Dancing away your pain!

Get your grove on and dance your pain away!

Even imagined yourself belly dancing your pains away? Shaking your hips, flowing with the rhythm and to the beat of the drums, letting yourself dance the pain away!

Well, a recent research study done at the Federal University of São Paulo proves that by simply keeping active, you can improve your quality of life. They wanted to show that belly dancing could be an effective treatment for pain in fibromyalgia patients.

The entire study consisted of 80 females, ½ of which was a control group, ages 18-65. To qualify, all the participants’ course of treatment should of not changed in three years preceding the study.

All the dance students “ took one-hour belly dance classes twice a week for 16 weeks… Each class had a maximum of eight students. The classes were administered by a physiotherapist with eight years of experience in belly dance. Classes began with a warm-up exercise, followed by the predetermined movements for the day, choreography and a cool-down exercise. The participants received a compact disc with music and an exercise book with the history and movements proposed for the program. Beginning in the fourth week, a set sequence of movements in the form of choreography was established for memorization and training at home.” (via)

In order to measure the outcome of the dance program, all the dancers where asked how they felt at three different times during the program. They were questioned before they started, again at 16 weeks, and lastly at 32 weeks. The number of questions the dancers were asked gave the researchers an in depth view on the outcome of the study. Everything was examined in order to have a complete patient profile including; pain levels, physical functionality (aka the 6 minute walk test), and quality of life questionnaires. Some of the quality of life questionnaires included but not limited to the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, pain, functionality, vitality, mental and emotional states, social aspects, and self-image.

Now, not to bore you with all the facts and figures of all the results, here’s the jest of the study: GET MOVING! No, really folks, seriously the “control group” of dancers slowly progressed on all the quality of life tests. Having said that, an interesting thing happened with the fibromyalgia group of dancers; at the 16-week mark, on most of their testing perimeters, their functionality scales became slightly worse than from were they started. But, not giving up does pay off! By the end of the 32-week course, the functionality scales perimeters went dramatically up for the dancers with fibromyalgia.

What does this all mean? Remember when your Mom would tell you it’s going to get worse before it gets better? That statement is true for when you add an exercise program into your life. Remember to take little steps toward finding a path that is healthy for you. Don’t try to go do an all night dance-a-thon on your first week, but try walking for ten minutes in the morning. Just remember, don’t give up. Keep your body moving. Keep stretching and keep a positive outlook on life.

In my never ending search for more information, I found this great website/ blog on dancing for pain relief! Check it out here-> http://dancingwithpain.com

For more information on the clinical trial please see-> Effectiveness of Dance on Patients With Fibromyalgia

i hurt weird...

One day I kept a journal of every symptom and every pain that I felt. It turned into quite a time consuming project and I discovered that the list of weirdyness that I have ‘learnt to live with’ is an extensive one. And when I say ‘learnt to live with’, what I really mean is ‘learnt to keep to myself’ No-one likes to hear moaning about aches and pains all day long, so I keep it to myself and to be honest I sometimes fear no-one would believe me anyway because some of the weirdyness is just plain, well, weird.

I ended up with quite a list of different types of pains that I experience on a daily basis and wondered if they were a typical representation of Fibromyalgia symptoms or just more mystery m weirdyness… i’m still learning.

I came across (and when i say came across i mean found, although it was rather exciting) this  – The 7 types of Fibromyalgia pain and was astonished to find that our lists were very very similar!

The first three types of pain listed were the clinically defined (ie: your doctor will believe you have them)

• Hyperalgesia – those wacky neurotransmitters amping up the pain reception in our brains
• Allodynia – when the skin hurts to touch and mild pressure causes pain due to central nervous system sensitisation
• Painful Paresthesia – unusual nerve sensations that can feel like crawling, tingling, burning, itching or numbness

The next four were of the authors creation, that is, she named the pains that ail her most. These too were so similar to the pains that I experience – I even had names for them In my head! and I could tell right away from her names the kind of pain she was describing.

• knife in the voodoo doll – (i somewhat less creatively just thought of these as the stabbing pains) fairly self explanatory – it feels like someone is stabbing you in random places throughout the day. Sometimes they are using a knife, other times something very sharp and pointy, something hot, or a spear.
• randomly roving pain – (i used to wonder ‘how can pain be contagious and spread throughout my body?) these pains just don’t make sense. Legs one minute, hands the next, butt, guts, head: they can show up anywhere anytime, unannounced and uninvited.
• sparkler burns – (i think of these as ‘exploding nerve endings’ cause that’s what they feel like) small pin-pricks of pain that happen suddenly and last just a few seconds but can be quite intense. They are not on the inside like the other pains but feel to be right at my nerve endings.
• rattled nerves – (it’s that mystery, spooty-symptom-award-winning thing I had no name for!!) this is when my body becomes physically and emotionally drained, with full on sensory overload. Noises are confusing and too loud, movement makes me nauseas and disoriented, my body aches all over and I want to sleep immediately, my nerves are on edge and small panic attacks strike causing my heart to race, light is unbearable and the only way to feel better is to rest immediately in a dark quiet room. It also helps to talk to someone who can calm me down, soothe my nerves and reassure me. At these times I find it really important to remind myself that this is something physical i’m dealing with -nerve endings and neurotransmitters fricking with my body – because it’s all too easy to think it’s a mental problem and start wondering if i’m going crazy, which in turn amps up the anxiety attack even further. sweet.

These things are so difficult to explain and yes i’m painfully (haha) aware of how whiny they sound but honestly all I can say is that they are both very REAL and very HURTY. I mostly keep to myself what I am feeling, unless it is interfering with my day. I try not to talk about the aches and pains and weirdy feelings but clever people will know something is going on despite my insistence that i am ‘fine’. Some people don’t understand and when I say ‘tired’ they think they know what i mean. When i say ‘hurt’ they think they know too, and when i say ‘i need to sit down’ they think i can wait and don’t understand that no good will come from me being upright if i’m having an attack of intense weirdyness. It’s okay, I don’t blame them for not understanding, it’s a rooted-up thing to try and explain and understand. It just saddens me that I’m alone in it. Alone with feelings that I can’t express, can’t fix and can’t expect anyone to have sympathy or make allowances for.

Pain updates:

After 3 weeks of taking a Magnesium&Calcium supplement each night, I stopped. Trusty is going to be so proud of my scientiffical speriment:) -I stopped taking it for two weeks to see what happened and here are my results (please keep in mind that i suffer brain fog, therefore i forgot that i stopped taking it, only to remember 10 days later causing an aha! moment of realisation;)

1. muscle cramping was back, worse than ever. I had random muscle cramping, some that even did damage to my muscles. Uterus, bowel, legs, arms, feet, hands, my neck had a spasm that it is still recovering from which strained my trapezius muscle on my left side.
2. insomnia also back with a vengeance. Sleep was very difficult to achieve. Very.

I’m back on my supplements now:) and can report a definite improvement. I am getting to sleep more easily though i still sleep lightly and startle easily and my sleep is often non-refreshing. The muscle pains have eased and though it may be coincidental and i realise magnesium is no cure, I really do believe it helps relieve the pain. Plus, magnesium baths are just so yummy:)

In other news, my trapezius is recovering:) though in a very bizarre way – as the muscle pain and cramping eases, the Allodynia pain intensifies and spreads. I am almost at the point now of  phoning my doctor and begging for some neuro-transmitter-blocking-type-poison-medicine, it just hurts.that.much. My neck, shoulder, upper arm, back and front on my left side feel severely sunburnt and bruised. Like, severely. It hurts to touch and having my clothing rub against it is excruciating.

the end. m.

The Enemy Within - Background

I have a long term illness. I have been ill for many years and didn’t know it. If you have patience for my story, please continue reading, otherwise here is your out. I would take it if I could, but I am stuck with it forever. But if you are brave and continue, don’t feel sorry for me. Celebrate, because each day is a gift.

Twelve years ago, I had a few of surgeries, one of which was called a “Bilateral Mitchell’s”. That is a fancy name for a bunionectomy. It hurt like hell, really didn’t fix the problem and it sure didn’t make my feet look pretty. But you live and learn that doctor’s really do not know everything… that is the reason that they practice medicine.

So in the succession of my devolving, I have found that I am latex intolerant. (I really don’t know what they put in that rubber, but it makes me bleed if left on me long enough. Same for band-aids. Come on! Really?) I am allergic to quite a few medications. I have Restless Leg Syndrome. I am Hypoglycemic. And the new one… Fibromyalgia. This is the one that is really bad news and I have obviously suffered with for many years and didn’t know it. And for you naysayers… it is REAL. I hope you never get it.

Rewind. Last Year I had really had enough of my feet hurting so badly that I felt like I couldn’t walk. I had to force myself to get up and face my day. The pain was affecting my hips and back because of the way I had to get moving. I went to an Orthopaedic doctor who got me fitted for orthotics. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!! I won’t go here. That memory makes me angry and I get ugly. Anyway, They did what they could and finally sent me to a podiatrist. LOVE HIM! Dr. Taylor is the BEST!!! He listened and sent me to a pain management center to schedule a pain conduction test. This was a bad experience. Short of throwing me up against a wall and doing a body cavity check, they treated me like a common criminal. They wanted me to sign a contract signing me over to them. YES! I am NOT kidding! I ended up turning that guy in to the AMA and wrote him a letter telling him I didn’t need a drug dealer. Funny thing is… I never met him. His staff caused the whole problem.  I immediately left that office and told Dr. Taylor that he needed to not send people to this guy. So Dr. Taylor sent me to Dr. Hasan, a Neurologist for this test.

I met Dr. Hasan and we discussed what was going on. He sent me for and MRI for lower lumbar and then we were going to meet back in a couple of weeks and have the conduction test. I took my husband with me and he went back in the room. (I don’t do pain very well, isn’t this ironic?) So, we sit there while Dr. Hasan explains to me that it really isn’t my feet that are my problem, although they are not nifty as far as feet go. The problem are a few bulging discs and quite a few Tarlov cysts, to which I am going to have to be sent tot a Neurosurgeon for possible removal. *GASP!* Then we get on with the conduction test. For those of you that don’t know what a conduction test is, it is a machine that kind of looks like a fancy battery and they stick cables in it and they put  these little stickies on your and clamp the cables to you. Then the doctor plunges a HUGE needle into your muscle and turns on the juice from said machine to see how your nerves take it. Now… I want to remind everyone that I don’t do pain. I help my husbands hand, laid there, gritted my teeth and took it, while tears ran out the sides of my eyes. I never said a word. I never screamed out loud. And when the torture was over, the Dr. said, “I am proud of you. I didn’t think you’d be able to go through it.” His diagnosis was that he thought I had Fibromyalgia. He medicated me with Lyrica and then he then farmed me out to Dr. Katz at Emery Spine Center.

Dr. Katz. Not much to say about his bedside manner other than he is professional. That is fine by me because Dr. House types aren’t my cup of tea. Dr. Katz said that the cysts were inoperable. He also confirmed the Fibromyalgia verdict.He also told me to not look it up on the internet. He said there are a ton of crazy people out there spewing crap about this disease and all I need to know is that it is REAL and that it can be managed.

I then had to find a primary that I could trust to go along with my Endocrinologist, Neurologist, Neurosurgeon/Orthopaedist.  I let my Endocrinologist do the honors and she picked Dr. Ghosh for me. He is AWESOME!!! So is on the same page as all of the other people with regards to me. I even had a flare up (I call them episodes) in his office and was he ever amazed at it. He was so astonished, he called his Rhematoid Dr. friend in to witness it. I have no shame. Come on in…. Enjoy me perform!

So here I am, months and month later. I have had my share of changing meds due to ever increasing dosages and not being able to handle the higher dosages or Drs. trying the latest greatest thing and me puking my brains out because well… I can’t tolerate the chemicals. I have even gone to the extreme of having facet joint injections in my lower back to try to eliminate some of this hell which is my life. Hello… didn’t work. I will never do that again. And now you are up to date as well… and this is the condensed version.

- Gigi

The End of a Short Trip; the Beginning of a Lifelong Odyssey

This will be my last blog on the road before I arrive back in the States after a long day of travel tomorrow. Strangely, it doesn’t feel like the end at all, only an interlude before my next adventure. Travel is addictive and I am completely intoxicated. I think it will be a tough adjustment to go from weeks of new adventures, art, culture, music, and food to being back at home in my normal routine. I warn all my loved ones, I may experience a tough withdrawal!

I savored my last day in Vienna. A couple hours in the Kunstgeschichte (Art History) Museum, browsing the rooms full of Titians, Rubens, and Rembrandts. I was thrilled to find a room full of the Northern Flemish artist Peter Brueghel the Elder. He gives us a peek into the everyday life of Medieval Europe: the changing seasons, festivals, and daily life for the peasants. So much detail in every scene. Usually you find one or two Brueghels in a museum, so an entire room was a treat! I also discovered a room full of the Spanish artist Diego Velasquez. In my university days as an art history minor, I spent an entire term researching and writing about the portraiture of Velasquez. To see in person the very portraits I studied so intimately – let us just say the slides did not do them justice.

The afternoon was for wandering and saying goodbye to Vienna. I stumbled across a park called the Augarten, hiding behind a wall in the Leopoldstadt neighborhood just north of the Ringstrasse. The park itself is brown and slumbering already for the winter, but it was still full of life as people jogged, biked, and walked their dogs through the avenues of evergreens. The big surprise is that over this tranquil scene looms two giant flakstürme, or flak towers, from World War 2. Huge monstrosities of concrete. Forlorn and menacing. They are now stripped of all their equipment and home to flocks of birds. Completely at odds with the entire mood of the park and a somber reminder of the not-so-distant horrors this city has experienced.

One last afternoon at my favorite coffeehouse (yes, I already have a favorite!), the Cafe Tirolerhof. One last melange. And then off into the sunset (or I suppose technically sunrise) on tomorrow’s flight back to reality. May I never recover from the seductiveness of travel.

Muscles Do Not Stretch. Huh? That’s Right, Muscles Do Not Stretch.

It might feel like it, but that’s not what’s actually happening. A skeletal muscle is attached to a bone at both ends and always stays attached (unless something really bad happens). The overall design length remains roughly constant as it elongates and contracts.

If you bend at the waist to touch your toes and your hamstrings and butt are “stiff,” it is not that the muscles are shorter than they were last week. Here’s what’s happening: What we regard as stretching is an important aspect of the body’s fail-safe system that protects it from events that would restrict the ability to move. The muscles are telling us that they are approaching the limit of what they regard as normal motion, beyond which damage might be done.

Get Moving and Read the Rest of This Blog – Thanks Egoscue Orange County

If You Have Ever Had Fibro-Fog, You Will Get A Kick Out Of This!

Fibro Fog Funnies -- Remember To Laugh

Two friends with fibromyalgia sat down for lunch.

One looked at the other and said, “Please don’t get mad at me. . . I know we’ve been friends for a long time, but I just can’t think of your name! I’ve thought and thought, but I can’t remember it. Please tell me what your name is.”

Her friend glared at her.

For at least three minutes she just stared with a blank expression.

Finally she said, “How soon do you need to know?”

http://restministries.com/?p=973

Understanding Egoscue Method Therapy (Synopsis)

The Egoscue Method recognizes that fundamental anatomical, physiological and biomechanical principles govern the human musculoskeletal system. With only very rare exceptions, each person is born with certain core design characteristics that serve as a strong, resilient and efficient operational platform. By using a blueprint of this extraordinary platform as a guide, the goal of the Method is to eliminate disparities that can occur when injuries or negative lifestyle conditions affect the way the musculoskeletal system actually moves as opposed to its underlying structural parameters. By restoring muscular balance, skeletal alignment and the harmonious interplay of internal systems, the body takes a quantum leap in healing power, stamina and physical capability. The Egoscue Method is not a form of treatment that chases after short term, symptomatic relief. Rather, symptoms provide a common sense starting point, a working frame of reference based on each individual’s unique combination of strengths and limitations. Our primary objective applies to everyone we seek to help—to eliminate musculoskeletal system disparities and the resulting postural dysfunctions that interfere with pain-free living.

Read the Rest of Downtown San Diego’s Blog