Holistic Approaches to Fibromyalgia

Of people in the know, that is, people who have had success in lessening the symptoms of Fibromyalgia or, possibly, helping others heal from Fibromyalgia, holistic approaches seem to work best. That is, better than prescription drugs which act as a Bandaid approach only because they mask the symptoms, not remove them. With integrative, holistic approaches to Fibromyalgia, the results are better, longer lasting and sometimes they work indefinitely.

Today I’m covering some of the material offered in my new book that’s coming out soon, From The Floor Looking Up, a memoir/ health book on how I got so sick with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and how I healed. Check this out below. Sign up to receive the newest information about the book, if you haven’t already done so. I welcome each person who suffers with this illness and who wants to get rid of it.

At the bottom of today’s Health Matters Show blog post, we’ll finish talking about “holistic approaches to Fibromyalgia”.

Thank you,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show and author of From the Floor Looking Up

(Audio podcast is 10 minutes 45 seconds)

Today we’ll look briefly at five areas:

I) LIFE CHANGES: a) Get moving. If you are able to get out of bed for any length of time at all, one of the first things to do to start feeling better is to add a slow-paced exercise program to your routine. The best examples include walking around the block, a gentle, easy-does-it water aerobics class, yoga, meditation, or entry level Pilates™ class.

LIFE CHANGES: b) Decrease stress. Another thing to put on your first to-do list, consider how to decrease your stress level. You can cut back on your hours spent at work, alter the number of days worked, change jobs or consider taking a break away from work entirely through the Family Medical Leave Act or provided for by a disability policy (personal or group).

LIFE CHANGES: c) Retool your kitchen and food supplies aiming at making life in the kitchen easier, healthier and a place that offers you better choices such as grass-fed beef, organic vegetables and fruit and lots of pure, clean water to drink.

LIFE CHANGES: d) Concentrate on restoring your body’s normal sleep schedule. The suggestion is simple, but many times hard to accomplish: Go to bed at a decent hour and get 8 to 9 hours of real sleep and complete rest. That allows your body the hours it needs to heal what’s wrong with you and, if necessary, to re-regulate its natural biorhythms. For more specific suggestions, order your “free” copy of 3 Critical Things You Must Know About Sleep to Begin Feeling Better today.

II) GAINING KNOWLEDGE. Putting it to good use. a) Reading and research. I do a lot of reading and research into many authority-figures’ works. Once of the best sources I’ve found to give insight to what is wrong with someone is Karol K. Truman’s Feelings Buried Alive Never Die. If you crack open the door and begin to look within, you may find some astounding answers about what is perpetuating your illness.

b) CONSULTING A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL counselor or healing consultant will help most patients develop effective coping skills. Once you’re extremely sick, it’s valuable to have someone on your side. I like to think of it as having a personal cheerleader and friend who’s always willing, able and ready to listen. I go one step further and offer my services as a healing consultant. The time spent with my clients helps them recover their health and is rewarding to me, too.

Just getting your problems out in the open is the first step towards resolving them. Plus, Fibromyalgia brings with it so many symptoms, having someone to help you cope with them can be a miracle in itself. The possible issues are almost too voluminous to cover in this short post.

III) ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES: Complementary Fibromyalgia treatment options

a) Alternative health information. As you and I investigate the best source of information about Fibromyalgia alternative therapies, we consult the Internet and such a source as the National Institute of Health (NIH) Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Mind Body methods research division. The website includes papers, clinical trials, web-teaching videos and lots of information about the value of considering a mind body approach to your health problem. Some of the best work is being done in the realm of cancer, but much of this approach can be applied to Fibromyalgia. *My point in aiming you at this credible website is to get you to open up to the possibility that mind body medicine does have something to offer you. I see the proof of this everyday in the technique I use to help people heal from Fibromyalgia, Sacred Cellular Healing.

(b) Begin a program of low-impact walking, water aerobics and/or movement therapies, such as Tai Chi and Chi Gong. They can help you stay active and may provide you a much-needed measure of body conditioning. Be warned that it’s even tougher to come back physically, if you allow your body to become de-conditioned due to lack of any exercise.

(c) Check out people who do hands-on work or specialize in relaxation. You can find local massage therapists with experience in working with people suffering with your symptoms. Also acupuncturists, Reiki masters, Chakra balancing, specialized energy work. One online source of relaxation work can be found with Dan Howard and his fantastic Intentional Resting™ Method. Check it out while you’re here.

I find Intentional Resting™ to be a simple yet powerful way to decompress and begin the healing process for me or anyone. I wish I’d thought of it myself! (Also, none of Dan’s products or courses are extremely expensive.)

Also, deep breathing, muscle relaxation techniques, visual imagery, and music therapy can be beneficial for some patients in overcoming emotional problems, reducing anxiety, promoting a sense of well-being and calming over-active, body processes.

(d) An additional therapy to also check out would be a Healing Touch™ program. This type of complementary (a.k.a. holistic or integrative) energy therapy can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies or as a stand-alone treatment.

IV. SUPPORT GROUPS AND ONLINE SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES: for encouragement, interaction and helping you stay connected to the world. Specify what you’re looking for on Google by using a combination of “” quotation marks, + plus signs, etc. Example: a Google search for the term, support group + fibromyalgia + denver, delivered ten results. There a hundreds of thousands of people in “Fibro” groups on Facebook and scads of people looking for someone to talk to on Twitter. I am one of them! Contact me on Facebook at Cinda Crawford or my page, GET WELL HEALTH. Find me on Twitter at cindacrawford.

There are a few special Healthcare Links in the box on the right.

V. BLOGS, PODCASTS, FORUMS, TELESEMINARS, WEBINARS, VIDEOS & more! To find good resources in each of these categories, do some further research. Or make it easy on yourself by signing up for my teleseminar presentations by filling in the blanks of the box on this page entitled “What’s Happening? Get info by email.”

If you get back on Google and put in your terms plus (+) what you’re looking for (example Fibromyalgia + forum), you’ll get lots of information. Note, on most forums, there’s lots of talk going on with some of it being negative. On blogs, not so much so. On ones like the Health Matters Show, I tend to offer more information because I believe there’s power in what you know.

No matter which way you go, there’s always a good number of information sources at your fingertips, but few health and healing holistic approaches to Fibromyalgia like what you’ll find here with Sacred Cellular Healing. It’s mind, body, spirit healing at its best with a strong emphasis on the energetic and spiritual aspects of healing. Without a doubt, this is an excellent way to heal from Fibromyalgia!

Thanks so much. Please leave your comments. Come back to visit often

Since CFS and Fibromyalgia Awareness Day is tomorrow, May 12th, I suggest we start to celebrate and recognize what we’re capable of doing! We all have something we can do, even if it’s not always a march on City Hall or a declaration to the governor. Many millions of us are homebound and unable to get out into the world to advocate for the very illnesses that stole our lives.

Instead of being angry at yourself or your friends, let me encourage you to advocate for yourself online today. I’m keeping today’s Health Matters Show purposely short because there’s so much information ahead to read, study, watch and more! Go to Facebook, my page there, GET WELL HEALTH and the Events page. It goes “live” at 10:30 am EST on Friday, May 12th.

You can find a) information about a healing tool you can use now, b) four separate videos, c) special rates and discounts on the programs I offer and d) the chance to win one of five copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul’s: Celebrating Mothers and Daughters in time to give for Mother’s Day on Sunday!

You can’t lose! Don’t forget. Visit my Facebook Events page and then on to a fantastic Awareness Day Celebration!

(4 minutes 7 seconds)

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Your Health Matters Show host

What is ME or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis? Our topic today for the Health Matters Show podcast may seem erroneous to talk about for readers and listeners in the US.

It’s not. That’s because ME, as a chronic illness, is very akin to CFS, CFIDS or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Looking at all the facts, I believe anyone can be stricken with one form of this illness or the other. Researcher/doctors can barely classify a person specifically with either one. The truth is few physicians understand both illnesses well enough to know the distinctions between them. Some people think they’re all one in the same thing. Today’s information will help to change that type of thinking…somewhat.

*For a bit of background information, see the first post I did last year about ME, then come back here.

It’s possible that today’s information and brochure will become one of your most important “get well tools” in your health arsenal. “Knowledge is power.” Plus, today, see how ME/CFS Australia is spreading important messages and now a brochure for you to download. (See link below.)

(9 minutes 18 seconds audio podcast)

According to the ME/CFS Australia (Victoria) website, ME is a serious neurological illness. There is no known cause or cure for ME. It routinely affects 250,000 people in the UK alone. Men, women and children can suffer with the illness, but it is more prone to strike in women. Some people do recover (how?), but many do not. Up to 25% can be severely affected to the point where they are housebound or bed-bound needing a full time caregiver or at least in desperate need of a family member or friend to meet intimate feeding, bathing and mobility needs, etc.

WARNING: Do not think ME is about fatigue only. There are a whole lot more ME symptoms. Also, do not think that all ME sufferers are automatically mentally ill. No. Think instead of how some ME people are really, really ill to the point where they cannot think, comprehend or perform mental tasks. Some are even dying slow, agonizing deaths and that makes me very sad.

ME symptoms can include:

• Malaise
• Flu-like symptoms
• Digestive symptoms
• Sleep disorders
• Difficulties with memory and concentration
• Tender lymph nodes
• Sensitivity to light and sound

If you’re thinking that science and research have not caught up to the needs of the CFS or ME population, you’re correct. To my knowledge, ME often expresses itself in people who cannot care for themselves…sometimes, at all. Weakness is one of the main ME symptoms, along with sensitivity to light, sound or movement. (I shed some light on this phenomena in today’s audio podcast.)

Take a look at ME/CFS Australia’s new, explanatory brochure. It’s a pdf and you can print it out for your needs or to have in your health file. (You only need a free pdf reader.)

I urge you to contact me for further information about how to heal from ME, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: cinda(at)getwellhealth.com or call 1-512-827-0500 ext. 7354 and leave a message. *Note: I’m still offering a “free” 15 minute consultation!

Thank you for joining the Health Matters Show today where we’re discussing, “What is ME, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis -2?” As always, your comments and social sharing are greatly appreciated. Let’s get the word out!!

Cinda Crawford, show host

Today I’m interviewing Julie Seibert, host of Reawaken Your Brilliance and her Healing Through Organization, about the topics of self-healing and how to organize yourself even when you’re suffering with brain or Fibro fog. See her great tips below.

Plus, I just love this lady. She’s open, honest and forthright. If she’s knows it to be true, if she’s lived it or witnessed it, she’s not afraid to share the information with others.

~~~~~
Take her Reawaken Your Brilliance TV/radio show. She interviews people who can provide helpful information to her audience of people who want to know about how to live a healthier and happier life, how to feel better and get rid of the illnesses that are holding them back…plus there’s a whole lot more!

Today Julie shares with us…

(Audio podcast is 21 minutes 38 seconds)

Julie shares how important it is to face your past childhood trauma and abuse. She did and she’s living a healthier life because of taking that step some time ago. She believes in peeling back the layers of your onion…no matter how much muck and mire is beneath. Much of the time that takes great courage, especially when you’re feeling depressed. Today, hear Julie tell us how she fought and won that tough battle.

(I often write about childhood trauma and abuse. I do it in a powerful, “get well” way in which both of my teaching/healing tools, Sacred Cellular Healing and the Learn How to Heal Membership course, serve as an example of a healing modality that works gently and effectively. The purpose/ your goal is to get over childhood abuse and trauma and move on with your life in a healthy way!)

And finally, here are Julie’s Tips for Being and Getting Organized, even when you’re dealing with a maddening brain condition like Fibro fog.

1. Tip #1: Simplify, simplify, simplify. Make living your life and staying organized as simple as possible.
2. Tip #2: Have a home for everything. If you don’t have a place for an item, create it. Remember rule #1.
3. Tip #3: Label everything. Some OCD people will like this Just label it. I find this type of tip comes in handy with all my computer, recording, video and audio equipment. If I don’t label the cords and what goes with what, at some point, I will get into serious trouble!
4. Tip #4: And last but not least, color code everything. Julie suggests such a strategy as colored folders for paperwork. I do that, too, especially when I’m being super-organized. I’ll have to polish off that habit because I’ve been back-sliding a bit. I can see where it really will help me.

Yes, if Fibro fog gets to you, consider her tips. And if you get a chance, be sure to check out her websites. She has so many great shows and speakers there. Speaking of shows, she is honoring me by making me her guest on next Wednesday’s Reawaken Your Brilliance show at 8 pm EST, April 25th. Join us “live” if you can for a frank talk about healing, chronic illness and how you can get better. Get your ideas together about what questions you want to ask because Julie invites your participation.

Thanks so much to Julie Seibert, my interview guest today, and to you, my audience. Your comments are encouraged below. Please share this resource at will!

Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

Based on all we know today, a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome diet needs to go against the grain of what is trendy or what other people eat everyday. Considerations such as the nature of the food itself, what it contains, how it will affect your body, what dietary need is it fulfilling and does it help or hinder your symptoms.

When you are very symptomatic with CFS symptoms, consistently eating the right foods will help to give your body a chance to recover. (See below for suggestions.)

Gorge with the wrong ones and you’re setting yourself up for more challenge than your body can handle right now. What are some of the wrong food substances?

• Sugar, white bread, regular pasta, potatoes and white rice

Sugar has been a culprit from day one. It causes inflammation in the body. You don’t need anything else inflamed! Plus, sugar can be a big source of empty calories. White bread, pasta, potatoes and white rice can be converted to sugar in the gut rather quickly. That means these sugary foods could be detrimental to your weight and your organs that are trying to keep you healthy, moving forward and recovering.

See Is Sugar Toxic by CBS News for more of the negative ramifications of including sugar in your diet. New research is indicating that sugar “is” one of the most dangerous substances you can consume. It even promotes cell growth in cancers!

• Lots of heavy meats that are hard to digest

When I was in my sickest, weakest state and expressing lots of CFS symptoms, I had to cut back on heavy, dense meats like beef steak. Attempting to eat it would bring on overwhelming exhaustion. My jaws even got tired from the act of chewing! Think of it this way, if you need your energy to recover, eating should not divert your body’s attention away from what it needs to do any longer than necessary. Eating a lot of dense meat only exasperates your energy situation. They are hard to digest and require a lot of your body’s energy. Plus, many meats are loaded with antibiotics, steroids and ingredients for taste that can be harmful. Choose your meat protein carefully.

Suggestion: lower the amount of tough meats you eat and concentrate on consuming other sources for your protein intake, such as eggs, cheese, and a few nuts per day. (I never suggest soy because I believe it to be too controversial a food product, but some people think it does more good than harm.) If you want some beef in your diet, consider getting some good quality, grass-fed beef (without hormones or steroids) and make a hearty vegetable soup with small chunks of beef included for taste. Or use ground beef and ground turkey for a nice meatloaf or meat balls. By eating the ground up meat version, at least you won’t be chewing until next Sunday before you can swallow it!

Suggestion: Concentrate on chicken, turkey, fish (not those with high concentrations of mercury), lean meats as discussed above, plus you can add the white meat, pork, if it works alright with your body (some people can’t tolerate pork), walnuts (or some similar nut that helps in regulating cholesterol) and add some dry beans into your diet. A bean soup can be delicious, hearty and healthy.

• Foods loaded with fats.

Harmful fat sources might include bacon, cream sauces and hidden fats. Remember to read your labels. Most doctors and nutritionists recommend you consume a portion of “good fats” everyday, fats such as olive oil.

• Foods loaded with aspartame, MSG (monosodium glutamate), preservatives and food colorings

Stay away from aspartame. Period. It is so dangerous to a healthy body, much less yours that is struggling every single day. That means you read the label on every drink and food product before drinking or eating. MSG, preservatives and food colorings are adding insults to your immune and digestive system. They are not natural foods and they can produce negative results such as food allergies and food sensitivities. Remember, the purer sources of food (what you put in your body), the better!

• Drinks/ foods containing caffeine or alcohol.

Most people who are severely sick cannot tolerate alcohol at all. Take that as a clear warning. As for caffeine drinks, especially beware of these new energy concoctions like “5 Hour Energy” and the like.

Foods containing caffeine, like iced tea, may not seem so off the wall, however too much caffeine consumption from any source can cause problems. If you drink them, you’re artificially stimulating your body while setting yourself up for the inevitable crash afterwards. And we know horrible your crashes are, right? Any energy expenditure needs to be more balanced than that. What you eat and drink can help or hinder you. Having too many up and down, violent shifts can actually damage your ability to maintain a steady energy warehouse. Think…less stress on your system. Be sure to consume beverages that support you such as drinking lots plenty of fresh, clean water each day. Also see a previous post on “the energy envelope theory” by Dr. Charles Lapp for a novel approach to your daily energy management needs.

Remember to actively keep your CFS symptoms at bay by carefully monitoring what you eat and drink!

Thank you so much. The title of tomorrow’s post is “Treating CFS Using Drugs and Supplements”. Feel free to share all of this information with others. This is a week-long series on Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It will end this Friday, April 6th with the conclusion on the Health Matters Show blog and podcast.

Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show

PS- Below are some great resources. They both have Fibromyalgia in the title, but the suggestions apply to a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome diet, too:

-and-

Deirdre Rawlings “Foods for Fibromyalgia” website.

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-diet/feed/ 2 http://healthmattershow.com/treating-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/ http://healthmattershow.com/treating-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:55:46 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26969



Anyone who is sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (or ME) wants to know the best methods for treating it. There is no exact science. Is there a drug that will cure CFS? Most everyone assumes the cure will come as a drug because CFS is such a horrible physical ailment. The answer surely will be biologically based, right? Not necessarily.

Is there something else that works better in helping a person heal from CFS? At this point in time, I believe the answer is that something else does work very well. (More on the specifics later.)

No “curative” drug for treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome exists, although research is ongoing and more drugs are in the pipeline. Some current drugs help to relieve symptoms. That’s a far cry from healing the condition as a whole. Plus, you must continue taking the drug indefinitely to keep getting any relief of your symptoms!

To give every area of this huge topic its dues and a fair shake in our analysis, let’s open up the door and consider all your possible treatment options. There are quite a few. They can help some people with symptom reduction. However, again, I find little to help you really heal and get well, closer to that 100% mark. So, next week I’ll be addressing these options, one by one, concluding Friday in a big presentation for the Health Matters Show that summarizes this huge topic and let’s you in on what I believe works for a lot of people.

If you’re looking for the best answers for getting well– really well because you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired– I have information for you. That’s because I not only suffered with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for fifteen years and struggled in getting it treated adequately, but, I got well and am now helping people heal from CFS every day!

Today I share some of that info on the Health Matters Show podcast, with a bit of the audio file where Dr. Deirdre Rawlings interviewed me about how I got well:








(Today’s Health Matters Show podcast is 9 minutes 53 seconds.)


After I got better, I began to develop my own theories about what works and what doesn’t. I’ll share many of them with you next week. Stay tuned!

SO WHAT ARE THE MORE COMMON TREATMENT OPTIONS?
• Prescription drugs (and OTC preparations)
• Nutritional supplements including multi-vitamins
• Adjusting your Diet
• Lifestyle changes- Which ones should you make? Which ones may be…dangerous?
• Cognitive behavior therapy- What is it? Does it work for everyone?
• Other Complementary or Alternative health and healing protocols, such as Sacred Cellular Healing

I do not have all the answers. So that this can be a gathering spot for all kinds of good info, I encourage you to leave your comments here for others to see. What you know could be of value to someone else for treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Maybe even the missing part to their puzzle!

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Your host of the Health Matters Show

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/treating-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/feed/ 1 http://healthmattershow.com/new-fibromyalgia-cfs-and-chronic-pain-info/ http://healthmattershow.com/new-fibromyalgia-cfs-and-chronic-pain-info/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:15:15 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26787



“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

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/new-fibromyalgia-cfs-and-chronic-pain-info/feed/ 0 http://healthmattershow.com/dr-josh-wagner-interview-helping-fibromyalgia-and-chronic-pain-conditions/ http://healthmattershow.com/dr-josh-wagner-interview-helping-fibromyalgia-and-chronic-pain-conditions/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:15:14 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26684



When the topic of Helping Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain comes up, I am most interested. That’s why I invited Dr. Josh Wagner, a specialized chiropractor to join us for a video interview today on the Health Matters Show.

His practice in New York City involves regularly helping and working with people in chronic pain and, specifically, Fibromyalgia. He uses a technique to initiate change in the patient’s central nervous system called Torque Release. In our video interview today, he describes how this technique works.





(13 minutes 42 seconds)

Dr. “Josh”, as he’s allowing me to call him, recommends you seek out a Torque Release chiropractor, but also mentions that Network Spinal Analysis technique and Upper Cervical techniques are often very effective for such a health condition.

He believes the your body created your Fibromyalgia or chronic pain condition (e.g. not a bacteria, not a virus…). With enough stress and toxicity build up, anyone can get sick. Yet, with the right care, your body can un-create your health condition as well. I loved that term the first time I heard him say it- un-create it. To me that’s synonymous with do it; then undo it. Nice and neat.

If you go a bit farther and dig for the gold, you’ll discover the best healing and health tools, the most healing diet, the most encouraging people to surround you, and your healthiest personal attitude and goals to make your own healing happen. Dear ones, you can’t afford to be afraid of change or healing. Instead, be willing to get in the trenches and work.


Note: if you feel too badly and can’t bear the symptoms of Fibromyalgia or any chronic pain condition, by all means see your regular doctor and have him or her treat you. Prescription drugs can offer you temporary relief (even though they won’t fix the underlying causative problem). It’s important to listen to and follow not only your intuition, but your doctor’s advice as well.

Now for a BIG a-ha moment! None of the current drugs on the market for Fibromyalgia cure the condition. For getting well, you’re on your own and that’s why dynamic people like Dr. Josh Wagner are so important and powerful. He helps people relieve chronic pain and promotes long term healing.

QUESTION: Why don’t you take action and allow this information to help you get well? Is it fear? Is it that you have more questions? Fear can be overcome with knowledge. Be sure to sign up for my longer, one-hour interview with Dr. Wagner. Do so by accessing and signing up for my seminar mailing list. Find it on the top section of the middle column. Yes, dear ones, your own life and health goals depend on you getting this right! Knowledge is power.

Josh mentioned that he believes that many folks need mind/body/spirit healing, too, like what I do (e.g. Sacred Cellular Healing). But today’s post is not about me; it’s about what you can find out about the Torque Release technique and more.

If you’re surviving, but not thriving, this may indeed be for you.

If you’re stressed out, you need this information. I was amazed to hear that Dr. Josh has worked with perfectly healthy executives in doing Torque Release. They achieve better mental clarity in their jobs! That spoke to me of clearing up that old pesky symptom, brain fog. Yeah

Okay, that’s it for the Health Matter Show today. Be sure to listen to me interview Dr. Josh Wagner in the video above. Then sign up for the longer seminar. We’re going to try a video for that presentation, too.

I appreciate your support and ask that you share this info on Facebook, Twitter and beyond.

Cinda Crawford, your host

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/dr-josh-wagner-interview-helping-fibromyalgia-and-chronic-pain-conditions/feed/ 3 http://healthmattershow.com/fibromyalgia-online-survey/ http://healthmattershow.com/fibromyalgia-online-survey/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:20:50 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26561



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

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/fibromyalgia-online-survey/feed/ 0 http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-infection-and-research/ http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-infection-and-research/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:15:23 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26460



Today we’re asking — Are infections common in CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)? The answer surely is a “Yes!” But is there a CFS infection going on? And then we’ll look at some current CFS research. What causes this illness?

Some people get sick immediately after an infectious trigger event, or, at least, after a series of different ones. It’s common. If illness symptoms hit you all at once, a specialist/ doctor may class you in the sudden onset category. If you’ve been so sick for a long time and you’re gradually getting worse, then you may be classed as having gradual onset of the illness. Sudden, vicious infections can be a problem for a relatively healthy person. However, when you’re faced with a diagnosis of CFS, the issues of being sick and getting well just got a whole lot tougher to deal with.

Infections, whether bacterial, viral or parasitical, are topics addressed in medical literature and studied in laboratories the world over. But, not one of piece of research has ever been clearly identified as a cause or infectious trigger of CFS. Not one.

After you listen to my Health Matters Show podcast (below) on this topic of CFS Infection and Research, consider what you need to do to bolster your immune system and make it stronger. Next, take a look at the transcript of one health reporter, David Corcoran, as he interviews David Tuller about his recent article for the NY Times. (Thanks to ME/CFSForums Firestormm for making this transcript available.) He also discusses a new NIH research project initiative.






(Today’s Health Matters Show podcast is 7 minutes 14 seconds long.)

Science Times podcast interview with David Tuller
Tuesday February 7th with David Corcoran of the New York Times:
http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2012/02/07/science/07science_pod/07sciencepodcast.mp3

David Corcoran [DC]: For this week’s health update we’re joined by reporter David Tuller, who’s been following the tangled developments in the search for a cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. David welcome to the podcast.

David Tuller [DT]: Hi, thanks David.

DC: So, what exactly is chronic fatigue syndrome?

DT: Well chronic fatigue syndrome is really complicated, is probably an immunological and neurological disorder. It seems to be probably triggered by an infectious illness of some kind, or multiple infectious illness, which seems to illicit a kind of immune response that is sort of hyperactive and goes on and on and doesn’t shut itself off – which is probably what causes all the symptoms.

DC: It’s quite common isn’t it?

DT: Well it’s hard to tell how common it is because it’s a little bit hard to define – since it can look like a lot of other things. But the
average estimate that people talk about is about 1 million people in the US. And some of those are really, really severely sick.
Really disabled, can’t leave the house, may be not able to tolerate light, heat and so on and so forth.

DC: For many years there was just no such diagnosis as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. When was it officially recognised by doctors?

DT: Well I can’t even say that it’s officially recognised by doctors at this point because many still think of it as a psychological or psycho-somatic kind of illness, but in the US there was an outbreak – series of outbreaks – of what appeared to be associated with Ebstein-barr virus – which causes mononucleosis – and, so, those were the first investigations of what the CDC then calls Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There had been earlier outbreaks, similar outbreaks, of a lingering or long flu-like illness from which people did not recover, in the
Thirties; in the Fifties there was a big outbreak like that in London. So there had been prior episodes the CDC just gave it a different name – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – than other people had called it earlier.

DC: So, now we have the official diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; why is it so controversial?

DT: It’s really controversial because in all the years of research it’s been very hard to come up with a biological marker. When [?] most diseases, [e.g.] HIV or Tuberculosis, you can do a lab test and you can identify, ‘Yes’ this person has it or this person doesn’t. Something that’s a syndrome – as in CFS – is a collection of symptoms and so it’s defined by the symptoms and if you don’t get the definition exact – if it’s hard to describe in some ways – and doctors aren’t sure how to identify it (and researchers also) – then it’s very very hard to get consistent findings across studies; because everyone is using a somewhat different definition of the illness.

DC: And I guess it’s possible that there could be multiple illnesses involved and therefore different causes, right?

DT: Yeah, I think basically what seems to be the emerging perspective is that it’s a cluster of illnesses. So different people are going to have different pathways to the same kind of syndrome or to the same kind of hyperactive immune response that they’re getting. So for some it might be one or more infectious triggers, it might be an episode of mononucleosis, it could be exposure to some environmental toxins; they don’t really know and I think there’s a lot of intensive research now trying to look at sub-categories of patients. Because again, when you have a lot of patients coming to it [the same diagnosis] from a different cause it again is very hard to isolate one particular [common] cause. So I think that’s been a problem as well with the epidemiology.

DC: So, as you report in your article there was quite a lot of excitement back in 2009 when a study in the Journal ‘Science’ identified a possible cause for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Can you talk about that study and what the findings were?

DT: That was a really high profile study, because ‘Science’ is the most prestigious, or among the most prestigious, Journals. This was study that found that about two thirds of a sample of people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome were harbouring a retrovirus – a mouse leukemia retrovirus – and 4% of the control population. And so for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome who have long been used to having their illness mocked or ignored or treated like something faked, this was really, just a wonderful thing to read about this and to hear about this: that someone had pinpointed something that maybe could be a causal factor.

DC: And, who’s the researcher who led this study?

DT: It was an interesting development, because often these studies would come out of well-known government agencies, or well-known academic centres, and this was a study that came out of a small research centre – the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Nevada which was founded by a wealthy couple – whose daughter was sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The researcher on the article was a former researcher at the National
Cancer Institute named Judy Mikovits. And so once the study was published – really it’s hard to overstate the degree to which the patient population has felt ignored and subsequently the degree to which they adopted Dr Mikovits’ as really a patron saint in a way, because she was really taking their illness seriously.

DC: And then what happened?

DT: Well, I mean over the last couple of years it’s been a real rollercoaster. Most other studies were not able to sustain the findings – they couldn’t find what she had found. One other study found something comparable which was viewed as supportive of her findings, and that was a high profile study also. But both of those studies were retracted about a month and a half ago by the respective Journals, and so the scientific base for what they reported is no longer in existence at this point.

Even so there is a study supported by the National Institutes of Health – that’s a very high profile and large study – that’s continuing to look at the issue as to whether these mouse leukemia viruses are related to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. That study, which should have results coming up pretty soon, will be looked at I think as kind of the definitive look at this particular question.

DC: So it sounds like quite a tangle, but as you say we’re not exactly back at square one even with the retraction of these studies, there’s
another effort underway to find causes for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and apparently [the possibility of???] some promising results ?

DT: Yeah, I mean it’s been a very interesting phenomenon because I think while a lot of this was going on I think the patient community was feeling ‘It’s this retrovirus or it’s nothing’. You know, and they were really worried if it turned out not to be this retrovirus it would be the end of any attention for their illness; but in fact what seems to have happened is that through this whole debate a lot of researchers who were not necessarily interested in the illness before – or who may have dismissed it themselves – started looking at some of the epidemiology and some of the scientific studies about what these people have going wrong with their bodies and came to realise that, yeah, this may be a serious thing.

And at the same time I think some private philanthropies – who may have family members who have the illness or friends – have come to see
that the government funding has really been woefully lacking and have stepped up to the plate to try to fund some real effort. So there
really are some heavy hitters now involved and apparently committed to looking for causes and treatments, and hopefully that will continue.

DC: And meanwhile what are the prospects for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – are there any treatments now that are effective?

DT: It’s been really difficult [to find treatments?], there are still some people who believe in retrovirus theory and are trying anti-retrovirals. There have been some small studies with anti-virals because a lot of people really do think that, not necessarily a
retrovirus, but some kind of viral infections are causing it. So there’ve been small studies of people on anti-virals for extended periods of time – which have shown some results. There was a small study in 2010 that showed some promising results. But there’s not really anything hard and proven that people can get. I think often that doctors who are expert in treating this, look to provide symptomatic relief, rather than necessarily feeling that they can treat the underlying cause because they don’t necessarily know what the underlying cause is.

There are doctors that have had sporadic and anecdotal success with some patients and I think part of the ongoing effort now is to not
only identify the pathogens at play but also, obviously, to identify some kinds of treatments that can be used to fight them.

DC: So, to be continued… David Tuller, many thanks for following this story for us.

DT: Ok, thanks David.

DC: David Tuller is a medical reporter, who writes for the New York Times.

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-infection-and-research/feed/ 0 http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-and-germs/ http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-and-germs/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:15:52 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26440



I’m been burning the candle at both ends lately (proverbially, of course) and my immune system is talking trash to me, thus the title of today’s post: CFS and Germs. Now I don’t have full-blown CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) anymore. I don’t even have symptoms unless I’m living too close to stress and gotta-get-it-done-now style of life. Even so, today I’m suffering with a runny nose, sneezing and sometimes a stopped-up nose. Go figure. I’m even betting my voice sounds scratchy on the podcast today. But I’m hoping not too much so because I’m treating myself to extra sleep, I’m doing Intentional Resting for my immune system and taking care of myself.

It’s never easy to hold yourself back when there’s so much in front of you to do. That seems to be my life right now with a book in progress and…in the coming weeks, I’m preparing two fantastic interviews for you. I know how much both men can offer us on these topics of feeling tough, not having enough energy, not being as healthy as we want to be and wanting to do something mighty about the whole situation!

*Take a look at more CFS and germs info from quite a few years ago from Andrew W. Saul. None of us can afford to sit on our hands.

Andrew W. Saul drsaul@doctoryourself.com:
FOR SOME REASON, this item caught my attention. It was sent to me by Shirley Bentley, president of the US chapter of the Common Cause Medical Research Foundation.

“Germs Patented by U.S. Government Linked to AIDS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Gulf War Syndrome, MS, Cancers and Immune and Neurodegenerative Diseases.

“West Nile Fever Virus (NYC Encephalitis Outbreak) sent to Iraq FROM U.S. Center for Disease Control 5/21/85 (page 275, Congressional Record, May 25, 1994: “Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Impact on the Health of Persian Gulf War Veterans”) The CDC West Nile Web Site is http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid ”

I must confess I found this all a tad hard to accept, at least until I saw that there are actual U.S. Government patents for some nasty little
germs. You can check for yourself:

U.S. Patent 5,604,093: Human Herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) Isolution and Products (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Health and Human Services) February 18, 1997 U.S. Patent 5,189,022: underlying viral cause of CFS (Health and Human Services) U.S. Patent 5,242,820: Pathogenic Mycoplasma (Mycoplasma
fermentans in CFS; Department of Defense) September 7, 1993 U.S. Patent 5,827,750: JHK Virus in CFIDS (Grossberg retrovirus) National Institutes of Health Grant RO1-AI-32710. …

“DOCTOR YOURSELF” “DoctorYourself.com” and “Doctor Yourself Newsletter” are service marks of Andrew W. Saul. All rights reserved. Copyright c 2001 and prior years Andrew W. Saul drsaul@doctoryourself.com

Permission to reproduce single copies of this newsletter FOR NON-COMMERCIAL, PERSONAL USE ONLY is hereby granted providing no alteration of content is made and authorship credit is given. Additional single copies will be sent by postal mail to a practitioner or patient, free of charge, upon receipt of a self addressed, stamped envelope only, to Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, NY 14470 USA Telephone (716) 638-5357

_______________________________________________
Newsletter mailing list
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http://doctoryourself.com/mailman/listinfo/newsletter_doctoryourself.com

~~~~~~

I urge you to stay tuned and support the Health Matters Show, if you can. I depend on you to bolster me in times like this. Your care, concern and support will be returned triple fold. Together, CFS and germs will be more than just a title, but a goal to conquer and overcome.

Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Host of the Health Matters Show

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-and-germs/feed/ 0 http://healthmattershow.com/intentional-resting-interview-great-health-resource-tool/ http://healthmattershow.com/intentional-resting-interview-great-health-resource-tool/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:15:48 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26374



I interviewed Dan Howard several weeks ago for the Health Matters Show blog and podcast on Intentional Resting. It was a really good talk. Both of us knew right from the beginning that we had to do more. The concept of Intentional Resting is too good and too powerful not to pay a lot more attention to it. Many people, including me, find it to be a great health resource tool!

Now…Dan and I have recorded another energetic program on “how Intentional Resting can help you.” This one is almost an hour long! It’s packed full of good, free information. Hear Dan talk about how to best use the wonderful products that he has created and how other people are using Intentional Resting as a health resource tool. Each thing he has created is designed to show you another way to be healthy through such a simple, easy, and fast concept as Intentional Resting, plus how you can learn to do it for FREE! Surely this will speak to you at a deep level once you study the how, what and where with a goal of resting for your long term health goals.

The podcast airs today of course…it’s Friday! This longer program, I spoke of, airs next Tuesday, Jan 31st, and in honor of this I’m creating a special event on Facebook. If you’d like to join in, to listen and talk via Facebook, go to GET WELL HEALTH and “like” the page. When the event notice goes out, you’ll receive all the information in your Facebook message file.

Also, please take the time to sign up on my Teleseminar List (see below). Every person on this special list gets access to ALL my teleseminars. Right now these programs are free, just like the Health Matters Show blog and podcast! You only need a password to listen to the longer program and you’ll absolutely get it if you’re on the list.

Note: I will send out several email broadcasts with this PASSWORD code. *If you’re new to signing up, be sure to complete the instructions on each email that comes to you. Look for them and follow the steps as requested. This protects your email security and insures that you will get everything I send out.

After completing the sign up process -OR- if you’re already on this list, you’ll receive a notice in your in-box. This is automatic; you don’t have to do a thing except watch out for it. If, for any reason though, you’re signed up and miss receiving it, email me and tell me what you need: cinda(at)getwellhealth.com. I’ll get it right out to you!

Okay…right now, there are only two things to do:

1) Listen to today’s short Health Matters Show podcast, and





(This podcast audio is 10 minutes 28 seconds.)

2) Sign up for my list.


I’m happy to provide this great program for you. I hope you take advantage of Dan Howard’s wonderful Intentional Resting products and short courses. Find his website by clicking the above link.)

Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/intentional-resting-interview-great-health-resource-tool/feed/ 0 http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-2012-updates/ http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-2012-updates/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:15:28 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26190



To start the new year off right, here are some 2012 CFS updates. I hope they inform and help you in your efforts to decide what you want to to do to move forward with your illness. As more updates become available, I’ll surely will forward them on to you. *That’s one great reason to sign up NOW to receive the Health Matters Show RSS feed. (*Do so HERE and you’ll get notices in your in-box all year long! And/or sign up with i-Tunes to receive our Friday, weekly, downloadable podcast!)

It seems like there are almost always things happening in the world of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or CFS. Even so, most people are looking for the wham-doozie news, the we-have-a-cure front-page, barn-burner notice or at least a we-know-the-cause headline! That’s not the case yet. Even so there are people writing and talking about this illness in major ways.

Listen to the podcast and then check out the links below. Keep abreast of the latest news if you can. 2012 might turn out to be a fantastic year!

Thank you, Cinda Crawford
Host of the Health Matters Show





(This podcast is 6 minutes 50 seconds long. Enjoy!)

Link 1: Letter from Llewellyn King

Post in Open Salon, ME/CFS: Into 2012 Without Cure or Cause

Link 2: Newsletter info from Dr. Charles Lapp

December 2011 Newsletter on the topic of a) New Research Opportunities, b) Pain Meds are a problem, c) Disposing of medications, d) Hunter Hopkins Facebook page, e) Ampligen Update and more!

Link3: The wisdom in and need for separating CFS from ME.

Worcester News Letters.

We would join the Worcestershire ME Support Group in welcoming the £1.6 million from the Medical Research Council (Sufferer welcomes ME research funds, Worcester News, 30 December 2011, if it were to be spent on biomedical research and for people with M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). Sadly, neither is accurate.

Firstly, some of the projects, said to be, are not biomedical and are led by researchers who do not believe that M.E. is of physiological origin. Secondly, it is unlikely that any conclusions drawn from these studies could be applied to people with M.E. because, contrary to common assertion and repetition, M.E. is not the same as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and attempting to apply recommendations for treatment from a different set of people is mostly ineffective and can be potentially harmful for M.E. sufferers.

We shall make no progress until this wasteful expenditure on invalid and unreliable experimental design is no longer tolerated. Precious funding must first be allocated to separating M.E. as a discrete illness from the indiscriminate CFS bundle, as a proper foundation for any work that can be trusted.

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

~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to Llewellyn King, Dr. Charles Lapp and Dr. John H. Greensmith for their input on this topic.

Please know that your comments are always very welcomed here at the Health Matters Show. Leave one today. Tell us if you like this kind of post, if you needed the info, if you’ve read it before and, especially, what you’d like to read about in the future.

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/cfs-2012-updates/feed/ 0 http://healthmattershow.com/keeping-a-health-diary-planning-for-2012/ http://healthmattershow.com/keeping-a-health-diary-planning-for-2012/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:15:21 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=25929



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!

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/keeping-a-health-diary-planning-for-2012/feed/ 0 http://healthmattershow.com/fibromyalgia-interview-dan-howard-week-3-of-3/ http://healthmattershow.com/fibromyalgia-interview-dan-howard-week-3-of-3/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:15:28 +0000 Cinda Crawford http://healthmattershow.com/?p=26086



During the previous two programs on Fibromyalgia, I have been encouraging you to think about and determine what is making you sick. In today’s interview we will look at why it so often happens that a major factor can be the stress of a job, family issues or virtually everything in your life! I know when I got so sick, it was all of those things combined.

If you’re suffering with physical stress, you need to take some time off and probably relax.

If you’re being bothered by mental and emotional stress and anxiety, you need to relax because your perceptions about this topic are housed in your mind, but often expressed in your body.

If life in general is getting too much to handle,
YOU REALLY NEED TO RELAX
more than anything else!

If you don’t relax and allow your system to re-balance itself, you will be headed towards worse illness symptoms of some sort. One person may suffer migraine headaches; the next, a backache. The next, Fibromyalgia or more. Think of the 3-legged stool we’ve talked about so often. Work to balance yourself in body, mind and spirit.

Now, I can hear you, “I don’t have time to relax. It’s two days before Christmas!” Well, I’m here to tell you that you can and should relax. As a matter of fact, time spent in rest and relaxation is a wonderfully positive way to make it through the holidays and start off your new year without feeling that you’re climbing out of the gutter!

Please join me today in welcoming and interviewing Mr. Dan Howard to the Health Matters Show about this topic of Intentional Resting.






(Today’s podcast interview is 18 minutes 2 seconds long.)

Today instead of thinking about some abstract “cause” of Fibromyalgia, let’s concentrate on what we do know: it’s crucial that YOU make it through the holidays (no worse for wear) and begin 2012 on as positive health note as possible. If you take this ands-off and indirect approach to your problem of “being sick with Fibromyalgia,” (or any illness), you may get further ahead faster. Listen to today’s podcast and hear Dan Howard and I talk about how to lower mental and emotional stress by using his “Intentional Resting” technique.

Your body wants respect, time spent “honoring” it and the necessary components that bring about your long term, good health. If you become less distracted with the stuff in life that does not matter, you have a better chance of getting this right and getting healthy again. Surely better health will follow you right into the 2012 New Year.

Speaking of that, be sure to keep tuned in to all that’s going on here at the Health Matters Show. I’m starting a new Newsletter and I will be interviewing Dan Howard for a longer, tell-all seminar. I can’t wait! He has so much more to tell us. Today on the broadcast, he goes over “why” his fabulous Intentional Resting technique works. In the longer seminar, he’ll share more goodies, plus help you learn to self-practice intentional resting. As I said, stay tuned right here.

Okay, that’s it for today. Congratulations, dear ones, for making it as well as you have this year. By listening to, following and acting upon what Dan Howard has to offer you, such as his 30-day email Intentional Resting program, you will be several steps ahead and moving forward towards your good health and eliminating a whole lot of mental and emotional stress. You need to relax and there is no better time than now.

Many blessings, Cinda Crawford
Your host of the Health Matters Show

]]> http://healthmattershow.com/fibromyalgia-interview-dan-howard-week-3-of-3/feed/ 0