Do you remember back in the 1990’s when a self-help guru boasted claims that any relationship could be fixed if we would just realize that men and women are wired differently? Men were apparently not of this world, they were Martians…. And us women? Well we were from Venus… and just knowing that fact was going to somehow change our lives…. Well John Gray, the author of the Mars/Venus books was actually on to something… We ARE wired differently… And that rings true for men and women that suffer from Chronic Pain.
A new survey on www.healthywomen.org shows the gender differences in how we experience and perceive chronic pain. This study is part of a new educational campaign, “She Said, He Said: Understanding Gender and Pain”.
Did you know that 59% of women believe that others view them as “complainers” in regards to their pain and only 36% of men feel the same? Did you know that just over half of women (53%) wish family members would take their pain more seriously, and almost 50% also believe that men are taken more seriously than women are in the Doctor’s office?
We might have differences when it comes to Chronic Pain, but we have some similarities as well. This study found similarities in areas such as pain intensity, and the effect that pain has on interpersonal relationships.
When it comes to chronic pain, are men and women living on different planets?
If you have a few minutes, click on the link and go check it out for yourself… It really was worth the read…
Eliminating some particular habits is one of the basic things for any Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue patient, as well as for anybody who suffers of a chronic disease.
We did not become sick within a day, a week or a month. I dare say we did not even become sick within a year. One of the most successful physicians regarding fibromyalgia, Dr. Sacher, says that it takes more than 10 years until the body shows symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Chronic diseases take years and years to occur. That is why they are chronic. The good news is that it is entirely in our hands to change that.
Chronic sickness in itself is a bad habit and it involves a whole complex of several bad habits. The causes can be summed up in one word: distress. Chronic diseases go most of the time along with toxic and mental stress. On both we can get a handle. Both are entirely in our own hands.
A chronic disease calls for a change of our habits – ALWAYS.
When having a chronic illness like Fibromyalgia the most crucial thing is avoiding more acidity. The muscle pain you have comes to a great extent from acidity.
Step #1 in reducing acidity is: avoid sodas
fibromyalgia & acidoses (source of picture: quitsmokingonline.com)
This is very important. If you have any form of rheumatism, arthritis, weight problems, stiffness, etc. (or if you simply want to remain healthy) then you cannot afford to drink any soft-drinks (pop, soda), because they are very acidic and toxic. You really strictly have to avoid them. This is even more important when you have Fibromyalgia. If I were you I would not allow any exceptions here. Soft drinks make your body more acidic and this is exactly what you absolutely cannot have. (Ignore this point to your own peril.)
Of course this is also very much true for your children. If they never start drinking Coke and other pops they will not have to quit. Soft drinks are kind of addictive.
My suggestion is: replace any soft drinks with water. Your pursuit will reward you with extra money you can then invest in the right health products and high quality food. At the beginning you might face some “withdrawal symptoms”, but they are harmless. This is simply because the body can become addicted to sugar. But this does not mean that your body really needs it.
You have only one health Take care of it!
Hope and health,
Maja Iten
Natural Health & Life Coach
P.S. If you want to get more in-depth information on reducing acidity (acidoses) please go to http://fibroreliefmembership.com and sign up as a Free or a Gold Member. This article is part of the month #3 Fibro Health Letter for Free Members and week #6 issue for Gold Members. It’s a 17-page article not only explaining what to avoid but also giving alternatives.
Daily Health Check: Weight –189!!! THIS IS NOT GOOD!!!
Misc Morning Herbs – ✔
Allergy Drops – ✔
Prog. Cream – ✔
FM Check – ✔ –Ugh. Not feeling all that great. Again. It’s rainy, cold, and yucky out.
HARD DRIVE!!! BUSTED!!! Way to mess with ones weekend! Argh. I’m glad there are 4 computers in the house… or we’d have missed a message from friends coming to visit from RI!!! For the DAY ONLY!!! Argh!
I am sad to say as well… that I didn’t complete my objectives for this weekend. While I do have 2 more weekends to complete said objectives, I wanted to get further along than I did! Here is the recap of what I wanted to do:
1. Chair Backs… Should only take me an hour to make the other 4, then washing time
2. Kids Rooms…
3. Avery’s pillow
4. Gretchen Safe Cookies
5. Babies blankets for the boys
6. LAUNDRY – have to finish folding the LAUNDRY..
Here is what I did accomplish.
1. The Gretchen Safe Cookies… and I must admit they are pretty dang tasty!
2. Recovering the dining room chairs. I will add a picture soon… as soon as I get my computer at home fixed, which, as stated previously, IS BUSTED! But the chairs really look good!
3. I cut out the pieces for Avery’s pillow, tonight I have to sew it… the girl was using her brother’s all weekend…which you can imagine caused great distress to a 3 yr old boy, who kept reminding her that it had cars on it and was not a girl thing! Very funny, but I gotta get it done!
4. The Laundry… I literally folded 87 baskets of laundry. So I now have time to sew the previously mentioned pillow.
So with that… I still have the kids rooms to clean top to bottom, and the chair back covers, and… the baby blankets… which those are mostly fun… the cleaning not so much. And the straightening up of the house. But now, I need to add, go through each room as I clean and add stuff to the sell pile…
This weather! Ugh! It’s painful… my arms are currently in a kind of vibrating numb hurt. It’s starting to go to my chest and throat too. Its kind of a feeling like you want to throw up, but you know what it is, and you know you won’t, but you’d feel better if you did… My hips have the same feeling… but is less annoying as I am not moving them. I just dug out the heating pad for my lower back… I hate this. This would be the kind of day that I don’t want to pick anything up, because I do NOT trust my arms to work as I request. I really hope this goes away tomorrow, when it’s SUPPOSED to dry out. I’m really distressed about my weigh again. I don’t understand why it keeps going up. I guess I will be eating salad for awhile. Not that salad is bad, I hate doing that though, because when you eat just salad for awhile, then you actually eat FOOD, your weight just goes right back up. It’s really distressing. It’s also distressing when your mother mentions that your face looks like you are gaining weight. I am starting to wonder about getting a wii… and comparing that to the cost of a gym membership… somehow I don’t think that the flex spend would cover that… bugger.
I am trying a new thing for food this month as well. It’s called Angel Food Ministries, and you order the food online, and then it is delivered to a local church for pick up. This happens once a month. You go on the Saturday that is listed for pick up, and there you have it! If this works out it should be really fantastic and benefit both us, and the church where we pick it up. I’ll let you know.
OK… I need to go pick up lunch… so, have a good one!
I received an email from the National Fibromyalgia Association, and they have asked me to share something with the readers here at Graceful Agony.
The NFA publishes a magazine called Fibromyalgia Aware.
Many people do not know that there is a publication dedicated to those who live with this illness. In this publication you will find
Latest news in Research
general information and tips on health and well-being
A balanced approach to treatment options
Lifestyle and self-management techniques
A subscription to Fibromyalgia Aware can be purchased through the National Fibromyalgia Association website – it is $34.95USD per year – BUT- they are now offering this magazine for FREE online!!.
If you follow the last link, it will take you directly to a sample of this magazine. Once you register (for free) to the NFA website, you will be able to view the entire magazine for free.
This website has a plethora of resources, stories, articles, and an online community – so go take a look!
Here is the recap of what I wanted to do:
