Dec. 18, 2020 fibromyalgia and Lyme news

Quick holiday message…

A family member just reminded me that Christmas is literally just a week away! If I’m feeling up to it, I will try to push out the weekly news post a day early on Thursday next week, but if that doesn’t happen for whatever reason, I just want to take a quick moment to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

I know 2020 has been a rough year, especially here in the States with the pandemic, a challenging election year, increasing racial tensions and so many people losing loved ones, as well as their jobs, homes and businesses. My mama always told me “don’t wish your life away,” but I’m sure I’m not the only person who is glad to see 2020 come to a close. I’m praying that by next Christmas, life will be back to some semblance of normalcy. Let’s hope so, at least.

You guys will never know how much you inspire me and keep me going day to day. Your emails, messages and comments mean so much to me. Love you, guys!

1.

MIT News: Multimillion-dollar grant to MIT funds research into acute and chronic Lyme disease

From the article: “Aiming to prevent others from enduring a similarly painful chronic health trauma and to shed light on the complex disease and encourage further investment in research, Emily and Malcolm Fairbairn have made a $2.14 million gift to the MIT School of Engineering to fund a two-year research project examining a physiomimetic analysis of acute and chronic Lyme disease.”

2.

Reuters.com: ‘Objective’ indicators don’t apply to fibromyalgia pain

(Note: I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find a better article on this important court ruling. Looks like Reuters news service was the only media to cover this issue, and they have a paywall that presents us from reading a more detailed account of what happened.)

From the article: “The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday joined six other circuits that recognize the ‘unique nature’ of fibromyalgia and barred the Social Security Administration from using objective medical evidence ‘or the lack thereof’ to discount a disability claimant’s subjective reports of pain or other symptoms.”

3.

Johns Hopkins Medicine: Lyme disease bacteria alter immune system and may cause it to attack healthy cells

From the article: “However, the researchers believe that when the HLA-DRs interact with Borrelia burgdorferi, they are structurally changed and keep the dendritic cells from ‘marking’ the bacterial proteins as foreign. As a result, the dendritic cells attract T-cells but in response to healthy cells in the area rather than the Lyme disease microbes.”

4.

Medical News Today: What is the best mattress for fibromyalgia?

At least once a month, I have a member of my fibro group on Facebook ask for mattress recommendations. This article from Medical News Today features five mattress brands, some of which are new to me. I’m curious if any of you have tried these brands, and if so, are you happy with your purchase? Please feel free to answer in the comments section below so we can learn from one another.

I have a Tempur-Pedic mattress that we bought in 2012. It’s firmer than I like. I added a mattress topper to soften it up so that it’s easier on my hips and lower back.

Like other memory foam mattresses, it does get hot sometimes. If I had it to do over, I would purchase one of the “cooling” memory foam mattresses instead.

But overall, I definitely like the feel of the memory foam better than a traditional spring mattress.

5.

Pain News Network: How to make opioid medication more effective

From the article: “The oldest measure to either minimize the dosage or make an opioid more effective has been to add a chemical agent that makes the opioid act longer and stronger. This concept is known as ‘potentiation,’ and there are many examples of it throughout history.”

And an extra…

HealthCentral.nz: Proof chronic fatigue syndrome not psychsomatic

(Posting since many of us with fibromyalgia are also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.)

From the article: “The two recently published studies, run simultaneously, aimed to explain the pervasive lowered energy that is a core symptom of the disease, why patients suffer so many effects related to the brain and nervous system, and why sufferers seem to be in a ‘state of hibernation’ with a lower rate of biochemical activity.”

This week on FedUpwithFatigue.com…

Last-minute gifts and stocking stuffers for those with fibromyalgia, Lyme and similar illnesses

Liberty Lotion sale…

(This section includes an affiliate link.)

Liberty Lotion is offering 30% off sitewide including CBD tinctures, lotions, etc. through Jan. 1. No promo code is needed; the discount will be taken at checkout!

You can read my previous reviews of Liberty Lotion’s Liberty Lixir CBD tincture and Limitless pain-relieving lotion.