This is a short video by Joel with some common sense weight loss method that worked for him and is similar to what I do. Watch and enjoy, maybe you too will find it as encouraging as I did. Of course I still have 40 pounds to go
This is a short video by Joel with some common sense weight loss method that worked for him and is similar to what I do. Watch and enjoy, maybe you too will find it as encouraging as I did. Of course I still have 40 pounds to go
Mar. 15, 2013 — Low and moderate drinkers of alcohol reported lower severity of symptoms of fibromyalgia than teetotallers, finds a study in BioMed Central’s open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy. Too much alcohol reversed this effect.
The chronic pain of fibromyalgia is thought to affect one in 20 people worldwide but there is no known cause or cure. It often goes hand in hand with fatigue and sleep problems, headaches, depression and irritable bowel and bladder problems. Treatment is based around pain management and lifestyle changes.
Continue reading
Good morning everyone! I’ve decieded to change the format of this blog. I am going to get selfish and make it about me. The heck with trying to keep content fresh in order to attact those who may click on an add and help support me. Sorry I do need the income, but enough of that.
As many know I am one of the few men with fibro, I believe there are maybe a million more that just don’t want to acknowledge it. I understand why and as I am not a football or sports figure, I cannot influence anyone. I am just your average guy.
In todays episode we find Bob sitting at his keyboard cursing the pain in his hands, How can I type with all this pain? I have already taken my morning 9 different meds plus my get out of bed 10 mg Oxycontin with 1/2 10/325mg percoset. Those 2 I take 20 minutes before trying to get out of bed. Hope we never have another fire Continue reading
By Jeanne Hambleton ©
The Fibromyalgia Conference and Pamper Weekend in April on the south coast was another great success inspite of cancellations by the Americans. Described as a ‘coalition’ conference many Group Leaders played a major part in collecting stage payments at group meetings over several months, to enable delegates to come to conference. Without the support of those Leaders, many living on benefits would have been unable to come. Others found their local Rotary Club willing to help fund their visit to the conference. So many people pulled together to make it happen and during the ‘fond farewell’ it was clear that they all enjoyed themselves. Continue reading
WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 (UPI) — The chronic pain syndrome fibromyalgia, which most often occurs in women, can also affect men — not only as patients, but as caregivers, U.S. researchers say.
“Although 10 percent to 20 percent of fibromyalgia patients are males, few scientific studies have been done in this population,” Lynne Matallana of the National Fibromyalgia Association says in a statement.
The National Fibromyalgia Association and the American Pain Foundation are joining with the Men’s Health Network in conducting an online survey. Continue reading
Objective
To determine if mortality is increased among patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
Methods
We studied 8,186 fibromyalgia patients seen between 1974 and 2009 in 3 settings: all fibromyalgia patients in a clinical practice, patients participating in the US National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases (NDB), and patients invited to participate in the NBD who refused participation. Internal controls included 12, 329 patients with osteoarthritis. Deaths were determined by multiple source communication, and all patients were also screened in the US National Death Index (NDI). We calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMR) based on age and sex stratified US population data, after adjustment for NDI non-response.
There were 539 deaths, and the overall SMR was 0.90 (95% CI 0.61, 1.26). Among 1,665 clinic patients the SMR was 0.92 (95% CI 0.81, 1.05). Sensitivity analyses varying the rate of NDI non-identification did not alter the non-association. Adjusted for age and sex, the hazard ratio for fibromyalgia compared with osteoarthritis was 1.05 (95% CI 0.94, 1.17). The standardized mortality odds ratio compared with the US general population was increased for suicide, OR 3.31 (2.15, 5.11), and for accidental deaths, 1.45 (1.02, 2.06), but not for malignancy.
Conclusion
Mortality does not appear to be increased in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but the risk of death from suicide and accidents was increased.
By Charlene Laino
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Laura J. Martin, MDApril 16, 2010 (Toronto) — Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia, and a painful bladder condition called interstitial cystitis (IC) seem to get worse in some women right before and during menstruation, researchers report.
All three are disorders of the autonomic nervous system. That’s the part of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves that controls functions such as blood pressure and bladder control; these functions are largely involuntary and below our level of consciousness.
“Since other autonomic disorders like migraine and fainting seem to have menstrual variations, we theorized that these conditions would have these variations as well,” says Thomas Chelimsky, MD, professor of neurology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
IBS is characterized by abdominal pain, constipation, bloating, and diarrhea, while fibromyalgia is characterized by pain throughout the body, along with tender points.
For the study, 79 women with IBS, 77 women with fibromyalgia, and 129 women with IC filled out a questionnaire asking about the severity of their symptoms throughout the month.
A total of 25% of the IBS patients, 18% of the fibromyalgia patients, and 9% of the IC patients reported worsening of symptoms during or before their period.
While not addressed by the study, Chelimsky believes fluctuations in hormone levels may explain the findings.
“Estrogen is a pain preventative,” Chelimsky says. Levels are at their lowest right before menstruation and are still low while a woman has her period.
Additionally, 15% of women in the study reported worse pain at menopause, another time estrogen levels drop. In a surprising finding that the researchers could not explain, 37% of women said symptoms got worse at the time of their first period.
Also unknown is why symptoms fluctuate with hormone levels in some women and not others.
The findings of the poster presentation were reported here at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
Asked to comment on the findings, Nathan Wei, MD, clinical director of the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center of Maryland, says, “This study confirms the clinical impression made by practitioners for many years — that hormonal shifts play a major role in symptom exacerbation.”
Chelimsky says that other research shows that women with IBS, fibromyalgia, and IC who are on estrogen-containing birth control pills seem to have fewer symptoms than other women with the conditions.
“I wouldn’t recommend patients go on the pill [for this reason],” Chelimsky says.
“But if they have bad periods, they may want to get on an exercise program. Studies have shown that’s the best thing you can do to improve symptoms,” he says.
Fibromyalgia, also called muscular rheumatism or musculoskeletal pain syndrome, is a chronic disorder of the muscles and other body tissue. A person suffering from fibromyalgia typically experiences muscle pain, fatigue, sleeping problems and many tender points on the body. The pain from this disorder can make everyday activities difficult and seriously disrupt a person’s life. Though scientists believe that injury, trauma, infection, or a chemical imbalance may contribute to fibromyalgia, the cause for this autoimmune disorder is unknown.
Allopathic treatments for managing the pain of fibromyalgia include taking low doses of tricyclic antidepressants, drugs ordinarily used to treat depression. These drugs may work by reducing or blocking the re-uptake of serotonin, the neurotransmitters that affect mood.
While the true causes of fibromyalgia are still unknown, it is thought to be a neurologic disorder. Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain throughout the body and exhaustion. Specific treatments are lacking, and conventional therapy typically involves a combination of several medications with multiple potential side effects. Pilates offers a complementary or alternative approach to relieving some of the most troubling symptoms of fibromyalgia.