Click here for the Health Tip link. Regular readers know I’m very skeptical about the claims of new drugs, especially those advertised on TV with a voice at the end of the commercial reading the side effects at the speed of a tobacco auctioneer (I always listen carefully for “death,” that ultimate side effect). You’ll […]
Category: Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue
Fatigue
Living things, from amoebas to rocket scientists, operate electrically. Each of our cells generates its own tiny amount of (wireless) electricity, but the most active part of our bodies–both electrically and chemically–is the brain.
Fibromyalgia
If the muscles in your upper back and neck ache all the time for inexplicable reasons, it’s possible you have fibromyalgia. Virtually every day, patients (mainly women) come into the office with what turns out to be this condition. Either they describe long-standing symptoms associated with fibromyalgia, or they’re aware of their diagnosis but were told by their doctors that nothing could be done to help them. While at present no doctor, including me, can cure fibromyalgia, there is plenty we can do to help you feel better. In fact, our integrated approach, using conventional medicines, supplements, and other measures we recommend at WholeHealth Chicago, has produced real benefits for hundreds of my patients.
Fatigue
Occasionally, however, the electrical system in the brain goes awry, and an electrical storm erupts in one tiny portion of the brain. The result is an epileptic seizure. Seeing someone suffer an epileptic seizure is probably scarier than experiencing one yourself–in fact, the person loses consciousness too quickly to be aware of what’s happening. Through the ages, lots of stereotypes (good and bad) have been attached to anyone who had seizures. And it’s well worth repeating that people with epilepsy are just as smart, creative, and productive as everyone else.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Although fully 20% of any doctor’s patients report being tired or fatigued, actual cases of chronic fatigue syndrome are (fortunately) rather uncommon. Yet it’s also a condition that, like fibromyalgia, is markedly complex and about which doctors disagree. CFS (also called CFIDS, for Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) first came to prominence in the 1980s when young people, after suffering cases of really awful flu, simply couldn’t get their energy back to normal again. And even though they seemed to have symptoms of a lingering virus (muscle aches, headaches, swollen lymph glands, sore throats), no virus wa
More on Lyrica, the Fibromyalgia Drug
Click here for the original post. Several readers sent me a link to this New York Times article about fibromyalgia and the newly approved drug Lyrica. The article addresses a continuing (and unnecessary) controversy about fibromyalgia. Namely, whether fibro is a “real” disease that deserves its own medication and, alternatively, if it’s not a disease […]
Advances in Fibromyalgia: Part 3
For fibromyalgia, there’s quite a bit you can do on your own. Some of this is old material, described in more detail in my book, The Triple Whammy Cure.
Advances in Fibromyalgia: Part 2
Doctors like me who work with many fibromyalgia (and chronic fatigue) patients try a variety of alternative approaches. These make perfect sense physiologically because they address the root cause of fibro, rather than supplying yet another painkiller (like Lyrica).
Advances in Fibromyalgia
As readers of my book The Triple Whammy Cure know, fibromyalgia is essentially a response by your body to unchecked stress, generally occurring (or returning) when your stress level exceeds the protective effect of your serotonin. You suffer that stress and your muscles tighten up and stay that way, hurting more and more. That’s fibromyalgia
A Must Read for Those with Fibromyalgia
This weekend, I was reading through my latest copy of Fibromyalgia Aware magazine. After taking care of people with fibro for decades, I’m always surprised that I learn something new in each issue.
Vitamin D and Fibromyalgia
You may have noticed I’ve been sending out a lot of messages about vitamin D lately, but there’s a good reason for this. Worldwide, there’s much new research relating vitamin D to puzzling and seemingly unrelated medical conditions, and it’s important to keep up with the latest information as it’s published.
Fibromyalgia and Acupuncture
I roll my eyes ceiling-ward when I come across a “major new finding” in a medical journal that “reveals” something we in alternative medicine have known for years. In this month’s Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers discovered that acupuncture really does work for fibromyalgia. It was a good study: starting with 50 fibro patients, half had […]