Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
“Far more than you may realize, your experience, your world, and even your self are the creations of what you focus on”, Winifred Gallagher
I have long been searching for the exact definition of fibromyalgia given that I have written so much and spoken so often about the various systems that are compromised within the body of someone with this dis-ease. To-day I have finally found the right way to express all that I have written about in these blogs and in my book. In particular, I can finally put the theory I espouse in my book to the test as I work to take this demon to a higher level of understanding. In the book I painstakingly explain the social and psychological conditions that are responsible when a person develops fibromyalgia. Here I present the end result of this theory I developed. The words have been articulated by my massage therapist/osteopath, Peter Goodman who has worked for so many years with clients who have struggled with fibromyalgia, myself included. These are his words (they are very technical, but bear with us), edited somewhat by me, worked through together as a summary of both our views: Fibromyalgia is a syndrome marked by habitually restricted circulation due to a build up of lactic acid within the myofascial system. It is caused by a sympathetic nervous system dominant stress disorder with accompanying dysfunctional brain maps. The work of Dr. Mick Thacker (found online: NOI notes Wednesday October 28, 2009) confirms our view as he believes “that much of chronic pain could be conceptualized as an ‘inflammation in the brain’ “. The PBS documentaries on positive neuroplasticity fill me with hope that someday soon there will be those writing about fibromyalgia and how to change the brain as we understand that link to exciting advances with neuroplasticity and pain.
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Posted in Fibromyalgia, PBS documentaries, RAPT book, TV content, attentional crisis, chronic fatigue, dysfunctional brain maps, environmental irritants, fibromyalgia and growing older, flu virus, hyper-aroused nervous system, irritation of fascia, knee pain, lactic acid build up, leg pain, muscloskeletal system, myofascial system, negative brain messages, negative emotions, neuroplasticity, neurovascular system, pain in feet, primary fibromyalgia, restricted circulation, root cause, secondary fibromyalgia, surgery, sympathetic nervous system, virus, winifred gallagher | 2 Comments »
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
” The tenuousness of modern life can make anyone feel overwrought”, Robin Marantz Henig
An article in the NewYork Times Magazine, October 4, 2009 by Robin Marantz Henig, entitled Understanding the Anxious Mind has led me to speculate about the anxious, highly reactive, overly sensitive temperaments of those of us with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndromes. While I am not the first to equate a hyperaroused nervous system with these two conditions, I believe that the new scientific information regarding the brain, remapping and neuroplasticity must also be taken into account if we are ever to reach some kind of understanding of both syndromes.
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Posted in Fibromyalgia, amygdala, anxiety and fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue, hypervigilance, jerome kagan, nathan fox, nature vs nurture, neuroplasticity, new york times magazine, peter levine, remapping the brain, robin marantz henig | 7 Comments »
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
“Self development is a higher duty than self sacrifice”, Elizabeth Stanton
As I read more and more about brain mapping and how to change the pain mappings in my brain I am reminded about how intensely I wrote in my book regarding the highly sensitive person (HSP, according to Elaine Aron). This is the ‘empath’, the person who senses what other people are feeling and takes on the emotions of others as though they were her/his own( I don’t mean this in the usual sense of the ‘psychic’ person, or in any mystical way). I still stand by that description of the person with fibromyalgia. We are like a toxic sponge! Now, I believe that this type of person (mainly, but, of course not solely, women) has the personality characteristics of the self sacrificing, doing good for others (what Dr. James Rochelle calls ‘goodism’) and ‘giving yourself away’ (a term Nick Matheson coined). When I think of Florence Nightingale on this May day, her birthday month, suffering from fibromyalgia, I think of her as a primary example of self sacrificing.
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Posted in CBC video, David Suzuki, Dr. Norma Doidge, Dr.James Rochelle, Dr.Peter Levine, Fibromyalgia, The Brain that Changes Itself, The Naute of Things, Waking the Tiger Healing Trauma, allmothering, brain mapping, dis-ease, emotional trauma, empath, fear, florence nightingale, goodism, group gatherings, neuroplasticity, neuroscience, psychonuerologists, root cause of fibromyalgia, self sacrificing, self-regulation therapy, sensory input, talk therapy, ultra-sensitive person, unconscious brain | 6 Comments »
