Celebrate the resilience of Fibromyalgia warriors, sharing stories of strength, tips for managing symptoms, and resources for support and empowerment.
“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom”, Bertrand Russell I believe that those of us with central sensitization, that is, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, or to call it by another name -“post-traumatic stress disorder”, all suffer from chronic anxiety/ fear. These terms are, in my view, interchangeable. They can keep us imprisoned without recourse and in a state of hopelessness. In fact, the US Department of Health and Human Services has developed a new name…
“I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn’t itch”, Gilda Radner There isn’t anything more comforting to me than cloth that is soft and soothing. Mostly, it is cotton that gives me a feeling of being in a cocoon. Since the most popular blog on this busy website is about itching it has brought to mind the ways in which we can reduce the itching and scratching (the “Itchy & Scratchy Show” from…
“What’s in a name?”, Shakespeare The nomenclature of Fibromyalgia can be known as: “Central Sensitization”, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”, “Cycles of Over-Exertion-Relapse”, and “Chronic Fatigue Disorder”, and now a new term: “Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disorder”- all with the same characteristics. What’s to be done so that we can explain ourselves to others while so many labels of these invisible syndromes abound? In fact, do all these terms mean the same thing? Are they bio–psycho–social in…
“With hypnosis, we can help people modulate perceptions in ways that are therapeutically helpful”, David Spiegel For those of us with chronic pain and/or a myriad of other distressing physical and psychological conditions the practice of ‘changing our brains’ through relaxation and exercise regimes can be overwhelming. Mindfulness meditation is one way that we can work with our minds to improve our daily lives, but it takes time and discipline. What if there is a…
” There are many other (besides testosterone) behavior-eliciting hormones fundamental for human well-being, including estrogen and progesterone in females”, Carl Sagan The question arises about why fibromyalgia is more prevalent in highly sensitive women and men. The debate about nature/nurture has not yielded specific answers and for a while, I have thought of it as a moot point. As a nurse/sociologist I have leaned toward the impact of the social environment in early childhood. But,…
” Early in life, I was visited by the bluebird of anxiety”, Woody Allen Anxiety is the root cause of fibromyalgia, particularly at an early age, or even in the womb. So, how is one to overcome the early stages of this deep-seated emotional characteristic that those of us with fibromyalgia struggle with on a day-to-day basis? Even more significant: how do we explain to others that the challenges of life-long anxiety cannot be overcome by…
” To let go is to release the images and emotions, the grudges and fears, the clingings and disappointments of the past that bind our spirit”, Jack Kornfield In the newspaper today there is an editorial written by Jane Brody titled “More specialists explore treating pain without drugs” (The Globe and Mail, L5, September 15, 2017). She cites the conditions that drug-free options for pain can help with, such as fibromyalgia, news of which was…
” What I want for my fans and for the world, for anyone who feels pain, is to lean into that pain and embrace it as much as they can and begin the healing process”, Lady Gaga There has rarely been such public awareness of fibromyalgia as there is now that Lady Gaga has become public about her own suffering. While there are thousands of those of us who suffer from the debilitating pain and…
” 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…