A detailed guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), including its symptoms, causes, and effective treatment strategies to improve energy and well-being.
The opioid crisis has revealed another real ongoing problem: a lot of people have chronic pain. For example, Lady Gaga recently revealed that she suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says afflicts 4 million people (or 2% of the adult population). This number may actually be an underestimate because determining the real number of people that have fibromyalgia can be a pain. Fibromyalgia is frequently underdiagnosed…
After months of speculation, a medical examiner has ruled that Tom Petty died of an accidental overdose, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. The Hall of Fame musician had taken several pain medications, including Fentanyl, oxycodone, and generic Xanax. Other medications included generic Restoril (a sleep aid) and generic Celexa (which treats depression). The Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, and more pay tribute to a genius craftsman who never stopped believing in…
People with hidden disabilities could soon be entitled to blue badge parking permits under Department for Transport (DfT) plans. The Government said the proposals would make it easier for people with conditions such as dementia, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, and autism to travel to work, socialize, and access shops and services. It is hoped the move – which would be the biggest change to the blue badge scheme since it was introduced in 1970 – would help…
This will be the first Christmas that Tammi Hale spends without her husband Doug in over 30 years. The 53-year old Vermont man, who suffered chronic pain from interstitial cystitis, committed suicide in October after his doctor abruptly cut him off from opioid pain medication. “His primary care provider kept trying to wean him off his opioid therapy, which worked at higher doses,” says Tammi. “My husband ran out (of medication) early a few times,…
It’s a trickle at present, but the conversation around chronic pain between doctors and patients is no longer one way only. Over the past few months, the constant messaging suggesting chronic pain patients are dying in dramatically increasing numbers because of opioid overdoses has been questioned. Understand, the messaging was indeed clever. Chronic pain patients weren’t directly and specifically named, but the messaging caused listeners and readers to believe it was pain patients whose lives…
Another study is raising questions about the safety of the anti-seizure drug gabapentin, especially when it’s taken with opioid pain medication. According to research published online in PLOS Medicine, combining gabapentin with opioid painkillers is associated with a significantly higher risk of dying from an opioid overdose than opioid use alone. “Clinicians should consider carefully whether to continue prescribing this combination of products and when deemed necessary, should closely monitor their patients and adjust opioid dose accordingly,” wrote…
Sometimes all it takes is a simple gesture from someone you love to help you feel a little bit better. We asked people who live with chronic illnesses to share one (seemingly) small thing their partner has done for them that touched their hearts. This is what they had to say: 1. “[My partner] reminds me daily I am wanted and needed and not just a burden.” — Ally Small 2. “I often feel bad that I can’t do…
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently shared his idea for solving the opioid crisis: aspirin, sleep, and less marijuana. Speaking at an event in Tampa on Tuesday to celebrate Ronald Regan’s birthday, Sessions said his goal for 2018 is to see a greater decline in the number of opioids prescribed (he said last year there was a 7 percent decline). “We think doctors are just prescribing too many. Sometimes you just need two Bufferin or…
Addiction to opioids often begins in the doctor’s office. These drugs are typically the only option to manage pain after an operation or in patients with serious injuries. They’re also frequently prescribed to patients with chronic pain, and it’s these patients who are most at risk for opioid addiction. Ted Price is an associate professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas. His work focuses on the molecular mechanisms that cause pain to persist…
People who live with chronic pain need options beyond prescription opioids, and it’s up to the British Columbia government to provide more services such as physiotherapy, says the head of a group that supports patients and their families. “There has really been a lack of any appropriate response to chronic pain in our province and in our country,” said Maria Hudspith, executive director of Pain BC, the only non-profit society in Canada to bring together…