By wendy, on January 21st, 2012%
By Wendy Burnett
I’ve been seeing some questions online about what a “flare” is, and how you know when you’re having one. The simplest definition is “a time when your fibromyalgia symptoms get worse, then improve again.” (With the caveat that if they STAY worse permanently it’s not a flare, its a worsening of the illness.)
A “fibromyalgia flare” is actually more accurately described as a “symptom flare,” since it can involve ANY symptom or combination of symptoms related to the illness or to comorbid conditions. Most patients (and doctors) only look at pain and fatigue levels; but increased severity of IBS/other digestive issues, fibrofog, anxiety, depression, itching, skin sensitivity, or any other symptom related to your fibromyalgia is ALSO a flare.
Each patient tends to have their own specific definition, so if you ask 20 people, you’ll actually get 20 different definitions; but they’ll all have some things in common: Continue reading What is a Fibromyalgia “Flare”? »
By wendy, on November 26th, 2011%
By Wendy Burnett
Day 25 – The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Prompt (#HAWMC) for today is: “Never Have I Ever. You stick to your guns – now tell us about what. What is something you’ve never done but want to. What’s something you’ve never done and won’t budge on?”
Part one is easy . . . I’ve never been to Hawaii, and I WANT to go (permanently.) Actually, I guess any tropical island would do, I just happen to know that Hawaii has the internet connectivity I need.
 Randy Son of Robert via Flickr I’ve always loved the ocean and beaches, and being on an island would totally surround me with both. Water in all its forms nourishes my soul, relieves my stress, and relaxes my body. I’ve also always been fascinated by the juxtaposition of beauty and danger in volcanoes, and can never resist watching programs about them. In Hawaii, I would have both, along with warmer temperatures (winter is always the worst time of the year for me, with the cold increasing my baseline pain levels.)
I grew up in south Florida, on the coast, and I miss the feel of the salt air, the roar of the surf, and the ocean breezes. Continue reading Never Have I Ever . . . Now How CAN I? »
By wendy, on November 2nd, 2011%
 By Wendy Burnett
WEGO Health is having a month long event called “The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge” (#HAWMC) through November. It sounded pretty interesting, and I can always use more ideas for posts, so I decided to participate even though I didn’t find out about it until I was getting ready for work yesterday. I’m already a day late with my first post, but I figure what the hell, it’s only one extra post, so here we go . . .
The prompt for the first post is “Titles of my future book. Come up with 5 working titles and a quick book jacket synopsis.” This is actually an easy one for me, since all of these books are in the process of being written, and the synopsis is just the basic premise of each book. I don’t know if they’ll ever be published through a traditional publisher, but they will all be available as both e-books and Kindle editions when I finish them.
Making Your Own Medicine: A Guide to Adding Herbs to Your Treatment Plan - The use of herbs (and other alternative treatments) can improve quality of life and reduce the need for medications, IF they are used safely and appropriately. This guide provides information about how to safely integrate alternative treatments, how-to’s for creating herbal treatments, and resources for finding more information.
Suffering is Optional: My Life with Chronic Illness - Although I have pain and fatigue (and lots of other symptoms,) I don’t suffer from them. They don’t make me miserable, or cause me psychological distress, or make me unhappy. Continue reading Current Projects: Titles of My Future Books »
By wendy, on August 16th, 2011%
 Image by chadly via Flickr
By Wendy Burnett
When you have a chronic invisible illness, one of the hardest things to deal with is the lack of understanding from your family, friends, and co-workers. “Normals” (those without chronic illnesses) have only had illnesses that last a few days or weeks, then go away; so when they see you on a “good” day, they think you’re “getting better.”
If your friends see you out shopping one day, and then the next day when they ask you to go to lunch, or help with something; and you can’t because the shopping wore you out, they get angry or think you’re “faking.” After all, you were fine yesterday. Continue reading 3 Ways to Explain Your Chronic Illness to Family & Friends »
By wendy, on April 13th, 2011%
Of all the symptoms of fibromyalgia I have to deal with on a daily basis, FibroFog is absolutely the worst for me. I can deal with pain and stiffness, I’ve adjusted to always being exhausted, anxiety and stress are a constant undercurrent, but feeling like I’m losing my mind? THAT one bugs me.
I have to use lists constantly, or I’ll walk out of the house without my head one of these days. (Of course, a list does a lot more good if I can actually find it.) I have to laugh most of the time, because some of the things I forget are just SO ridiculous . . .
Have you ever gotten half way to work and realized you forgot to put on your bra? I have. Funny? Yes. Irritating? Even more so. I probably could have gotten away with it, considering it was in the winter and I was wearing three layers of clothes, but still . . . not appropriate. Besides, try explaining to your male boss that the reason you’re half an hour late is because you walked halfway to work before you realized you’d forgotten your bra and had to go back and put it on. NOT fun. Funny, yes, even hilarious, but definitely not fun. Continue reading FibroFOG – The WORST Symptom Ever? »
By wendy, on April 3rd, 2011%
Have you tried herbs or supplements for your chronic illness? I’ve had to find “other options” for treating my fibromyalgia and bipolar disorder because of my financial situation, so I’ve been doing a lot of research and collecting some tools for working with the herbs I like to experiment with.
 Capsule Machine and Completed Herbal Capsules In other words, I’ve been learning to make my own herbal treatments for my various symptoms. I ordered an “encapsulator” for making my own herbal capsules, and have been playing with that a LOT. Instead of buying bottles of herbal supplements, I’ve been making my own. Continue reading Making My Own “Medicine” for My Chronic Illness »
By wendy, on March 29th, 2011%
 Image via Wikipedia
I’ve been a very, very bad blogger lately, and haven’t posted in forever. The short explanation is that work and the fibromyalgia have been playing hell with my body, and most of my non-work time has been spent doing the things that are absolutely necessary and sleeping. (Lots and LOTS of sleeping.) One of my blogging friends, Phylor, has posted a letter to the chronically ill part of herself, and it inspired me to start writing again (thanks, girl, I needed that!)
Dear body;
I owe you an apology . . . a big one. I know that many of the things I do make you worse, and I’m really sorry about that, Continue reading Dear body: A Letter to Myself About Chronic Illness »
By wendy, on March 10th, 2011%
(Disclosure notice: Links to product pages in this post are affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using one, I will receive a payment. If you enjoy this blog and intend to make a purchase, I would greatly appreciate your use of my links to do so. It will not affect the price you pay, and will help me keep this blog online.)
Chronic illnesses tend to wreak havoc with family finances. Between the cost of treatment, and the reduction in the ability to work; having an illness like fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, myalgic encephalitis (chronic fatigue syndrome,) lupus, migraines, or any of the thousands of others out there can destroy a family’s financial security and severely limit the ability to provide traditional healthcare.
My illnesses have put me in the position of not being able to afford the several hundred dollars a month I was spending on medications with my insurance (and with the insurance we have now, the more than $1000 a month they would cost would take pretty much our entire income,) so I’ve had to find other options.
It’s been an interesting journey, and there have been times when I’ve seriously considered just killing myself and getting it over with (mostly during the forced withdrawal from the psychiatric meds I used to be on for my bipolar disorder.) I’ve reached a point now where I’ve found enough other options to manage fairly well, and I’m actually happier without the prescriptions than I was with them. (Even if I hit the lottery tomorrow, I wouldn’t go back to taking all the stuff I used to be on.)
It’s more work than just popping a handful of pills several times a day, but using herbs and aromatherapy to treat my symptoms is also very satisfying. I have much more control of what I’m putting into my body, I’m supporting the natural processes my body uses to heal itself rather than subverting them, and I’m not dealing with multiple side-effects that have to be treated with yet another expensive medication that comes with its own set of side-effects.
Natural treatments do take longer to “kick-in,” and I sometimes deal with slightly higher pain levels than I would if I could just take a heavy-duty pain-killer, but I don’t have to worry about becoming dependent on most of the herbal treatments I use, either. (Which also means that I don’t have to worry about withdrawal symptoms if I switch things around or run out of something.)
There are several herbs that I make certain I always have on hand, and as I promised in part 1, those are the ones I’m going to focus on in this post.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and nothing I say in this post is intended as medical advice. If you find the idea of using herbs in your treatment plan intriguing, be sure to do the research and discuss any changes or additions with your healthcare provider to ensure your safety.
 Making Skullcap Capsules Skullcap: I use this one for pain reduction (it has actually helped more with my sprained shoulder than the Lortabs the doctor prescribed,) stress reduction, and help sleeping. I try to get it online, from Mountain Rose Herbs, because it’s half the price that I pay at the organic grocery down the street. ($15 a pound, as opposed to $30; so even after I pay for shipping, I save money.)
It works well for headaches (especially tension headaches,) and muscle pain; and in combination with other anti-inflammatory herbs like ginger and turmeric, it also helps with my arthritis/fibromyalgia pain. Continue reading Making My Own “Medicine” – Part 2 »
By wendy, on October 31st, 2010%
It’s time for the new Graceful Agony Blog Carnival post, and the subject this time is dreams. Not the kind of dreams you have while you’re sleeping, but the dreams you have for your life . . . It’s a wide open topic, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the group does with it.
Personally, I don’t really know where to start. I have so many dreams that it’s hard to choose between them, and that lack of focus makes it almost impossible to accomplish ANY of them. Since that’s true, it makes sense to me to focus on the dream that caused me to start this blog, and that keeps bringing me back here, even when I’ve been having issues with writer’s block and fibro fog.
No matter how long it is between posts, I always wind up coming back; finishing up drafts and writing new stuff. Even during the worst of the fogs and fatigue, I find myself starting drafts so that when I’m more able to work on things the ideas will still be available.
I started this blog because I wanted to help others with chronic illnesses to find ways to cope that don’t necessarily involve doctors and prescriptions. Allopathic (Western) medicine is great for some things, but it is failing those of us with chronic illnesses because its total focus is on curing disease, and when the doctors can’t cure it they get frustrated.
My dream is to help people find things that help to make their lives better in spite of the diseases they live with every day, whether that is a new prescription medication that reduces their symptoms or a stress reduction technique that helps them cope with those symptoms. Continue reading A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes »
By wendy, on October 13th, 2010%
I found this article on Dr. Mercola’s site, and I thought that the information included could be very helpful for those of us who deal with the horrors of fibro every day. (I personally plan to try many of these suggestions, and have already discovered that aspartame DOES make my pain worse.) Republished with permission.
Chronic pain is a pervasive issue and fibromyalgia is a very common form. It is a chronic condition whose symptoms include muscle and tissue pain, fatigue, depression, and sleep disturbances.
Recent data suggests that central sensitization, in which neurons in your spinal cord become sensitized by inflammation or cell damage, may be involved in the way fibromyalgia sufferers process pain.
Certain chemicals in the foods you eat may trigger the release of neurotransmitters that heighten this sensitivity.
Although there have been only a handful of studies on diet and fibromyalgia, the following eating rules can’t hurt, and may help, when dealing with chronic pain. Continue reading Foods That Chronic Pain Sufferers Need to Avoid »
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"The moral test of a society is how that society treats those who are in the dawn of life . . . the children; those who are in the twilight of life . . . the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life . . . the sick, the needy, and the handicapped."
---Hubert Humphrey
Welcome to the new home of Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired. I hope you'll enjoy the changes, and the new resources I'll be adding as I have time to work on the site. Things will look a bit odd while I learn where and how to modify the appearance, so please bear with me.
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