Learn how Fibromyalgia is diagnosed, including key symptoms, diagnostic criteria, and the tests used to rule out other conditions.
” The biology of pain is never straightforward, even when it appears to be”, Lorimer Moseley I thought I knew it all: fibromyalgia is a constant hyper-arousal of the central nervous system and all the symptoms that evolve from that disorder. But recently I met with an internist who held my hand’s palms upward and told me she would have known I had fibromyalgia just by looking at my palms which are pink! I have…
“She learned to Serve Others”, the headstone of Sara Corning My dear Readers: Now it has been 11 years of writing almost monthly blogs about fibromyalgia and attending to the stories about people who are ultra-sensitive, highly empathetic, anxious, unable to tolerate the pain of others, and have developed an overactive central nervous system which is known as fibromyalgia. I am today taking another route at the beginning of this lovely month of June. Unlike…
“After a traumatic experience, the human system of self-preservation seems to go onto permanent alert, as if the danger might return at any moment”, Judith Lewis Herman In my book almost a decade ago, I wrote about Gulf War syndrome and the similarities between this condition and fibromyalgia. From the terms ‘shell shock’ and ‘Gulf War syndrome’ has emerged the contemporary ‘Post–Traumatic Stress Disorder’ label. We have now landed firmly on the relationship between these…
” Patience is a conquering virtue”, Geoffrey Chaucer So, the hip replacement happened almost three weeks ago. I had hoped that when I took my first step post-operatively I would not have pain. So many people told me that would happen. I should have known better. Of course, there is still pain. It is too soon for me to know the nature of it. Is it fibromyalgia? The scar? The hip itself? I thought I…
“The traumatic moment becomes encoded in an abnormal form of memory, which breaks spontaneously into consciousness, both as flashbacks during waking states and as traumatic nightmares during sleep”, Judith Lewis Herman Trapped in our psyche, past traumas wind themselves into the body and present as a multitude of physical symptoms. Pain, extreme crushing fatigue, intestinal difficulties, severe itching, rashes, tingling of limbs- the list seems endless. We seem not able to control our anxiety about when…
“Pain is real when you get other people to believe in it”, Naomi Wolf As I have frequently written there are two kinds of pain: nociceptive and neuropathic. Those of us with fibromyalgia suffer from the latter. It is the most difficult to live with as it is long-term damage to the nervous system that has become chronic. It cannot be treated with opioids long-term as it only gives temporary relief. Many find some degree…
“People are made happy by one thing and one thing only-pleasant sensations in their bodies”, Yuval Noah Harari What is happiness? Sometimes I think I have been seeking it my entire life and it still often eludes me. I want to be happy. I have worked at it. I meditate, have done yoga and chi-gong, I even have colored in books (the newest craze), made quilts, and listened to joyful music, all said to enhance creativity…
“There’s someone in my head, but it’s not me”, Pink Floyd Just as I thought that I had nothing new to write about I have discovered that the weird ‘brain’ sensations I have, which only last for moments, are common among those of us with this frustrating condition of fibromyalgia! I have had these peculiar short-lived experiences that are followed by dizziness for several years now. The episodes are almost like a small temporary memory loss, almost feeling…
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”, Leonard Cohen–Anthem Cannabinophobia has resulted in a frenzy of political, medical, social, and cultural chaos for generations in spite of the fact that this herb has been around for 38 million years. Prohibition against cannabis usage has resulted in billions of dollars spent trying to stop its usage; hundreds of lives have been destroyed because of arrests, labeling them as criminals while governments have wasted their…
“I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug”, Willie Nelson Well, here I am in the second month of experimenting with this wondrous herb. It isn’t easy trying to find the right mixture of THC to CBD that fits me! Medical marijuana is not to be considered one size fits all. In fact, I am not sure I have the right times of day with the right…