I found parts of this article unsettling and feel a bit unsure. Having so many of the syndromes found within the Fibro Complex has had me on drugs for over 30 years. And I have a love-hate relationship with prescriptions and the drugs I take.

Nowhere in my lengthy experience have I ever found myself over-dosing or overly dependent upon my pain killing/symptom treating drugs, including: Vicodin, Norco, Valium, Halcion, and Ambien. My friends, who have a chronic pain conditions, are similarly non-dependent. Yet we would all much prefer being drug free. Pain demands the price of medication not the curse of addiction. 

Consider your own experiences as you peruse this 4 page article, some of which is quoted below: 

Managing Your Pain: How to Use Prescription Drugs Without Becoming Addicted

…But while the stories of current and former prescription opioid addicts are frightening, chronic pain experts note that addiction is relatively rare and that these drugs do offer benefits when they are properly prescribed and used. And there is certainly a need for them. More than a quarter of Americans age 20 or older—more than 76 million people—say they’ve experienced pain that lasted longer than 24 hours, according to the American Pain Foundation, and 42 percent of those sufferers have endured pain lasting longer than a year. For many of these people, prescription opioids like the oxycodone (commonly sold as OxyContin) and hydrocodone (sold most popularly as Vicodin) used by Braa-Heidner, as well as meperidine (sold as Demerol) and others, are very helpful. “I think the fear can be a huge barrier to proper pain control,” says Paul Christo, director of the multidisciplinary pain fellowship program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. So how should you approach using a pain medication to get the relief you need without getting hooked?

read more…

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My World

by Jonnie Wright

My world is very small. I have written three books, two of them Bible studies for those who live with chronic pain. But, I cannot seem to promote them to the small audience who might be interested because I myself suffer with Fibromyalgia and its cluster of syndromes. These health issues shrink my world to a few “can dos.”

A depressed, non-Christian friend calls. I can witness to her about how I hang on to the core of my life, Jesus Christ, when I am depressed. A frightened friend arrives at my door after spending the night in jail. I can fall to my knees and claim the spiritual armor of the Holy Spirit that she may stand and see the deliverance the Lord will give her. I open an email from a Christian celebrity who begs for help because she is in a health crisis. I can email back a prayer of power using God’s own promises from Scripture. These things I can do.

Perhaps my world is not so very small. I serve a mighty God whose ways are not my own. If He is enough, then so am I.

Jesus is The Silver Bullet Book One in the Series: God’s Rx for Chronic Pain

Changes: Managing Chronic Pain Book Two in the Series: God’s Rx for Chronic Pain

Lord, What do I do with Sammy? Workbook for Christian Teachers

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How Being “Tolerant” Can Ruin Your Health:
Start Your New Year Right by Eliminating These Common Energy-Drainers

by Mary Yerkes

My desk is messy. My clothes don’t fit. The dog needs grooming. Life coaches agree that people zap their energy and increase their stress by putting up with a multitude of things that bug them, what life coaches call “tolerations.” And for the chronically ill, lingering stress can translate into increased pain. So, why not start your New Year right by identifying—and then eliminating—those things that deplete your energy and dampen your spirit.

Here are four common tolerations, along with practical suggestions for addressing them or eliminating them from your life:

Health Tolerations

If you live with chronic illness, you probably realize there are some things you just can’t control. But what about the things you can? Why add to your distress by eating too much junk food, not taking your prescribed medication, or failing to do your exercises, designed to increase your range of motion or reduce your pain? Take a few minutes and write down your health goals. Just make sure they’re realistic.

Don’t set a goal of jogging three miles a day when you struggle to walk to the curb each day to pick up the day’s mail. When making your list, make sure your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. A goal of eating healthier this year is too vague, but eating five serving of vegetables a day is SMART.

Environmental Tolerations

It’s hard to keep on top of housework and home repairs when you’re in constant pain and struggling to make it on one income. But, let’s be honest. If you feel well enough to sit at your desk and work, couldn’t you take a few extra minutes to clear that pile of papers from your desk so you could actually see your computer screen?

But what about bigger projects around the house that you can’t do yourself? If finances are tight and you can’t afford to hire someone to tackle larger projects, barter your services instead. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, offer to create a brochure for your neighbor’s new business in exchange for shoveling the snow off your walk. You get the idea.

People Tolerations

Face it. Some people are just toxic. They consistently say hurtful things like, “But you look so good!” or “You really should try harder to get to church on Sunday.” They chide you for canceling at the last minute and raise their eyebrows when you serve a store bought cake for your child’s birthday party instead of making one yourself.

If you’re chronically ill, limit your contact with people like this. It’s a little more difficult if you’re dealing with toxic family members. To maintain your sanity and preserve your health, learn to maintain appropriate boundaries. To better understand how to set healthy boundaries, I recommend reading, Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend.

Spiritual Tolerations

Are there areas in your spiritual life you need to address? Do you struggle with unforgiveness or harbor resentment or bitterness toward your spouse or children for failing to understand your pain, help with the housework, or give you the emotional support you need? Nothing will rob your joy or sap your strength more quickly than unforgiveness.

Don’t tolerate sin in your life for one more day. God’s Word tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).” Help is just a prayer away. The benefits you’ll gain from identifying and removing tolerations from your life are significant. You’ll be amazed at what a difference it will make. So, start the New Year right by making room in your life for what matters most.

Life Coach Mary Yerkes specializes in helping the chronically ill live abundant lives in Christ. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis in 1997, Mary understands the challenges of living with chronic pain and illness. Her greatest joy is seeing people set free to love and serve God with all their heart, mind, and soul. Mary is also an author, speaker, and contributor to popular Christian print and online magazines, including Focus on the Family, The Journal of Biblical Counseling, and On Mission Magazine.

Visit www.newlifechristiancoaching.com and www.maryyerkes.com to learn more.

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Dealing with Difficult Relatives

by Max Lucado

Does Jesus have anything to say about dealing with difficult relatives? Is there an example of Jesus bringing peace to a painful family? Yes, there is.

His own.

It may surprise you to know that Jesus had a difficult family. If your family doesn’t appreciate you, take heart, neither did Jesus’.

“His family … went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind” (Mark 3:21).

Jesus’ siblings thought their brother was a lunatic. They weren’t proud—they were embarrassed!

It’s worth noting that he didn’t try to control his family’s behavior, nor did he let their behavior control his. He didn’t demand that they agree with him. He didn’t sulk when they insulted him. He didn’t make it his mission to try to please them.

Each of us has a fantasy that our family will be like the Waltons, an expectation that our dearest friends will be our next of kin. Jesus didn’t have that expectation. Look how he defined his family: “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants” (Mark 3:35).

When Jesus’ brothers didn’t share his convictions, he didn’t try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual family could provide what his physical family didn’t. If Jesus himself couldn’t force his family to share his convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?

Having your family’s approval is desirable but not necessary for happiness and not always possible. Jesus did not let the difficult dynamic of his family overshadow his call from God. And because he didn’t, this chapter has a happy ending.

What happened to Jesus’ family?

Mine with me a golden nugget hidden in a vein of the Book of Acts. “Then [the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.… They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers” (Acts 1:12, 14, emphasis added).

What a change! The ones who mocked him now worship him. The ones who pitied him now pray for him. What if Jesus had disowned them? Or worse still, what if he’d suffocated his family with his demand for change?

He didn’t. He instead gave them space, time, and grace. And because he did, they changed. How much did they change? One brother became an apostle (Gal. 1:19) and others became missionaries (1 Cor. 9:5).

So don’t lose heart. God still changes families.

From He Still Moves Stones
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1999) Max Lucado

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 Here’s an opportunity for us to focus on our new selves in 2010. We may continue to suffer and even experience a downward trend. Fortunately, Jesus matters in our lives so a spiritual record will be helpful also. Both The Silver Bullet and Choices: Managing Chronic Pain will complement any physical study.

Feelings of isolation or aloneness are common emotions experienced by patients with chronic illnesses because they are no longer the individuals they used to be. Members of the Fibromyalgia Network share their best tips and coping strategies on how to deal with these feelings of isolation in the January, 2010 Journal. In addition, experts in the field offer steps on how to rebuild your new self.

While you are recreating a new identity, a website can help you track your improvements. Connie O’Reilly, Ph.D., a psychologist in Beaverton, OR, suggests that her patients use www.moodtracker.com.

Change sometimes comes slowly, and it’s easy to get discouraged, says O’Reilly. “Some form of self-monitoring helps remind us that all things change. If we’re in a great mood, it will change. If we are hurting, it will change. If we are sad and lonely, it will change. Change is the one constancy in the universe.” O’Reilly says that sometimes it helps to actually keep track of changes in our mood as we are changing other aspects of our life. “It can be comforting to see visual evidence that nothing stays static … neither the good nor the bad.”

This free online self-tracking program will help you monitor levels of sadness, anxiety, and irritability, along with things like the amount of sleep you get and your medications. You can plot your results from the past week, month or year. Because it is online, you can share it with anyone you like, such as your doctor, therapist, or trusted friends. You can even program it to send a text message to your cell phone to remind you to take medications.

“I often have my clients set it up to send them messages to practice their mindfulness, relaxation, or exercise. I encourage clients to journal about their daily activities and especially how they feel about them. They actually enjoyed it more than they expected. It helps them to tie behavior changes to mood changes over time, and in combination with something like moodtracker.com, it can reinforce the value of becoming more engaged with people and activities.”

Log on to www.moodtracker.com to sign up and get started!

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