Raise awareness about chronic illnesses by understanding their impact, symptoms, and the importance of support and education.
This is of concern to me due to my low blood pressure issues and dizziness. And it makes me wonder. Especially since my doc mentioned I may have POTS. So the study is looking at the Baroreflex response. Without it we would stand up and get dizzy and could faint. It is mechanism in the body that tries to regulate our blood pressure. The response involves nerves in the blood vessels near, in and around…
If it means significant restrictions to your daily activities, then, according to medical and government guidelines, yes, you have a disability. This may challenge the ability stereotypes you might have absorbed from the media, where disability is usually linked to the need to use a wheelchair because of a spinal cord injury or limb impairment. This might get you wondering about what exactly the definition of disability is, how do we usually understand it and…
I’m taking a disability studies class this term as part of my social work program. I study part-time, online. I thought I would post some of my reflections on reading articles for the class. People living with FM and CFS/ME don’t always think of themselves as ‘disabled’, but the way the world is organized and the way these conditions affect our bodies certainly mean we do live with a disability. Reflections on Eli Clare’s (2001) Stolen…
You’re sitting in the doctor’s office, being told you have an incurable illness. Maybe you have to leave your career, or pull back on your workload, with set accommodations. You can’t live up to being the involved wife, parent, sister, or daughter you planned on being. Travel becomes difficult, athletic ability falls off, and favorite hobbies or pastimes become more challenging. But mostly you just don’t feel like you. A period of grief ensues over…
The world lost a woman yesterday.A boy lost his grandmother, three people lost their mother and a man lost his wife.This woman was a pistol, tough and strong and a force to be reckoned with.I grew up with her tales of adventure, living overseas while young and newly married, her husband in the military.I learned of a day in 1929 when this girl took a shoebox of money she was saving to the bank, to…
Either that or this terrible impatience and frustration and I kinda have to admit, pure anger pouring out of me is the premonition of a flare. But I have to say all I do is look around at the wreckage that is my life and get really pissed off. The dust bunnies are having babies, getting my carpet cleaned has only made it dirtier, not that I ever vacuum. The laundry needs to be done,…
Causes of FM/CFS: Scientific Basis for the Gupta Program The premise of the Gupta program is that fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME) are caused by abnormalities in the functioning of brain structures that process physical and emotional threats to the body. However, connections in the brain are not fixed and can be rewired. Neuroscientists call this process “neuroplasticity”. The program was created by Ashok Gupta, who suffered from ME/CFS himself, but has since…
Part I: From Onset to Diagnosis For Fibromyalgia Awareness Month, I wanted to share my illness journey here on the blog. My story starts eight years ago. It wasn’t a climactic beginning. It was just achy low back pain that got worse the longer I sat writing my M.A. thesis. It seemed like a common enough problem to have, except for the fact that I was 23. The nurse told me to take ibuprofen 24/7 and…
Like an ‘invisible illness, Fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose. The symptoms of Fibromyalgia overlap with many other chronic pain conditions, which is why receiving an official diagnosis is often problematic. If you have Fibromyalgia, you will experience widespread pain. This may be felt throughout the entire body or could be worse in certain areas, such as the back or neck. The pain is likely to be prolonged and unpredictable; there will be times when it…
Fibromyalgia and celiac disease are two debilitating conditions that prove to be extremely difficult to live with. Some symptoms of both conditions overlap and are very similar. In this blog, we look at the connections between the two conditions and how they may be related to one another. Fibromyalgia is a complex, long-term chronic condition with a multitude of different symptoms, including widespread pain all over the body, and without a single known cause.Many people…