Not that it’s news to those of us who have it, but it’s good to be validated!

Fibromyalgia often has been misdiagnosed as arthritis or even a psychological issue. Increasingly, though, the scientific knowledge about fibromyalgia is growing, and a new paper from the University of Michigan Health System says there are “overwhelming data” that the condition is real, is characterized by a lower pain threshold and is associated with genetic factors that can make some people more likely to develop fibromyalgia. …

“It is time for us to move past the rhetoric about whether these conditions are real, and take these patients seriously as we endeavor to learn more about the causes and most effective treatments for these disorders,” says Richard E. Harris, Ph.D., research investigator in the Division of Rheumatology at the U-M Medical School’s Department of Internal Medicine and a researcher at the U-M Health System’s Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center.

The name of one of the authors of the paper, Dr. Daniel J. Clauw, will be familiar to many of you from other studies on fibromyalgia. He says that, “In people without pain, these structures encode pain sensations normally. In people with fibromyalgia, the neural activity increased. These studies indicate that fibromyalgia patients have abnormalities within their central brain structures.”

ScienceDaily: Pain From Fibromyalgia Is Real, Researchers Say

Episode 4

The first episode in the new, shorter format, recorded on my very own microphone. Thank you for your patience in waiting for it!

Most of today’s show is about audio entertainment and information, which is great when the fatigue is so bad that listening is one of the few things we can do.

Links:

• Audio Books
  • Audio-Book-Rentals is a blog that compares and reviews the various audiobook rental services that are available.
  • Simply Audiobooks - the only one I’ve tried personally.
  • Kitable - said to have an especially good selection of science fiction and fantasy.
  • BooksFree - has both paperbacks and audiobooks, but they certainly don’t seem to be “free.”
  • Audiobookworld
  • Recorded Books
  • Audible.com
  • LearnOutLoud.com
  • Podiobooks.com - free, original fiction sent to you one chapter a week.
  • IPodder.org’s audiobook category
  • LibriVox is related to Project Gutenberg
• Podcasts
  • Podcast Pickle
  • Podcast Alley
  • Podcast411
  • Yahoo’s Podcast Directory
  • Podcasting News
  • Digital Podcast.com
  • IPodder

Questions for you!

1. Do you prefer shorter or longer podcasts?
2. What topics do you want to hear about?
3. Do you like having music in the show?
4. Do you want me to post transcripts of the shows?

Thank you! And remember, I always love hearing from you. Comment here,
e-mail me, or call me at 206-350-0021.

‘Til next time, be good to yourself!

Fibrant Living is produced by Sam Chupp and is a member of the Fireheart Foundry family of podcasts. Music for the podcast is by Kimo Watanabe, and comes from the Podsafe Music Network.

 

 Fibrant Living 4: Audio Entertainment: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Originally uploaded by ChatOmbre.

This is a one flower of the lovely bouquet in my living room right now. Sam knows how much I value fresh flowers, so he usually brings them to me every week or two. Katie knows that I adore them, so she photographs them, allowing me to enjoy them even longer. Actually, the image in my blog header is from another bunch of flowers Sam bought for me. I arranged them and Katie photographed them.

This is one of my little joys, one of the things that distracts me from the pain and discomfort of fibromyalgia and other diagnoses. What’s one of yours?

I’ve been almost afraid to talk about it, but last week my pain management doctor prescribed breakthrough pain medication for the first time. I’ve been leery of taking it too often, so I’m taking it once every few days instead of once a day as directed.

Miracle of miracles, though: all the pain except for the neuropathy goes away.

And I’m functional. Well, I’m rather loopy right after taking the medication, but for the next day or two, I’m far more physically functional than I have been in a very long time.

I cannot stress this enough: if you have chronic pain, see a pain management specialist. There are no other doctors who are as qualified to treat pain.

In honor of FMS/CFS Awareness Day 2006, here’s the very first Fibrant Living podcast!

Fibrant Living Podcast #1

This is my first episode, and here are some links you may want to follow after listening to the show.

• Fibromaylgia Aware
• Fibromyalgia Network News
• Fibromyalgia Frontiers
• Arthritis Today
• What are the biological effects of acute stress?

This week’s music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The song was “Good Day” by the Natives of the New Dawn.

Namaste,
 Cyn

 

 Fibrant Living 1: Introducing Fibrant Living!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download