Chronic pain: The “invisible” disability
Sometime back in 2010, a good friend of mine from college who had since become a pediatrician posted a complaint on Facebook about “made up” health conditions. “Fibromyalgia, I’m looking at you,” she wrote. At this time, pain was more of an occasional visitor in my body rather than the permanent tenant it has since become. Still, I was offended on behalf of those patients with the disease.
Fast forward to today and my life is all about pacing. This is because everything I do — cook, sleep, work, walk — takes time. This gradual approach to every aspect of my life is not about enlightenment or mindfulness. It i...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 28, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Laura Kiesel Tags: Health Managing your health care Pain Management Source Type: blogs
Am I or Will I Get Better?
I get asked often, am I getting better? Have any of my doctors found a miraculous treatment for me?The answers are and always will be a big fat ' no ' .There are different kinds of ailments out there. They are (in my non medical terminology):Acute - an ailment which happens and gets better. Think a cut, the flu, appendicitis, Lyme disease.Chronic - an ailment which occurs and lasts and lasts and lasts. Think things like arthritis, fibromyalgia, degenerating disks, etc.Terminal - an ailment which will kill you. "Terminal illnesses or infections are consideredincurable when there are no conservative therapies available which...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - April 26, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ailments chronic conditions medical treatment pain management Source Type: blogs
Hanging Out with My Peeps
If I take a look backward, I realize that I have the best time hanging out with my cancer friends, or ' my peeps ' . Sometimes I feel like I hold back on my health with everyone and more so with people who don ' t have cancer - a/k/a the people who don ' t really get it. I mean they try.I have many friends with varying understanding of what its like to live with cancer. One friend, who has RA and has lost a husband to cancer, is very, very close to understanding the life I live. Then I also have friends who barely know what fibromyalgia is.Part of it is me. I tend to not be very open about my medical stuff until I am ready...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - April 14, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer bonds friends knitting Source Type: blogs
I Was Thinking
I ' m sorry, I know I shouldn ' t spend time thinking because it can cause all sorts of problems. I know. I should stop spending so much time thinking. I ' ll think about that for a while.Anyway, I was thinking because I read an article on the giantRheumatoid Arthritis Time Suck. When you have RA you spend a lot of time going to the doctor to deal with doctors for RA and then all the time dealing with the side effects of your RA medications. And your low immune system which makes you high risk for everything. And blood tests every 8 weeks. And more and more.But then I get to add in the fibromyalgia time suck which causes t...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - April 13, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ailments thinking time Source Type: blogs
Sleep Problems, and Solutions
I might have mentioned before that I have problems sleeping. This isn ' t new. I have had problems sleeping since my 30s. But its only recently that it has gotten much more complicated than just a bit of insomnia. Add in things like:Back pain so it can be really hard to get comfortable to sleep at all.Fibromyalgia which causes both fatigue and insomniaRheumatoid painSleep apnea and an evil CPAP machine which keeps me awakeShould I go on? I can....In the past, I have been known to get up and wash the dishes and clean the kitchen in the middle of the night because I couldn ' t sleep. Trust me, I have been all over the house ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - April 6, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: lack of sleep Source Type: blogs
Note To Self: Stop Playing Doctor and Self Diagnosing
I have no medical training whatsoever past what I have learned from my doctors in their appointments. So why do I waste any time trying to figure out what is wrong with me? Last night I was lying in bed and trying to decide what was causing the pain in my ankle? Was it referred pain from my knee or hip? Or is it a new pain and what could be the source? Is it worthy of going to the doctor any sooner than my scheduled appointment at the end of the month? I really don ' t want any more doctor appointments but pain is pain.And am I trying to self diagnose myself so my doctor can just confirm what I thought it was?I have no ide...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - April 4, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cure dreams pain relief Source Type: blogs
Roy on the Pros and Cons of Medical Marijuana
Medical marijuana was legalized in Maryland two years ago, and this summer we will be getting our first dispensaries. Psychiatrists are starting to ask what this means in terms of treating patients. Roy did a great job summing up some of the research for our colleagues:Unfortunately, because of the many historical restrictions on research, there is increasing amounts of data available, yet few "facts" to go by ("fact" as in "a thing that is indisputably the case"). These data are often viewed from differing perspectives. Such as absolute vs relative risks. Harm reduction vs harm avoidance. Public health vs crim...
Source: Shrink Rap - April 3, 2017 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
An open letter to Psychological Medicine, again!
In conclusion, noted Wilshire et al., “the claim that patients can recover as a result of CBT and GET is not justified by the data, and is highly misleading to clinicians and patients considering these treatments.”
In short, the PACE trial had null results for recovery, according to the protocol definition selected by the authors themselves. Besides the inflated recovery results reported in Psychological Medicine, the study suffered from a host of other problems, including the following:
*In a paradox, the revised recovery thresholds for physical function and fatigue–two of the four recovery measures–were so lax ...
Source: virology blog - March 23, 2017 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Commentary Information adaptive pacing therapy CFS chronic fatigue syndrome clinical trial cognitive behavior therapy Dave Tuller exercise graded exercise therapy mecfs myalgic encephalomyelitis outcome PACE trial recovery Source Type: blogs
Why Wheat Belly and What ’ s Next?
Most of you are very familiar with the Wheat Belly books and philosophies. I called it Wheat Belly because abdominal fat is the signature pattern of weight gain from a diet based on wheat and grains. It is the outward expression of the deep visceral fat encircling the intestines and other abdominal organs that is inflammatory, disrupts hormones, keeps you from wearing a size four bikini, and yields the unsettling sight of middle-aged men with protuberant bellies spilling over Speedos. Wheat Belly conveyed the same lessons that I’d originally learned in the world of heart health, now repackaged to appeal to mainstream int...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - March 21, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Dr. Davis Health Destruction by Wheat Healthcare system Healthy Eating The Undoctored Weight loss Wheat Belly Wheat Belly Total Health Source Type: blogs
Why Wheat Belly . . . and what ’ s next?
Most of you are familiar with the Wheat Belly books and philosophies. I called it Wheat Belly because abdominal fat is the signature pattern of weight gain from a diet based on wheat and grains. It is the outward expression of the deep visceral fat encircling the intestines and other abdominal organs that is inflammatory, disrupts hormones, keeps you from wearing a size 4 bikini, and yields the unsettling sight of middle-aged men with protuberant bellies spilling over Speedos. Wheat Belly conveyed the same lessons that I’d originally learned in the world of heart health, now repackaged to appeal to mainstream interests.
...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - March 21, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Dr. Davis Health Destruction by Wheat Healthcare system Healthy Eating The Undoctored Weight loss Wheat Belly Wheat Belly Total Health Source Type: blogs
Things Are Not Working As Planned
Sometimes, things just don ' t go as you wanted or expected. Its a fact of life and we need to learn to cope, change directions, and move on.In the grand scheme of things, my original plans were that would I grow up, go to college, get a job, a career, married, kids, retire to a life of happiness and world travel. Well, we know what happened to that. I got as far as ' go to college ' when my health started taking over my life. One little cancer diagnosis has a big emotional impact and it took time to get my life back together.So I regrouped and started over at college, etc. The job and career went okay. I did eventually go...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 14, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: being healthy housebound life new house Source Type: blogs
Is central sensitisation really a thing?
It seems odd to me that there’s much argument about central sensitisation in pain circles. I thought the idea of central sensitisation was well-established based on research from some years ago – but apparently there are still arguments about its relevance, and lots of debate about how to identify it clinically. This post is based mainly on a presentation by Jo Nijs from Pain in Motion, at the recent NZ Pain Society meeting in Nelson. In this post I want to briefly review the material presented by Jo suggesting that central sensitisation is a thing. I’ll write more about assessment in a future blog, or th...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - March 12, 2017 Category: Anesthesiology Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Pain conditions Research Science in practice biopsychosocial Health Source Type: blogs
Undoctored: An Excerpt
Here’s an excerpt from my new book, Undoctored: Why Healthcare Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor. In Undoctored, I take the lessons learned from the worldwide Wheat Belly experience and put them to work in a new program that helps reverse hundreds of health conditions–because conventional healthcare has abdicated its responsibility and is no longer about reclaiming health.
The Undoctored movement will get you and your family back on track, having cracked the code on health, slenderness, and higher levels of life performance. The book will be released May 9th, 2017, but is available ...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - February 25, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: News & Updates gluten grains health Inflammation recipes undoctored Weight Loss wheat belly Source Type: blogs
Call me Ms. Grumpy
I am very grumpy these days. I think part of it is juggling my medical issues. But its also that I have been dealing with a lot of pain, and in new body parts. I am still on that never ending roller coaster of ' wait its another doctor appointment ' each week. Also, my stupid CPAP machine doesn ' t help me. I have given up even using it because the mask doesn ' t work for me.Last night I almost cancelled all my plans for today to stay home and pout. But I realize pouting never got anyone anything so I ditched that. I did get some good sleep last night which helps. And my reward today is getting my nails done this afternoon...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 24, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ailments crabbiness stress Source Type: blogs
I Need to Stop Reading Medical News
I usually like to read the latest medical news. Mostly because I have a lot of medical crap going on. I like to see what is going for advancements and research. I mean maybe some day someone will find the cure for me and all my ailments and I can go back to being a healthy person.But sometimes the news isn ' t what I want to hear and isn ' t very good. Liketoday." Fibromyalgia Worsens Function in RA " This is not what I wanted to hear. Also there is a higher prevalence of fibromyalgia in patients with RA. But there are treatment options for patients with both RA and fibromyalgia.But still, I don ' t like the part about wor...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 21, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: fibromyalgia medical crap medical news rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: blogs
