Wow! That sounded amazing to me. The whole technique, as he explains it, is very doable. Most anyone who suffers with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or most any other chronic illness should be able to do hydrotherapy in some form or fashion.

(Hint: if you want to get in the bath tub, rather than the shower, and you need help getting in and out, ask for assistance. That’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to improve your immune system and nervous system!)

I think it is revealing that something like this has been around a long, long time and few of us knew about it. Modern science and medicine are surely wonderful, but they do not have an exclusive handle on everything that is good for you. Many of the ancient techniques and even the ole’ country doctor remedies still work quite well. When you get honest about it, here is something to help improve your immune system and nervous system that requires no pills, no shots, no surgeries and not even a supplement. That is amazing… .

(Audio is 8 min 16 seconds.)

Hydrotherapy is simply a generalized health improvement technique that most anyone can do. I plan to start my hydrotherapy sessions today. How about you?

P.S. If you like this valuable information, be sure that you don’t miss any of it. You can hear lots more “in detail” from all kinds of special guest speakers on my teleseminars. Sign up today to be on my teleseminar list using the sign up box below. I will email you when the events are scheduled. (Note: It’s not necessary to sign up more than once unless you’re not receiving the notices for some reason. It’s a multi-step process and some people don’t follow through, therefore they really don’t get signed up correctly. If you suspect that you’re not getting the emails, feel free to sign up again. You may even want to put cinda (at) getwellhealth.com into your email address book so that the messages will not fall into your spam folder.)

P.P.S.- The guest I interviewed today was Dr. Christopher Lepisto. He welcomes phone consultations at 1-970-250-4104 or you can email him at drchristopher (at) mac.com.

Thanks for being here today. I invite you to leave your comments.
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

Drop by the Health Matters Show on Friday. We’re discussing the topic, Eat Live Foods. That title may cause you to scratch your head at first, but I promise to explain what I mean.

I can only hope that you are carefully considering the food, drinks and water that you put into your mouth everyday. And whether you’re listening to me, a nutritionist like Julie Koritz, a naturopath like Dr. Christopher Lepisto or Dr. Deirdre Rawlings or any respected authority, there are people in the world who are willing and capable of helping you with your health… especially if that means how to get well from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome!

Because of this emphasis of your health through food products and really anything that might help you be healthier, I am opening up the Health Matters Show to new INTERVIEW GUESTS who want to talk about nutrition and proven supplements for helping the symptoms of fatigue, pain and dysfunction of the immune system.

Also authors with a website and a “publicly” published book are welcomed. Your book should be available at least as an ebook download or at Amazon.com. I find that authors in this field often have some very helpful, personal stories to tell.

To contact me, send an email to cinda (at) getwellhealth.com. Put “Interview Guests” in the subject line. Give me a short synopsis of what information and/or product you have to offer and a very brief history (or bio) of “you” in the industry. Essentially, tell me why and what you can bring to my audience. Your product or service must be real; no bogus sales pitches please. Lastly, advise how to contact you.

After that I ask you to be patient. Except for special circumstances and programming needs, there’s only one of me and I do it all. If I don’t get back to you after four weeks, send in a second request email.

I probably will receive many responses to this open call for guest spot appearances. A joint project can be in the form of audio or video interviews or even a “live” teleseminar presentation. I promise to look at each request and proposal carefully before proceeding. My plans are to air a few of these special shows beginning in the latter part of August and run them through at least September and October.

I encourage you to think of this as a route to developing a new business relationship. The possibilities are endless. I only work with people, services and products of merit and value. (Granted, the final decision involves a personal, subjective process, but if you’re a professional too, I’m sure you understand how this works. My motivation is to only offer the “best” for the people I serve.)

Thank you so much for visiting the blog today. Whatever you do, don’t forget to return here to the Health Matters Show on Friday and the podcast. We’ll discuss the benefits of eating “live” food!

Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show

(Today, the common vernacular for that is eating junk food.)

However, I know that when I was so horribly sick and a virtual, bed-bound invalid, I did exactly that. So, I’m wondering today, why would I do that? Well, to answer that question is the reason for this post today.

As humans, we can be tempted to make excuses about the food we eat and feel sorry for ourselves. We feel so badly that the only thing we can muster is the will to stay alive one more day… hoping that tomorrow will be better.

Here’s an alarming article about how recent medical finding are linking obesity and the risk for getting Fibromyalgia.

This look at me reveals a glaringly ugly spotlight on a tough, chronic health problem. So let’s talk about 3 stark “reality” reasons why I was eating junk food and maybe why you’re doing it, too:

1) I felt horrible. Comfort food felt like a salve to my soul and my stomach. It’s true that junk food does comfort one temporarily. For me, I felt a lot of anger at being so sick, losing my career, having to put my family’s needs on hold. I needed comfort badly. So… one moment after the other after the other, sugar, fat and calories passed through my lips. They seemed to be the only thing that calmed my raging inner beast. It wanted to scream, cry or simply strike out at my unseen assailant. But instead, I lay in bed in such a sick stupor of pain, brain fog and utter exhaustion that I did not care what I was doing to myself. At all. Instead of directing my revenge toward something constructive, I rebelled at being so sick and it came back on me. My body suffered that much more.

2) I felt so exhausted 99% of the time that I could not stand up in the kitchen to cook a meal or even prepare a decent salad. It was a legitimate excuse. Yes, I tried to cook real meals for my husband and son, but often for days afterwards, I would feel so thoroughly depleted that I simply went to bed like the lady in the picture, sulking, sneaking and eating “pity me” food. Today there’s no way I could count how many boxes of vanilla wafers I consumed during that time period!

3) I felt totally uninspired to care about what I ate, what my eating habits had become or what they were doing to me. I guess inside I knew that I was behaving poorly, but I couldn’t help but think that surely my current health problems were simply a bad dream and would go away soon! When they did, I’d be well again. Then I would care again. Then I could get back to being healthy and happy. Sadly, I must report that when that didn’t happen for months and years on end, I continued to eat poorly.

Now, this is the situation and the feelings that I went through, but I’m betting that some of my descriptions ring true for you, too. Personally, I gained weight eating such a poor diet. Other people can lose extreme amounts of weight when they are too ill to eat properly. In the end, both types get undernourished and underfed physically, emotionally and spiritually. Health suffers.

I suspect that being like this is one of the reasons why the outside world often believes that we’re lazy and can’t be bothered to help ourselves. It’s not that way at all.

When a person is extremely sick with an illness like Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, they no longer have the same capabilities or the same motivation to be healthy that they had before becoming so ill. There may be true depression going on here or it can be a temporary state of sad feelings that feel alleviated by eating junk food. It’s common in Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for a person to have swings in their hormone and body biochemicals. [E.g. Serotonin (the body's "feel good" biochemical) may be out of balance or in short supply. I suspect that dopamine may play a part here, too, but I've never read anywhere that that is true.]

No matter what, giving into this type of eating pattern for even one seemingly valid reason can be a serious mistake. A few hours, a few days? Maybe just a shock to your sugar balance, your gut and your immune system. But months and years of this pattern will add to your health challenge and surely make it that much harder for your body to get healthy again.

Some twenty years later, I’m still working to pull myself out of the habit and history of eating junk food. In my interview with Dr. Christopher Lepisto last week, he mentioned that candida and fungal infection can set one up for the long term to crave sugar, eat poorly and not achieve the best level of health possible. I believe him!

(HINT: If you didn’t hear his short interview on the Health Matters Show podcast or his longer appearance on the teleseminar, well, you really missed a big treat- and this one had no calories! I urge you to put his name in the search box on this website and you’ll see everything I’ve written about Dr. Christopher Lepisto.)

Today, I resolve to eat really healthy. I’ll go back to basics and I’ll do Sacred Cellular Healing protocol on myself to see if their are leftover remnants within me of fungal infection and/or an imbalance of good bacteria and yeast (Candida) in my gut. I suspect that there is. The evidence is all too evident. I don’t need some expensive laboratory test to confirm that I’m still eating poorly or that I crave sugar.

That’s why I know that learning something like Sacred Cellular Healing comes in so handy as a life skill. It’s wonderful to have the capability of figuring out what’s going on in your body and then being able to initiate the healing process. And no matter whether I’m 100% successful right away or my motivation takes awhile to achieve, it’s important for me to continue moving forward with my health and healing. If I’m not totally effective right away (Remember that candida is a bear!), I’m not above asking for some additional help. Not at all. I’ll call up Dr. Christopher Lepisto or one of my other nutritional guru friends in the business. Wish me luck with this challenge. It’s a big one for me.

Oh, patient, thou art the healer!

I’m sending you good wishes and the courage to take steps forward with your eating, nutrition and health challenges. Thanks today for listening to my junk food story. I invite you to share your story by commenting on this post. Are “junk food” and your eating habits helping or hurting your recovery from illness?

I’m Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

With the wording of this binding regulation, the Social Security Administration sets out guidelines for adjudicators and judges to ascertain claims based upon accepted criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia cases. This regulation removed at least one of the barriers faced by those individuals making claims of disability.

The Social Security Act allows for SSDI or SSI benefits to be paid to persons unable to work by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment (or combination of impairments)….” (emphasis added) The Act and Regulations define the phrase “medically determinable” as a condition that can be established by medical evidence consisting of signs, symptoms and laboratory findings. It cannot be based only on the Claimant’s description of symptoms.

Suggested by a report, claims based upon CFS (and Fibromyalgia, too, for all practical purposes- my words) are tougher to establish because of a lack of medical signs, symptoms and laboratory findings. Therefore many claims are denied on the failure to prove the existence of a medically determinable impairment.

Per Jeffrey A Rabin and Associates:

The Ruling states unequivocally that CFS can be a medically determinable impairment. It specifies medical signs and laboratory findings that will now constitute proof of a medically determinable impairment for persons suffering from CFS. However, whether the claimant is actually “totally disabled” is a separate determination based upon the severity of functional limitations caused by the disease. That is the same as in any claim based upon any other medical problem.

This Ruling requires that any of the following medical signs, which are clinically documented over a period of at least 6 consecutive months, can establish a medically determinable impairment:

- palpably swollen or tender lymph nodes on physical examination;
- nonexudative pharyngitis;
- persistent, reproducible muscle tenderness on repeated examinations, including the presence of positive tender points; or,
- other medical signs consistent with medically accepted clinical practice which are consistent with the other evidence in the case record.

The following laboratory findings can establish a medically determinable impairment for individuals with CFS:
- an elevated antibody titer to Epstein-Barr virus capsid antigen equal to or greater than 1:5120, or early antigen equal to or great than 1:640;
- an abnormal MRI brain scan;
- neurally mediated hypotension as shown by tilt table testing or another clinically accepted form of testing; or,
- other laboratory findings consistent with medically accepted clinical practice such as abnormal sleep studies and abnormal exercise stress tests that are consistent with other evidence in the case record.

Finally, mental impairments documented by mental status examinations or psychological testing can also establish the presence of a medically determinable impairment.

What Evidence Can Be Used to Show these Signs and Findings?

As in any claim for disability benefits the focus is upon the medical evidence, especially the clinical records and test results from treating sources. SSA will try to obtain all medical records, generally beginning 12-months prior to the month of application. The Ruling notes that conflicts in the medical evidence are not unusual in cases involving CFS and clarification should be sought first from the treating sources. Treating source opinions about the severity of the impairment should be given deference if they are well supported by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory techniques and are not inconsistent with other evidence in the records. It is noted that any information regarding functional abilities before and after the onset of the impairment is helpful in evaluating the claim. Finally third-party sources may be useful in determining the credibility of the Claimant.

My insertion here: I advise you to get copies of all your medical records going back to the beginning of when your health impairments began. With people with a gradual onset case, that may mean several years of files.

… the focus is upon a longitudinal view of all of the medical evidence. Claimants must be actively treating with medical providers and must be completely describing all symptoms each time they see the doctor. The doctors must keep careful, legible, notes during each visit so that the signs and findings noted above can be documented. In addition, the physician should be willing to provide a written opinion to SSA regarding the patient’s ability to sustain even sedentary work activity on an 8 hour per day, 5 days per week basis.

SSR 99-2p does not provide that every claim based upon CFS should be approved. It does, however, set forth guidelines for evaluation of these claims so that Claimants, physicians and representatives can be assured of a fair evaluation of the impairment and its impact on the individual.

This is the newest information available. One thing important to note is that this regulation is neither taken into account at the initial application stage or the reconsideration stage. Social Security’s normal procedure is to deny all claims during the first two phases of the disabilitiy process. Not until a person get to the hearing stage do they get in front of a real person, an adjudication judge, to plead the whole case. At that point it is vital to have all of your records up to date and add in any other information that is pertinent to the case, such as a disability evaluation by an independnt disability evaluating examiner.

Currently this entire disability process with Social Security Administration is taking between two and 2 1/2 years. It’s critical that you meet all of their criteria in Regulation 99-2p, and that includes showing “no” history of working for gainful employment. After all, you’re trying to prove that you are completely disabled and unable to do any work in the marketplace.

Good luck, Cinda Crawford
Host of the Health Matters Show

It certainly shows up readily among people who have certain chronic illnesses or among those who come down with sudden illnesses, like herpes virus infections (e.g. HHV-6, Human Herpes Virus-6 is a horrible virus that affects most every area of the body, including brain functions and cognition).

Over time, I’ve written quite a few posts about brain fog. If you want to know more, go to the website search engine box and put in the term “brain fog”. Right now it’s located in the middle column and titled, Search This Blog.

A couple of weeks ago I announced that Dr. C. Norman Shealy would be on the Friday Health Matters Show podcast on a certain day. It didn’t happen because I was looking at the wrong week on the calendar when I wrote it down! Dratted brain fog is surely the culprit here.

I finally did do the interview and it was fantastic! Be sure that you don’t miss it, if you did not catch it the first time. Brain fog, anyone?

So that’s making me wonder today if cognitive dysfunction ever bothers you? How it affects your life? How badly? How long have you noticed it? Does it every ease up and get some better?

If it does, take a moment to respond to this post and tell us how does it disrupts your life. How does it show up for you? Take this occasion to share and leave a comment below.

You see I’m hoping that I’m not the only who has a fuzzy noggin’ upon occasion!

Before you leave the Health Matters Show blog today, be sure that your ever-pesky brain fog doesn’t stop you from signing up for my teleseminar list. That way you’ll never miss hearing about another wonderful program or interview guest again. The box to do so is on the right side of the blog page and you should do it- NOW!

Thanks so much,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

First off, take the nightshade family of vegetables and how they are suspected to cause inflammation (i.e. pain) in people with conditions like Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.

So what are the nightshade vegetables? According to the truth about nightshade vegetables:

Nightshades (a.k.a. nightshade vegetables) are any plant from the family Solanaceae. We are namely interested in two genera: Capsicum and Solanum, or the pepper genus and tomato/eggplant/potato genus respectively. It should also be noted that another genus, Nicotiana (tobacco), is in the nightshade family.

Tomatoes (including tomatillos and tamarillos)
Peppers (both hot and sweet peppers, plus paprika, cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce)
Potatoes (not sweet potatoes)
Eggplant
Ground cherries
Garden huckleberries and naranjillas
Pimentos and pepinos
Tobacco

The second reference comes Dr. Deirdre Rawlings, a naturopath and previous guest on the Health Matters Show. Find a current article on this subject, Managing Fibromyalgia – Food Alert: Foods that Lead to Fibro Flares on her website.

While the complex carbohydrates found in vegetables, grains, and fruits are good for you, the simple sugars found in sodas, candies, icings, and packaged treats can do harm, at least when eaten in excess, or when your system is compromised with conditions, such as fibromyalgia. Sugar contributes to inflammation in your cells and throughout your body and upsets your blood sugar metabolism. This can lead to excess cortisol production which will lead to adrenal fatigue, causing you to easily becoming stressed, fatigued and exhausted, in addition to hormone imbalances, weight gain, mood swings, brain fog, and metabolic imbalances. Excessive or continued disruption by this means can and does lead to fibro-flares.

I hope that these two great sources of information today will help you think about how to combat the pain (and inflammation!) that you’re suffering with by such a simple means as thinking and planning the food that you put in your mouth.

Changing what you eat by intention is a lifestyle adjustment. As patients trying to get well, you and I are called to make that type of adjustment when we suffer with a chronic illness like Fibromyalgia and its pain and (possible) inflammation.

Here’s to your healthy eating success,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

#1) Step 1: Learn about your arthritis pain. First off, you need to learn about whatever pain you have. Some people who read this Health Matters Show blog may have Arthritis, but the large majority have either Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Both of those conditions are associated with chronic pain, too. The best thing that you can do is read positively-slanted material which espouses the opinion that getting control of your pain is possible and necessary. If you can manage to do that without resorting to high-powered pain drugs, you will be further ahead.

#2) Step 2: Rehabilitate your body. Now this is important, but not always easily accomplished if simply walking across the floor leaves you in agonizing pain. You can aim for rehabilitation, but take it slowly as your body improves. This point also lists:

• Regaining posture. (This is doable, but it is not such an important issue with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.)
• Exercising. (This is very important, but exercise at a pace that does not trigger a cascade of symptoms or a worsening of your overall health.)
• Finding solutions. The article seems to only state the problems concerning this point, but let’s go a step further. Whether you have arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or some other chronic pain condition, constant pain does make living a regular life that much more difficult, if not impossible. Finding solutions may be the key in truly conquering your illness and they can include: diet adjustment, the type of exercise that you do, re-evaluating your sleep pattern (e.g. where you sleep, the conditions, the bed, the time period before sleep, supplements like Melatonin to encourage a more normal sleep pattern, etc. etc.) There are many answers and solutions!

#3) Step 3: Help yourself at home. Their basic suggestions for helping yourself are for learning how to use heat and cold applications for arthritis. Some of these same ideas can be applied likewise for easing Fibromyalgia symptoms, although not too many people tolerate cold therapy well.

Personally… I will warn you about getting into too hot a temperture water. Hot water easily can trigger an immune system reaction and you don’t want that!

Arthritis Today’s third suggestion in this category is rest, but with a different slant. They suggest that rest can help to ease the symptoms of inflammation. I’m not sure I’m onboard with that, but either way, your body needs adequate rest when it’s fighting to stay healthy, so you can consider this point valuable from that standpoint. Rest is truly a necessary requirement, if you have more of a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome presentation to your illness.

Plus, some people do have an inflammation component to what they are fighting if they also have autoimmune symptoms going on, too. Adequate relaxation and rest cannot be the “only” friends of your health, but they are necessary components if you are to obtain long term good health along the way of living a sensible and healthy lifestyle.

Step 4: Consult nonphysicians. Well, of course, I like this one. As the creator of Sacred Cellular Healing and as an ordained minister, I am certainly a non-physician who is trying to help people get well from chronic pain and illness. Yes, most people do need to consult a doctor for diagnosis and overall medical needs, but often their greatest help and progress lies with what they learn about themselves and what types of alternative theologies they endorse and seek out to get well.

I invite you to investigate Sacred Cellular Healing and the exciting Learn How to Heal Yourself membership course, which is designed for those folks who want to learn more about their own bodies, how to get well and how to stay well long term. I developed this course specially for people like you. Just think… when and if you learn how to heal yourself, you’ll be able to get in charge and stay more fully in charge of your health for the rest of your life!

This Arthritis Today article also suggests that you partake in acupuncture, massage and ultrasound. The first two therapies I have recommended for a long time, but the third I haven’t spoken about specifically. I used to get heat ultrasound treatments at my chiropractor and they helped greatly when I was having increased pain and inflammation in a certain area. This type of therapy feels good.

Step 5: Calm the mind to calm the body. The first two suggestions in this category are very worthy: hypnosis and biofeedback. They can be of great benefit in dealing with any chronic pain condition -or- health condition, for that matter.

The third suggestion is Cognitive Behavior Therapy and I’ll blog more about that tomorrow, specifically for my UK friends who suffer with ME/CFS and who get cognitive behavior therapy applied to their health unwillingly.

Hint… come back on Friday’s Health Matters Show blog and podcast to get more information about this hot topic!

No matter how you view these 5 steps or suggestions, there is much good information here. Pick and choose what you will use; apply at will. Just be sure to listen to the small, tiny voice inside of you that is whispering to you and advising you about what is good and healthy and what is not. Sometimes, simple is best. Sometimes, different is best. But surely, long term use of strong, pain-killing prescription drugs may not be in your best interest. They are just easier when you feel desperate. Go the extra mile and don’t stop with that one answer.

Wishing you good and recovering health,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

PS- here’s the direct link to “Five Steps to Pain Relief” by Arthritis Today for your further reading. Also, don’t forget to come back to the show on Friday to learn more about CBT. If you think you might forget, sign up to get new email post alerts on the right hand side of the website, or sign up to get the podcast from i-Tunes.

However, if you are someone who doesn’t feel well because you suffer with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, you may suddenly have a catch in your throat. You’re feeling apprehensive, maybe even a touch sad. Why? Because you realize that because of how your body changes constantly due to the illness, you will probably have to make accommodations for your body needs, if you’re going to enjoy your vacation and have any fun at all. Here are some things you might plan to do before you start out:

I am planning on a trip from Virginia to Connecticut either by Amtrack Train or by car (whatever works best for our little group at the time). Either way, that will mean that I’ll be sitting a lot and substantially immobile for long periods of time, so I’ll tuck a couple of small cushions in my bag for comfort. Now if you’re worried about the airline restrictions for weight and bulk, you might look into the blow up type of cushions. I’m betting that you can find one that meets your needs if you begin looking now. You can even stick a tube of massage cream or a couple bottles of essential oils in your bag, just in case. (To see examples of essential oils for muscles aches, etc., search for “essential oils” on this website. There are lots of references.)

Also, if we do go by car, I’ll be sure to let the driver know that it’s important for me to stretch at every rest stop and gas fill up. If I don’t become too stiff from sitting too long, I’ll be much more comfortable during the ride and when I get to my destination.

Also, in regards to sleep and rest, plan to take your rest breaks as needed. If you’re not sleeping well, you won’t have as much energy and stamina as you normally do. Sleep and rest, such important life issues not to ignore. As your body changes due to your vacation, you don’t want to be headed into a downard spiral just because you’ve lost some sleep. Not only will your body yell at you, but you’ll take a hit to your immune system and possibly gain additional symptoms. Yikes!

Diet: What will you need to eat ‘just for you’ to stay well as possible and comfortable? What foods do you need to take with you that you may not have ready access to along the way or where you’re going? If you will be visiting someone, can you tell your host about your dietary needs? If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, plan to visit a market for a few essentials before you arrive at their home. Hosts never mind you bringing in good food! If you’re going to a hotel, how easy will it be to get access to food that supports your ongoing health needs and does not sabotage you?

E.g. If you are dieting to lose weight, you have needs. If you’re eating to uphold your energy needs because you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, that is important, too. Energy is a frivolous thing sometimes because even during the “good stress” of good times, you can become very tired to the point of exhaustion. One answer for all of your concerns is to pack a goodie bag filled with the food stuff that will support you! You may include a recommended energy or protein drink (no caffeine-laden drinks, please!), some organic fruits or simply nuts, raisins and a couple bottle of spring water. But whatever you do, plan for ongoing needs ahead of time.

Medical Care: What medicines do you need to have on hand? If you’re not going far from home, maybe only a couple pills of each one will suffice. Tuck them in a special little case of some kind out of the way. But if you’re going away from home for awhile, be sure to order your refills ahead of time so that you’ll have them on hand and ready to go.

When I was first so sick with a horrible case of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I took prescription drugs and many, many supplements. Due to the brain fog, I sometimes had a hard time remembering which ones I had taken, when to take the next one and so on. I conquered the problem by getting myself some inexpensive plastic boxes for fishing lures or craft supplies. I put an adequate supply of each medicine in each compartment. I would take adhesive labels and attach them to the top of the box to make the RX medicine name, number and instructions very visible and easy. The system worked marvelously well! If you do this, just be sure to buy the cases that snap or seal shut with a plastic latch. You don’t want your pills to get all jumbled up when your suitcase gets banged around by an attendant. With a good case, the pills should stay in their own compartment, even if turned upside down in transit.

*Note: even though I don’t take nearly so many pills of any kind because I feel so much better these days, I still have my old plastic boxes. They still help me out to this day, some 20 years later.

I hope these tips help you to manage your vacation days well and accommodate your body needs as they arise. If you have some additional tips that might help someone, leave them here. If you want to comment and relay some of your experiences with summer and vacation needs and how you managed them, please do that, too.

Have a wonderful time today and during the days and weeks ahead. Happy Summer!

Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show

I promised you that I would put in the same effort right along with you to answer these “trouble questions.” I am doing that. However, I am having one quick thought concerning the question D) Are you the same person you were before you got ill? How are you changing?

Imagine for a moment… that you are the raw material that a blacksmith uses. He pounds it time and time again on the anvil with his big hammer, adjusting its shape, making it stronger and tougher. He put it in a hot fire to sear it; that action first makes it more pliable, but ultimately, makes it harder. The whole process becomes arduous and possibly exhausting for both parties, but in the end, the material is made into a useful object that will stand the test of time. It will perform with grace even when enduring additional and worse stresses.

To illustrate this, see the video below of a blacksmith. You only have to watch a couple moments of it before you notice the tough pounding on the metal. The bends and curves then the straightening effect from the hard, persistent hammer. Ask yourself, how is your life like that? Is the ultimate blacksmith working on you?

Dear One, if you feel that you have trouble transforming and/or becoming a better person in the face of your illness and adversity, know that God loves you. The challenges that you face will help you to grow.

Be hopeful and look to God for your inspiration and hope for what tomorrow will bring. Receive His best blessings of healing and nourishment by being open and unafraid, even when He bends and curves you like a blacksmith. To read more on this thought-provoking topic, check out Don’t Fear Your Life- Be Hopeful! at Get Well Health.

If I can help you in any way to heal from Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or whatever monstrous, chronic illness you’re suffering with, leave a comment on this post with your thoughts and questions -or- contact me directly at .
Thank you,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

*Note: We are only covering a tiny sliver of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. If you don’t have a copy, pick yours up today.

Recently a Norwegian study proved the value of pacing among 828 people living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ICD-10 code: G93.3).

‘Pacing was evaluated as useful by 96% of the participants, rest by 97%, and 96% of the participants considered complete shielding and quietness to be useful. 57% of the participants who had received help to identify and challenge negative thought patterns regarded this useful. 79% of the participants with experience from graded training regarded this to worsen their health status. Overall, the results were similar, irrelevant of the severity of the condition.’

Pacing is a skill which can be learned such as:

• 1) Taking needed rest periods
• 2) Learning the pace at which to eat your meals -or-
• 3) Even learning when and where to say, “No,” and not feeling guilty about it.

As you move through your life today, at whatever pace that is, be very aware of what you’re doing. Listen to your body, mind and spirit. Pace yourself and stay within your energy envelope.

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Host of the Health Matters Show

PS- the source article for this data is in Norwegian. If you want a full English translation, email here: tomkindlon@oceanfree.net.

*Also, if your have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or some other “fatigue” related illness and you’re good at pacing, feel free to add your comments to this post. You never know when someone can benefit from what you’re doing- it might help them, too! Spend $.50 out of your energy envelope and share.

It seems to be gaining in popularity and acceptance, as a pharmaceutical drug that is effective for central pain processing problems.

‘Milnacipran is an SNRI that has been approved for the management of FM (Fibromyalgia). In clinical trials, treatment with milnacipran for up to 1 year has been found to improve the pain and other symptoms of FM.’

Now this is good news for those Fibromyalgia folks looking for immediate help with chronic pain and central pain processing problems, but I have to wonder, what happens at the end of that first year? Does it lessen in effectiveness? Do you have to stop it? Can you restart to take the drug after a period of time? Did it cause you to have uncomfortable or nasty side effects?

Now… the concept of central pain processing is gaining more and more publicity as an important factor in Fibromyalgia and chronic pain conditions. It’s not a new idea by any means, but it keeps coming up and that means that there is more research being done investigating it. (Here’s an older article.) Plus, now with the introduction of Milnacipran, there’s a drug to help you manage the underlying, body abnormality that researchers call central pain processing problems.

If you have personal experience with taking Milnacipran, please comment here and share your thoughts about how it did or did not affect your pain symptoms.

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Host of the Health Matters Show

• An illness that is difficult to classify because CFS symptoms exhibit in multiple ways in most people. Patients do not have one or two symptoms; they easily can count them on two hands.
• An illness that can be so devastating to someone that his or her life is literally left in shambles. That being so, a very sick person may appear to be depressed and/or neurotic with an abundance of unexplained CFS symptoms.

Some people do have psychiatric factors influencing their symptoms, but the fact remains that many CFS sufferers are neither depressed nor neurotic. So, what does that do to this argument?

Please see the CFIDS Association, 4/1/10 letter to the DSM-G Taskforce regarding an open request for input on proposed changes to the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This elucidates the possibly serious situation that we’re facing today because if this language is adopted and accepted, CFS henceforth will be classified as a psychiatric illness!

The proposed DSM-5 revision correctly does not identify chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) as a condition within the domain of mental disorders and the DSM. However, past discussions of the Somatic Symptoms Disorder Work Group have included such physiological disorders as chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia as “somatic presentations of mental disorders.”

None of the research and/or clinical criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome published since 1988 have established CFS as a mental disorder and a continuously growing body of literature demonstrates CFS to be a physiological disorder marked by abnormalities in the central and autonomic nervous systems, the immune system and the endocrine system. The role of infectious agents in the onset and/or persistence of CFS has received renewed attention since the DSM-5 revision process began in 1999.

Most recently, the October 2009 report of evidence of a human retrovirus, xenotropic murine leukemia-related retrovirus (XMRV), in CFS patients in Science (Lombardi, 2009) has generated new investigations into this and other infectious agents in CFS.

This entire document is worth reading. If CFS and Fibromyalgia, as is hinted, are reclassified as psychological disorders, this will be a game-changing occurrence… and not for the better. I encourage you to keep abreast of this issue as it can affect the care and treatment you receive and what and how insurance companies or government entities will continue to cover your medical expenses.

Example: In the UK, ME/CFS is already thought of as a mental disorder and patients in the UK get marginalized and receive little real care. In my opinion, this is greatly due to opinions about ME/CFS by a few powerful people within the psychiatric sphere of influence within the UK. Because of their opinions and work, little is being done in a positive framework to help the severely disabled and affects ME/CFS patients and their families, as exampled by the suicide and death of Lynn Gilderdale and others.

Lynn Gilderdale developed ME at the age of 14. She committed suicide in 2008.

Mis-classification of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME/CFS as being a psychiatric illness and then doing nothing about it would surely encourage other people to contemplate suicide as their days grow more desperate. I urge you not to lose sight of this important issue.

Thanks, Cinda CrawfordHost of the Health Matters Show

However, there’s one real bug-a-boo in all this if you already have a specific illness like Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It’s not enough to tailor your approach to merit the average and accepted dietary recommendations for a balanced diet. Average and accepted may never have been enough for your body and may actually be two factors that contributed to you getting sick. You need more nutrition, not less!

That’s because…

A “balanced diet” (as is recommended by the government today) is totally inadequate as a guideline, if you’re already sick. Example: the guidelines on a bottle of vitamins reflect only the minimum amount of nutrients needed to keep a healthy (e.g. not sick) person barely well. That means someone who is consuming a healthy diet and gets everything else they need from it. In other words, if you were eating all the foods you need packed with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Hardly anyone gets that much nourishment because in today’s world it’s nearly impossible to do.

Plus, there’s another factor in how the “recommended” diet is composed: high in breads (full of sugar and often white flour unless you change to whole grain), causing the rest of the equation to be skewed against you. If you pack your diet full of empty or harmful foods, then again you’re in trouble.

The website My Pyramid lists the following:

• Make half your grains whole
• Vary your veggies
• Focus on fruit
• Get your calcium rich foods
• Go lean with protein
• Find your balance between food and physical activity
• Keep food safe to eat

Some of these recommendations are valid, but they are still only generic and offer only the “accepted” government-sponsored media-speak. You, dear one, need more than this because you’re not the average healthy person when you’re already sick! It’s time that we woke up to the whole truth:

1. Our soils are depleted,
2. Our bodies are struggling to get rid of pesiticides, chemicals and plastics at every turn,
3. We’re being subjected to too many hormones, antibiotics, vaccines and -and worst of all-
4. A high percentage of our diets are now composed of the new genetically modified food products that are flying onto our grocery store shelves every hour of the day!

So I ask you, “What are you doing to yourself?”

The point is, for our purposes today of talking about diet and nutrition, the information on a food label doesn’t tell you what you need to know.

What you do need is the specific nutritional information that is key to your condition as well as general recommendations for good health. Diet and overall nutrition are big keys in your ability to get physically healthy again.

This is a huge subject and I could certainly suggest that you get back to nature with making your own whole grain bread from freshly ground wheat flour- or growing your own vegetables out in the back yard (that you can keep free of pesticides). You could look around and probably find a way to purchase part of grass-fed, antibiotic-free cow. Then you’d have access to good, fresh, clean and healthy meat. These are helpful recommendations.

But how do you do all this if you’re sick, tired and incapacitated?

You have a right to feel confused, as if all of this is above your head right now. I’ve found a wonderful source of information to start your research and it’s Mary Moeller’s book, Fibromyalgia Cookbook: A Daily Guide to Becoming Healthy Again (revised).

Mary offers a lot of practical and down-to-earth advice for getting well from Fibromyalgia and it applies equally well to those folks with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, too. I like a guide that can clear up a problem and show me the light. Mary does just that.

PS- Now… be sure to check in with the Friday edition of the Health Matters Show where we’ll talk more about this issue. Also on Friday I want plenty of your comments, thoughts and questions about all of topics in this series. There’s a reason for that and I’ll explain Friday. So plan to be here Friday at 3 pm EDT or catch the podcast via the RSS feed or on i-Tunes.

I hope you enjoy Mary Moeller’s Fibromyalgia cookbook and guide. I did!
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

Writing this work surely had to be a miraculous accomplishment for Emily Collingridge because she was so drastically ill for so long. She fell sick when she was 6 years old and that was 22 years ago!

(Learn more about Emily and her new book…

here, at the Association of Young People with ME.

Emily Collingridge, from London, learned the hard way. She became ill 22 years ago, at the age
of 6. She has now had severe ME/CFS for 12 years. At her worst she was blind, mute, doubly incontinent, tube fed and unable to move at all. Rare complications brought her close to death. Desperate to make severe ME/CFS a less traumatic experience for others, Emily has spent the last two years researching and writing Severe ME/CFS: A Guide to Living.

By all accounts, Emily Collingridge is an extraordinary young woman. I encourage you to order the book directly from the website. Here are comments I received via email as to them being able to ship the book overseas.

The guide has been written for UK patients, however it does include valuable information for all patients. We will however have to include postage (airmail) which will be added to the cost (£5.99) for the booklet for all overseas orders.

They provide an order form that you can print out, if you like.

You decide about the value of this book in your efforts to understand CFSME. I suspect it offers quite a bit of new information about the illness. Plus, it could be the perfect gift for the caregiver in your life. There never seem be enough good words of praise and gratitude to offer a true caregiver.

To all those suffering with CFSME or MECFS (whatever term you choose),
To your health, help, information, happiness and comfort,
I’m Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show

Many, many years ago when I went to Dr. Charles Lapp (a really good CFS & Fibro specialist in NC), I had him explain the energy crisis this way (paraphrased, of course):

People affected by Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome probably don’t make enough energy easily to supply their daily needs -and- they don’t store it well in the body… .

Imagine that each of your cells is a little storehouse or warehouse of energy. Instead of it being at least three quarters full all the time with the energy available for your body’s needs, it’s only about 1/4 to 1/3 full at any given moment. That means that you have a smaller quantity of energy available when you go to do an activity. Upon expending energy for a physical task, you use up that meager supply of energy. Suddenly, you’re devoid of any energy. You run out! Your cell is flat! You’re empty!

When that happens, your muscles do not have what they need to continue- at the least. At the worst? Well, who knows. It would take an exercise specialist or Fibro CFS specialist to explain the cascade of symptoms that probably ensue.

I think the following is key to surviving this ever-present problem:

• 1) Plan and do small tasks. Don’t take on huge to-do lists without knowing that it will probably take you awhile (maybe days or weeks) to complete it.
• 2) Give your body a chance to build & recover before you exert yourself again. It’s so odd that if this were a friend you were watching totally exhaust her body, you would step in and say, “Take it easy. Give yourself a break!” We so rarely do this for ourselves. So the key here is give your body a chance to recuperate before you begin again.
• 3) Build up your stamina gradually. That may or may not be possible, but it’s the best you can hope for unless you’re really on the road to recovery. Think of it as walking to the mailbox today. Walking to your neighbor’s house tomorrow. (And maybe you do this for several days to a week or more.) Walking to the end of the block for a few days. Walking further and further each day and week. The goal is to even hold at that level for weeks or months if necessary. This will increase your stamina and energy gradually without triggering an onslaught of symptoms!
  ~~~~~
  And know that if you’re like Humpty Dumpty and fall of your wall into little pieces, simply start all over again when you’re able. Just be reasonable, thoughtful and kind to yourself. As long as you can remember to “move forward” when you can, you’re doing the best that you can do!

PS- I found some help with this on an ongoing basis from taking NADH and acetyl l-carnitine with alpha lipoic acid. They prop up and help my little energy storehouses.

Good diet (proper nutrition), good sleep, a reasonable thought-out approach (a plan) and a positive I-can-do-this attitude help most people to make progress gradually. And gradually is the key here, too. Go at your pace and listen to your body. Don’t get distracted by a couple of aches and pains, but if you seriously hurt, forego your task for awhile. Until science finds a way to undo your personal energy crisis (deficiency), energy management is a component of these illnesses that seems be unceasing and aggravating.

Have a happy spring day, if you can. Go smell the flowers!
Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show