Raise awareness about chronic illnesses by understanding their impact, symptoms, and the importance of support and education.
Like many other things in life, pain discriminates by gender. Women, studies show, feel pain more intensely than men, suffer disproportionately from conditions like chronic pain and migraines, and are more likely to be undertreated for pain than men. More pain, no gain More than 70 percent of people who report suffering chronic pain are women, according to a 2003 report in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America. Compared with men, women…
New research was carried out by healthizes in order to better understand it’s fibromyalgia community members. The online poll sampled 671 people, all diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the results have provided a valuable insight into the connection between fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety. The healthizes survey revealed that the majority of fibromyalgia patients are also diagnosed with depression. Figures show that more than 63% of those surveyed stated they had been diagnosed with depression and 58%…
Before fibromyalgia, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and other chronic illness took over my body, I would return home from a vacation feeling relaxed or energized. At first, my illnesses would require a little more rest while away. Because I pushed through pain and fatigue in hopes of keeping up with my family, I always returned home feeling like death. It was not unusual for my body to need days, weeks, and a few times months to…
Some people have an irrational fear of doctors. While some of us have been victimized so severely, that we may never trust one again. Since my first chronic illness diagnosis in 2001, my life, has been nothing short of a nightmare. I know my body well. In fact, I know better than any test or doctor. Tweet Not to sound conceited. But not one test or scan has ever shown the destruction that has been…
In past posts, I’ve written about feeling ill-equipped to handle the role of spouse, the (still ongoing) process of learning that I can’t fix everything, and just being there for my loved one. Those are all key components of becoming the best you can be as a partner, spouse, relative, or friend of a loved one who suffers from a chronic illness such as Fibromyalgia. However, some days are just tough… Click Here to Visit…
Mother’s Day is just around the corner and many people are scrambling to find the right gift for Mom. If the Mom in your life has fibromyalgia choosing the right gift can be even more difficult. Typical Mother’s Day gifts such as flowers, perfume, or scented candles may not be appropriate. So I have put together a list of gifts that a Mother with chronic pain would love to receive. If you know a Mom…
When it comes to chronic pain syndrome, there is no universal definition, but it is often explained as pain that has persisted for longer than 12 weeks, or beyond what would be expected to have been a normal healing period. What is pain? When you are suffering from pain it is hard to explain to others how you are feeling. But chronic pain is very real and can be complex. The Brain and the spinal…
Personal Independence Payment (or PIP) is a welfare benefit in the UK that is intended to help adults with the extra costs of living with a long-term health condition or disability. It replaced DLA (Disability Living Allowance) and if you have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, and are over the age of 16, you may be entitled to benefits. If you have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia you may be entitled to…
The pain and fatigue associated with fibromyalgia can leave you inactive and overweight. It is difficult for many people to feel motivated to exercise at this time of the year when the weather is cold and wet and the nights are dark, and even more so when you are in pain and exhausted. Many people with fibromyalgia find they are more sedentary than they used to be which can lead to a loss of muscle…
Fibromyalgia is always difficult to diagnose, especially following a road traffic accident as it can follow on and progress from an initial injury involving whiplash. Fibromyalgia is a pain syndrome of chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. The pain is thought to be caused by abnormalities in the pain pathways in the central nervous system, and is most commonly caused, or exacerbated by, physical traumas, such as car accidents and falls, often due to no…