Raise awareness about chronic illnesses by understanding their impact, symptoms, and the importance of support and education.
The media can’t look to get its stories about Prince right. As the news feed overflows with stories with the word Prince and drug addiction in them, not many of them feature the word chronic pain. Multiple reports show that Prince had suffered from years with Fibromyalgia pain and Severe Chronic Pain in his hips due to injuries racked up during when his performances started. His body was wracked with pain, Prince relied on opiate pain medications to provide him some relief.…
Patients with Fibromyalgia Disease may have reduced volume of the olfactory bulb, a key structure in how we perceive and distinguish smell, a study found. That finding may help explain why some patients report impairments in olfactory perception. The study, “Decreased olfactory bulb volumes in patients with Fibromyalgia Disease,” was published in the journal Clinical Rheumatology. Olfactory perception, including being able to identify and distinguish different types of odors, is a feature often reported to…
When you are first told that the pain and tiredness that you have is due to having fibromyalgia, it can be devastating. You are going to find that this new diagnosis could mean that you have to change the way in which you live your life. Everything that you do, even the most mundane of activities, can make a difference in how you feel later. Even a shower could be something that causes more pain…
It is a chronic condition that renders sufferers so sensitive that even the lightest touch triggers waves of excruciating pain. Fibromyalgia is thought to affect up to a million Britons, commonly women over 40, and experts have likened the debilitating sensations to ‘death by a thousand needles’. Other symptoms include lack of concentration, memory loss, headaches, and muscle stiffness. And for a long time, there were little doctors could do to help quell the agony.…
A leg cramp is a pain that comes from a muscle in the leg. It is due to a muscle spasm which is when a muscle contracts too hard. It usually occurs in one of the calf muscles, below and behind a knee, but painful spasms can occur in the ankles, shins, and quads (the big muscles of the thigh). The small muscles of the feet are sometimes affected, usually starting with curling your toes…
We know that fibromyalgia seems to be closely linked to autoimmune disease, which is a condition when the body’s immune system begins attacking healthy tissue. An autoimmune disease can sometimes be deadly due to a condition called glomerulonephritis. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the possibility of developing autoimmune conditions when you have fibromyalgia and be aware of how to manage them. So, what exactly is glomerulonephritis? Can fibromyalgia lead to it? And what…
“I have a problem—unexplained excessive sweating, like just stepping out of the shower, hair dripping wet, clothes soaked! … It has put a big damper on my lifestyle.” “My limbs get so cold and painful … and yet my face will be sweating from the heat inside.” “What exactly causes the excessive sweating? … I don’t bother to wear makeup in the summer because there is no point—it just melts off.” These are all comments…
Fibromyalgia symptoms can mask the presence of chronic inflammatory disease affecting the joints of the pelvis and spine, according to new research. The study, titled “Prevalence of Axial Spondyloarthritis Among Patients With Fibromyalgia: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study With Application of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society Classification Criteria,” was published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research. It highlights the importance of vigilant management of fibromyalgia symptoms by doctors and patients, taking into account the possible underlying presence of inflammatory…
Urinary incontinence is a term that basically describes any condition that makes it hard to control your bladder. Obviously, it’s not an easy thing to live with. It’s embarrassing, obviously. But many conditions that cause incontinence are very painful as well. And if you have fibromyalgia, there’s a good chance that you’ve struggled with bladder issues at some point. Studies have shown that a large percentage of people with fibromyalgia struggle with bladder control issues and pelvic pain.…
So much has been written about the opioid epidemic, but so little seems to be out there about what living with true chronic pain is like. My husband, the Jay, lived and died in incredible pain at the age of 58. As his wife, I lived that journey with him. Jay is no longer here to tell his story, but I want the world to see what I saw. I want you to know how…