Fibromyalgia Quotes

After trauma the world is experienced with a different nervous system. The survivor’s energy now becomes focused on suppressing inner chaos, at the expense of spontaneous involvement in their lives. These attempts to maintain control over unbearable physiological reactions can result in a whole range of physical symptoms, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other autoimmune diseases. This explains why it is critical for trauma treatment to engage the entire organism, body, mind, and brain.

Many empaths are diagnosed with chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia, CFS, lupus, and various autoimmune diseases, as well as psychological disorders such as agoraphobia, social anxiety, ADHD, depression, sensory processing disorder, among many others.

Pain diminishes us, and it is so important to remember, in the midst of pain and everything that pain takes from you, that still ... you are enough. You are enough just as you are. You are worthy of love and kindness. You are enough. And you have enough.

Always find the funny.

No matter how hopeless you feel, strive to find the one thing that makes you feel alive and pull yourself to the light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope. Trust me.

I suffer from severe nerve damage in the hands, arms, legs and spine. My right leg is numb all the time and there are times when I cannot move either of my legs. In addition to this my C-T-L spine has severe disc herniation. I have Fibromyalgia, asthma, severe allergies, heart problems, bleeding ulcers and I eat maybe once every two or three days. I maintain body weight by drinking an average of 36 Pepsi’s per day.

Somatic symptoms for which no clear physical basis can be found are ubiquitous in traumatized children and adults. They can include chronic back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, digestive problems, spastic colon/irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and some forms of asthma.16 Traumatized children have fifty times the rate of asthma as their nontraumatized peers.17 Studies have shown that many children and adults with fatal asthma attacks were not aware of having breathing problems before the attacks.

Van der Poel discovered—in addition to Buteyko’s diagnoses—that people with chronic fatigue, burnout, fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalomyelitis also breathe more rapidly or deeply than is necessary.

Widespread pain conditions like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome are especially social conditions, since their symptoms have a direct impact on a patient’s ability to maintain various roles and identities. Ties to the outside world via employment, family obligations, activities and hobbies, and social engagements are whittled away, and physical and psychosocial isolation increases.

Most people had trouble accepting the fact that Chloe was ill. Fibromyalgia and chronic pain were invisible afflictions, so they were easy to dismiss. Eve was healthy, so she would never feel Chloe’s bone-deep exhaustion, her agonizing headaches or the shooting pains in her joints, the fevers and confusion, the countless side effects that came from countless medications. But Eve didn’t need to feel all of that to have empathy. She didn’t need to see Chloe’s tears or pain to believe her sister struggled sometimes. Neither, for that matter, did Dani. They understood.

Brace yourselves, girls: Soda is liquid Satan. It is the devil. It is garbage. There is nothing in soda that should be put into your body. For starters, soda’s high levels of phosphorous can increase calcium loss from the body, as can its sodium and caffeine. [Cousens, Conscious Eating, 475] You know what this means—bone loss, which may lead to osteoporosis. And the last time we checked, sugar, found in soda by the boatload, does not make you skinny! Now don’t go patting yourself on the back if you drink diet soda. That stuff is even worse. Aspartame (an ingredient commonly found in diet sodas and other sugar-free foods) has been blamed for a slew of scary maladies, like arthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes.2 When methyl alcohol, a component of aspartame, enters your body, it turns into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is toxic and carcinogenic (cancer-causing). 3 Laboratory scientists use formaldehyde as a disinfectant or preservative. They don’t fucking drink it. Perhaps you have a lumpy ass because you are preserving your fat cells with diet soda. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more complaints about aspartame than any other ingredient to date.4 Want more bad news? When aspartame is paired with carbs, it causes your brain to slow down its production of serotonin.5 A healthy level of serotonin is needed to be happy and well balanced. So drinking soda can make you fat, sick, and unhappy.

We cannot outrun our past trauma. We can’t bury it and think that we will be fine. We cannot skip the essential stage of processing, accepting, and doing the hard, yet necessary trauma recovery work. There’s a body-mind connection. Trauma can manifest itself into chronic physical pain, cancer, inflammation, auto-immune conditions, depression, anxiety, PTSD, Complex PTSD, addictions, and ongoing medical conditions.

Ketogenic therapy shows promise for autism, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, and migraines.

Neurogenic inflammation is one of the ways that the emotional body declares itself. This form of inflammation could be described as a potential indication of a spiritual wound, or at the very least, a sign of an emotional problem. Although Western doctors are trying to develop medications to address various forms of neurogenic inflammation, such treatment will not likely address underlying emotional problems. Neurogenic inflammation is currently gaining more and more attention, as it appears to be involved in a wide range of health problems (which in some cases are psychosomatic in nature), including asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic cough, psoriasis, migraine headaches, and fibromyalgia.

People with certain rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (commonly called lupus), or ankylosing spondylitis (spinal arthritis) may be more likely to have fibromyalgia, too. Several studies indicate that women

You can be sure that if 85 percent of fibromyalgia patients were men, rendering them unable to work from extreme fatigue, bone-deep pain, and mind fog—there would be no problem getting the funding and research to look into this scourge upon the modern male workforce.

And so, what the patient knows to be true—this matters. What I know to be true matters. What anyone with chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, fibromyalgia, Lyme, lupus, MS, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s—what they know, their experience, it matters, and the experts should be listening to them.

of dehydration, if there is sufficient magnesium, calcium will stay in solution. Magnesium is the pivotal treatment for kidney stones. If you don’t have enough magnesium to help dissolve calcium, you will end up with various forms of calcification. This translates into stones, muscle spasms, fibrositis, fibromyalgia, and atherosclerosis (calcification of the arteries).

I am Hilton Head 's ONLY medically-trained massage therapist. I am a graduate of a New York medical Massage College, with over 22 Years of experience. I do a deep tissue massage that is extremely sensative, with no pain involved. I am trained in both Oriental and Western techniques, and treats a host of physical problems, including lower back pain, fibromyalgia, tennis elbow, migraines, and much more. I am also available for in-home massage.

In 1994, Friedman wrote a memo marked “Very Confidential” to Raymond, Mortimer, and Richard Sackler. The market for cancer pain was significant, Friedman pointed out: four million prescriptions a year. In fact, there were three-quarters of a million prescriptions just for MS Contin. “We believe that the FDA will restrict our initial launch of OxyContin to the Cancer pain market,” Friedman wrote. But what if, over time, the drug extended beyond that? There was a much greater market for other types of pain: back pain, neck pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia. According to the wrestler turned pain doctor John Bonica, one in three Americans was suffering from untreated chronic pain. If that was even somewhat true, it represented an enormous untapped market. What if you could figure out a way to market this new drug, OxyContin, to all those patients? The plan would have to remain secret for the time being, but in his memo to the Sacklers, Friedman confirmed that the intention was “to expand the use of OxyContin beyond Cancer patients to chronic non-malignant pain.” This was a hugely audacious scheme. In the 1940s, Arthur Sackler had watched the introduction of Thorazine. It was a “major” tranquilizer that worked wonders on patients who were psychotic. But the way the Sackler family made its first great fortune was with Arthur’s involvement in marketing the “minor” tranquilizers Librium and Valium. Thorazine was perceived as a heavy-duty solution for a heavy-duty problem, but the market for the drug was naturally limited to people suffering from severe enough conditions to warrant a major tranquilizer. The beauty of the minor tranquilizers was that they were for everyone. The reason those drugs were such a success was that they were pills that you could pop to relieve an extraordinary range of common psychological and emotional ailments. Now Arthur’s brothers and his nephew Richard would make the same pivot with a painkiller: they had enjoyed great success with MS Contin, but it was perceived as a heavy-duty drug for cancer. And cancer was a limited market. If you could figure out a way to market OxyContin not just for cancer but for any sort of pain, the profits would be astronomical. It was “imperative,” Friedman told the Sacklers, “that we establish a literature” to support this kind of positioning. They would suggest OxyContin for “the broadest range of use.” Still, they faced one significant hurdle. Oxycodone is roughly twice as potent as morphine, and as a consequence OxyContin would be a much stronger drug than MS Contin. American doctors still tended to take great care in administering strong opioids because of long-established concerns about the addictiveness of these drugs. For years, proponents of MS Contin had argued that in an end-of-life situation, when someone is in a mortal fight with cancer, it was a bit silly to worry about the patient’s getting hooked on morphine. But if Purdue wanted to market a powerful opioid like OxyContin for less acute, more persistent types of pain, one challenge would be the perception, among physicians, that opioids could be very addictive. If OxyContin was going to achieve its full commercial potential, the Sacklers and Purdue would have to undo that perception.

In the cases of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, substantial evidence is now emerging that these syndromes may result from unusual infectious microorganisms that are not detected by the typical laboratory tests. Special, sophisticated lab tests such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests can, however, detect these invaders. A growing number of peer reviewed papers are now confirming the presence of these microorganisms in these particular illnesses.

The average person walks into their doctor's office ready to accept whatever is said and handed to them. Without taking time to research or gain more insight, they accept pills and treatment without looking into other options. Our nation overeats. We put toxic fake food into our bodies, but wonder why we're sick. We continue a vicious cycle of consuming the wrong foods and drinks along with a stressful lifestyle, yet question why cancer is so rampant. Most of our society live in fear and believe they have no control. My positive message is that we do have control. We need to take back ownership of our bodies and minds. Don't blindly fill prescriptions without first checking into potential side effects, adverse reactions, and long-term damage to your body and mind. Be conscious of what you are consuming. Be informed. Take the initiative to gain more knowledge. Understand your options so you may be in a better position to make an informed choice.

The majority of people living with chronic pain have the symptoms attributed to conditions that are not fully understood, including Spinal Stenosis, Fibromyalgia, Diabetic Neuropathy, Arthritis, and Restless Leg Syndrome. These diagnoses provide a label allowing the patient to be classified and guiding physicians to treat, but often do not reflect the true cause of symptoms. Using approaches presented in Walking Well Again, both patients and clinicians are guided to recognizing and treating the hidden causes of pain, which often results in relief in just one or two days.

However, there is no fixed rule that dictates when and if a symptom will appear. This group includes: •   Excessive shyness •   Diminished emotional responses •   Inability to make commitments •   Chronic fatigue or very low physical energy •   Immune system problems and certain endocrine problems such as thyroid malfunction and environmental sensitivities •   Psychosomatic illnesses, particularly headaches, migraines, neck and back problems •   Chronic pain •   Fibromyalgia •   Asthma •   Skin disorders •   Digestive problems (spastic colon) •   Severe premenstrual syndrome •   Depression and feelings of impending doom •   Feelings of detachment, alienation, and isolation (“living dead” feelings) •   Reduced ability to formulate plans

Endocannabinoids appear to be profoundly connected with the concept of homeostasis (maintaining physiological stability), helping redress specific imbalances presented by disease or by injury. Endocannabinoids’ role in pain signaling has led to the hypothesis that endocannabinoid levels may be responsible for the baseline of pain throughout the body, which is why cannabinoid-based medicines may be useful in treating conditions such as fibromyalgia (a condition marked by muscular pain and stiffness). This could also mean that the constant release of the body’s own endocannabinoids could have a “tonic” effect on muscle tightness (spasticity) in multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain, inflammation, and even baseline appetite. The value of proper “endocannabinoid tone” throughout the body could be very significant to general well-being.

Researchers interviewed nearly 150 thousand people in 26 countries to determine the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder to find, had excessive and uncontrollable worry adversely affected their life. They found that richer countries had higher rates of anxiety than poor ones. The authors wrote, "The disorder is significantly more prevalent and impairing in high income countries than in low or middle income countries." The number of new cases of depression world-wide increased 50% between 1990 and 2017. The highest increases in new cases were seen in countries with the highest sociodemographic index income, especially North America. Physical pain too is increasing. Over the course of my career, I have seen more patients, including otherwise healthy young people presenting with full-bodied pain despite the absence of any identifiable disease or tissue injury. The numbers and types of unexplained physical pain syndromes have grown. Complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia... [], and so on. When researchers ask the following question to people in 30 countries around the world. "During the past four weeks, how often have you had bodily aches or pains"...[]. They found that Americans reported more pain than any other country. 34% of Americans said they experienced pain often or very often, compared to 19% of people living in China, 18% of people living in Japan, 13% of people living in Switzerland, and 11% of people living in South Africa. The question is, "Why in an unprecedented time of wealth, freedom, technological progress, and medical advancement, do we appear to be unhappier and in more pain than ever?'. The reason we're all so miserable may be because we're working so hard to avoid being miserable.

You see, I suffer from a disease that you cannot see; a disease that there is no cure for and that keeps the medical community baffled at how to treat and battle this demon, who’s[sic] attacks are relentless. My pain works silently, stealing my joy and replacing it with tears. On the outside we look alike you and I; you won’t see my scars as you would a person who, say, had suffered a car accident. You won’t see my pain in the way you would a person undergoing chemo for cancer; however, my pain is just as real and just as debilitating. And in many ways my pain may be more destructive because people can’t see it and do not understand....” “Please don’t get angry at my seemingly [sic] lack of interest in doing things; I punish myself enough, I assure you. My tears are shed many times when no one is around. My embarrassment is covered by a joke or laughter…” “I have been called unreliable because I am forced to cancel plans I made at the last minute because the burning and pain in my legs or arms is so intense I cannot put my clothes on and I am left in my tears as I miss out on yet another activity I used to love and once participated in with enthusiasm.” “And just because I can do a thing one day, that doesn’t mean I will be able to do the same thing the next day or next week. I may be able to take that walk after dinner on a warm July evening; the next day or even in the next hour I may not be able to walk to the fridge to get a cold drink because my muscles have begun to cramp and lock up or spasm uncontrollably. And there are those who say “But you did that yesterday!” “What is your problem today?” The hurt I experience at those words scars me so deeply that I have let my family down again; and still they don’t understand….” “On a brighter side I want you to know that I still have my sense of humor….I love you and want nothing more than to be a part of your life. And I have found that I can be a strong friend in many ways. Do you have a dream? I am your friend, your supporter and many times I will be the one to do the research for your latest project; many times I will be your biggest fan and the world will know how proud I am at your accomplishments and how honored I am to have you in my life.” “So you see, you and I are not that much different. I too have hopes, dreams, goals… and this demon…. Do you have an unseen demon that assaults you and no one else can see? Have you had to fight a fight that crushes you and brings you to your knees? I will be by your side, win or lose, I promise you that; I will be there in ways that I can. I will give all I can as I can, I promise you that. But I have to do this thing my way. Please understand that I am in such a fight myself and I know that I have little hope of a cure or effective treatments, at least right now. Please understand….

higher level of omega-6 promotes an inflammatory state that leaves us vulnerable to ailments from arthritis, asthma, and fibromyalgia to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.

Have compassion for everyone you meet even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit, bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone. —Miller Williams (American poet)

You try to work full-time, but you can’t. You try to keep the house clean, but you fail. You try to make your mum’s birthday lunch and go to your son’s graduation, but you crash, you just can’t do it. You try to be nice to your partner, but you snap. You try to be patient with your kids, but you are short-tempered. You want to catch up with your friends, but it’s too hard. You try to exercise, but you feel too exhausted. You try to think positive, but you can’t seem to do that either. It’s OK. If you just manage to pull back a little from pushing against your boundaries, life will stop slapping you in the face with them.

Somatic symptoms for which no clear physical basis can be found are ubiquitous in traumatized children and adults. They can include chronic back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, digestive problems, spastic colon/irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and some forms of asthma.16

Humans have eaten eggs for thousands of years. They were once an amazing survival food for us to eat in areas of the planet where there were no other food options at certain times of year. That changed with the turn of the 20th century, though—when the autoimmune, viral, bacterial, and cancer epidemics began. The average person eats over 350 eggs a year. That includes whole eggs and also all the foods with hidden egg ingredients. If you’re struggling with any illness, such as Lyme disease, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, or fibromyalgia, avoiding eggs can give your body the support it needs to get better. The biggest issue with eggs is that they’re a prime food for cancer and other cysts, fibroids, tumors, and nodules. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), breast cancer, or other cysts and tumors should avoid eggs altogether. Also, if you’re trying to prevent cancer, fight an existing cancer, or avoid a cancer relapse, steer clear. Removing eggs from your diet completely will give you a powerful fighting chance to reverse disease and heal.

Doctors and drugs (medical errors) are the third-leading cause of death in the United States (behind heart disease and cancer). As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, over 250,000 Americans die each year from medical therapies, including at least 113,000 from the negative effects of prescription medications.

Many people confuse “chronic fatigue” (which is a symptom of many chronic conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, or lupus) or “general tiredness” (which is lifestyle-related), with the specific illness “chronic fatigue syndrome” (ME/CFS). To clarify the differences, here are some of the major symptoms of ME/CFS: - unexplained physical and mental fatigue for an extended period of time - post-exertional malaise (meaning an inappropriate loss of physical and mental stamina and a worsening of symptoms after any effort) - sleep dysfunction - pain - neurological/cognitive manifestations - autonomic manifestations, such as orthostatic intolerance - neuroendocrine symptoms, such as subnormal body temperature - immune system changes, such as recurrent flu-like symptoms.

Both groups [with fibromyalgia] reported having quite a lot of pain at rest in the beginning of the study, but there was a significant decrease in the intervention [vegan] group during the living food diet period (p~0.005). The positive result disappeared gradually after shifting back to the omnivorous diet. Also significant changes were found in other parameters describing the symptoms of fibromyalgia such as improvement in the quality of sleep (p~0.0001), reduction of morning stiffness (p~0.00001), improvement in the General health questionnaire (p~0.02) as well as in the Health assessment questionnaire (p~0.03), and in the rheumatologist's overall questionnaire (p~0.038), which dealt with subjective feelings.

When people are chronically angry or scared, constant muscle tension ultimately leads to spasms, back pain, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, and other forms of chronic pain.

This moment feels so dreadfully sore, Like a prickly thorn that I can't ignore. It's excruciating, oh how it stings, Like a bee's sharp sting that really zings. Pain, oh pain, it's part of the game, In life's grand adventure, it's never the same. From bumps and bruises to a broken heart, Pain finds a way to play its part. It sneaks up on us, oh yes it does, With a sting and a throb, just because. But Let me pamper myself with care so fine, In this very moment, oh how divine! With utmost tenderness, I shall embrace, A moment of self-love, at my own pace! I require some mercy, oh yes indeed, To grant myself kindness, in word and in deed. In this world so vast, with troubles untold, I seek solace and grace, to have and to hold.

The term trigger points, which has been around for many years, refers to the pain elicited when pressure is applied over various muscles in the neck, shoulders, back, and buttocks. There is some controversy over what precisely is painful, but most would agree that it is something in the muscle. Rheumatologists, who have taken the lead in studying fibromyalgia (TMS), appear to avoid using the term, probably because of its association with other diagnoses through the years. I neither use it nor avoid it, for I have concluded that these points of tenderness are merely the central zones of oxygen deprivation. Further, there is evidence that some of these points of tenderness may persist for life in TMS-susceptible people, like me, though there may be no pain. In the first chapter, the point was made that most patients with TMS will have tenderness at six key points: the outer aspect of both buttocks, both sides of the small of the back (lumbar area), and the top of both shoulders. These tender points, trigger points, call them what you will, are the hallmark findings in TMS, and they are the ones that tend to persist after the pain is gone. It is an important part of the physiology of TMS to know that the brain has chosen to implicate these muscles in creating the syndrome we know as TMS. Patients sometimes ask if breathing pure oxygen will relieve the pain. This has been tried and, unfortunately, does not help. If the brain intends to create a state of oxygen deprivation, it will do so regardless of how oxygen rich the blood is. (page 77)

An excess of delta in the frontal region of the brain during a waking state could result in the experience of mental fog or fatigue. An excess of delta in the frontal area can also result in chronic pain such as fibromyalgia.

the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, he wrote about how he survived a Nazi concentration camp by creating a Why every day: a reason to live, to try—a reason not to give up. It would have been much easier to give up, Frankl noted, and most did.

Everyone has a story. I see many clients suffering from chronic diseases such as Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, and generalized pain. Especially in these clients, I always look for the emotional component. And there is always an emotional component. Either there’s a recent divorce, death in the family, trouble with a child or parent, or financial strife that’s led to excessive stress. To reemphasize this point: you cannot heal if you don’t heal your emotions.

Before she was evicted, Larraine had $164 left over after paying the rent. She could have put some of that away, shunning cable and Walmart. If Larraine somehow managed to save $50 a month, nearly one-third of her after-rent income, by the end of the year she would have $600 to show for it—enough to cover a single month’s rent. And that would have come at considerable sacrifice, since she would sometimes have had to forgo things like hot water and clothes. Larraine could have at least saved what she spent on cable. But to an older woman who lived in a trailer park isolated from the rest of the city, who had no car, who didn’t know how to use the Internet, who only sometimes had a phone, who no longer worked, and who sometimes was seized with fibromyalgia attacks and cluster migraines—cable was a valued friend.

Several studies have focused on identifying an infectious agent as the cause of CFS/ME, and the EBV has received a lot of attention over the past two decades.

late 1800s, infections could cause uncontrollable fevers, a normal defense mechanism. It was possible for the fever to go rogue and reach temperatures that could damage brain cells. When aspirin came on the scene, it was considered a wonder drug.

Sam’s Club, Trader Joe’s, and other discount stores that sell cheap supplements should not be your source for SAMe. Instead, look at GNC, local natural-food stores, or the Internet. You get what you pay for, and cheap SAMe doesn’t work. If the SAMe you’ve tried in the past wasn’t effective, don’t give up; try a different brand, preferably one recommended by a functional medicine doctor. SAMe is highly unstable and needs to be enteric coated and kept in a moderate-temperature storage facility. To take SAMe, start with 400 mg. on an empty stomach (thirty minutes before or ninety minutes after eating). If you don’t see an improvement in your mental and physical energy, increase your dose by 400 mg. each day—up to 1,200 mg.—until you do. I find it is best to take SAMe all at once, thirty minutes before breakfast. The method allows you to get a substantial morning boost that will often last through the day. You can take SAMe in divided doses if needed, but always on an empty stomach. Don’t take it past 3:00 p.m., as it may interfere with your sleep.

Unlike the stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis, the pain from fibromyalgia typically doesn’t diminish with activity, and the pain is made worse by cold, damp weather, overexertion, anxiety, or stress.

Nine percent of patients eventually diagnosed with celiac disease have at one time also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

Many NT spouses/partners report a variety of psychosomatic and immunodeficiency illnesses, such as migraines, arthritis, gastric reflux, and fibromyalgia. Even weight gain occurs as a result of the hypervigilance required to parent with an Aspie. When the body is regularly thrown into a state of alarm, the over-production of adrenalin and cortisol wreaks havoc with the body’s natural defense mechanisms. These alarm systems are designed for short-term emergencies, not for the daily crises regimen common to NT parents married to Aspies. Left unchecked, real physical illness can emerge in NT parents.

Because the terms “sufferers” and “victims” are objectionable, I have chosen the term “patient” by default.

It is also worth mentioning that several ailments are known to occur very frequently in conjunction with autoimmune disorders. They are: Cholangitis Chronic fatigue syndrome Eczema Fibromyalgia Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS); this occurs frequently in conjunction with autoimmune thyroid diseases These are not autoimmune diseases themselves (or at least have not been confirmed as such), but because of their association with autoimmune disease, they may indicate that an autoimmune disease is present. If you suffer from one of these conditions, it is a sign that it’s time to make diet and lifestyle changes to keep autoimmunity at bay.

Fibromyalgia (henceforth, “Fibro”). If you are not familiar with this disease, you may not know that it plagues six million people in the United States today. You may not know that people who have Fibro have a myriad of different symptoms including, but not limited to: muscle pain and fatigue, trouble sleeping, morning stiffness, headaches, painful menstrual periods, tingling or numbness in hands and feet, and problems with thinking/memory (sometimes called “fibro fog”).*

Interestingly, the definitive test for Lyme disease, called a western blot, was suggestive, but not absolutely diagnostic, for Lyme disease. That’s how it is with most cases of “Lyme disease.” I can’t absolutely tell you today whether or not I was infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme.

But I feel as though I've been gifted with the chance to view strength and beauty through an alternative lens. Experiencing illness has lead me to meet people and witness things that have demonstrated strength that can't be measured by miles ran or weights lifted, and beauty that can't be washed away with water or time.

But how can people help me…or other people with chronic illness?    •  Listen.    •  Offer help and ask what is needed. It was very hard for me to ask for help. I’d always been the one to offer help and had never needed it myself. It was so difficult to ask for and accept help. But my friends persevered in supportive ways.    •  Realize that a family member’s illness affects the entire family.    •  Be hopeful.    •  Hold a hand or give a hug. Gentle human touch is very soothing and healing.    •  Speak gently. I remember people who meant well would rage against my situation, saying it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. And that I wasn’t being treated fairly by the medical establishment. All of this was negative and, even if it was true, wasn’t helping.    •  Recognize signs of depression.    •  Recognize the power of prayer.

We may try to divide our emotional and physical experiences into separate realms, but our body doesn’t do that. When we hold in our emotional pain, our bodies will cry out in other ways. Chronic pain and illness may eventually voice our fear. Fear can manifest as “headaches turning into migraines, muscle aches turning into fibromyalgia, body aches turning into chronic pain, and difficulty breathing turning into asthma.”4 It can disrupt our sleep/wake cycles and contribute to immune and endocrine system dysfunction. Studies have even connected the prevalence of anxiety and depression to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).5

It’s not unusual for up to five people each day to share that they would normally have struggled to attend something quite so loud/busy/frenetic due to various conditions such as ME, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety or other serious illnesses such as MS.

a low delta-alpha score (a disproportionate amount of alpha waves compared to delta waves) consistently occurs in patients with fibromyalgia (Rosenfeld 2015).

benzodiazepines are my absolute last choice for treating insomnia in fibromyalgia,

patients with fibromyalgia don’t spend much time in deep sleep, and the deep sleep they do get is interrupted by fast “wakeful” brain waves (alpha waves) that are normally only seen in the awake brain, a phenomenon called “alpha-wave intrusion

I was not alone in my illness, nor alone in being blamed for my illness. The illness was chronic. We grew fibroids. Nobody knew why more Black and brown women were afflicted at a higher rate. From Audre Lorde: "When you live on the edge of any structure, you have to know that survival is not theoretical." Our uterine linings began appearing in unexpected parts of our bodies, including our brains. Endometriosis. Prolapse. Fibromyalgia. Some of us dissociated. Some of us had panic attacks. The level of cortisol in our bloodstreams grew toxic. They removed the uterus of my friend. They put children in cages at the border. We were angry at the lies of women's lib and civil rights, at the failed experiment of our country. We admitted to ourselves that white people could not be redeemed. We were taunted by our president's tweets. Unsure what to do with our rage, we turned it on ourselves. Our immune systems attacked us. We grew tumors. Me, too, we repeated. Me, too. The previous season we'd begun saying, Black lives matter. Nobody listened. Nobody knew how to balance our hormones. Probably there was not enough money in it. They theorized it was because we were not bearing enough children. We begged for estrogen and were refused. Our perception was either extremely distorted or crystal clear. Our trauma was too complex to diagnose.

The crucial thing to remember with fibromyalgia is that the nervous system is stuck in the stress response (Martínez-Lavín 2012, 1998). In fact, all symptoms of fibromyalgia, including excessive pain, are the result of a complex chain reaction set off by a hyperactive stress response. The stress response is an automatic brain reflex that is commonly referred to as the “fight or flight” instinct. It has little to do with feeling stressed out. Rather, it refers to the body’s automatic response to danger, triggered by a primal brain area whose only focus is on survival. When a potential threat is detected—a loud banging on your front door, a stranger moving quickly toward you on the street—the brain prepares the body by pumping adrenaline and tightening muscles, readying your whole system for action. This is the body’s normal response to danger—great for a short-term response, and activated only when there is an imminent threat. In fibromyalgia, however, the stress response never stops, like a smoke alarm that goes off incessantly even though there’s no fire.

After trauma the world is experienced with a different nervous system. The survivor’s energy now becomes focused on suppressing inner chaos, at the expense of spontaneous involvement in their lives. These attempts to maintain control over unbearable physiological reactions can result in a whole range of physical symptoms, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other autoimmune diseases.

mysterious illness dubbed “Gulf War Syndrome” plagued military personnel. Scores of soldiers were falling ill with a plethora of symptoms, the most common being gastrointestinal distress, fibromyalgia, and extreme, chronic fatigue. Years later, researchers would also observe what appeared to be a trend in birth defects in children of Gulf War veterans. The source of this illness, which has been devastating for those impacted and their families, remains somewhat of a mystery. Some suspect the use of chemical or biological weapons

The term trigger points, which has been around for many years, refers to the pain elicited when pressure is applied over various muscles in the neck, shoulders, back, and buttocks. There is some controversy over what precisely is painful, but most would agree that it is something in the muscle. Rheumatologists, who have taken the lead in studying fibromyalgia (TMS), appear to avoid using the term, probably because of its association with other diagnoses through the years. I neither use it nor avoid it, for I have concluded that these points of tenderness are merely the central zones of oxygen deprivation. Further, there is evidence that some of these points of tenderness may persist for life in TMS-susceptible people, like me, though there may be no pain. In the first chapter, the point was made that most patients with TMS will have tenderness at six key points: the outer aspect of both buttocks, both sides of the small of the back (lumbar area), and the top of both shoulders. These tender points, trigger points, call them what you will, are the hallmark findings in TMS, and they are the ones that tend to persist after the pain is gone. It is an important part of the physiology of TMS to know that the brain has chosen to implicate these muscles in creating the syndrome we know as TMS. Patients sometimes ask if breathing pure oxygen will relieve the pain. This has been tried and, unfortunately, does not help. If the brain intends to create a state of oxygen deprivation, it will do so regardless of how oxygen rich the blood is.

Fibromyalgia

She was overheated enough without guilt adding to the issue, and one of the many curses of fibromyalgia was an inability to maintain homeostasis. If she got too hot, she’d simply pass out.

Sleep must always be improved before any other treatment will work,

Remember that efforts to trigger the relaxation response will reduce the negative effects of a hyperactive stress response and are the foundation of treating fibromyalgia.

You know my mama got fibromyalgia dude, that ain’t funny,” Len replied, giving me a sour face.

But fibromyalgia is primarily a sleep disorder, a state of chronic deep-sleep deprivation.

These attempts to maintain control over unbearable physiological reactions can result in a whole range of physical symptoms, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other autoimmune diseases. This explains why it is critical for trauma treatment to engage the entire organism, body, mind, and brain.

What this means for the etiology (cause) of TMS, as I have long maintained, is that fibromyalgia, also known as fibrositis and myofibrositis (and to some as myofasciitis and myofascial pain), is synonymous with TMS.

At Insurance Covered TENS Units our goal is to help patients experiencing chronic pain get their TENS Units and Supplies covered through insurance. Chronic pain is a real problem for over 50 million Americans. TENS therapy has been used to relieve long-lasting and short-term pain. Some of the most common conditions TENS can help with include: Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Tendinitis, Bursitis, Labor pain, Low back pain, Pelvic pain, Period pain, Joint pain, And more...

But the biomedical model creates uncertainty for these common conditions that are not explained by underlying disease.”2 That uncertainty follows from our innate distrust of the patient’s story when we cannot match it with the hard data of physical examination techniques or scans, X-rays, blood tests, scopes, biopsies or electrodiagnostic tools. In such cases, the complainant finds her symptoms dismissed by doctors. Worse, she may be accused of drug-seeking behaviour, of being neurotic, manipulative, of “just looking for attention.” IBS patients, as well as people with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, often find themselves in that situation.

People experiencing many kinds of difficulties find mindfulness useful. There have been positive results from studies involving people experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoia, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, asthma, fibromyalgia, tinnitus, bipolar disorder, loneliness, and the stress of being a carer, among many other situations.4 There seem to be few circumstances in which practising awareness doesn’t help, and mindfulness is now an option that health professionals turn to in supporting the people they work with. However, in each of these instances, changes seem to come as a by-product of people learning foundational practices and attitudes, such as the ones we’ve been exploring together, and applying what they learn to their lives. This appears to be the best way to approach the training, for as soon as we try to make mindfulness solve a particular

The following is a partial list of the health challenges he has found can improve with ADD treatment: Hypertension Irritable bowel syndrome Asthma Allergies Arthritis Fibromyalgia Ear infections

Being chronically overwhelmed as a result of undiagnosed ADHD can not only lead to academic, marital, social, and occupational problems, it can also potentially affect our health. Roberta Waite (2010) cautions that ongoing daily stress can erode health and lead to diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

There seems to be a link between vitamin D deficiency and fibromyalgia and chronic pain. In addition, in the case of the muscular and skeletal pain of autoimmune or inflammatory origin, vitamin D is the treatment of choice due to its rate of remission in the order of 95% obtained by the protocol of Dr. Coimbra in his clinical practice.

Somatic symptoms for which no clear physical basis can be found are ubiquitous in traumatized children and adults. They can include chronic back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, digestive problems, spastic colon/irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and some forms of asthma.16 Traumatized children have fifty times the rate of asthma as their nontraumatized peers.17

Somatic symptoms for which no clear physical basis can be found are ubiquitous in traumatized children and adults. They can include chronic back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, digestive problems, spastic colon/irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and some forms of asthma.

After trauma the world is experienced with a different nervous system. The survivor’s energy now becomes focused on suppressing inner chaos, at the expense of spontaneous involvement in their life. These attempts to maintain control over unbearable physiological reactions can result in a whole range of physical symptoms, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other autoimmune diseases.

Turn out all thoughts of doubt and trouble. Never tolerate them for one second. Bar the windows and doors of your soul against them as you would bar your home against a thief who would steal in to take your treasures. What greater treasures can you have than Peace and Rest and Joy? And these are all stolen from you by doubt and fear and despair. Face each day with Love and Laughter. Face the storm. Joy, Peace, Love, My great gifts. Follow Me to find all three. I want you to feel the thrill of protection and safety. Any soul can feel this in a harbor, but real joy and victory come to those alone who sense these when they ride a storm. Say, “all is well.” Say it not as a vain repetition. Use it as you would use a healing balm for cut or wound, until the poison is drawn out; then, until the sore is healed, then, until the thrill of fresh life floods your being. All is well. 1

Some medical conditions create symptoms that look very much like ADD. A few examples are thyroid conditions, fibromyalgia and allergies. To make matters even more complicated, ADDers can have both ADD and one or more other problems that muddy the diagnostic picture. Fibromyalgia, for example, seems to travel along with ADD in many cases. It produces a syndrome that includes muscle pain as well as mental fogginess. Allergies can also interfere with mental functioning.

Research on the mind/body connection and ADD is in its infancy. A number of health professionals who work with ADD have noted and written about the apparent connection between chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FMS) and ADD. It has been observed that there is a higher incidence of CFS and FMS among ADD women, but the studies to back up this observation are only just beginning.

diseases of unfulfillment.” When people are not expressing their full potential, they often get illnesses that have vague, hard-to-diagnose symptoms. Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are good examples of what I’m describing

After trauma the world is experienced with a different nervous system. The survivor’s energy now becomes focused on suppressing inner chaos, at the expense of spontaneous involvement in their life. These attempts to maintain control over unbearable physiological reactions can result in a whole range of physical symptoms, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other autoimmune diseases. This explains why it is critical for trauma treatment to engage the entire organism, body, mind, and brain.

When people are chronically angry or scared, constant muscle tension ultimately leads to spasms, back pain, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, and other forms of chronic pain. They may visit multiple specialists, undergo extensive diagnostic tests, and be prescribed multiple medications, some of which may provide temporary relief but all of which fail to address the underlying issues. Their diagnosis will come to define their reality without ever being identified as a symptom of their attempt to cope with trauma.

The term "functional somatic syndrome" is used to describe groups of co-occurring symptoms that are medically unexplained. Polysymptomatic functional somatic syndromes frequently encountered by both mental health and primary care practitioners include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and fibromyalgia.

The electrical, electronics and wireless radio frequency (RF) industries are creating an increasingly high radiation environment for the human. This is comparable to the elevated radiation environment found at high altitudes and smart health researchers would be wise to contrast high altitude diseases to the epidemics of our time, such as Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Fibromyalgia, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), and so on.

Being out of tune with your body has many other consequences. It’s why so many trauma victims experience unexplained physical ailments like panic attacks, migraines, chronic neck and back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. These are the outward eruptions of inner suppressions.

Jessica uncapped a marker and wrote ILLS at the top of the whiteboard. “Right,” Averman said. “I thought we’d begin with an overview of the problems at hand. This is a brainstorm. There’re no bad suggestions. We’ll prioritize and organize in the second session.” Four men spoke at once and then deferred to Roark. “We’re to list, what? Global pandemics?” “Everything. Like heart disease, for example.” Averman replied. Jessica wrote HEART DISEASE in the top left corner. A voice from the third row. “World hunger?” Jessica wrote WORLD HUNGER. Guy figured he’d come this far. “Jingoism!” JINGOISM. Benatti yelled, “Famine!” “Isn’t that the same as world hunger?” Roark asked. A chorus of assenting murmurs. Wright called up from the second row. “World hunger is a distribution problem. Famine is agricultural.” “Gentlemen.” Averman put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “Again, there are no bad suggestions. We’ll sort everything in the second session.” FAMINE. “SIDS!” Mary Ellen yelled. “Malaria!” someone shouted. Momentum gathered: “Alzheimer’s! Influenza! Cerebral palsy! Women’s education! Recidivism! Rising oceans! The migrant crisis! Diabetes! Earthquakes! Wage disparity! Racism! Blindness! Domestic abuse! Nuclear armament! Nuclear stockpiling! Opportunity for the less affluent! Drug patents! Ennui! Urban zoning! High-speed internet access! The Great Barrier Reef! Food deserts! Healthcare reform! Religious extremism! Crohn’s disease! Meningococcemia! Carbon emissions! AIDS! Female genital mutilation! Apathy! Child labor! Deafness! Corporate monopolies! Tax reform! Flesh-eating viruses! Infrastructure! University endowments! River-borne diseases! Mudslides! Marfan syndrome! Wildfires! Sexism! Opioids! Locked-in syndrome! Gambling addiction! Lyme’s! Lack of potable water! Tuberculosis! COPD! Syphilis! Deaths of despair! Mass transportation! High blood pressure! Bee extinction! Monogamy! Pneumonia! Mass incarceration! Mass migration! Pornography! Fibromyalgia! Diarrhea! Cirrhosis! Bacterial infections! Poor hygiene! Illiteracy! E. coli! Car accidents! School shootings! Xenophobia! Holy wars! Preterm birth complications! Sugar! Terrorism! Diabetes! Unemployment! Depression! Norovirus! Fracking! Oxygen depletion in the oceans! Nuclear waste! Mortality! . . .

Although few Americans have heard of SIBO and SIFO, tens of millions of us are affected by them. We now know that 35–84 percent of the thirty-five million Americans diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, as well as the equal number who remain undiagnosed but grin and bear bowel urgency and bloating, have SIBO.6 We also know that of the twelve million Americans with the pain and disability of fibromyalgia, up to 100 percent have the bacterial overgrowth of SIBO, as do the majority of people with restless leg syndrome, fatty liver, diverticular disease, various food intolerances, gallstones, autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions, and type 2 diabetes.6–12 The bacterial overgrowth of SIBO is also present in about 50 percent of the 150 million American adults who are overweight or obese.13 We also know that about a third of people with SIBO also have SIFO.14 It may not pillage the countryside or terrorize people in their cottages, but it is a monster that modern life has created, and it dwells in the thirty feet of your GI tract.