxing afternoon together on the couch when she said with contained excitement, “I hate to be optimistic, but I think I feel better.”

About three weeks before, Brown had started taking Reliv, which she attributes to bringing her back to life. It was not the first time she had tried the supplement.

A co-worker from her Richards Pool days called her and recommended Reliv for her condition. At that point, Brown was willing to try anything. “My initial response was, ‘I would try voodoo to get better.'”

She tried taking it several different times, but when she didn’t see immediate results she stopped, like a smoker unsuccessfully trying to kick the habit, she stayed locked in that pattern for some time. “I just thought ‘this is powder in a can,'” she said, “I had no faith in it.”

It wasn’t until she heard a Massachusetts woman’s story about her own recovery from fibromyalgia that Brown hunkered down and dug in. “It gave me hope, I had nothing to lose,” she said.

Twelve weeks later, Brown was restored to her former self.

“I came back,” she said, “Other than my husband and children, it was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me.”

There were no more headaches, no backaches, no more fibro-fog. “Not everybody bounces back that quickly,” said Curt Brown, “she’s off and running now.”

Brown doesn’t tout Reliv as a cure-all or say it’s a miracle worker. What she does say is that it works because it offers the body nutrients that many people don’t get in their diets. “Your body needs good nutrition, and that’s all that Reliv is,” she said.

As a naturopath, Knight regularly recommends nutritional supplements for patients with deficiencies. Reliv could have improved Brown’s overall health, he said, but often times what works for one patient won’t necessarily work for another. “It’s possible that somebody else may not experience the same effects,” he said.

Scarborough physician Peter Amann warns of products that aren’t supported by clinical trials. “Most of the herbal supplements have very little data to support their use, despite the fact some people may improve. It is possible that product helped her feel better, sure, but I wouldn’t bet on it helping the next person,” he said.

There are limitations to nutritional supplements. Multivitamins are stock formulas, delivering a standard base of nutrients to the body, despite its needs. For maximum benefit, nutrient intake should be individualized. “That is a problem with a blanket multivitamin,” said Knight, “there is a better way to do it.”

Brown acknowledges that it’s difficult for anybody to buy into Reliv without experiencing it for themselves, but she believes in its positive effect on health. “It sounds too good to be true, I understand that,” but she said, ” I’ve seen Reliv change people’s lives.”