Our Sharp New Website Plans

In reading through the mail this week, I found the following letter that I would like to share with you. Good letters are interesting and make me happy, but challenging letters are far more interesting and can help us to do better.

"Caroline" writes: Interesting that the CFS people think the CDC's name trivializes their disease. Well I think that lumping CFS and Fibromyalgia together (the way your ImmuneSupport.com website does) trivializes both illnesses. If I have Fibromyalgia, why should that be associated with an unrelated disease?

Well, I agree with this observation. That is why we have separated the CFS and FM newsletters. And ImmuneSupport.com will soon also feature two sub-sites that stand on their own: One for CFS, and one for FM.

You'll be able to access these sites through the ImmuneSupport.com "portal" - and they will be redesigned in every way to offer patients a quick, intuitive way to get the information and support they need.

This will be just one step in our evolving plans to provide the best possible solutions for your information and communications needs. So if you have other suggestions and ideas that might help make our site feel like "home," please let us know.

Meanwhile, your many thoughtful contributions to the message board on "What Worked For Me" continue to pour in. Most of these describe multiple health-support strategies. But certain themes are emerging, and over the coming weeks we will be providing more information on some of the protocols and other ideas mentioned.

Yours in the search for better health,

Rich Carson
ProHealth Founder and CFS Patient

Why Weight Gain is a Problem with FM, and What to Do About It

A handful of factors make weight gain a particular problem for FM patients, explains Mark J. Pellegrino, MD, author of Fibromyalgia: Up Close and Personal. He prescribes food choices that can enhance patients' metabolism and calorie-burning abilities.   more

An Update on Dr. Derek Enlander's FM Treatment Formula

Dr. Derek Enlander, an international Fibromyalgia specialist now based in New York, explains the formula and guidelines he has developed to help treat FM symptoms.   more

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Dealing With a Flawed SSDI Application Process

The SSDI system is not set up for helping patients with immuno-neurological disorders such as Fibromyalgia or CFS. So what do we do? An analysis of the problem, and practical advice from a disabled patient-advocate.   more

These research reports address issues related to FM, pain treatments, and symptoms such as IBS. Many of them are offered online ahead of print:

• A comparison of physical performance & strength in women with FM vs. others
  
  
• Sex hormones and pain in regularly menstruating women with FM
  
  
• Fibromyalgia, infection and vaccination: Two more parts in the etiological puzzle
  
  
• Daily fatigue in women with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Fibromyalgia
  
  
• Individuals' Descriptions of Living with Fibromyalgia
  
  
• Evaluation of psychophysiological asymmetry in patients with FM
  
  
• Atrophic Autoimmune Pangastritis: Associated With Systemic Autoimmune Disease
  
  
• Interdisciplinary rehabilitation in Fibromyalgia and chronic back pain
  
  
• Couple therapy for chronic pain: Promoting behavior change & emotional acceptance
  
  
• Complementary and alternative medicine approaches to pain management
  
  
• Analysis of causes for IBS/Interstial Cystitis Overlap
  
  
• The effect of a nonabsorbed oral antibiotic (rifaximin) on the symptoms of IBS
  
  
• Botulinum Toxin for the Treatment of Pain Syndromes
  
  
• Cultural adaptation and validation of the "Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire"
  
  

You are Not Your Illness

Rather than focusing on what we can no longer do, we need to look inside and build on the qualities that make us who we are, FM patient Karen Richards has learned. Formerly a dancer, she is now the inspiring editor of About.com's Guide to Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.   more

Hate that blank space in the doctor's form asking for "occupation"?
Try being a "CPCP"

By Leeza Behar, another former dancer, and FM patient extraordinaire.   more

Seen in a Minnesota church bulletin:
"Sunday School absences will be excused only for: illness, family vacation, attending another church, or hunting."

God Doesn't Make Junk

Many of us came to the conclusion that we were no longer worth much to ourselves or to anyone else. We had decided our injury had turned us into something others may refer to as junk. But God doesn't make junk. We are the ones who take it upon ourselves to declare ourselves useless and worthless. We have yet to see what we are capable of and the goodness that lies within.

From Living With Chronic Pain One Day At A Time, By Mark Allen Zabawa

At ProHealth we are committed to bringing you the most up-to-date information on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. We are always striving to improve our services, and your opinion counts. If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, please let us know. Include your full name if you agree that we might share your letter with other readers.

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Published by ProHealth, Inc., ImmuneSupport.com is the Web's largest resource for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Since 1988, ProHealth has raised and donated over 2.5 million dollars to CFS and FM research and advocacy groups seeking a cure. We believe in "commerce with compassion."

Every purchase made at ImmuneSupport.com funds research - as does every purchase made from ProHealth's Health Resource catalog.

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