Explore the conditions associated with Fibromyalgia, their symptoms, and how to manage them for improved well-being.
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it”, Lena Horne HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEKEND! We Canadians are always so happy our Thanksgiving falls in mid-October when it’s harvest time; the leaves are gorgeous and in full color and if we cook a turkey it is still a long way till Christmas and we can enjoy another one before the year ends without being tired of it! What we also love is that…
Fibromyalgia is often described as a silent battle. For millions around the world, it’s more than chronic pain—it’s an invisible weight that infiltrates every part of daily life. But for a surprising number of sufferers, there’s another distressing symptom that rarely gets the attention it deserves: the unrelenting itch. This is not your average rash or allergy-induced itch. This is the persistent, maddening sensation that feels like it’s burrowed deep beneath the skin—a torment you…
” So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us”, Gaston Bachelard A flare-up, a word for an acute attack of fibromyalgia, can be very alarming if it seems to come out of the air without warning. Even after years of living with fibromyalgia I can become overwhelmed with anxiety about an episode that I can’t account for. Sometimes the flare-up is in a localized area of my body, for example, this…
” To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old”, Oliver Wendell Holmes As we age each new year brings hope of change in a positive direction. Less pain, less fatigue, and better quality sleep are the things I wish for. The new resolutions: try not to overdo like I always do on days when a flare-up has subsided; daily gentle exercises if only for a few minutes off…
“Caring is pivotal to keeping the human enterprise going, yet its function is invisible in the organization of our daily lives”, Sheila Neysmith This is my 50th blog and I have never yet discussed male caregivers! In my book, I discussed with the women living with fibromyalgia the issues regarding the people who supported them (or in many cases, those who did not provide support or understand what it meant to be living with fibromyalgia). Their answers often surprised me. I…
” The world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it”, Helen Keller A condition called paresthesia results in numbness, tingling, and pins and needles in the limbs, due to disturbances in the nerve pathways. Those of us with fibromyalgia have what is also known as peripheral neuropathy, most particularly in the legs. For me, it is much worse at night and in my arms, rather than the legs. However, I also…
“The amygdala in the emotional center sees and hears everything that occurs to us instantaneously and is the trigger point for the fight or flight response “, Daniel Goleman. Many years ago I had hoped that it wouldn’t take long before most would finally give up searching for viral/bacterial/hormonal or other CAUSES of fibromyalgia and agree with my theory that this demon is caused by a hyper-aroused nervous system is highly sensitive anxious persons! My book…
” Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit” , Martin Luther King, Jr. Violence can be defined in many ways. It is anger at its peak in the forms of shouting, yelling, hitting, sexual and/ or physical and /or emotional abuse, throwing things, or any other way of inducing fear and trauma in others. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and all the social injustices are a form of violence. It…
“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished”, Benjamin Franklin It really is all about the brain and how new pathways can become established and old ones can be paths less traveled. So many reports their fibromyalgia began with an accident, surgery, violence, or another episodic event that was physically shocking to the nervous system. Some call this ‘primary fibromyalgia’. However, fewer report that major life changes like marriages, parenthood, divorces, job losses, and changes, loss of…
“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing, that we see too late the one that is open”, Alexander Graham Bell In so many ways we are fortunate to have access to valuable information which then allows us to take more control over our own lives. I can only speculate about what it must have been like for those who suffered from fibromyalgia for decades without a diagnosis, recognizing what the causes…