1.
ScienceDirect.com: Effects of allopurinol on pain and anxiety in fibromyalgia patients: a pilot study
From the study: “…this study has demonstrated that oral administration of the xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol 300 mg twice daily caused a significant reduction on pain scores after 15 and 30 days of treatment in women with fibromyalgia. No benefit was observed against both trait and state anxiety scores.”
2.
CaliforniaNewswire.com: Flightpath Biosciences Launches via Illumina Accelerator: Will Conduct Largest Clinical Biomarker Study in Lyme Disease
From the article: “Flightpath Biosciences, a life sciences company, launched today claiming a spot in Illumina Accelerator’s second global class to develop diagnostics and microbiome-targeted therapeutics to treat rare pathogen-driven diseases. The company has operated in stealth since its founding in mid-2019 and has built a pipeline of drug candidates for a wide range of diseases, starting with acute and Persistent Lyme Disease.”
3.
PubMed: Attentional function in fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis
From the study: “A possible hypothesis that may be tested in future studies is that central nervous sensitization to pain contributes to attention deficits in [fibromyalgia]. …Central nervous sensitization places more demands on … areas [in the brain] and thus reduces processing resources for attention.”
4.
Weather.com: Lizards may be why Lyme disease is rare in the south and more common in the northeast, study says
From the article: “Southern ticks tend to choose lizards, mostly skinks, as their hosts instead of small mammals, according to a study published in the journal PLOS Biology. Lizards do not spread the bacteria that causes Lyme disease as efficiently as small mammals like the white-footed mouse, a primary host in the Northeast, the researchers said.”
5.
HealthLine: What is BEMER therapy, and what’s it used for?
From the article: “Chronic health conditions can cause a wide range of symptoms, including pain, fatigue, and more. Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy has been used as a treatment option to help alleviate the symptoms of some of these conditions. Bio-electromagnetic energy regulation (BEMER) therapy is a newer type of PEMF therapy that may also be effective for these conditions. The therapy is delivered through medical devices created by the BEMER group.”
And an extra…
Pain News Network: CDC focused on Rx opioids while fentanyl deaths soared 1,040%
From the article: “The study looked at fatal overdoses from 2013 to 2019, a period when U.S. drug deaths rose by over 56 percent, culminating with 70,630 Americans dying from overdoses in 2019. Deaths involving prescription opioids remained relatively flat during that period, while overdoses involving other substances rose, led by an astounding 1,040% increase in deaths linked to illicit fentanyl and other synthetic, mostly black market opioids.”
Want to participate in fibromyalgia research studies?
I was recently contacted by Acurian, a company that finds potential research participants who are willing to participate in fibromyalgia studies to help advance treatment. Current studies are being conducted in select states, and participants are financially compensated for their time.
If you’re interested in possibly participating in fibromyalgia-related trials, please fill out this survey.
New recommendations for amalgam (mercury) fillings
I was surprised when I received a press release from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday announcing recommendations for dental fillings containing mercury (aka amalgam fillings).
While the FDA isn’t calling for a ban or removal in general, the agency is suggesting that certain populations NOT get mercury fillings.
Learn more about the recommendations here!
I’m curious if any of you have had your mercury fillings removed? If so, did your symptoms improve? Please share in the comments.
Just FYI: It’s important to use a biological dentist if you’re going to remove amalgam fillings. Biological dentists take special precautions when removing these fillings to help protect your health. Regular dentists, in general, do not, which may make you sicker than you already are!
Home Biz Summit…
I just want to let you guys know about a free online summit coming up next week focused on home-based businesses. So many of us struggle to work due to the unpredictability of life with fibromyalgia, Lyme and similar conditions, so I know some of you will be interested in this event!
The Home Biz HQ Business Summit for Beginners will be held Monday, Feb. 22-Wednesday, Feb. 24.
You can register or find out more here.
Fasting for Fibro…
Leah McCullough aka The Fibro Lady is hosting a free webinar about fasting for fibro. Register here!
*****The following sections contain affiliate links!*****
EarthPulse Valentine’s sale…
EarthPulse is offering 20% off its PEMF devices through the end of February using the code VALENTINE at checkout!
I was lucky enough to be gifted EarthPulse’s V6 Basic device a couple of years ago, and I still use it every night for improved sleep!
My new favorite cream for dry skin…
This isn’t technically chronic illness-related, but I know a lot of you suffer from dry skin like I do, so I thought I’d share an amazing product I discovered this week! I’ve been on the hunt for a really great NATURAL hand cream for a couple of years now, and I think I’ve finally found it! My first bottle of Ancient Greek Remedy’s Butter Cream arrived on Monday, and I loved it so much that I ordered the entire gift set the very next day. I’m excited to try the rest of the items in the set especially the bar soap.
Butter Cream isn’t *technically* a hand cream but I’ve been slathering my hands with it at bedtime and then sleeping in cloth gloves so the cream can sink into my skin overnight. My hands feel so much better!
For those who are sensitive to fragrance, most of Ancient Greek Remedy’s products are lightly scented with lavender essential oil. They also make an unscented oil for those who either don’t like lavender or are ultra sensitive to even natural scents, but it looks like it’s out of stock right now.
Anyway, just wanted to share in case some of you are struggling with dry skin due to the winter.
And by the way, I recently added a few more favorites to my Amazon store.
You can check out the latest additions here!
Body Electric Summit 2.0…
Dr. Christine Schaffner is hosting the Body Electric Summit 2.0 from Monday, Feb. 22-28. The summit will cover the following, according to the event’s website:
- Meet the pioneers in exploring the Body Electric
- Explore light, sound and color therapies
- Gain an understanding of the role of advanced hydration
- Discover clinical energy medicine applications
- Learn to mediate the negative impacts of EMFs
- Access strategies to support mitochondrial health
- Learn about the connection between trauma and brain health
- Learn to harness group energy to create healing
- Advance your knowledge of biohacking, energy codes and frequency healing And so much more!
Schaffner and HealthMeans are offering several free gifts with registration. Use one of the following links, and you’ll receive the free item as listed:
- Register and receive Dr. Christine Schaffner’s eGuide, “Your Body Electric: An Introduction to Bioenergetics.” This eBook covers the basic principles of energy, frequency and vibrational healing.
- Register and receive Dr. Christine Schaffner’s eGuide, “Energy Hygiene: Healing Checklists and Practical Guidebook,” which includes energy hygiene techniques to help protect you and your family.
- Register and receive Dr. Christine Schaffner’s 20-page eGuide, “Essential Brain Hygiene,” and learn why having a daily brain hygiene practice is just as vital to your health as brushing your teeth.
- Register and receive HealthMeans’ 20-page eBook, “8 Surprising Ways Beliefs Impact Our Health,” and learn how what you believe can help support positive health outcomes.
Each day’s interviews will be available to watch, free and online, for 24 hours. If you miss an interview, there will be an encore weekend on March 6-7 where you can watch the replays of all of the summit’s content.
However, if you’d like to watch the summit at your leisure, you can buy the recordings for as low as $59. (That price usually goes up a day or two after the summit starts.)
I’m Donna, a longtime newspaper reporter, health writer and chronic illness thriver! Fed Up with Fatigue provides weekly news, research, treatments and more to help you live better with fibromyalgia and/or Lyme.
I’m glad I never got mercury fillings, but i’ve had a few people who were having alot of health issues wanting help as mercury does alot of damage to the body. There’s 2 issues the first is that the damage caused can’t be really dealt with until you remove the fillings, the other issue is you need to do a good amount of detox before, and then when they’re taken out it can release more mercury into the body. I would hope a biological dentist could limit that, but I haven’t had experience with them.
I agree that mercury fillings should be stopped altogether, not just limited to certain parts of the population. Nobody in the population should get them as they are damaging to everybody.
Even worse is in that link they say ‘there’s no known negative effects to the fillings’ but that ‘breathing in the vapor may be damaging to certain types of people’. I agree, certain types of people, like absolutely everybody.
Hi Ben, I still can’t wrap my brain around why people thought it was a good idea to put a toxic metal inside people’s mouths! I guess those are the same people who think it’s ok to eat pesticides on our food and drink fluoride in our water. My common sense tells me that NONE of those things are a good idea.
Hi. I did have all my sliver fillings in my teeth removed some years ago. Following a detox fpost removal . The dentist used the safer method of removing. I saw no improvement. But i am glad i got them out as i would always wonder
I have found something that has helped the chronic dry skin that I have had for over 60 years. Part of my trick is lotion by a company called Lifekind. They sell moisturizing lotion with MSM. I use one pump of that and one pump of organic castor oil for each body part (calf, thigh, etc). The combination has really worked. The MSM lotion alone is just not quite enough moisturizing for me and the castor oil alone is too sticky, but the two combined is perfect! I’m so thankful to not have the dry, itchy, flakey skin I’ve had all my life!
Hi Donna, I have chronic insomnia and have used the pemf machine at my chiropractor’s office for other reasons then sleep of which I didn’t know it would help with sleep. I wonder if I bought one of these machines and used it every night would it work?
They are pricey and wonder how their return policy actually works after the 90 days.
Do you know of any one else that has used it for sleep in your fibro group?
Thanks , Leslie King from Colorado
Hi Leslie, unfortunately I don’t know of anyone else who have used this particular device. I would make sure to read their return policy very carefully before purchase to make sure you don’t have issues should you need to return it b/c it’s not helping.
Hi Donna,
I’ve been following you for years and am impressed with how you have grown and the valuable info you provide.
Now that CFS experts are starting to treat “covid Long Haulers” it is helping our population as they come up with treatments for that awful syndrome.
Most importantly it is comparing those symptoms to CFS; finally lending credence to the fact that CFS is a REAL DIAGNOSIS!
I hope you will explore this in a future newsletter; I’d love to see what you come up with ( I’d be happy to help! I am an avid researcher and healthcare provider with CFS)
.https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/long-haul-covid-cases-cast-new-light-on-chronic-fatigue-sufferers/amp/
Hi Bonnie, it’s funny that you brought up the connection b/tw CFS and long-haul COVID. I’m going to have a new site built focusing on news/treatments related to long-haul. I think it’s WONDERFUL that the medical community is linking long haul to CFS (and also occasionally fibromyalgia) b/c, like you said, it brings more awareness and could lead to breakthroughs in research for ALL of us!
I have a friend with a BEMER who let me use it for about 4 to 5 mo. I felt if there was any difference it was NOT enough to offset the cost.
I had my mercury fillings removed around 30 yrs ago with no change in pain.