Explore the conditions associated with Fibromyalgia, their symptoms, and how to manage them for improved well-being.
“For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it is a pity that we use it so little”, Rachel Carson Many of us with fibromyalgia are extremely sensitive to environmental stimulation such as loud noises, dogs barking, loud music, bright lights, frightening images, strong tastes, and even certain smells which can be very provocative. While some smells are deliciously pleasant to many the same ones may not be ones…
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you”, Maya Angelou A very interesting interview a while ago on CBC Radio with Michael Enright as host. Dr. Suzanne Koven, who is a Massachusetts General Hospital Writer-in-Residence and a primary care doctor, writes, teaches, and speaks about the healing power of story writing. She was Enright’s guest. It has allowed me to ponder upon my own need to write about fibromyalgia and in turn for others to comment…
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on”, Robert Frost My friend has become my guru for updates on research regarding pain. I take hope because of her personal struggles with the issues surrounding living with acceptance in lieu of catastrophizing. Daily pain is exhausting, depletes our energy, and leaves us with a sense of hopelessness. Each new symptom (and there are many) can be like taking one…
“My own brain is to me the most unaccountable of machinery-always buzzing, humming, soaring roaring diving, and then buried in mud”, Virginia Woolf To live a life in a state of high anxiety, boarding on panic is common among those of us with fibromyalgia. We anticipate pain, fatigue, muddled thoughts, and a myriad of other symptoms almost every waking (and sleeping!) hour. It has become a habit that often seems unable to be broken and…
I have had Fibromyalgia since mid-2006, acquired during a long bout with a viral infection in my central nervous system. I used Neurontin, Percocet, Cymbalta, and Lyrica in the following 4 years to manage my pain. While on Lyrica I slept a lot and ballooned up like a, well, balloon! I did get off of Percocet, though, and had no pain. Despite that wonderful result, I went off Lyrica and back to Neurontin, using Tramadol…
“When anxious people anticipate something bad about to happen- such as being confronted with creepy pictures of snakes or spiders- their right frontal insulas go into overdrive”, Blakeslee and Blakeslee Many of us with fibromyalgia can remember childhood as the beginning of a lifetime of fear, and anxiety. Since there might have been a significant childhood episode that triggered this dis-ease called fibromyalgia, it stayed with us while other troublesome events in our lives piled…
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear”, Mark Twain All of us with fibromyalgia suffer from repressed emotions and are coping with overstimulation and sensory processing sensitivity. Never has it been so challenging as it has been in the past months with the chaos in the world that we hear of almost no stop in the media. What is to be done? We can’t continue to watch the news on a regular…
” When things get really bad, just raise your glass and stamp your feet and do a little jig”, Leonard Cohen As I have been limping along these past few months following hip surgery I began to have foot pain, a condition I had never had before. I was speculating about the cause. Too little walking of late? Plantar fasciitis? Shifting from soft sponge shoes (GoWalk) to sneakers that are heavier? Shuffling after the surgery? The…
“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom”, Bertrand Russell I believe that those of us with central sensitization, that is, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, or to call it by another name -“post-traumatic stress disorder”, all suffer from chronic anxiety/ fear. These terms are, in my view, interchangeable. They can keep us imprisoned without recourse and in a state of hopelessness. In fact, the US Department of Health and Human Services has developed a new name…
“I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn’t itch”, Gilda Radner There isn’t anything more comforting to me than cloth that is soft and soothing. Mostly, it is cotton that gives me a feeling of being in a cocoon. Since the most popular blog on this busy website is about itching it has brought to mind the ways in which we can reduce the itching and scratching (the “Itchy & Scratchy Show” from…