Saturday, 22 September 2012

FMSSAS eNews 12.09.22



Hello everyone
Another week; another batch of fibro info.  There is just so much available nowadays that no one should be able to claim ignorance of the condition.  So read, mark learn and inwardly digest!
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WORDz FOR THE WEEK
88.  Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential and ability of turning life around.
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Blue Badge Parking Scheme Changes
The Department for Transport  website explains the new scheme
Its FAQs section says
“If you provide your mobile phone number or e-mail address, reminders can be sent to you at renewal time thought (through?) these routes. Otherwise, you will be sent a letter.”
WSCC do not send a letter at renewal time.  It is up to the individual to apply for a new badge.  But the WSCC website does not tell you this. Their information about blue badges is here http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisure/getting_around_west_sussex/parking/disabled_parking/disabled_badge_car_scheme_blu.aspx
The Government site DirectGov explains the scheme here http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/motoringandtransport/dg_4001061
As far as I can see none of the county websites tell you whether or not renewal notices are being sent out.  If your blue badge expires soon, apply to your local authority to avoid being fined for having an outdated badge.
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Supplements Quiz for Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
How well do you know your supplements? More and more, they're being viewed as important treatment options for those of us with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
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Treating One Area Can Reduce Overall Fibromyalgia Pain
Can treating your most troublesome shoulder muscle lead to a significant drop in your overall fibromyalgia pain? Yes, according to a study published online this month in the European Journal of Pain, and the same results were found for treatment of just one painful joint.
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Fibromyalgia Causes
Investigators are constantly looking at various explanations for the occurrence of fibromyalgia. Some, for example, are exploring hormonal disturbances and chemical imbalances that affect nerve signaling. Other experts believe fibromyalgia with its deep muscle pain is linked to stress, illness, or trauma. Still others think there is a hereditary cause or say there is no explanation at all. But while there is no clear consensus about what causes fibromyalgia, most researchers believe fibromyalgia results not from a single event but from a combination of many physical and emotional stressors.
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Fibromyalgia – Highlights - Causes
Using brain scans on patients with fibromyalgia, researchers have discovered an abnormal increase in blood flow (called "brain perfusion") in an area of the brain that discriminates the intensity of pain, and a decrease in blood flow in areas thought to be involved in the emotional response to pain. These abnormalities were unrelated to the patients' depression and anxiety levels, reinforcing the idea that fibromyalgia is a real disorder, rather than a result of depression.
http://adam.about.net/reports/Fibromyalgia.htm A long comprehensive article which is most informative.
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Is Fibromyalgia hereditary?
Fibromyalgia isn't passed directly from parents to children the way diseases such as cystic fibrosis and hemophilia are. But family studies have found that the odds of having fibromyalgia are several times higher in the immediate families of people with fibromyalgia than in families in which no one has fibromyalgia. These observations suggest that heredity is a factor in causing fibromyalgia.
Based on research, the current belief is that fibromyalgia is not hereditary in the classical sense, where a mutation is responsible for a given trait (monogenic), like with blue eye color; however, evidence does suggest that your genes can predispose you to fibromyalgia, but in a complex way involving many genes (polygenic).
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Feeling Like You’ve Been Hit by a Mack Truck: Mornings With Fibromyalgia
What does it feel like to be run over by a Mack truck? Thankfully, actual occurrences are few. When I first developed pain, and long before I heard of fibromyalgia, I used Mack Truck metaphors for my own experience. Having grown up near the company’s headquarters, I may have been quicker than average to make this this association.  Yet, when I was finally diagnosed and began reading about people’s experiences with fibromyalgia and related pain syndromes, I found such references were rampant.  
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2203735/Fibromyalgia-Neurological-condition-causing-numbness-insomnia-pain-fatigue-1-8m-Britons.html
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Earth Clinic Newsletter, Sept 17th
If you care about what you eat, this is one for you.
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Cold Survival With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Stop Getting Chilled!
A common symptom of fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is cold sensitivity, which can make the winter months a real battle for us. With a little planning, though, you may be able to alleviate the worst of what cold weather means for your illness.
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Living with Pain: Build Positive Emotion
There is an important  link between negative emotion and chronic pain. Depression, anger, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and fear can make pain worse and harder to manage. Simply inducing a bad mood in the laboratory is linked to higher reports of pain and reduced pain tolerance.  But, how do positive emotions impact pain?
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Snuggle Up With the Perfect Pillow
Expert advice on how to find the pillow that suits your sleep style.
Nothing starts your day off better than getting a good night's sleep. And sleeping with the right pillow can help.
"Pillows can not only impact the quality of our sleep, but also how healthfully we rest and recharge," says sleep expert Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist and author of Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep.
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Things Not to Say to Someone With Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome  ...  And what we'd like to hear instead.
When someone we know is sick, especially with a chronic illness, it can be hard to know what to say to them. Often, people want to appear understanding, sympathetic or helpful—only to come off hurting the feelings of the sick person.
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 Is There a Better Time to Nap?
Sleep can be unrefreshing and the fatigue of fibromyalgia can make getting through the day difficult. One way to help you along might be to take a nap, even if you can only manage it on the weekends. But when you wake up from a daytime nap, you want to minimize the sluggish, mentally slow feeling that may greet you (as though your brain has not snapped out of sleep). So, the question is: should you take the nap in the morning or the afternoon?
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Win £5,000 for FMSSAS
At Fibromyalgia Support for Surrey and Sussex (FMSSAS) we want to keep our communication costs low and make sure you always feel connected to the work your generous donations help us to accomplish.
In just 5 minutes you can help us understand how we can communicate with you better online and enter us for the chance of winning £5,000.
The draw for £5,000 will take place on the 31 December, and the winner will be notified via email.
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Essential Research Project on Fibromyalgia
An email received and passed on to you here:-
“I am currently a BSC Psychology student at the University of Buckingham carrying out a research on the effect of activity on fibromyalgia and possible ways of improving symptoms of this condition. For this purpose I am looking for patients with fibromyalgia who would be interested to take part in a 10-day research study. The findings might help improve symptoms of fibromyalgia and help patients develop coping strategies that will have an impact on their overall wellbeing.
Every participant will help to increase the knowledge of fibromyalgia and therefore help to provide a better understanding of ways to treat fibromyalgia and its symptoms.
Therefore I would kindly ask you to consider this research for members of your support group. For additional information please see the enclosed document with details about the study.
I would very much appreciate if you could get back to me as soon as possible.
Thank you for your time!
Kind regards,
ALENA MEISTER 1101490@buckingham.ac.uk
Volunteers please contact Alena direct.
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I hope to send an eNews next week (if I’m not too busy), then there will be a break because I shall be away for most of October.  I’ll be back for the AGM, but only just.  Looking forward to seeing lots of you then.
Best regards to you all
Stella
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N.B. I would like to point out to you all that the information in my eNewsletters does not necessarily infer endorsement by the charity Fibromyalgia Support for Surrey & Sussex.   Any advice or recommendation of a medical or legal nature must always be discussed with a qualified professional. The charity cannot be held responsible for omissions and/or errors.
Sites I refer you to are for information only.  They might conflict in their opinions, they might not even be medically sound, but I merely offer them for you to peruse and make your own judgements, accept or reject as you will.  Only by reading widely can we get an overall picture of fibromyalgia syndrome and how we can deal with its symptoms, learn to cope with them and still have a life.
I also include various awareness and local issues as well as general health considerations.    Anyone wishing to reproduce any of the above items in printed form should seek permission from the originators.
Wordz for the Week are from ‘Wordz for the Day’ by Donnie Kuhn, Sr.
Past issues of FMSSAS eNews can be found at www.fms-sas.co.uk/fmseNews.html and on a blog at http://fmssas-enews.blogspot.com/
FMSSAS website is www.fms-sas.co.uk




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