A detailed guide to understanding Fibromyalgia symptoms, early warning signs, and how they are diagnosed.
” 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…
” These are exciting and challenging times for the manual therapy professions. I believe that the pain science world is handing extremely valuable information to clinicians. We now have a greater understanding of the behavior of pain states and we are becoming aware of the molecular targets of manual therapy”, David S. Butler Dear readers, I apologize for not writing a blog last month, but I have been sick with a cold that would not…
“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…
” My friend…care for your psyche…know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves”, Socrates Fibromyalgia does not allow for any kind of scientific tests to aid in making the diagnosis of the syndrome. It is not a disease, but a broad spectrum of ‘symptoms’ which appear to be somewhat universal, that is, primarily pain, chronic fatigue, sleeplessness, and often depression, but always present as chronic anxiety. Click Here…
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress” , Frederick Douglass There is a tendency among those of us with chronic pain to be ever so watchful on days we are in pain or extremely fatigued. We take it easy on those days and begin to wonder if we will ever be feeling well again. But, oh! On those days when we are feeling well, our tendency is to be optimistic, think we are cured,…
“What you resist, persists”, C.G.Yung I have brought on another pain attack- again! I have overdone it with social situations that have caused anxiety and resulted in overstimulation! This time the pain in my left foot is excruciating. The reason? I wore something other than the sneakers that are my daily companions. No, I did not wear high heels, but nonetheless, they were not my regular footwear. There are many times I think I have…
“The ear is the avenue to the heart”, Voltaire Just as I thought I had experienced everything unusual with regard to this annoying, frustrating, challenging dis-ease, fibromyalgia, I developed another aggravating symptom- VERTIGO! It all began one month ago, at night, turning over in bed, the room began spinning. It was very frightening. It lasted about 30 seconds followed by nausea. I had another episode the next night as well. The morning after the second episode,…
” Most of us have unhealthy thoughts and emotions that have either developed as a result of trauma or hardships in their childhood, or the way they were raised”, Steven Seagal It would seem that those of us with fibromyalgia have developed the condition at an early age which may have taken a tremendous shock, accident, or crisis to bring about full-blown fibromyalgia. Some of us have had repeated crises in our sensitive lives and…
” Our memory is in large part the starting point for how we think, how our preferences form, and how we make decisions”, Maria Konnikova Several weeks ago on CBC radio upon hearing an interview with Dr. Konnikova regarding the science of memory, I became intrigued with the ways in which she has based an understanding of neuroscience upon the brains and memories of two fictional characters- Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Being a Holmes lover and…