My name is Catherine Morgan, I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. I'm also living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other chronic illnesses. I hope this will be a site where patients, family, and medical professionals can find information, ideas, inspiration, and hope.
KEEPING A PERSONAL MEDICAL JOURNAL — by Catherine Morgan – (cross posted at Catherine-Morgan.com)
Whether you are suffering from a chronic illness, pregnant, or just getting older. Keeping a personal medical journal, is important, and can really come in handy. Some may want to do this on a weekly or monthly basis, others on a daily basis, this will depend on the severity of your health issues.
STEP ONE: Just go out and get a notebook that you can use for this purpose alone. This journal will be helpful to you, as well as the medical practitioners you are working with. Especially, if you move, need to change doctors, or are hospitalized. Which reminds me, if you go on vacation, or extended holiday, bring your medical information with you, it will make it much easier if you need to see an unfamiliar physician, or be hospitalized.
STEP TWO: Begin with a page that states your medical history, as well as your current diagnosis or health issues. Take some time with this part. Make sure you include dates of hospitalizations, and prior surgeries, these are questions you will be asked if you see a new doctor or are hospitalized
STEP THREE: List your medications, if you take the same pills on a daily basis, list them on the front of your journal, if you have some that you take, as needed, list them with your daily entries. Make sure when you list your medications, you specify the dosage (ie: Placebo 1mg, 2 tablets, three times a day), also include why you are taking this medication (ie: blood pressure, depression, etc).
IMPORTANT: If you are taking any medications that you don’t normally take (ie: medications for pain, cold, fever), and you are taking them several times a day (ie: every four hours, every six hours), make sure you keep a close record of the times your are taking these medications. It is very easy to get confused, and take more than you are suppose to, and in many cases this could cause serious health issues.
STEP FOUR: Entries. Depending on your condition, you may want to use a page for each entry, or maybe just a few lines, what ever works for you. Of course, start with the date and time. Then, anything relevant to your medical condition (ie: blood pressure, fatigue, pain, blood sugar, etc), as well as your “emotional” condition (ie: happy, sad, depressed, anxious, etc).
The “emotional” thing may not seem very important, but if you have a chronic illness, you may feel very sad or down at times. It’s helpful to see your emotional history for yourself, not only so you can notify your doctor when needed, but also so you can see how many “good days” you are having. It’s easy to forget the good days, when you are feeling down, sometimes it’s just helpful to be able to look back and see for yourself. Little smiley faces (or sad faces) work good for this purpose.
STEP FIVE: Include any specific recommendations from your doctor (ie: amount of exercise, special diet requirements, etc). Don’t forget to include the dates and times of your upcoming doctor appointments. Many times people with chronic medical conditions will need to see several different doctors, and it can all get very confusing.
With that said, you can also find a spot in your journal to write down any questions you may want to ask the doctor during your appointment. Sometimes, you can feel rushed or just forget to ask the doctor something that was important to you. So, make a list, it’s a big help.
So, you have the idea. It seems like a lot of work, but once you get it started, it’s just a matter of maintaining it. Then the next time you have to go to the doctors, you will be able to give the doctor a better and more complete idea of how you have been since your last visit. You may even want to ask the doctor or nurse to jot down your vital signs, test results, or any other important information, right into your journal.
With all the confusion of chronic illness, prescriptions, doctors appointments, and so on. Keeping a personal medical journal for yourself, can go a long way to the betterment of your overall health and wellness. I think you will find it to be very helpful, to both you and your doctors. Good luck, and be well.
Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.
Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.
There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…
Number one is acceptance. We need to accept that life does not always go the way we perceive to be best.
Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue.
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
Drive carefully. It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others.
Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.
Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
The second mouse gets the cheese.
Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
We could learn a lot from crayons… Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Number two is gratitude. Take time to recognize all that you have to be grateful for.
One tool to help keep life in perspective is a gratitude journal where you write down a few things each day that you are thankful for. They can be big things, like I’m thankful that I have a warm, dry place to live in the midst of this crazy California rainstorm, or small things, like I had a really yummy hot chocolate the other day.
Number three is your inner game and positive affirmations.
What is your inner voice saying to you? Have you developed the habit of saying negative things to yourself? If so, this is a habit that needs to be broken.
Whether we speak out loud or we are in silence, our brain is in continuous chatter. We have thoughts about things to do, feelings, expectations, ideas, reminders, theories and conversations.
. . .
Much of our mind chatter is thoughts we have been given by others, thoughts based on past experiences we have had (as kids), things we have seen in the media and interpretations of what has happened around us. The real challenge is to switch from negative thoughts to positive ones.
Taking a wealth/prosperity affirmation as our example, it’s unlikely that a wealthy person would tell someone “I’m a very wealthy person” or “I’m a multi-millionaire,” but they might tell someone “I’m never in need of money” or “My finances are better than they’ve ever been before.” Think of a way in which you’d tell your friends and family about your wealth, and use that as your money mantra. If you use a lot of slang or colloquial phrases, fashion your affirmation that way. A person who refers to money as “dough,” for instance, would probably be better off writing her mantra as “I’m rollin’ in dough!” than as “I have a lot of money!” Keep your own speech pattern in mind when you write out your affirmations, and they’ll be much more powerful for you.
Here’s how to create your own empowering affirmations: create them from your mind tapes. Just switch the old tapes from negative statements to positive ones.
For example:
* Writing is hard, I’ve never been good at writing BECOMES: “Writing is easy and fun for me, I’ve always been great at writing”;
* I can’t write BECOMES: “I write easily and effortlessly, I’m an excellent writer.”
Try it. Affirmations enhance your creativity and your income. Why walk around with old, damaging self-talk? Start changing your self-talk today, with the power of affirmations.
Here are some videos on the topic of positive affirmations that your might find helpful…
This issue is so important, and that is because; When you suffer from chronic illness, although you are being treated (even successfully), going back to your former life before you were sick may be impossible. I hear this all the time from others suffering with CFS and FM, and I am certain it holds true for many others suffering with chronic disease as well. The biggest problem, is that many of us “define” ourselves through our work, or what we do for a living. Quite frankly, this is a bad idea even if you are a healthy person. None of us “are” our work. Our work is not who we are, it’s simply what we do. But, we all know it doesn’t always feel that way, especially when out of nowhere, we are unable to do what we do.
So….What do you do, when this happens to you? Well, it’s not so different than when a stay at home mom sees her last child off to college. They call it “Empty Nest Syndrome” for her, and it can be quite devastating for a women who has devoted her life up until then (usually at least 18 years or more) to being the best mom she could be, and doing it as a career. Now she is left with no-one to mother, and she loses her sense of “self”. At this point, she can choose to except her new life and find new and exciting things to do with herself (maybe go back to school, get back into a career, take up a hobby, or maybe travel), or she can choose to be sad and depressed and feel like her life is over because she has no-one left to take care of. It’s not the same as losing your identity due to illness, but it is an example of seeing your life (or identity), as half full or half empty.
Living Well With Chronic Illness – Redefining Yourself – by Catherine Morgan
Feeling sorry for yourself can be a full time job, but it’s a job that doesn’t benefit you in any way….so just take it on a part-time basis. Then on the days you’re not working hard at that job, focus on finding something to do with your life that can benefit you.
CFS is a multi-system disease which causes extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction, hypersensitivity, orthostatic intolerance, digestive disturbances, depression, poor immune response, and cardiac and respiratory problems. According to the CDC, studies show that disability in CFIDS patients is comparable to multiple sclerosis, AIDS, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, end-stage renal disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Yet, studies have shown that patients diagnosed with “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” are not taken as seriously as patients with the same symptoms but a different name for their diagnosis. Thus, the name CFS not only affects the quality of treatment patients receive, but the amount of money committed to research! PWCs deserve to be taken seriously, to have a name for their illness that preserves their dignity, and to receive appropriate medical care! Spread the message — CFS: Change the Name!
*If you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome exercise can be very difficult, and extreme moderation may be necessary. Always check with your doctor before you begin an exercise program.
I thought I would take tonight’s post to do a roundup of some of the great fitness blogs on BlogHer. I took some time and surfed the Health and WellnessBlogHer Blogroll (I also used BlogHers new search tool), and here are fourteen of those blogs. Do you blog about fitness? If so, leave you link in comments.
I believe being healthy goes hand in hand with feeling good about yourself and being happy. If you’re not happy, then you’re most likely not exercising and eating healthy. Ever since I started working out again, I’ve felt more happy and everyday I know that my body is looking better as a new day approaches. I guess you may think that it may be vain for someone to care about their appearance, but I don’t! If you look good, you’ll feel good too! So I really hope that you enjoy my site and feel free to contact me for any reason.
Are you looking for new ways to get your family in shape? This blog is to inspire families, like yours, with ideas that will get you on the right path to a healthier lifestyle. I am a military spouse and busy mom of four and a Certified Group and Personal Fitness Trainer, but you can call me Spin Diva. Finding the time to exercise, energize and revitalize is not easy, but we can do it together. I am passionate about teaching others how to reach their fitness goals and bring the kids along with them.
At home, I am a run-around-mom or a RAM because staying home doesn’t really happen much. I am usually running to the gym, Soccer practice, Choir rehearsal or recital, Art exhibition or a PTA event.
I turned 39 on April 20, 2008 and gave myself 365 days to lose 50 pounds. Fit Fab and 40 will document my meals, exercise, and progress so my readers can hold me accountable. I live in South Florida with my husband, two children, and two yellow Labradors. For work, I own a PR consulting firm that focuses on health, medicine, technology, science, and environmental businesses.
After having children, I spent a good two years searching for the best time to really, really start working out. I needed a cheerleader to get me back into shape. I had the knowledge and the experience to make fitness a priority in my life, but I had not taken action. By creating a blog that offers Moms a journey to pursue their own physical fitness, I hope to establish a community of moms to support and cheer each other on to a healthy lifestyle.
The Fit Bottomed Girls don’t take anything too seriously—including fitness. Here, two regular girls share their trials, tribulations and adventures in staying fit to help you know what’s good and what’s whack when it comes to working out.
Healthy living. A new frontier for me. This is the continuing journey of Deb, who started really learning about food, exercise and healthy living in 2006.
I am a woman who was raised on McDonalds, never played a sport, experienced every diet, underwent an eating disorder and was raised by a ‘fitness challenged’ mother.
In the same token, I have also competed in beauty and fitness competitions since age 16, became a personal trainer at 20, a fitness manager at 22, group exercise director at 23 and project coordinator for a large fitness company at 24.
Why is THIS site different from others? Because the content is written from a person who understands what it means to be challenged, unmotivated, unsuccessful, happy, inspired and accomplished.
We are not suffering from laziness or lack of education. Our overweight world is suffering from a disease called ‘inaction’. What creates inaction? Lack of motivation.
A city girl in a small town: Valdosta is…cute. It’s clean, the people are friendly, there is an abundance of fresh produce, particurly sweet potatoes, but due to the lack of shopping and outdoor activities, the Fitnessista is BORED. A new military wife, she will discuss the trials, tribulations and random adventures of said town, as well as her true passions: fitness, healthy recipes and nutritional advice.
Taking inspiration from house flipping shows, I decided to take charge of my life and flip this body. I hope this blog will help others who are trying to lose weight to learn more about their options.
So much of the fitness and health writing out there is so dry you practically have to hydrate after you read it. I think it’s time we injected some humor into the genre.
I am passionate about achieving and maintaining optimum health. After struggling with weight and food issues for most of my life, I am intent on mastering these issues now, while at the same time, passing on to others the information and experiences I have gained.
Here at The Fit Shack, I write about such topics as today’s processed and fast food industry, food addiction, sugar, emotional eating, and the mind/body connection. I don’t believe in quick fixes but do believe in getting to the core of what motivates you to overeat and then solving/healing those issues.
Mikki Reilly is a personal fitness trainer who has helped countless clients transform their health and fitness. As owner of Fitness Transform, she is currently writing articles, speaking and training clients in Santa Barbara, California.
Could you or someone you love be at risk for a fatal medication error? It’s more common than you may think. [cross-posted at BlogHerHealth and Wellness]
Almost 50 million death certificates were filed in the United States between Jan. 1, 1983, and Dec. 31, 2004, 224,355 of them involving fatal medication errors (FMEs). After examining all of these documents, the authors discovered that the overall death rate from fatal medical errors increased by 360.5 percent during that time period.
Overall, the increase in FMEs was particularly pronounced among people aged 40 to 59, where the increase was 890.8 percent.
Even if you don’t read any other part of this post, please read this…
In researching for this post, I came across a Drug Interaction Tool (at Annie’s Annals) that could save your life. All you need to do, is list the medications you are taking, and this tool will list any possible interaction.
Even if all of your prescription medications have no interactions, bookmark and save this link for anytime you are considering taking an over-the-counter medication (or something previously prescribed). This tool will reveal any possible interactions between your medications, from mild to severe. It will also give you a detailed explanation as to what type of interactions could be caused, and why.
*Don’t stop taking medications that have been prescribed to you without first discussing it with your doctor…The benefit of the medication could far outweigh the risk of interaction, and only your doctor can tell you this for sure.
According to background information in the paper, published in the July 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, there has recently been a dramatic shift in fatal overdoses away from inpatient settings to outpatient settings. More and more medications are taken outside of the hospital or clinic, with far less oversight from health-care professionals, the researchers said.
At the same time, more medications that once were available only by prescription are now bought over-the-counter, and more people are taking more than one medication.
All of this makes it easier for individuals to combine medications with alcohol and/or street drugs. But despite this shift, few if any studies have looked at drug errors outside clinical settings.
Awareness of this unfortunate trend can help educate the public about how to properly medicate. Many people think that overdoses occur when a desperate individual swallows a handful of pills with the intention of doing harm to themselves. but this is no longer the sole case. Mixing prescribed doses of just two medications can yield disastrous results.
But hopefully, this report and articles about it will bring to light the seriousness with which people should take their meds — even the ones they consider safe for “every day” conditions. And hopefully greater awareness will bring home the fact that there’s a reason doctors advise you to take your medication as prescribed.
The researchers conclude that medication education must also include home use of prescription drugs.
“Dark Knight” star Heath Ledger died from a combination of sleeping pills, painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs on January 22, 2008. A toxicology report found acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone and hydrocodone (painkillers), diazepam (Valium, anti-anxiety), temazepam (sleeping pill), alprazolam (Xanax, anti-anxiety), and doxylamine (antihistamine).
Ledger was said to be suffering from insomnia since his Joker role in “Dark Knight” as well as general anxiety.
One simple thing parents can do is to clean out their medicine cabinets and get rid of pain killers prescribed for an operation or particular condition that are no longer used. Those that are being used should be locked up. We lock up toxic substances when our kids are little and it’s still important to keep dangerous substances away from kids even when they’re old enough to know better. It doesn’t really cost anything. It’s just an exercise in patience, which is what being a parent is about a lot of the time.
Over the years, teens discovered that they still could get high by taking large doses of any OTC medicine containing dextromethorphan (also called DXM). Dextromethorphan-containing products — tablets, capsules, gel caps, lozenges, and syrups — are labeled DM, cough suppressant, or Tuss (or contain “tuss” in the title).
Medicines containing dextromethorphan are easy to find, affordable for cash-strapped teens, and perfectly legal. Getting access to the dangerous drug is often as easy as walking into the local drugstore with a few dollars or raiding the family medicine cabinet. And because it’s found in over-the-counter medicines, many teens naively assume that DXM can’t be dangerous.
We are five moms—a pediatric nurse practitioner, an accountant, a D.A.R.E. officer, an educator, and an author—from different backgrounds and from all over the country. We’ve come together with a common concern: teenagers abusing cough medicine to get high. We worry not only about our own kids, but about those of our friends and neighbors, too.
So when the Consumer Healthcare Products Association asked us to spread the word to parents, we stepped forward. The idea is a simple one. We will each tell five more moms about this nationwide problem, and they will tell another five, and another five beyond that. Soon, we hope to reach every parent in America with this message: that we must work together to educate our teens about the dangers of cough medicine abuse.
So…Are you or someone in your family at risk for having a fatal medication error? Awareness is the first step in prevention.
Healthy Living: Can Yoga Help Reduce Symptoms of Chronic Illness? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
Back in March, I told you about yet another invisible illness that I’ve had the pleasure of being diagnosed with. Fibromalgia. It was also at that appointment where I learned of the 20+ pounds I had put on in less than a year. And it wasn’t like I was at my ideal weight before that time either. For the first time in my life, I actually weighed more than I did when I was pregnant. It was then that I decided I must begin to take eating healthy more seriously. Aside from not being able to fit into my skinny jeans, the extra weight was exacerbating all of my invisible medical problems.
Since then I’ve lost about fifteen pounds, and I’m starting to think there might be a chance that I’ll be able to finally get back down to my ideal weight. The main problem I’m facing now, is my inability to exercise. It’s not that I have an aversion to exercising, it’s because I also have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (here are some videos that might help you understand), and one of the most devastating symptoms is something called post-exertional malaise. Basically, even though I need to exercise to be healthy and lose weight, just a little bit of exercise can make my fatigue and pain much worse.
I know that yoga would be the best type of exercise for me to try, and I’ve always wanted to try it. But, up until now, I thought yoga was the type of thing that would be too difficult to learn how to do on my own. And then I came across a book on yoga, that was written specifically for people with Fibromyalgia. I was a little skeptical at first, but I was also ready to give something new a try. So, I emailed the publisher, and asked them to send me a review copy of Yoga for Fibromyalgia: Move, Breathe, and Relax to Improve Your Quality of Life by Shoosh Lettick Crotzer.
When I received the book, I was happy to see that it was an easy read, and included many pictures of the yoga positions it was recommending. It’s not a book that claims to be a cure for Fibromyagia, but rather a book that aims to improve the quality of life, of anyone suffering with this debilitating illness. There are positions for reducing pain and fatigue, improving sleep, and maintaining flexibility. If you are living with Fibromyagia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I think you would find this book very helpful. I’ve only just begun to learn these yoga positions, but I intend to make them part of my personal healthy living program, and I’m hopeful that this will be just the type of exercise that will help me.
Here are some other BlogHers that are blogging about yoga…
I started this week writing about becoming imbalanced over the weekend (which happened for a variety of reasons). I have spent the whole week getting back to myself, doing all the things I know I have to do to be in my center, to feel good and to be productive.
And this got me to thinking about reminders. Remembering to be centered. Remembering what is important. Remembering what we value and where we want to put our energy.
The popularity of yoga is undeniable. Research varies, but it is estimated that from 15 to 28 million people practice yoga in the United States alone. And with good cause. Yoga “asanas,” or postures, benefit the body physically, mentally and spiritually. Besides keeping fit, yoga is being used to treat HIV/AIDS, depression, heart disease, cancer and anxiety disorders. So who’s blogging about it?
the accidental yogist, as the name implies, finds herself unexpectedly exploring yoga after a knee injury.
Notesgirl has written up a complete step-by-step yoga practice for digestion and stress relief.
Fibromyalgia: An Invisible Disease? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
I try not to be a complainer, but last week I was seriously not feeling well. I actually resorted to sending a message to the other women in my community to ask for help (and I’ve never done that before).
I thought I would take tonight’s post to talk about what was wrong with me last week, because I know many women are suffering with the same problem.
The good news is, I finally found a doctor in Florida that believes in my diagnosis. I was only changing doctors because I needed someone closer, I had long since given up on finding a doctor that actually understood or had compassion for my condition. So, you can imaging my shock when I went in for my initial appointment, and the doctor told me that not only did he understand what was wrong with me, but he wrote the book, literally. Can you believe it? What are the chances of that happening? I have to admit, my first thought was…This guy can not be from Florida.
And I was right.
But who cares, he’s here now, and he’s my doctor.
Yippee!
Well, not so fast.
The bad news is, he found something else wrong with me. I know, just my luck. Other doctors had told me, that because I have a lot of joint pain, I “probably” had Fibromyagia in addition to CFS. But I had never been “officially” diagnosed. And I’m beginning to wish I never was.
I made the mistake of questioning the doctor on his Fibromyalgia diagnosis. I should have known better, but I really didn’t want to be diagnosed with another “imaginary” disease. Let’s face it, having one “invisible” disease is more than enough for anyone. I didn’t want to be diagnosed with another disease that people don’t even believe exists. After ten years, I’ve gotten to hate having to either pretend I am perfectly fine, or explain why I’m not but still look like I am.
But this doctor wasn’t going to let me off the hook. He was determined to prove to me that I had Fibromyalgia. So he began to touch what is known as the “tender” points, all eighteen of them. [Let me just add one thing here...The person who developed this lovely diagnostic technique, OBVIOUSLY didn't have Fibromyalgia. Let me put it to you this way - Is a jalapeño pepper "mild"? Is a migraine "uncomfortable"? Maybe if you've never had a jalapeño pepper or a migraine.] I had to admit, the “tender” points were hurting me. And if that doctor touched any of them, even one more time, I would have kicked him in his “tender” point.
So, all of this happened on Friday, March 7th – By the next morning, the pain was radiating from all of these so-called “tender” points and throughout my entire body. I felt horrible, everything hurt me. And I didn’t start feeling better until almost a week later. Don’t get me wrong, I really am happy that I found a doctor that doesn’t treat me like a nut case with a disease that isn’t real…I just could have lived without knowing that my random joint pain was really Fibromyalgia.
It would be so much better if these dammed “invisible” diseases, didn’t have “actual” symptoms.
Grieving For The Loss Of The Person You Once Knew — While Learning To Be The Person You Have Become – by Catherine Morgan
There comes a time in every fight, where you have to wonder what it is you are fighting for. In the case of chronic illness, I thought I was fighting to take my life back. I thought I was fighting to find a cure for myself. I thought I was fighting for the right combination of medications to help me lead a “normal” life again. I was fighting, fighting, fighting…..until that one day when I realized, I was fighting a losing battle. No matter how much I fought, I was never going to get my life back. No matter how much I fought, I was never going to be “normal” again. I actually even fought myself at this time, to not give-up the fight. I thought that if I admitted failure, I was letting the disease win. But the truth is, that as with most fights, the toll the fight takes on you emotionally is much worse than the fight itself.
I finally realized that by giving-up my fight, what I was really doing was accepting my condition. And by acceptance of my condition, it meant that I was accepting my limitations, and that was very depressing to me. I admit that at this point I fell into a deep depression. My life as I knew it was over. There was no hope that I would ever be able to return to my nursing career, and my feelings of hopelessness about ever being able to support myself financially was all encompassing.
I felt useless to myself, my family, and to the world…I was a person without a purpose. How could I go on? And yes, why me? Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Why was life so unfair? I hate to admit it, but there were times like that, times that I just felt sorry for myself. I felt as if I had hit rock bottom, but then the earth would open up to swallow me even further down, each time I thought I couldn’t fall any further, I did. How could I even begin to climb out of my despair? Did I even want to try?
In retrospect, I now can see this time as my grieving period, much like the grieving for the loss of a loved one, I needed to grieve the loss of myself. And as with all grief, you feel you will never get over the pain of your loss. But just as in grief, there comes a time when we have to allow ourselves to move on, to let go of the pain, and to hold on to the happier times. Let me assure you, this was not a brief amount of time by any means. I would say that I still have one foot in this part of the process, even though I feel I am beginning to move on.
I still have days of doubt and hopelessness, that sometimes suck me back into my feelings of grief. But, at least now I can say that I also have times when my awareness and acceptance has become a friend to me. Excepting my limitations allows me to feel empowered to turn my life in a different direction, a direction I may not have seen had it not been for my hitting rock bottom with nowhere else to turn. I am still very afraid that I will fail, I am just more afraid of failing to even try. The one thing I have is my hope, and as long as I never let go of that, I think I will be o.k.
I do have a different kind of hope now than I did in the past. I don’t hope to have my illness go away, I just hope that I can learn to live the best life I possibly can along side of it. I hope for the courage to not allow my illness to push me back into depression, and that if it does, I hope to find the strength to pull myself back out. I hope for my continued understanding that what weakens me, might also be what empowers me. I hope for the ability to allow the lessons I have learned through my own struggles, be a catalyst in helping others who may be in similar situations as I have been. I hope that I will never allow myself to lose hope again.
So, just in case my “lesson” was lost in this commentary…The lesson was “acceptance“. The sooner someone with a chronic illness can accept their condition, the sooner that person can begin to live the life they were meant to live. This doesn’t happen overnight, you will have to go through the grieving process in your own way, but the sooner you begin your journey to acceptance, the sooner you will get there. And, time does have an eerie way of helping to heal our wounds.
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It’s the last day of 2007, and I thought I would do this post on some of the hot topics from BlogHer Health and Wellness. So, in no particular order, here is what I think are the top ten. — read the full post at BlogHer.
People who have chronic fatigue syndrome have been tireless in their quest to be acknowledged.
It has been 20 years since the first advocacy group was formed, and almost 20 years since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defined the diagnosis. Despite that, during the decades since people with CFS still were told their disease didn’t exist or it was all in their head.
Now, although many people with the crippling condition are glad that doctors will say, “You have chronic fatigue syndrome,” they are dismayed that what follows is usually, “There’s nothing I can do for you.”
One of the hardest aspects of CFS is the isolation and loneliness. McCleary, of the CFIDS Association of America, says about 25 percent of people with CFS become unable to work.
I made my very first YouTube video for the 10 Questions project. I hope you will take a minute to go over and vote for my video…There is no registration required (you don’t even have to give you email address), just click on the green thumbs-up link.
If for some reason the link does not work…just go to “10questions.com” and search “catherinemarie66″ – My daughter did a video too, they will both be together on the above link.
It seem that Oprah has ruffled a few feathers while explaining her recent bout with thyroid problems. Some are saying that she is just using a thyroid problem as an excuse for a recent 20 pound weight gain. Others find her method of treatment [a one month trip to her Hawaii estate for total relaxation and healthy eating] to be a bit grandiose, and not exactly a treatment available to the average woman with thyroid disease. And then others are a bit taken back by her “expert” Dr. Northrup, and her attempt to blame the patients (mostly women) for their thyroid disease.
See what I mean at Oprah’s Thyroid Club (with 85 comments) —From The New York Times
…The downside is that the talk show host has been vague about her diagnosis and treatment and even suggested that her body’s imbalance of thyroid hormones was the result of working too hard and not relaxing enough. Her main “treatment” approach seemed to be quitting work for a month and eating only fresh food at her tropical Hawaiian estate.
“While good nutrition, exercise, and self-care are certainly part of overall good health, they are not likely to cure your thyroid condition,’’ writes Mary Shoman, founder of a well-known thyroid disease Web site and the author of several books on the topic. “It may have worked for Oprah, but …I doubt most of us could ever aspire to such a luxurious recuperation.”
Ms. Winfrey hasn’t detailed her specific diagnosis, but Ms. Shoman says the description sounds like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that is characterized by the thyroid’s gradual decline into hypothyroidism, interspersed with periods “when the thyroid sputters to life and becomes temporarily overactive.” Avoiding medical treatment is only an option for those with very mild thyroid problems, notes Ms. Shoman, who worries some women may try to self-treat rather than consulting a doctor about their symptoms…
“In many women thyroid dysfunction develops because of an energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of ’swallowing’ words one is aching to say. In the name of preserving harmony, or because these women have learned to live as relatively helpless members of their families or social groups, they have learned to stifle their self-expression….It’s no coincidence that so many more women than men have thyroid problems. Thyroid disease is related to expressing your feelings…””
For me, there is no doubt that some degree of a mind/body connection exists. Personally, I know that when under great stress or anxiety, that my medical problems will often become worse. However, there is a thin line between “connection” and “blame”…and it seems this Dr. Northrup may have just crossed that line.
This is what she had to say…
Dr. Northrup says your health depends on what’s going on with your mind, body and soul, and your symptoms are actually your soul’s way of bringing deeper issues to your attention. “You’re in labor with yourself because everything that no longer serves your highest purpose and your optimal health starts to go away and your body gives you signals—’Hey, you’ve been putting too much stuff under the carpet emotionally, nutritionally, not exercising … putting everyone else first. The kids, the husband, the job, whatever,’” Dr. Northrup says. “And your soul is saying, ‘What about me? What about me?’ And your body will start getting symptoms to hit you over the head with till you wake up.”
Well, that just doesn’t make much sense…There are plenty of depressed people that don’t have a single medical problem wrong with them, as there are plenty of people who suffer with numerous medical issues that are not in the least bit depressed.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all just go to our “happy place” and will our medical problems away? Yes, it sure would be…But, in “reality” medical problems happen…regardless of your state of mind. So all of this talk about Thyroid disease stemming from an underlying emotional problem…well, no wonder why people are getting a bit upset. Oprah may be spotlighting thyroid disease, but the medical community blaming the patient for their health problems is not new at all. Just ask anyone who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowl Syndrome, just to name a few. And actually, Dr. Northrup names many more…
The first thing Dr. Northrup wants Rachel to do is to make a list of five things she wants to do—and then do them! The five things Rachel chooses to do may help improve her health in the long run. “When you do those, they decrease cellular inflammation. This isn’t just some kind of pop psychology. They decrease inflammation in your cells and cellular inflammation is the beginning of all chronic degenerative disease,” she says. “So headaches, high blood pressure, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, it all begins with cellular inflammation. Things that bring you joy quell stress hormones in the body and decrease cellular inflammation.”
I imagine Dr. Northrup doesn’t actually suffer from any of these pesky “cellular inflammations”, otherwise how could she even say any of this with a straight face. She is basically saying that people with cancer, thyroid disease, and many other chronic illnesses, have brought this all on themselves. When someone suffering hears this kind of crazy talk, they actually begin to believe that their illness is their own fault. And that’s not even the worst thing. What is worse, is when that person believes that if they could just emotionally “fix” themselves, they could make themselves better [in this case, just like Oprah]. And when they don’t get better…again, they will feel it is their own fault.
And when she finally has a program which somewhat addresses the thyroid issue this week, she allows her hallowed guest, Dr. Christiane Northrup, to state “your symptoms are actually your soul’s way of bringing deeper issues to your attention.” Hogwash! And thyroid patient Mary Shoman has rightly proclaimed that “thyroid disease is NOT your fault, despite what Dr. Northrup says.”
How do you feel about these comments by Dr. Northrup?
A New Drug Treatment For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is On The Horizon — by Catherine Morgan
For a condition that many doctors still claim doesn’t even exist, the idea of an actual “treatment” becoming available in the near future is so exciting to me. Currently, there is no treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Sure, I take a bunch of medicine…But these medications are only to help with the symptoms of this disease, not to treat it.
When you think about it, this is really huge! Once there is an actual treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, it’s going to be a little hard for the doctors claim that this disease does not exist. Honestly, how can a disease that has a treatment not exist? Well, it really can’t. Quite frankly, I think an apology is in order. “Yes, I’m talking to you…Mr. (so-called) Neurologist, you know who you are.”
Here’s the story…
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 11, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) — Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (AMEX:HEB) announced today that it has filed a New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its experimental therapeutic, Ampligen(r), also known as Poly I : Poly C12U, to treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (”CFS”). The Company is also moving forward as planned with filings in countries outside the United States. — read full article
So…If you’re suffering with this pathetic illness, hang in there, don’t lose hope. This could be the “magic bullet” that ends up helping you. But, even if this drug doesn’t help everyone with CFS (and it probably wont), it is a start…and there is bound to be more and more treatments developed.
Acknowledging the disease is the first and most important step…and I think we have finally taken it…even if it is just a baby step. I’m beginning to see a flicker of light at the end of the Chronic Fatigue tunnel/nightmare. I for one, will be happy to finally reach the end.
Questioning The Motives of the Chocolate Industry — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at CatherineBlogs.com)
When I first posted on this new claim of dark chocolate being helpful in treating patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I said I was a bit skeptical, and that I would do more research on the subject. So I did, and here it is…
Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me. Could dark chocolate be good for your? Could it help lower your blood pressure? Cure symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
When news of scientific studies about the benefits of dark chocolate came out a few months ago, I thought…maybe there could be something to this, it seemed odd, but still possible? And, I wouldn’t have had too much reason to doubt these claims…until they just took the whole thing a little bit too far.
I first became skeptical when I read that another new study found dark chocolate could help with symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It didn’t seem to me that we needed scientific research to prove that a product with caffeine in it would increase a persons energy. However, that is not necessarily the best way for a person with CFS to get additional energy. But, the thing that made me question the research was that they never mentioned caffeine at all, they just made it seem that “something” in the chocolate is helping with fatigue. Pretty vague if you ask me, but it sure is selling a lot of dark chocolate.
The “report” finds that strong consumer interest in the reported health benefits of dark chocolate and a general trend towards product premiumization (including organic and fair trade products) are the main drivers in current market growth.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…seriously…how many more times are we going to have to read about these (alleged) health benefits of chocolate? Is anyone actually buying this argument or is it simply a lobby to help people mitigate self-imposed guilt? Are you purposefully putting chocolate in your diet to take advantage of these healthy claims? I’d love to hear if you are. — read full article
So, why then is this dark chocolate “research” getting so much press? Could it be that the chocolate industry itself is behind all of the recent “chocolate propaganda”? Well, I didn’t want to think that could be true, I already know we can’t trust most of Corporate America…But the sweet little chocolate factories, they would never deceive us…right? WRONG?
The Hershey Co. is expanding its Goodness Chocolate portfolio with the debut of Hershey’s Antioxidant Milk Chocolate and Hershey’s Whole Bean Chocolate. These chocolates join Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate and Hershey’s Sticks brands in offering consumers Hershey’s brand of chocolate with good-for-you benefits.
“Consumers are very interested in the goodness benefits of chocolate, including the antioxidants found naturally in dark chocolate,” said Michele Buck, senior vice president, chief marketing officer, The Hershey Company. “This interest is driving explosive growth in dark chocolate. Now, Hershey’s Antioxidant Milk Chocolate and Hershey’s Whole Bean Chocolate bring the goodness benefits of dark chocolate to the broader milk chocolate category.” — read full article
Can anyone say, “give me a break”?
All the chocolate companies are jumping on this band-wagon. Have you noticed that just about every chocolate candy now also has a dark chocolate version (ie: kit-kat, m&m, kisses)? Does anyone really think that eating more dark chocolate is going to lower the rate of heart disease in this country? I think it could actually have the opposite affect. U.S. Chocolate Sales Forecast to Reach $18 Billion by 2011!
Well played chocolate industry. No need to even waste money on advertising, just let the media report on bogus research that deceives the public into thinking chocolate is good for their health. You can bet some PR guy is getting a huge bonus and a raise.
Central to the company’s outlook for 2007 is building on its presence in the dark chocolate sector – one of the fastest growing businesses in the Hershey portfolio last year.
In September, Hershey introduced a new range of single origin dark chocolate products and went on to further capitalize on consumer trends by entering the organic market with the acquisition of the Dagoba chocolate company in October. — read full article
So in conclusion…I love dark chocolate and nothing will ever change that. But I am appalled by the deception that the chocolate industry is using to increase their sales and profits. If “flavanols” help lower blood pressure, then eat foods that contain them, but that don’t also have caffeine. Caffeine increases a person’s blood pressure, so it doesn’t make any sense to use chocolate as a means to lower it. As you can see by Hersey’s own studies, every other food with this beneficial ingredient has no caffeine and is 100% natural.
ORAC per serving of foods which contain antioxidants.
So yes, get you antioxidants…Go buy yourself some blueberries, or raspberries, or pecans, or cranberries, or walnuts, or almonds, or red grapes, or prunes (well, maybe not prunes). Save the chocolates for a treat not a treatment.
Could dark chocolate help relieve some symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome? A new study says it may.
According to the scientists from Hull York Medical School who carried out the pilot study, it is possible the dark chocolate is boosting levels of serotonin, a brain chemical. They also stressed that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients should consume moderate amounts of chocolate.
Recently dark chocolate has also been found to be beneficial in helping lower blood pressure. Of course it’s not recommended as a treatment, and should be used in moderation. I love dark chocolate, so if this turns out to be true, I’ll have no problem munching on a bit of dark chocolate each day.
However, I’m not 100% sold on these studies…I would really like to know who is sponsoring these studies in the first place…Could the “chocolate” industry be attempting to increase sales? After the last study came out about dark chocolate decreasing blood pressure, my local supermarket actually sold out of it. Hmmm. I just don’t know. And it also seems that just about every chocolate candy is now also available in dark chocolate.
With that said, I’m reporting on this now, but I will be following-up. I have emailed the medical school responsible for this study asking for more information, when I get it I will update this post.
Finding Acceptance When You Have An Invisible Disease — by Catherine Morgan
When you have a chronic illness, acceptance of your diagnosis is key to your successful treatment. But for patients with CFS, acceptance doesn’t come easily, and that’s because they are surrounded by people that minimize their condition. Even though the CDC has said that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is as debilitating as MS and Lupus, when you tell someone you have CFS, they either assume you are lazy or that you just need to get more sleep. Everyone from medical professionals to friends and family, have advice about what you should be doing or what you are doing wrong.
A patient with CFS ends up fighting not just the disease and it’s symptoms, but also the stigma of this disease. That might not sound like a big deal…But people with chronic illness, are generally much more successful at managing their disease, when they have support from the people in their life (friends, family, doctors). However, many patients with CFS don’t have the luxury of a strong support system (or any support system at all), due to the stigma surrounding this diagnosis. For this reason, the sooner this disease is legitimized by the medical professionals, the better it will be for those of us who suffer with it.
Tides are turning, and more research is being done…Where there was once no hope, there is now a glimmer.
Dr. Gupta talks about the new research on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on his blog, here is an excerpt…
Imagine feeling profoundly lousy for months, even years at a stretch. On many days, you can’t even get out of bed. Sleep doesn’t help. You go to the doctor, get tests, but a diagnosis remains elusive – and treatments incomplete. That’s what life can be like for people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
More than one million Americans have CFS, a debilitating illness researchers have been studying for some 20 years. There are few clues to what causes it (infectious agents? toxins?). And many questions (how do you treat CFS? Isn’t it really just a ‘fake’ illness?).
Now, researchers in California say chronic fatigue syndrome may be linked to the presence of enteroviruses — viral microorganisms that reside in your gut. Using endoscopies, researchers analyzed stomach tissue biopsy samples from patients with CFS – and found more than 80% of them had high levels of viruses in their digestive system. (All 165 patients had gastrointestinal complaints as part of their CFS litany of symptoms.)
Hi everyone. I was honored to be asked to write a guest post for Life Learning Today, and this is what I came up with.
Catherine’s Top Three Tips For Healthy Living
1. You are what you eat, and it is never too late to start eating healthy. Every day, try your very best to put healthy foods and plenty of water into your body. When you have a choice between something healthy and something not healthy, go with the healthy choice. But, don’t be too hard on yourself on the days you fall back into old habits. There is no rule that says, to be healthy you have to be perfect. Even if you are eating healthy 50% of the time, that is still better than none of the time.
If you are one to never go for the healthy choice, then start today with a commitment to eat one thing that is good for you (just one thing that you would normally not eat), and do that for a week. After a week, start eating two things that are good for you, and so on, and so on. Before you know it, you’ll be eating healthy half the time…And that’s a great start.
You can start today, loving yourself and your family enough to stop poisoning your body with unhealthy foods. Heart disease is the number one killer in our country. And 80% of heart disease is due to eating an unhealthy diet that leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Start today, and take a bite in the right direction…Your heart will thank you.
