Whenever I hear the terms suicide mentioned in the same breath as ME, CFS or Fibromyalgia, I am left feeling weak and sad, not knowing exactly how to help. When a person endures such an illness with little hope of a healthier tomorrow, sad feelings are bound to creep inside. The biggest problem is when they take over and little else remains.

Below, I relate the story of Fiona Smith, a woman who took her own life at age 31 due to the despair and hopelessness she felt from having had ME for nine years. When she couldn’t get the help she needed, Fiona must have felt, suicide was her outlet.

Please don’t allow such feelings to rule your life. If you feel that suicide may be your only option, please leave a comment below. I’ll answer you, I promise. If you want your words to be private, say so. I will do what I can to help you in any way.  Just know…you’re not in this alone.

Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

(9 minutes 56 second podcast>

ME drove my daughter to suicide
by ANDREA PERRY, femail.co.uk

Fiona Smith had a bright future ahead of her as a landscape architect when she was struck down with the debilitating illness chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)- also known as ME. After a courageous nine-year battle to get help for the illness, which left her severely disabled and often bed-ridden, Fiona could take no more and took her own life in November last year. She was just 31.

Now her mother Trish has spoken bravely for the first time of the daughter who she described as “my best friend, adviser and confidante.”

Mrs Smith, of Bristol, broke her silence at a launch of a new report which revealed there is a major suicide risk amongst ME sufferers. The report reveals a catalogue of failure and discrimination through the NHS and social services towards the 150,000 patients diagnosed with the illness. The document highlights, in particular, the problems encountered by people who are most severely affected by CFS/ME. Many of those involved in the study have been confined to their homes or even bed-ridden for up to 10 years.

Conducted by Action for ME, the leading UK charity, it is the largest study published into ME and questioned 2,300 sufferers. It found that:

• 51 per cent had felt suicidal as a result of the extreme pain of the illness coupled with a lack of support from the medical profession.
• 65 per cent had received no advice from their GP on managing the illness.
• 33 per cent had to endure a wait of more than 18 months before being diagnosed with ME, despite evidence that early diagnosis can help
recovery.

Despite displaying classic symptoms of the illness, it took 19 months before Fiona Smith was suspected of having CFS/ME and a further two months before a formal diagnosis was confirmed. She became ill in February 1992 after a flu virus and shortly afterwards was so ill that she had to withdraw from her post-graduate diploma course.

Fiona deteriorated, becoming bed-ridden in July 1994 and often had no voice, was weak and in so much pain that she could do little for herself. Over the next two and half years she improved very slightly but still was mainly bed-ridden and unable to wash or feed herself. Without professional advice she plateaued at this stage for two years.

After a battle with her local health authority, who initially refused funding, she was referred to an in-patient unit in Romford where she made a slow but steady improvement. But a series of relapses set her back nearly five years. She had become so weak that she was too frail to attend six-monthly hospital appointments with the local consultant and instead her mother went to update him on Fiona’s state.

He could offer no advice and in summer 2000 he stopped seeing CFS/ME patients and said that Fiona’s GP would have to oversee her care. The GP had not seen another case as severe and was unable to help.

Mrs Smith said: ‘By last November the future looked bleak. Now dependent on others for virtually everything – despite nearly nine years of day to day struggle to overcome the illness – it seemed that Fiona decided, quite suddenly, that she had had enough.

“Why is it that some patients, despite maintaining excellent personal motivation and accepted as not having psychological problems or depression, steadily deteriorate to indefinite total dependency on carers?

“Why do they fail to respond to hospitalisation or professional interventions, which help others? They still seem to be a mystery to the medical profession but inevitably become forgotten as new patients emerge. I feel this category is seriously neglected and badly needs highlighting.

“The undertaker in our small village had handled three other ME suicides in recent years. There are many more like Fiona who are still patiently struggling and we must help them. The absence of a cure can be accepted but there is no excuse for such patients to feel forgotten and invisible as so many do.”

The Chief Medical Officer working group on CFS/ME is due to report on the most effective methods of treatment later this year.

Tony Wright MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on CFS/ME presented the report at today’s launch. He said: “ME is a complex, much misunderstood illness. My post bag is full every week with people around the country in despair because of this illness. There has to be more money put into research.” The illnesses cost the public purse £4 billion each year. Yet just £250,000 is spent on research. Three times as many women suffer CFS/ME than men. Many girls under the age of 18 contract the condition, but there is no research carried out into the illness in childhood.

~~~~~
Now, don’t forget. Leave your comments to “Suicide: ME, CFS and Fibromyalgia” below. The emotions you express, the words you type may help someone else today.

I often hear people say, “I’ve been feeling sick all the time lately. What is going on with me? Do I have Fibromyalgia or some other chronic pain condition?

This issue of whether you’re feeling sick or feeling well is a matter of perception and, believe it or not, this information comes directly from your brain!

a) Is the brain getting this information directly from the body? Sometimes…probably most of the time. Also, feedback pain loops escalate the pain signals, seemingly hard-wiring them directly into your central nervous system.

(*The following research involves success with “interference” of the pain signals.)

b) When you feel better, is your brain able to behave differently than when you’re feeling really tough and achy? Yes, that’s possible, too. What’s going on in your brain can change your bodily perceptions.

Read below for a hint at what’s going on and how you can benefit from this new information. Apparently, science is having success with behavioral treatment significantly reducing interference from pain in the Fibromyalgia patient.

Exp Brain Res. 2012 Mar 17. [Epub ahead of print]

Treatment-related changes in brain activation in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome.

Diers M, Yilmaz P, Rance M, Thieme K, Gracely RH, Rolko C, Schley MT, Kiessling U, Wang H, Flor H. Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J 5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany,

Abstract

Little is known about the effects of successful treatment on brain function in chronic pain. This study examined changes in pain-evoked brain activation following behavioral extinction training in fibromyalgia patients.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, brain activation to painful mechanical stimuli applied to the 2nd phalanx of the left 2nd digit (m. flexor digitorum) was assessed in 10 patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) before and after behavioral extinction training.

The behavioral treatment significantly reduced interference from pain in the FM patients. Mechanical pain threshold and pain tolerance increased significantly after treatment.

Activation in the insula shifted bilaterally from a more anterior site before treatment to a more posterior location after treatment. The pre- to post-treatment reduction in both interference related to pain and pain severity were significantly associated with bilateral activation in pain-evoked activity in the posterior insula, the ipsilateral caudate nucleus/striatum, the contralateral lenticular nucleus, the left thalamus and the primary somatosensory cortex contralateral to the stimulated side.

These data show a relation between successful behavioral treatment and higher activation bilaterally in the posterior insula and in the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex.

Future studies should compare responders and non-responders for differential treatment effects and examine in more detail the mechanisms underlying these changes.
~~~~~~~~~~

If you’re feeling sick all the time, it’s time to ask the right questions. Can your brain function (while your body’s in chronic pain) differently that it does now? Possibly so, especially if you have Fibromyalgia, according to this data. Simply know that you have a chronic pain condition and scientist/ doctors are learning more about how to treat it everyday. That’s always good news!

Thank you, Cinda Crawford
Your host of the Health Matters Show

“New” Fibromyalgia, CFS and Chronic Pain info is available today on the Health Matters Show podcast.

Today’s broadcast represents only a fraction of the complete, longer version interview of what Dr. Josh Wagner and I recorded in a video only a few days ago.

Yes, I’m almost through producing the entire, longer video interview: Dr. Josh Wagner: Conquering Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain. It will be available very soon. You’ve got to trust me…it’s G-O-O-D!

So listen to what you can today during the Friday podcast. You’ll get a hint of what’s to come. If you register to receive info about all of my teleseminar/ video/ book events, you’re get the information about how to log on to Dr. Josh’s long interview…automatically.

*Look for the registration form at the top of this website, middle column, underneath the main video. When you’ve finished the process, simply lookout for the email with details about how to view this special interview video. I’ll be sending them out soon! Note: all messages will come from Get Well Health, our supporting, parent company. If you’ve registered previously, you don’t have to register again.

Personally, I find Dr. Josh Wagner to be a top-notched, professional chiropractor who’s heart guides his work. Let me explain. He not only offers his patients the greatest care, but he also is willing to give of his expertise and knowledge to people like you and me over the Internet! And he’s doing it right now without charge.

(Today’s video podcast is 6 minutes 30 seconds)

I find few professionals being so open about what they suggest and what works for their clientele. Most of them charge a pretty penny for that kind of access.

Although Dr. Josh Wagner practices in New York City, his new website on the Internet provides thousands of people the capability to learn from him personally. You can read more about the problems of and new info about Fibromyalgia, CFS and chronic pain when you download his FREE ebook online.

Please join us today for the Health Matters Show podcast and then later for the longer version of the interview. At either or both venues, I’d love to have your thoughts and comments. I feel good about the fact that Dr. “Josh” and I both believe that having Fibromyalgia is not your fault. Even so, it is possible that you can do something towards improving your health…starting today.

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Host of the Health Matters Show

Anyone who has been involved with me or the Health Matters Show for awhile, knows that your commenting means so much to me and what I’m trying to accomplish for people suffering with Fibromyalgia and more. When you’re not feeling well and you’ve read about something that moves you, your commenting here let’s other people know what you’re thinking. Using today’s social media tools like Facebook and Twitter gets the word out to others. That’s also info they may not hear about any other way. A little nudge to your friends in the right direction might just be the help they need!

I find that social media is often the easiest way to spread the word about what is going on, where, when and why someone might want to pay attention. I urge you to “friend” me at Facebook at both my name Cinda Crawford and on my page, Get Well Health. Reach me at Twitter at cindacrawford and let’s keep in regular touch. I post to all three areas of social media several times a week.

For a great example of how commenting and social media go together and can be valuable to you and your friends, consider the exciting interview I’m doing next week and how you can access it for “free”…

(Today’s podcast is 6 minutes 45 seconds.)

I am interviewing Dr. Josh Wagner, a chiropractor extraordinaire from NYC. He is officially fabulous! He does so much work with Fibromyalgia folks and lots of people suffering in pain. He uses a particular treating technique that he’ll introduce to you next Friday on the Health Matters Show podcast and tell you how to get this same type of work in other locations (if you don’t live in New York). He has done quite a bit of scientific testing with it and found that it works marvelously well with people who suffer with Fibromyalgia and other types of chronic pain.

Using a specialized chiropractic method, Torque Release, there are no limits to the body’s ability to increase performance level, to heal and to achieve extraordinary health.

Dr. Wagner’s patients experience great results with his Torque Release technique. I hope you make a special effort to catch next week’s Health Matters Show podcast interview. Plus, plus, plus… in addition, I plan to interview him for one hour for a second program to be broadcasted on a special interview at another time for “free” also! That interview will be worth your time and energy to listen to because of its special, in-depth content. It is available to you, too.

Its’ simple. Make sure that you’re on my contact list and you’ll receive email notices about all such events. To do this, sign up on my contact list which sits at the top of the page, middle column, underneath the video.

The date for this second presentation will be finalized soon and I’ll be sending out the info shortly. If you miss the event, there will be a replay link so don’t let scheduling be a problem. You can catch the replay at your convenience after the event has aired.

*If you’re already on my teleseminar list, you don’t need to sign up a second time. You’ll receive the info. However, if you’ve never signed up, there is a multi-step process that you need to follow to the end. It’s important to do all steps because in doing so, you get what you signed up for AND eliminate spam.

So what else do you need to do today? Either comment on today’s broadcast (e.g. ask a question of him) or wait until after next Friday’s short podcast interview. Ask Dr. Wagner any question you like about Fibromyalgia, pain, how he helps his patients manage it, etc. I’ll see that he gets every question. Remember, ask right here or wait until after next week’s short interview/ podcast. He either will comment here or wait to address your question(s) during the hour-long interview.

No matter how you approach your questions and need for information, this is a good opportunity to find out the answers here on the Health Matters Show. And don’t forget that your friends may benefit from having access to this opportunity, too.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I’m Cinda Crawford, your host.

PS: If you share this post and podcast through a social media sharing tool like Facebook, Twitter, etc., you may help out a friend or someone in real need. See the easy share buttons below.

If you’ve ever thought that you’d like to know the “real” statistics about Fibromyalgia, then consider taking the National Fibromyalgia’s new online survey. Read below for more info, but then click the appropriate blue hyperlink to take you directly to the questions to answer.

In their words…

The National Fibromyalgia Association is conducting the first of several surveys to learn about fibromyalgia and chronic pain patients’ interest in a new state of the art, technology-driven website platform that has the potential to change the way health care is provided in the United States. This concept was created by Lynne Matallana, the Founder of the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA}, and nurtured by Rae Marie Gleason the past Executive Director of the NFA along with several world-renowned scientific researchers and medical professionals.

This is an important opportunity to make your voice count in a way that could truly affect treatment options for millions of fibromyalgia and chronic pain sufferers worldwide. Your participation will help us to better understand what quality of life changes, resources and treatment therapies are the most important to you so that they can be incorporated into this new, unique platform.

So, please take a few minutes to fill out this survey to help us better understand your needs and wishes when it comes to new evidence-based treatment options, physician referrals, scientific research, and resources that might help you experience a better quality of life while living with pain.

Expect to hear from us often regarding the outcome information from this survey and future opportunities to participate in creation of this new website!

So spread the word among your friends and acquaintances. Share this blog entry however you like on Facebook, Twitter and more. It’s so important for each of us to fill out this Fibromyalgia online survey and, of course, you know how much I appreciate you sharing info from the Health Matters Show!

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Your host

Keeping a health diary and planning for 2012 may seem like two different objectives at first, but they are quite related if we’re talking about the importance of a health diary and how your planning now to make 2012 your healthiest ever. I always suggest that people keep a health diary. Now that’s not the kind that you necessarily write down everything. Keeping such a work of art at least needs to involve keeping a record of your health with your most important data.

*Please check out the 3 great resources below. One, today’s podcast; two and three are “free” gifts.

If you have Fibromyalgia or CFS and you keep a health diary with the intention of having it be a useful health tool, here’s the information it should include and also why it may be the best and most dynamic thing you can do for yourself “free of charge” in 2012:

• 1) Begin with your name, address and phone number. Put in a note that if anyone finds it, to please return it to you. Your life and health depend on you having access to your health diary. (Here is one online resource.)

(Note: you can keep your record on your computer and may feel safer doing so. You can print out sections of it as needed. Either way, this work can be valuable to you now and in the future, when you’re looking back at your illness path, how you walked it and measuring your successes and failures. Otherwise, the who, why, what and when questions can be fuzzy and frustrating! This health diary can be a really useful tool.)

Today’s Health Matters Show podcast is 11 minutes 33 seconds.

• 2) List your data, such as your diagnosed health problems, the prescription drugs you take and the supplements. List the timing involved in taking daily doses and if you irregularly take something, state why and when you take it. Go through your medicine chest, your gym bag and your purse. Make this list as complete and thorough as possible. Leave a couple extra pages before you begin the next section so that you have room to add and subtract as your medications and supplements change.

If you go ahead and start on this part of the process now, you’ll be ready to go with the main part of your journal January 1st of the new year!

• 3) DREAM and imagine how you can feel better. Pie in the sky is okay here! What will you do to achieve your health and life goals?

*For this part of your diary, check out something I did last year for you, which can still work. Simply change the dates to reflect the new year coming up. Print out a copy of your first gift, Getting Started When You’re Sick with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Re-write it to reflect your personal needs. Just know that nothing you do in your own book is wrong, but if you keep your thoughts and aspirations high and positive, you’ll likely have a better outcome.

• 4) WRITE, Write, write => your life, symptoms and how you feel either each day or at least every week. If you make a change in medication that affects your symptoms, note that too. If something unfortunate happens that throws you off track emotionally or physically and leads you down the ole’ proverbial rabbit hole, surely note that, too.

Such a written record is proof of how you feel for your doctor, the insurance companies and possibly Social Security disability. As a matter of fact, if you write out a list of your questions and concerns (or print out or copy a portion of your health diary) and take it to your doctor during an office visit, he is obliged to make your document a permanent part of your medical record. Need I say the word “proof” again?? (Remember this if you’re scrambling to come up with medical validation of how you’re suffering and your medical condition.)

Assembling your documentation to build a case for Social Security Disability can be tough. Old records can become scare unless you give a lot of forethought to the process of “what” will constitute your health records and do this in advance of needing them. Remember, this health diary is your book and it can serve many purposes. You can ask that your doctor provide you a copy of every lab test, x-ray and, maybe even, every office visit. Some will do this and can set it up automatically. And lastly, before you leave the doctor’s office visit, don’t forget to have him actually “answer” your questions! Use a list or take a sticky note with you, if it’s necessary to remind you of what you want to ask, especially on your days when you’re suffering with more brain-fog.

Your second and final gift today points you to a Facebook public project called the My M.E. Diary 2012 Trial. Personally, I’m not joining it because I don’t have ME (or symptoms of CFS any longer). But that doesn’t mean it’s not a worthwhile project. I encourage you to check out and evaluate this health tool for yourself. Below is the letter to the editor of Co-Cure for worldwide distribution on December 4, 2011.

Best wishes on your personal plans for the New Year 2012. Be sure to keep a health diary of some sort in your process of planning for 2012!

Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show
*Check out my new Facebook page at GET WELL HEALTH

~~~~~

Letters to the Editor.

Many people affected by the illness M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) have been keeping a diary for decades. It is an ideal way to record symptoms, experiences and feelings, as they happen and look back to see if anything can be learned from it. But individual M.E. sufferers are losing the best opportunity there is to compare all their observations with fellow patients, from all over the world, simply by not sharing them, as they could so easily do.

To achieve this connection, for everyone’s benefit, the M.E. Community Trust.org is inviting M.E. sufferers, to keep a diary in a uniform way, in order to attempt to better understand the cause, onset, progression and possible outcomes, using the benefit of a much bigger population for statistical analysis and mutual support. Safety and confidentiality is insured by each diarist, assuming an alias and saving data to their own computers to avoid any hacking or personal abuse.

A more thoroughly explanatory press briefing has been sent to every national and local newspaper in this country,in the hope that features editors and health journalists will want to give it the further coverage it deserves. In addition, we have “ambassadors” in every country in the world – including Europe, USA& Canada, Australasia, the Middle East, Asia and Africa – who are publicising it in the same manner. It also appears on our companion Facebook page, My M.E. Diary 2012 Trial – http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-ME-Diary-2012-Trial/186206768135247.

As a prelude to potentially the most ambitious longitudinal study of M.E., on every continent, M.E. sufferers are invited to send an e-mail from their assumed name to mymediary@mecommunitytrust.org with “My M.E. Diary 2012 Trial” in the subject line today, or lose one of the best opportunities ever for combined co-operative strength. Think of it this way: If you don’t do it, why should you expect anyone else to.

Everyone who does makes the collective M.E. voice more audible and this awful illness more visible.

Yours sincerely, drjohngreensmith@mecommunitytrust. org, Dr John H Greensmith, ME Community Trust. org

Some countries still without ambassadors to distribute letters and press briefings for this project. Some M.E. support organisations conspicuous by absence of support. Too few diarists signed up. Please don’t lose a good chance like this by leaving it to others — who may be doing the same!

As you and I approach the Christmas season with a goal of surviving it, one thing you may be asking yourself was hinted at last week: if Fibromyalgia Syndrome is not a terminal condition, then why am I still sick? There could be many reasons for whatever answer you come up with. It’s true that some people get over the condition and go on with their lives, while others keep right on suffering. Many people even get worse over time and watch their health decline further! Let’s change that and start now during the Christmas season holiday.

(This audio podcast is 6 minutes 21 seconds)

Okay. Let’s start off by playing a what-if game… what if the quality of your life eroded and got worse, the drama in your life story intensified and your future changed for the absolute worst? Unless you make the right choices now (Christmas or otherwise), you might never get another opportunity to come back and do it right again. Such a time as the Christmas season can be the very event that preempts and precipitates your life and symptoms either tunneling down into the trenches of ultimate pain and agony -or- spiraling upwards towards renewed hope and a re-invigorated life!

The truth is that we all complain sometimes. As soon as you can, though, make a point to lay aside being negative. Lay aside looking for some magic, cure-all drug. Lay aside thoughts that you’ll only be happy when and if… . Instead, put all of this out of your mind because instead you’re concentrating on bigger, better and different things. Things to help you succeed. Things to improve your health and help you get healthy again. I know you want to do whatever it will take to feel better and reclaim your life! Being negative and dependent will not get you where you want to go.

And as for the fluffy stuff? I’m talking about anything that promises you symptom relief or a cure, but isn’t doing the job for you. *In 2012, I’ll be offering you something special which I and lots of people are finding to be priceless. Stay tuned. Personally, I find that few supplements (or drugs) conquer Fibromyalgia. Help maybe, but not really slay the symptoms.

SUGGESTION: Take a few minutes to add up what you’re spending on Fibromyalgia, both on drugs and over-the-counter supplements. After you make a comprehensive list, tuck it away where you can get to it easily. We’ll get back to this. I promise…in a couple weeks, I plan to have all of the data in place to tell you about something F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!!! I’ve got my fingers crossed, too, and I am very, very excited!

Your to-do assignment from last week began with your making a personal list of who or what might trip you up this holiday. When you sat down to make that list, what life points did you focus on? People? Places? Did you concentrate more on emotional problems that could trip you up? Are all of these items really important now that you’ve listed them or did you include any points that actually don’t matter that much?

If you have a few of the latter on your list, go ahead and cross them out now. You can return to the smaller issues later. Today instead, concentrate on what’s crucial in YOU making it through the holidays and working positively on your health. Resolve to get to the crux of the problem NOW. Why not? If you become less distracted with the stuff in life that does not matter, you have a better chance of getting this right. Better health will follow.

Now go ahead and keep working on your list, but save it. Especially, put it up where no one will see it if you’re writing down and thinking about some very personal issues. Then check back next week to compare your answers to mine. Just don’t stop this process. It’s too important. This is your health we’re talking about. Your future depends on you getting this right!

Plus, I’m hoping that you come up with some ideas that I don’t think of. If so, submit and share them in comment form. Get recognition for your hard work while you’re growing and getting control over your Fibromyalgia.

Thanks. I’m Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show and thanks for attending “Fibromyalgia: Christmas Season Broadcast 2 of 3″

Today’s Christmas season broadcast is one of three weeks of presentations when I’m highlighting Fibromyalgia Syndrome. I’m convinced that it is not a terminal condition. Even though it may seem that way when you’re in the depths of the illness, some people do get over it and go on to resume healthier lives.

Unfortunately, other people keep suffering. They can even get worse and watch their health decline further and further into an illness pit that’s hard to climb out of!!

Today, let’s talk about how to prevent staying in the Fibromyalgia rut, particularly at this time of year…the holiday, Christmas season! No one wants to feel “bad” and no one wants to be the drag on their holiday party. Fun and good times are coming!

If a person only gives up a few of life’s pleasures because of a small (lean) to moderate case of Fibromyalgia (FMS), he of she may not have to make too many sacrifices. The necessary changes needed to survive regular “living” may be doable and tolerable enough to maintain. Such a person can live a reasonably good life.

If that’s not true for you and you’re much sicker than that, could your situation be worse because you haven’t discovered the knack of adjusting to match the needs of your illness??

That question is appropriate for the people who struggle with more and worse symptoms. Adjusting may not be the end-all, universal, cure-all answer. It won’t make that much difference, yet adjusting is still wise and I’ll tell you why.

In the end, some people can change their level of personal expectations, required duties and everyday activities and get by well enough, while others don’t seem to be able to easily change or adjust barely at all. Instead, they go to the extreme and give and give and give…until they feel like an overused rubber band about to break. *Today’s idea is aimed more at the people who (so far) have refused to make any adjustments to their lives and, therefore, the illness is pushing back at them hard!)

I encourage you to honestly think through this issue. If you’re prone to diving into the holidays head first and feeling all panicky, start a Christmas Season List. Jot down all of the things, people and activities in your life that you believe to negatively affect your condition. But don’t just list these issues => =>

• Figure out why and how you’re affected by the issues (or people) yesterday, last month, last holiday season. Thinking about them and planning what you should do to circumvent them is the key here to insure you’ll have a better, healthier Christmas season holiday with fewer symptoms. Don’t let it/them get to you!
• Plan your holiday get togethers. Plan the energy requirements you’ll need to prepare and last through the event. Plan for the day ahead, the day after, and especially plan your money outlay. You don’t want to be the queen bee of giving and end up suffering the month after because you have no money for medications or a massage!
• Pre-warn people that you may or may not feel like attending if you’re especially symptomatic that day. *If you’re going to someone’s house, ask them ahead of time about the possibility of lying down, eating special foods or drinking a drink that you brought with you, etc. Pre-plan. Your host wants you there and will likely accommodate your needs, if asked.
• Keep some cute thank-you or I’m-sorry-cards handy. This will help you to easily jot down notes as to why you couldn’t attend something or had to duck out early. With all the stress and strain of the holidays, even healthy people have to forgo all the things they want to do once in awhile!

Being in your presence, hearing from you, knowing you’re suffering and being kept in the loop is what your friends and family really want from you this holiday season. No one is perfect. Don’t expect to be. This is your “Fibromyalgia” plan and a beginning step to gaining control and beginning to feel better…even during the holidays! (You don’t want to go backwards.)

My best Christmas wishes for you and your family,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show‘

PS- Next Friday return here to find edition #2 of the Fibromyalgia: Christmas Season Broadcast.

As I sit down to think of all the things in my life that I am thankful for, I’m also narrowing it down to what may appeal to most people who suffer with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia or other illnesses. Now, that may seem odd, but I’ll share with you why I think it is important to look at this topic. One, it’s Thanksgiving, a time when we’re stuffed full of good food and probably had a pretty good day sharing our bounty with family and friends. And two, it’s time to be grateful for what we have. We’re alive, we have time to grow and become the people we really want to be and with the growing, doing and becoming, we can look forward to a life that carries its own rewards.

Let me explain a little more. As strange as it may sound at first,

“What?” you say. “Are you nuts?”

(This is short audio today, 2 minutes 48 seconds. I hope you listen to it & read the rest of the post. Then, leave a comment for what you feel thankful for. Many blessings, Cinda Crawford)

Nutt-y maybe, but not nuts. If I had not gotten so ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I would never have acquired the ability to have the compassion that I do now for people who cancel out on a fun outing (even a Thanksgiving Day meal!) at the last minute because they’re suffering with an unexpected symptom flareup -or- for people who can’t manage a part-time job because they can’t get out of bed for days at the time.

If I had not gotten so ill with Fibromyalgia, I would never have had the compassion to deal with people who have trouble thinking of the right word to say in a sentence, or who insist on telling you about the different “spots” that hurt in their body, but their doctors can’t seem to find out what is wrong -or- treat adequately.

If I had not suffered so many years in chronic pain myself, I would think a chronic pain sufferer might instead be a chronic complainer and not a worthy person to get to know or be around as a friend. If I had not had such a dysfunctional immune system, I might think that people who regularly get sick with cold or flu-like symptoms, etc., (*I know a lady who marks her calendar… . After twenty years, she’s sick for one week of every month!) are putting on airs or possibly are hypochondriacs.

After suffering for so long and now living well on the other side of illness, I can honestly say that I’m thankful for the tough and convoluted path I took to get well. My walk through the valleys was surely challenging. I’m sure yours is, too. Surely there were times when I doubted if I could or would get better.

I can assure you that having compassion and feeling grateful are not only great skills to acquire, they’re a blessing. Taking empty, non-important moments and replacing them with an attitude of gratitude is a blessing worthy of paying such a steep price.

Now, at some time during each holiday season, I give thanks. For each family visit and the shared time together, I give thanks. For each desire in life that I am lucky enough to accomplish, I am elated. For each friend I meet and each person I help, I am humbled, yet bubbling with joy. I feel grateful and I Am Thankful For YOU!

Thank you so much,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

We’re entering the busiest season of the year and that’s all the more reason to consider relaxing for health. I know this because I’m as prone to getting caught up in the hoo-ha as anyone else. Just yesterday I went to the mall and stayed too long. That’s when I officially became my own worst enemy. I lost my keys!

Well, you know how the tiredness and pain of Fibromyalgia and CFS can take you to that really bad place and you truly need a transport machine to instantly “poof” you back home? I didn’t have one and I began to get frantic as I walked around, overly tired, with an aching back and legs and surely a big frown on my face. Why me? Why did I have to lose my keys in the middle of the 8th row of sweaters in the store’s last display? It happens.

So today, dear ones, I have a treat for you. Click on the Health Matters Show podcast link below and hear me read a creative visualization to help you relax and help your health be all it can be. The title of it is Healing Firemen. I believe you’ll like it, plus I know you can benefit from such a nourishing experience. Block out a portion of your day to do this. Find a quiet spot for a few moments to really do some relaxing for health. Don’t let people or responsibilities distract you from taking care of yourself. But,…don’t drive while you’re listening either!

You should get an immediate benefit from this experience. If you’d like to create some of these visualizations for yourself, check out Julie Lusk’s great book below.

(12 minutes 18 seconds jewel of an audio- Be sure to DOWNLOAD and keep this one!)

I hope you enjoyed my creative visualization reading from Julie Lusk’s wonderful book, 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing. Get your own copy at Amazon.com…

Thanks so much me for joining the podcast today. Please leave a comment if you like this type of broadcast -and- about how your “relaxing for health” needs are or are not being met!

Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show

If you suffer with Fibromyalgia or CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), you likely have a major symptom that drives you bonkers at times and it’s called memory problems. It’s much more than an occasional lapse in memory. Today let’s explore a way to look at this that will make better sense than thinking you’re dumb, getting old, losing your mind, or not able to remember anything! And, if we’re successful at this, you should come away with useful knowledge and lesser degree of feeling frightened and helpless with what this illness symptom implies.

(Audio podcast is 8 minutes 45 seconds long)

“I felt so dumb when it was happening…so helpless. My mind just wasn’t there, you know…with me. It was like it had checked out and left my body. And worse than that, I had no idea what to do to get out of the trouble I was in. Plus, I couldn’t figure out why everyone was looking at me so strangely.” At that point, she cried and we hugged a long time.
~~~~~

When I, personally, was so sick for fifteen long years, I found myself in situations like the one my client described many times. I would feel scared, humiliated and definitely worried to the bone, worried that I might lose every cognitive ability I had ever had. In the beginning months, all I could do was read and retain the meaning of the headlines in the newspaper. Sentences strung together in a paragraph no longer made sense and forget about remembering the content. I was lucky to keep general impressions only; details were non-existent.

If this sounds like similar memory problems that you have experienced, ask yourself the following questions, but do so in the comfort and security of your home or in a quiet moment. These are thought provoking, for sure, and you’ll want to take your time to answer them.

I know I’m not crazy, but WHY has my body and brain apparently stopped working together?
WHAT has happened to drive them so far off course? Like the connection between them has been broken?
And WHEN will I feel better and more like myself again? Or will I be in this condition…forever??

The answers to what is going on, what to do about it -and- if it’s possible for you to get significantly better are not simple. Scientists actually have few answers to memory problems. But even so, I urge you to keep reading the following, important background information.

At birth a newborn infant’s immune system usually functions well, maybe even for several months before the first taste of sickness arrives. Doctors tell us this is a carry over of the biological influence and immunity of the mother. As the baby grows and matures, that immune system protection dissipates and, in some cases, the baby’s own system doesn’t function as efficiently. If so, sickness ensues.

Your and my health, as we keep growing from babies to older children, to teenagers and finally to adults, encounter times when the immune system is negatively affected by tough and sometimes virulent disease-promoting entities, like viruses, bacteria, spirochetes, mycoplasmas, etc. And when one of us gets sick, a common symptom is some degree of cognitive impairment of the brain. [Whether we're talking about disease mechanisms actually attacking tissues of the brain (e.g. a herpes virus) or simply the person's central nervous system not working well (e.g. a functional breakdown of the cerebral process, nerve conduction and pathway damage such as what is seen in cases of Multiple Sclerosis), a sick person can be left at one end of the spectrum with a short, mildly dysfunctional physical situation all the way to a totally dysfunctional memory system that would disturb the hardiest of souls!]

And getting back to you, if you have Fibromyalgia or CFS, know that memory problems are extremely common problems. Not rare, not occasional nuisances, but very common problems. If you’re fortunate, the symptoms may come or go, but when significant cognitive dysfunction appears, you, the patient, feel as if your brain is barely functioning. As mentioned in the last paragraph, this could be from the inflammatory process of the body and brain fighting a (example) herpes virus or it can be something else entirely. Either way, your immune system is likely on guard, active and sometimes too active.

Your best bet is aiming to improve and bolster the functionality of your immune system while calming it at the same time. Think about it. In this case, y our immune system is doing the hard work, all the heavy lifting here. Your brain is simply the organ that is most affected when you suffer with significant memory problems. *To find out more about how I help clients successfully refine and re-tune their immune system, I invite you to visit my Free 15 Minute Health Consultation page. I’m happy to help you if I can.

Thank you for joining the Health Matters Show today,
Cinda Crawford, your host

Is there an app for healing an illness like Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lyme disease, Lupus, or Arthritis? If not, why not? As I wander through my mind today, come with me and let’s explore the thought process involved in why a large population of people are sick, stay sick, and continue to go to doctors without finding success for healing their illness.

It makes me miss Steve Jobs already. Yes, he was a technological guru, but he was so much more. He dreamed up technologies before we knew we needed them! He not only envisioned the end result product, but he made it, invented the technology to support it and then, as the super marketer, told us our lives would never be the same unless we owned it!

What we need now…

• Answers based on where we are now in terms of knowing more about the illness(es) that we face everyday.
• Answers based on thinking forward…into the future. What is missing? Are we on the right track for coming up with the answers of tomorrow by relying so much on medicine, drugs, etc., the so-called answers of today? To pursue this line of thought, we must first be brave and ask the right questions…out loud! (First, to ourselves; then, to others.)

Go ahead. Envision the end result of your longings: Being Healed. Rejoining Life. Having a smile on your face. Okay, this is your assignment. To get there, that is…if you choose to accept this mission…figure out the real problems surrounding your illness:

Why did I get sick? Why can’t I heal? Where should I be looking for ‘my’ answers?

• CONCLUSION: Let’s find the answers and come to the right conclusion based on outcome results of what we want to experience: improvements in health status. What end result would you like to have? How do you see yourself next week, two months from, two years from now or two decades?

Well, I hope that’s not sick and trending in the direction of ‘more well’ and certainly happier. Take a moment to check out the audio podcast today for some additional information. Let me know what you think of all the proposed questions. How will you answer them if you don’t have “an app for healing illness”?

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Your host of the Health Matters Show

For many of us, it is time for winter again. That could be good or bad depending on your view of the season, your ability to get out and enjoy it or your confinement to bed or home. I like the fall season with its colors, but I know winter is coming soon. So, what do you and I do to prepare?

That question came to me a few weeks ago after I watched the Virgina Tech football game when they played Miami. The stadium was packed, the fans were antsy for a win and the day was right for making a lot of noise, stomping, jumping and probably causing the whole stadium to shake! Yes, with seconds left, the crowd went nuts. The whole place was surely rocking!

Now…how is that like or unlike you or me? If You and I are ready for what comes our way, we have reason to make a lot of noise and celebrate, too! (Please listen to the Health Matters Show audio podcast today; then watch the VA Tech video below. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a video that is hard to believe.)
(Audio podcast 5 minutes 11 seconds)

Below I grabbed this VA Tech video off of YouTube. I urge you to watch it closely as the game comes down to the wire. Two opponents compete, both wanting victory.

*Your opponent is illness/ sickness/ Fibromyalgia/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc. You fight long and hard, but the battle comes down to the wire and the question comes down to… is illness or wellness better prepared for victory? Which party consistently makes good use of time, resources and the people around them?

In this case, the winner was VA Tech. Other times, that’s not the case, but that day they won the ball game.

On days when your own game is down to the wire, you want to win and I want to see you be victorious, too. So I’m asking, how prepared are you? Are you spending your time fretting over the illness or learning how to get well? Do you have good resources to help you succeed? Who do you have on your team (side) helping you? When are you going to get off the bleachers (the couch) and take a brave, new step towards doing something different?

So, even if you’re asking, “Is it time for winter again?”, be prepared and ready. You’re in the game for the long haul. It’s what you make of it along the way that counts.

Thanks so much for joining me today,
Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show

Many people with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome believe that their cortisol level and stress response system in the body is altered. The following study below talks of this abnormal hypothalamus- pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis response and can pinpoint problems.

Cinda Crawford, Health Matters Show (*see study summary below)

Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2011 Sep 27. doi: 10.1038/nrendo.2011.153. [Epub ahead of print]

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Papadopoulos AS, Cleare AJ. Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Box P074, 103 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, UK.

Abstract
The weight of current evidence supports the presence of the following factors related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): mild hypocortisolism (adrenal insufficiency); attenuated diurnal variation of cortisol; enhanced negative feedback to the HPA axis; and blunted HPA axis responsiveness.

Furthermore, HPA axis changes seem clinically relevant, as they are associated with worse symptoms and/or disability and with poorer outcomes to standard treatments for CFS.

Regarding etiology, women with CFS are more likely to have reduced cortisol levels. Studies published in the past 8 years provide further support for a multifactorial model in which several factors interact to moderate HPA axis changes. In particular, low activity levels, depression and early-life stress appear to reduce cortisol levels, whereas the use of psychotropic medication can increase cortisol. Addressing these factors-for example, with cognitive behavioral therapy-can increase cortisol levels and is probably the first-line approach for correcting HPA axis dysfunction at present, as steroid replacement is not recommended.

Given what is now a fairly consistent pattern of findings for the type of HPA axis changes found in CFS, we recommend that future work focuses on improving our understanding of the cause and relevance of these observed changes.

PMID: 21946893 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

In the last few days, Fibromyalgia has been in the news about: 1) a general discussion of problems and issues, 2) that yoga exercises may be able to help people with the symptoms of Fibro, 3) that acupuncture treatments may be of benefit and help provide pain relief and finally, 4) that low doses of the muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprine may help you sleep better and feel less pain. I’m sure there are even more articles, reports and blogs I could feature to update you.

The point is things are happening. If you feel like nothing changes, you’re not keeping your eyes open and your ears alert for news about Fibromyalgia. It is available.

Here at the Health Matters Show, I’m always anxious to keep you informed about the issues that can help you manage and improve your life, but in the end, much of this is up to you. Yes, read, research and learn more about what is out there in the world, but in the end, the decision of “what” or “who” is going to help you really get well is yours. In today’s audio podcast file, I talk a lot about these important issues. *Check below to the access the news about Fibromyalgia that I mentioned!

(Today’s podcast file is 5 minutes 14 seconds. Feel free to download and listen to it at your leisure!)

Muscle Relaxer: in new research released this week, TONIX Pharmaceuticals has shared news that the very first drug being developed for night time usage in the treatment of Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM), named cyclobenzaprine (CBP), is working on improving the condition’s core symptoms.

Acupuncture…is most often used for postsurgical or chemotherapy-related nausea, pain management, Fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, stroke rehabilitation, sports injuries, mood disorders, chronic fatigue, insomnia, stress management, migraines, tension headaches, anxiety, tinnitus, infertility, and menstrual irregularities.

Yoga: Gina Bartiromo, who had a brain injury after slipping and falling about 150 feet down the east face of Yosemite’s Half Dome in 2009, will lead a chair yoga class Thursdays in November at the Camarillo Health Care District.

“It’s for people with any sort of physical ailment, such as fibromyalgia or arthritis, or for people who have physical limitations from an injury and can’t get down on a mat,” said Bartiromo, of Camarillo. “It has all the benefits of yoga — strengthening, stretching, tuning in to the body.”

Thanks so much for joining me at the Health Matters Show today. If you suffer with Fibromyalgia, there are really great things and ideas to investigate like a new muscle relaxer, yoga or acupuncture. Some based in the western medical world; others originating from eastern-based cultures. I encourage you to consider them all as you decide what is best for you.

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