Seven Helpful Tips For Dealing With The Pain Of Fibromyalgia

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113146.php
According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 10 million Americans suffer from fibromyalgia. Sadly, many go through months and years of pain, frustration and confusion before receiving treatment because there is no diagnostic for this chronic illness.

Medical tests such as x-rays, blood tests and muscle biopsies can rule out other medical conditions (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme disease) but can’t confirm fibromyalgia. Meanwhile, fibromyalgia sufferers endure multiple symptoms including global aching pain, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, sleep disturbances, heightened sensitivity to any sensation and depression.

The intensity of the symptoms can vary based on a variety of factors, including stress, weather, physical activity and time of the day. Even with all these symptoms, it can take up to five years for a fibromyalgia patient to get an accurate diagnosis. The rigors of the process weigh heavily on anyone with the disease. According to the American College of Rheumatology classification guidelines, for a patient to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia they must have widespread pain for at least three months and have a minimum of 11 specific locations on their body where they are experiencing pain.

Meanwhile, patients face a depressing and frightening time while waiting for their primary care physician to rule out other diseases. Family and friends sometimes think they are hypochondriacs and tell them to just “toughen up” or have a more positive attitude. This external pressure or lack of support can actually increase the severity of symptoms. The downward plunge in functionality can be dramatic, too, where activities of daily living, including shopping, exercising, and other pursuits become nearly impossible.

If you think you may have fibromyalgia and are going through a battery of tests to rule out other diseases or if you have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, you can take seven positive steps to manage your pain.

– Work with your physician to try different medications that are approved by the FDA for treating fibromyalgia and also to ease the physical pain and other symptoms, such as anxiety and insomnia.

– Understand your symptoms. Analyze when they occur, the intensity, duration, extenuating circumstances and other factors as well as when the symptoms seem to diminish. From this foundation, you can become more proactive in establishing a program to manage your pain (for one approach, see Managing Your Pain Before it Manages You by Margaret Caudill, MD, PhD.).

– Develop an exercise regimen, physical therapy program or both. This is counter-intuitive. When something hurts, the tendency is to avoid movement. But better muscle conditioning can help manage pain. With fibromyalgia, everything may hurt but there is no actual tissue damage (the cause is largely believed to be linked to the central nervous system). Set a schedule of daily exercise and stick to it. Better yet, if you enjoy the water, pool therapy in warm water, such as pool aerobics and swimming, will reduce the impact of gravity on joints while allowing for a good cardiovascular and muscular workout.

– Adjust your diet if your analysis indicates any pattern based on food and beverage consumption.

– Try acupuncture and holistic approaches.

– Join a support group: National Fibromyalgia Association (www.fmaware.org); or American Chronic Pain Association: www.theacpa.org, restministries.com or others in your community. Beyond the basic guidance offered here, the support groups have created large communities of fibromyalgia sufferers who are quick to share their personal experiences, frustrations, success stories and helpful hints.

– Establish a routine and stick to it, adjusting as you learn more about your body and analyze the results of your pain management program.

Since no cure exists, management is key. Know that pain is a part of your life and focus on something other than your physical complaints. Celebrate the success you have in reducing discomfort and you can enjoy a better qualify of life.

Written By Dr. Michael Verdolin
Dr. Verdolin is a board certified physician who has specialized in pain management since 2003.

Pain Control Associates of San Diego
2452 Fenton Street, Suite 101
Chula Vista, CA 91914-3516
www.paincontrolassociates.com

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I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our
cell phones?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we used it to receive messages?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it as we traveled?

What if we used it in case of an emergency?

What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?

This is something to make you go, hmmm, where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cellphones, we don’t ever have to worry
about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

And no dropped calls!

Makes you stop and think, “Where are my priorities?”

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Sleepy vs. Alert People Variations in Pain & Medication Response

Do alert people experience less pain (i.e., have higher pain thresholds)? Or, to flip the question around, if you are sleepy will you have greater pain sensitivity than a person who is alert? A study by a group of researchers at the Henry Ford Sleep Disorders Center in Detroit, MI, sought to answer this question.* Twenty-seven healthy adults without any sleep disorder and ranging in age from 18 to 35, were divided into two groups: alert and sleepy. This division was based on the results of a sleep latency test which measures the amount of time it takes a person to fall asleep in the middle of the day. People who fell asleep in seven or less minutes were put in the sleepy group, while those who took longer to fall asleep were placed in the alert group. As it turned out, 13 subjects were categorized as alert and 14 were labeled as sleepy. The average pain threshold for the two groups was measured and, as a whole, subjects in the alert group had higher pain thresholds than those in the sleepy group. The authors point out that 20 percent of the population is sleepy based on large studies that measure how fast people can fall asleep during the day. Generally, these people are not tired because they have a sleep disorder or another type of medical condition—just like the individuals in the recent study, they may be relatively young and very healthy. The daytime sleepiness resulted from mild, chronic sleep restrictions imposed by hectic work schedules and too many demands on their time (i.e., not enough time to get everything done). Given the high prevalence of “sleepy people,” the authors suggest that differences in pain sensitivity and their response to analgesics might be partially explained by restricted sleep schedules. Taking it a step further, people who have trouble sleeping at night (even if they are in bed for eight hours) may require higher doses of analgesic medicines. * Harris E, et al. SLEEP 31 (Abstract Supplement):A300, Abs#0912, 2008.

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I just bought a new computer… well, new hard drive, tower, column, whatever. The nice young man who installed it wore a great amount of cologne/after shave/perfume. Since I am quite sensitive to smells, I had to quarantine the room, run fans & air filters all night, and have a flare-up to boot. Needless to say, I scooted the youngster out of my house as quickly as possible. Lucky him. I prayed that God would somehow make my office habitable again, and He would also control my sensitivities. Aside from the headache, I believe my prayer was answered.

Now for the trauma! I open up email, there are no addresses AND I have to enter something under POP3, for which I haven’t a clue. All my desktop items are gone… I run my life on my desktop because otherwise I can’t find myself. Where is my new, about to be published book? Where are the over 50 bookmarks/favorites I saved on my Internet Explorer? Where am I?

I feel as if I am in a small boat in the middle of a vast ocean, no boundaries except the horizon, no land in “site.” This must be what someone feels like who doesn’t know Jesus Christ and has a chronic illness—lost in a sea of confusion concerning diagnosis, treatment, and life-style changes. I often wonder how anyone could go through life without the God of creation walking beside them. How utterly alone they are.

I am not alone and will not have to stay in this empty, vast unknown territory called the Internet. I have friends who will guide me out of this quandary; but how lost I would be without them. And who is the best friend anyone could ever have in their life? Jesus Christ! God’s answer to all the dilemmas in which we find ourselves, even the ones on the super highway called the Internet.

May you remember all your passwords, find all your documents in the places you thought you left them, Google your way to helpful sites, meet all the wonderful people out there and none of the dorks & sickos, and knock yourself out playing computer games. When the cursor disappears, documents get lost in the Ethernet, you’ve lost yourself in a maze of unknown sites, and you receive 100 spams a day, just remember that God created perfection and man created the computer.

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from email post

THE BUZZARD:
If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT: 
 The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place.  If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE:
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there
until it dies, unless it is taken out.  It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom.  It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE:
In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee.
We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!

Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.

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Fibromyalgia Chat

Welcome to the Fibromyalgia Chat & Message Boards. You can use this site for: Posting messages to other visitors who may have Fibromyalgia. Ask questions to be answered by Fibromyalgia chat peers. Inform others of your experiences with Fibromyalgia. Tell others what treatments have worked for you. Read the latest Fibromyalgia treatment information and news.

Fibromyalgia
Chat Rooms

http://www.fibromyalgiachat.com/

Fibromyalgia
Message Boards

Fibromyalgia
Alternative Treatments

http://www.fibromyalgiachat.com/index.cfm

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Fibromyalgia Tenderpoints Index

How Can You Tell if You Have Fibromyalgia?
Your doctor will ask about your pain symptoms and then press on a series of anatomically-defined soft tissue body sites called “tender points.” There are 18 tender points on the body that will usually be highly sensitive to pressure in people with fibromyalgia as specified by the American College of Rheumatology criteria. People who do not have fibromyalgia are much less tender to pressure applied at these tender points.

What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and tenderness in localized areas of the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips called “tender points.” According to William Hennen, Ph.D., author of Fibromyalgia: A Nutritional Approach, fibromyalgia has been classified as a syndrome, not a disease. He explains that a disease is a condition with a clearly identifiable cause, while a syndrome is a set of symptoms that define the condition without a single causative agent upon which to place the blame.

What are the Symptoms of Fibromyalgia?
While the symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia fluctuate from person to person, there is one common symptom that all agree on - they ache all over. The pain can feel like a deep bone ache, pains and needles, or a stabbing or burning pain. Muscles may feel like they have been pulled or overworked. There are times this pain is mild, others when it is so severe that it becomes unbearable.

Along with pain, many Fibromyalgia sufferers report headaches, poor sleep, fatigue, depression, and irregular bowel habits. Many others simply describe their symptoms as “flu-like.”

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In the official magazine of the Navel Institute, Frank Koch reported on a very unusual encounter at sea.  As A battleship was coming in for maneuvers in heavy weather.  Shortly after the sun went down, the lookout reported a light in the distance, so the captain had the signalman send a message: “We’re on a collision course.  Advise you to change your course twenty degrees.”  
 

Minutes later a signal came back:  “Advisable for you to change your course.”
 
The captain angrily ordered that another signal be sent:  “I am a captain.  Change course twenty degrees.
 
Again came the reply:  “I’m a seaman, second class.  You’d better change your course.”
 
Furious by this point, the captain barked a final threat.  “I’m a battleship! Change your course!”
 
The signal came back: “I’m a lighthouse.”
 
The captain changes his course!”

God is the lighthouse of our soul. Often times we choose to crash upon the shoals of life instead of listening to the one who knows the way. Pray that each of us keep our eyes fixed on the light of the Son.

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 http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11326174 

May 8th 2008

ME is a puzzling illness, but it appears to have a biological basis and a test for it could be developed.

A DISEASE that carries with it a social stigma causes additional and unnecessary suffering. This has often been so with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), or chronic-fatigue syndrome, as it is also known. Despite debilitating symptoms, patients have been accused of suffering from an imaginary illness: “yuppie flu”. Doctors have struggled to distinguish the ailing from the malingering. Nonetheless, evidence has grown in recent years that the syndrome is real, and now there is news that it has its roots in genetics.

ME manifests as extreme exhaustion, something that may include a range of other symptoms, such as disturbed sleep, difficulties in remembering and concentrating, headaches, and painful muscles and joints. Psychological symptoms, such as anxiety and irritability, can also be present. As the symptoms can vary in severity, the syndrome can be hard to identify, and patients can suffer for months before a diagnosis is made.However, new hope for ME sufferers arrived this week at a conference in Cambridge, in Britain. The event, organised by ME Research UK and the Irish ME Trust, two charities that help to fund studies and assist sufferers, was attended by researchers investigating what causes the illness and how it could be treated.Jonathan Kerr of St George’s University of London told the meeting that with his colleagues they have identified 88 genes which are expressed differently in the blood of patients who had been diagnosed with ME. Moreover, in studying the records of 55 patients with ME, they found that they could divide them into seven separate sub-types that consistently pair distinct genetic patterns with a combination and severity of patients’ symptoms. This, says Dr Kerr, points to a biological basis for the illness and holds out hope that a blood test could be developed to identify its different forms. His group are now trying to find the biological markers that such a blood test would need to detect.

ME, myself, why?

One tactic for dealing with ME is to treat its symptoms with drugs that are already used against other diseases. Patients with some of the severest symptoms suffer from low blood pressure and have difficulty regulating their heartbeat. Julia Newton, of Newcastle University in Britain, says this is because of problems with their autonomic nervous systems, which is responsible for subconscious activities. In studies using a magnetic-resonance imaging scanner, she found a build-up of acid in the muscles of ME patients when they took exercise. This can cause muscle weakness and pain. Dr Newton believes the build-up could be influenced entirely, or at least in part, by the degree to which the autonomic nervous system fails to properly maintain blood flow. It could also mean that drugs that already exist to help improve blood flow might also help some ME patients.

But what triggers ME? Some estimates put its occurrence at around one in 200 people in America and Britain. Sufferers are often in their 20s and 30s, and more women are affected than men. That it is so widespread suggests to some researchers that there are many causes, including exposure to certain viruses and other infectious diseases.

A long period of fatigue after suffering from an infectious disease is not unusual. At the conference, a team of Australian researchers speculated that many cases of ME are in fact cases of “post-infectious chronic fatigue”. Stephen Graves, of the Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, said they had found a proportion of Australian ME sufferers may have a genetic predisposition to developing ME as a result of exposure to Q Fever or Flinders Island Spotted Fever. These are a pair of relatively uncommon diseases caused by two bacteria which can pass between animals and humans. If their hypothesis is correct, Dr Graves believes the incidence of ME in Australia may be reduced by greater public-health measures.

Although the trigger for most cases of ME may remain a mystery, the discovery of its biological roots and the promise of a test will bring hope of a diagnosis to sufferers. And, perhaps, inspire a sudden recovery in the malingerers.

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Things to consider:

Did you know that 52 of the 55 signers of The Declaration of Independence were orthodox, deeply committed Christians? The other three all believed in the Bible as the divine truth, the God of Scripture, and His personal intervention. It is the same congress that formed the American Bible Society. Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of Scripture for the people of this nation.

Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, ‘Give me liberty or give me death.’ But in current textbooks the context of these words is deleted. Here is what he said: ‘An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not of the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.’ These sentences have been erased from our textbooks.  Was Patrick Henry a Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote this ‘It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by  religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.’

Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote on the front of his well- worn Bible: ‘I am a Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator and, I hope, to the pure doctrine of Jesus also.’

Was George Washington a Christian? Consider these words from his personal prayer book: ‘Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thy son, Jesus Christ.’

It is clear from history that the Bible and the Christian faith, were foundational in our educational and judicial system. However in 1947, there was a radical change of direction in the Supreme Court. Here is the prayer that was banished: ‘Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee. We beg Thy blessings upon us and our parents and our teachers and our country. Amen.’ 

In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading was outlawed as unconstitutional in the public school system. The court offered this justification: ‘If portions of the New Testament were read without explanation, they could and have been psychologically harmful to children.’

Bible reading was now unconstitutional, though the Bible was quoted 94 percent of the time by those who wrote our constitution and shaped our Nation and its system of education and justice and government. In 1965, the Courts denied as unconstitutional the rights of a student in the public school cafeteria to bow his head and pray audibly for his food.

In 1980, Stone vs. Graham outlawed the Ten Commandments in our public schools. The Supreme Court said this: ‘If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments were to have any effect at all, it would be to induce school children to read them.. And if they read them, meditated upon them, and perhaps venerated and observed them, this is not a permissible objective.’

James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States, said this: ‘We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.’

Today we are asking God to bless America. But how can He bless a Nation that has departed so far from Him?

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