Fibromyalgia: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Dis-Ease , livre ebook

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124 pages

English

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Based upon years of research and personal experiences of the author, this book will discuss causes and treatments of fibromyalgia syndrome, an invisible dis-ease.
As an invisible and somewhat mysterious syndrome fibromyalgia (FMS) affects millions. It is poorly understood by the contemporary medical establishment and it is difficult to find effective treatment. There is a great deal of fear associated with FMS and its companion chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). It is little wonder that those afflicted are frustrated and often feel hopeless after searching for a long time for the causes of chronic pain and fatigue and then finally receiving a tentative diagnosis. Many have felt ashamed and guilty of living with a condition for which they often feel denigrated and is not easily diagnosed.
This book is somewhat of a sequel to the first book Women and Fibromyalgia Living with an Invisible Dis-ease, published in 2007. However, it is an updated and more inclusive approach, presenting daring, tentative theories about these two conditions, based upon the research that has evolved over recent years. The author who has been living with FMS and CFS for many decades, writing blogs on a website and looking back on the formal interviews from the first book, a developed a comprehensive theoretical approach will entice the reader suffering from these syndromes to reconsider their own lives and to live more hopefully with the challenges of these conditions. Answers to their many questions will finally be put to rest.
The types of personalities of those who develop these syndromes may appear scientifically unproven but the approach presented is supported by the hundreds of people world wide who agree with the theories put forward, the comments of which were found primarily on the website from which this book was sprung. It is a maze which has placed the dots in a comprehensive model for understanding..
FMS, CFS, PTSD are linked together for their commonalities of symptoms. Symptoms and management strategies are discussed of all three.

Sujets

Santé au quotidien

Fitness

Health

Informations

Publié par	iUniverse
Date de parution	19 juillet 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781663242402
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

FIBROMYALGIA:
UNRAVELLING THE MYSTERIES OF THE DIS-EASE

BARBARA A. KEDDY R.N. (ret), Ph.D.

FIBROMYALGIA: UNRAVELLING THE MYSTERIES OF THE DIS-EASE

Copyright © 2022 BARBARA A. KEDDY R.N. (ret), Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022913265
ISBN: 978-1-6632-4239-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-4240-2 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 07/12/2022

To Milt
Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Causes and Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
The FMS personality
Psychosomatic Disorder or Stored Memories?
Fibromyalgia, Sensitivity, and Anxiety
Fibromyalgia and Nurses
Famous FMS
Symptoms of FMS: An Introduction
Itching
Numbness and Pins and Needles
Painful teary eyes
What’s that smell?
The Inner Ear: Dizziness and Vertigo
Noise Sensitivity
Tooth Pain
Neuropathic Pain
Foot Pain
Spasms and Restless Legs
Brain Fog
Brain Zaps
Cognitive and Somatic Sensitization
Sleep Disturbances
Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, and Related Disorders
Sensitivity and Empathy
FMS and Mental Health
The Pain is in the Brain: Are Mind and Brain the Same?
Gender and Fibromyalgia
Gay Men and FMS
The Orchid Child
On parenting and being parented
Childhood Conditioning
The “Science” of Fibromyalgia
FMS and Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS)
A Note on Feeling Better About Visits to the Doctor
Fibromyalgia and Violence
External Stressors: Weather, Strenuous Activity, Excitement
Trauma and the Body
Fibromyalgia and Post-traumatic Disorders: Identical Twins?
Embodying Anxiety
Symptoms on Social Media and in Film
Flare-ups
Fibromyalgia Triggers
Fibromyalgia and Overmedicating
FMS Plus: Living with more than one health condition
Part 2: T reating and Managing Fibromyalgia Symptoms
Mindfulness
Touch
Minimizing Our Anxiety
Befriending Change
Fibromyalgia and Male Caregiving
Women and Caregiving
Not Giving Ourselves Away
Embracing Change
Living Our Best Life
Quieting Our Noisy Brains
Pulling Ourselves Up by Our Bootstraps
The Roller Coaster of Emotions
Allowing Our Emotions
Dressing for Comfort
Hypnotherapy
FMS and Cannabis
Telling Our Story: Writing About Fibromyalgia
Touch-based Therapies Revisited
Daily Life with Chronic Pain
On Being Our Own Physician
On Overdoing it
“Alternative Therapies”
Finding Your Own Pace
Aging with Fibromyalgia
Healing Ourselves
Growing Stronger: Tending the Body
Eating Well with FMS
Talking About Our Pain

Conclusion
Appendix: Resources
Introduction
How this book came to be
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a mysterious condition that affects millions. Because it is poorly understood by the medical establishment, it is difficult to find effective treatments. A great deal of fear surrounds fibromyalgia, as I know, sadly, from personal experience. I hope to confront some of these common fears and share as much information as I have in an effort to bring this chronic dis-ease into the light.
In the following pages, I explore theories I have developed based on my own experience of FMS that may be controversial to some but bring hope to others. They are not scientifically proven theories, but since no such things currently exist, I offer my own, those of others who live with FMS, and my extensive research into FMS and its treatment.
Fibromyalgia and its sidekick, chronic fatigue syndrome have been my constant companion for most of my life, though I didn’t always know them by their names. Keeping these conditions hidden was how I survived my earlier life as I was ashamed of admitting I was often in a state of pain and fatigue. But to those close to me (mainly my spouse) I “complained” so often that guilt accompanied my many struggles. It wasn’t until I began researching the topic of fibromyalgia in great detail over twenty years ago that I had a name for this invisible dis-ease. I wanted to learn more about my condition and to share what I was learning. After interviewing many other women with FMS –both formally with signed consent, and informally as occasions arose– I published my first book, Women and Fibromyalgia: Living with an Invisible Dis-ease in 2007 (iUniverse). I also began work on a now-defunct website where I posted blogs about my experiences with FMS; the comments I received from readers provided me with the inspiration to write this new book.
In hindsight, I regret that I wrote my first book in such an exclusionary style specifically focussing on women; I have learned that there are just as many men who suffer from this syndrome even though it is often labelled differently for them. This book is inclusive of all genders.
The many women and men who over many years have commented on my blogs have given me the courage to go out on a limb once more about what I believe to be the cause of this invisible condition. After a thorough review of both formal interviews and blogs I decided that a new book needed to be written as an update to the first. I also noted that books on FMS that were published after my 2007 book have not revealed much new information for me that coincides with my view about this invisible syndrome called fibromyalgia. Hence the need for another book.
To the readers of the blogs whose comments have added to my understanding of the daily hardships we suffer, often in silence, I give a heartfelt thank you. To those women I formally interviewed years ago, I hope that your syndrome has not worsened and I acknowledge your contribution to my evolved insights. To all of you who wrote replies to my blogs, your comments cannot be included here as I did not request permission from you to include them in a book. However, I thank you for trusting me with your stories. You are the experts on your own bodies and I have learned so much from you.
I am grateful to the experts and authors on pain I admired so long ago: Diane Jacobs, Bronnie Thompson, David Butler, and Lorimer Moseley, among a host of others who came along a little later in my epiphany. Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter Levine (1997) is the book which began my quest to explore “the mystery of trauma.” I am so thankful to all those neuroscientists uncovering the wonderous mechanisms of the brain. They have shown me the route to unravelling this mystery.
Perhaps I am wrong in my subjective analysis. I don’t propose that I am the expert on this disorder as it is a very diffuse syndrome. I am instead writing what I believe is a reasonable, yet tentative explanation based upon personal experience and the experiences of many hundreds of others who have written to me over the years, those who suffer from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.
I am not a Buddhist, but Buddhist philosophy has been another guide for me throughout these past decades. Mindfulness and meditation have allowed me the opportunity to become self-reflective, which is key to an understanding of the difficult workings of the mind/ brain and the functioning of the central nervous system. To be living in the sequestered era of Covid-19 has also allowed me time for reflection that would otherwise not have been as fruitful.
As mentioned earlier, since I wrote my first book, times have changed and so has the discourse around gender identities. Now as never before, I finally refute the idea of women being the main gender of those who suffer from fibromyalgia. I acknowledge that the issues related to gender identities and gender fluidity are complex. Is a gay man not as vulnerable to this syndrome as a self-identified woman? Is a transitioned woman as likely to have this dis-ease? What about bisexual people or others who are non-binary? Those who identify as women are not only those who are heterosexual-identified females. I apologize for the years when he and she were the main gender pronouns we used in our discourse. All people are vulnerable to trauma, anxiety and depression, whether or not we are marginalized, racialized, or on the gender spectrum, resulting in a dis-ease which cannot be seen, but is still experienced.
Though the world has changed dramatically since I began publishing blog posts on FMS, I stand by the references in them that were new to me then and are still not outdated. These writings are like my memoir.
Many years ago, as a university professor teaching research methodology, I would often ask students some of the following questions: What is knowledge? Who creates it and for what purposes? To whom is it made available? What is the difference between (supposedly) objective science and personal, subject