What do you do if you're really sick?

Whether you suffer with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, what foods you eat -or lack of “good” food- is often a real mountain to climb because problem foods certainly can cause lots of problem symptoms. They cause digestion problems at the least and readily add to immune dysfunction and a general increase in overall symptoms. Can suicide be one of those symptoms? You decide.

Foods were a big problem for me many years ago and for Mary Moeller, my interview guest yesterday. Read more about her fascinating story below… .
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As reported in MedPage on Sunday from work at the Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunisitic infections in San Francisco, current studies about the XMRV, Xenogrophic Murine Leukemia-related Virus, indicate that many secrets about XMRV are unfolding gradually, but that we’re probably only at the beginning of the process.

To date there is a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding XMRV. Most of it is coming from the UK after a series of studies found no correlation between XMRV infection and CFS or CFSME.

However, these studies are in question by many people because of how they were constructed, patient-wise. It is suspected that they didn’t use the accepted diagnostic criteria to qualify their sample patient population. We’re left to conclude that the results they obtained could be skewed.

Example: if you looking for blondes in a group of black-haired people, do you think you’ll find any blondes??

Similar to the early days with the HIV retrovirus, there’s certainly more that we don’t know than what we do know or what we can prove. Some instances of XMRV showing up in prostrate cancer victims and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers has been obtained. Per Stephen Goff, PhD of Columbia University in New York City, he “cautioned that has yet to be any clear evidence linking it to disease.”

However, there is more news from Dr. Goff and this time it’s better:
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I use the expression, the use of CBT to treat ME, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, very gingerly here because I see very little treatment going on. The prevalent attitude of treating ME (also known as CFSME) with a treatment regimen that involves cognitive behavior therapy and an exercise protocol is surely missing the bigger point, even though it is the prevailing attitude in the UK. How can you treat someone if you basicly think they’re faking it??

(Did I say this “CBT attitude” was sponsored by the psychiatric community alone? No, I didn’t, but it ain’t called cognitive behavior therapy for nothing. And the CBT group surely has won over and convinced many otherwise sensible medical professionals into believing that because no one has proven a definite cause and effect relationship for ME, surely the tens of thousands of people affected by it must be making up all the symptoms in their heads! That’s just plain and simple hogwash.)

Since ME is regarded as mostly a psychosomatically inspired illness and not a true physical entity, the UK brand of medicine insists that it can be treated by talk therapy and exercise, no matter how sick or disabled the patient.

This philosophy and treatment regimen does not take into account how physically ill someone is, even if that person had been perfectly healthy before coming down with the severe illness symptoms attributed to ME.

The following is a sampling of one public letter written to BMJ, the British Medical Journal, about this horrific issue and after Lynn Gilderdale’s death, a lady who committed suicide recently after suffering for so long, being believed so little and getting no real help during her lifetime:
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For someone suffering with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a really, revealing reality check would not only include looking at what we know about symptoms, but also figuring out how to reverse the illness and how to get well.

The whole thing sounds like a whoppingly big task and it is, as evidenced by all of the back and forth controversy around issues like the XMRV retrovirus research. But hang in here just a minute, because there’s more to this.

Before you can even think of getting better, you must figure out what your body is lacking and what it needs to perform at its best again. (If your mind/body/spirit had everything it needed perfectly, you wouldn’t be ill.)

Most people suffering with CFS find such a comprehensive task too daunting to attempt. They exhibit signs of immune, endocrine, neurological abnormalities and more. They are too tired and too sick. But we’re not speaking of the specific things that are amiss. What we’re talking about looking at today are the big heading items: What’s Wrong With Me, What Can I Do About the Illness, etc. Luckily, it is not impossible at all to examine such issues and I’ll tell you why…
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It’s important that you do a Fibromyalgia Reality Check, because… whose job is it to figure out what’s going on with you and to figure out the illness… if not yours?? Like the old game show, This Is Your Life we’re talking about This Is Your Health and your body. Both have been torn apart by pain, muscle aches, brain fog and countless other symptoms.

You need to get real about this and figure out what you can do about your symptoms not just endure them. Now that’s a real reality check.

If you sit around and wait on scientific researchers to tell you what’s going on in your body, you may never discover the right answers or, at the very least, you’re going to get the answers that “they” want you to hear. And, chances are, you will continue to be sick. So let’s begin with this newly-recognized job of yours.

To do this effectively, you need to…
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Did you know that when you graciously accept the prescription sample drugs that you get at your doctor’s office that you could be setting yourself up for aggravation and lots of money out of pocket?

Well, it’s true.

A) Those sample drugs are available because drug reps (representatives) came by your doctor’s office. They educated him or her on the value and use of their newest, most fantastic drug. They want him to write a lot of precriptions for it, so they in turn leave sample drugs for the doctor to try out on his patients.

B) IF those samples do work for you, that’s a win for the drug reps and the drug corporation which they represent because, ordinarily when you call in, a new prescription will be written for that same drug.

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When it comes to managing your pain level to actually get some pain relief, everyone is interested, especially if they endure chronic pain and need pain management. It can be such an important component of living a happy life! (Almost everyone that I know who carries the diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has the symptom of chronic pain -and- absolutely everyone who has Fibromyalgia fights it all the time.)

Pain is one symptom that can feel like it’s taking over your life!

Recently I found a good resource for you…
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And the type of sitting you do does not seem to matter: at the office in your work chair, at school attending classes, in the car commuting to work or before a computer or the television trying to wind down after a stressful day. The overall number of hours that you sit during the day seems to be the problem and the risk factor here.

Most of us knew that sitting for long periods of time endangers and spreads the waistline and hips, but actually the act of sitting being an overall health risk? Yes, that’s news. Check out the following link… .
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Almost everyone who suffers with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome wonders about stopping muscle pain quickly. How do you do it? Today on the Health Matters Show, I’ll give you 3 tricks that work for me and some examples of how to do them yourself.

Since I’ve healed, I don’t have the tremendous, ongoing volume of muscle pain like I used to experience. Thank God, it’s not there anymore.

That does not mean that I don’t have pain. Because I’m still a bit physically de-conditioned, I am overweight for my body size, I have two slightly bulging spinal discs and I don’t have all the energy that I need when I get ready to do something really physical, I still experience some pain.

Now, of course, being inspired and motivated to engage in a physical activity helps, so that leads me to explain my first example today about stopping muscle pain quickly. This last Monday night I had my first Tai Chi session in over twenty years. I still remembered some things, but I could tell that my body was older and not in as good a shape as before.

The instructor had us warm up with some energy enhancing stretches, one of which he described as hugging a tree. (Sorry I don’t remember the specific name of the posture… .) We were told to stand tall in a good, straight stance. Imagine a string being attached to the top of my head near the back portion. As that string was gently pulled upward to the ceiling, I was to straighten and lengthen my spine with my shoulders back. As I breathed in deeply, I was to imagine energy coming up from the earth and through my feet, the energy rising to the top of my head and then settling back down into my hands which I held out in front of me hugging that imaginary tree.

Now this exercise was wonderful, exciting, and energizing for about two minutes. As I stood there, my back began to ache and my energy waned. I noticed these symptoms, but instead of panicking, I decided to practice mindfulness and be proactive. I had the intention of stopping my pain before it got worse.

(Audio podcast is 14 minutes 32 seconds)
Here’s what happened…
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Whether you’re searching for information and answers on Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or other chronic health problems, often you can find good health information on the web, if you know where to look and who to pay attention to. That can be a significant fact in your search for meaningful answers.

At the Health Matters Show I try very hard to provide you with great sources of health information to help you re-make yourself into being all that you can be– healthwise and on a mind/body/spirit basis. I believe I’ve demonstrated the “health information” facts this week alone. (Feel free to review the timely announcements about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, if you missed them. See the blog post references that follow and the comments to those posts:

(Today’s Health Matters Show audio podcast is 8 minutes 27 seconds.)
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If you want to have the mindset that you need to heal from Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or any other kind of long term, chronic illness, I encourage you to explore the thinking of the warrior and begin attracting the health that you really want in your life. So what is this second group of people? Who is the warrior?

To begin this, let’s first be sure to understand both concepts of the peasant and the warrior. (Yesterday I introduced the term “peasant” to you in this analogy and it’s important to review it, if you’ve forgotten or didn’t understand it well the first time around.)

Today let’s look closely at exactly who is a warrior. According to author, speaker and teacher James Arthur Ray…
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So often in life, we don’t attract what we want to have (like attracting the great health that we want), but instead draw to us what we think we’re “fated” or doomed to have. That is not living a life in a positive or fruitful state of attraction, but instead, one that is fatalistic.

According to James Arthur Ray, that’s because we view ourselves in one of two groups, as either being peasants or warriors. (They are two separate groups of people functioning entirely opposite of each other.) Don Juan, the great Yaqui warrior and shaman of the Yaqui tradition, explained these concepts to Carlos Castenada this way back in the 1960s.

Don Juan called the first group peasants, ordinary men who view everything in life as either a blessing or a curse. As a peasant you have no power over your own destiny, no control.

This is more the reactionary group of people who take what they get, not necessarily what they want or what they deserve in life because they’re good people. Plus, they usually do not step out of this mindset or attitude to change their reality or cause their future to go in a different direction. Comfort and deservability are the two words to keep in mind here.

a) Comfort: feeling more comfortable staying where you are than risking the uncertainty of change, and
b) Deservability: not being sure that you deserve a better circumstance in life, so you remain satisfied with what you have, even if it’s less than you want.

And if you’re wondering what this has to do with people like you who suffer with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, continue on to investigate these concepts. You have to trust me: your intention and your attitude about your future makes a tremendous difference!
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As I write this blog post today, I have to confess that I’m really stressed, yet trying hard to keep up every commitment and every goal for the approaching holidays and for my self-committed responsibilities to maintaining the Health Matters Show. Why you ask? Because life happens and we never want to “not do” what’s important to us or what we’ve already promised to do.

Case in point, take this week’s subjects: a) being sick all over with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, b) how and why the body gets so confused about how to heal and c) the holistic healing and health answers for improving your health.

This week my husband hurt his back badly. We’ve been to the emergency room twice in four days. He’s on high-powered drugs… and he can’t drive safely. So I’m not only playing nursemaid, but chauffeur. My time and energy have not been my own. Thank goodness I’m well enough now to do that. Way back when I was so sick, that would not have been the case.

This video is 11 minutes and 46 seconds. Feel free to download it. Continue on for more great information!
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When we talk about holistic healing, looking at examples of its use help us understand this important health concept and what it can mean to someone suffering with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (a.k.a. ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia FMS).

Today, we’ll also use you in this example. By the very fact that you’re visiting this blog and website, you probably have either Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or both illnesses. (Note: use the terms CFS and ME/CFS interchangeably here.) And to add even more punch to our illustration, today you have 10 symptoms, one of which is an under-performing Immune System. It has allowed a terrible case of broncitis to get a foothold. You’re SICK!

Instead of your taking a prescription drug to blast the broncitis and maybe even affect some of your other symptoms, you choose to use holistic healing treatment approaches. (Always consult your doctor before making a decision like this.) By taking this alternate health route of holistic healing, you’re seeking to have a better chance at long term health success which results in:

A) Fewer recurring and lingering Immune System problems like broncitis and those flu-ish, feel-bad-all-over symptoms
B) Fewer problems with Candida and yeast infections that often occur after taking a round of broad spectrum antitiotics. If you’ve taken multiples antibiotics within a six months period, you have an above-average chance of suffering with a stubborn case of Candida. Yeast infections are no fun, can be very difficult to get rid of and can cause a host of symptoms. Learn how to fight Candida with Life-5.

Candida is being widely discussed on many fronts, some writers even suggesting that it is a cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome! Whether it is or not, you can preempt Candida before it occurs by discontinuing the use of antibiotics and other prescription drugs and by starting to use acidophilus-type products after a course of antibiotics. The best product I know of is Life-5.

C) Less toxin buildup, so therefore fewer toxins for your body to get rid of -and-
D) Fewer or no drug side effect problems. (By foregoing use of one more powerful prescription drug, you won’t experience that drug cross reacting with something else already in your system.)

By taking a more natural approach to healthcare with holistic healing, you can enjoy the results of calmer, quieter, less obtrusive healing alternatives. Plus, your body might really appreciate it because it won’t constantly undergo the energetic insults of prescriptions drugs that shock the body.

Some of your best holistic healing and healthcare options include the following:
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