*** DOMINIE'S NEWSLETTER ***
DECEMBER 2004
PAGE 1
 
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor. I am a fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome survivor. The purpose of this newsletter is not to diagnose or cure any disease or malady, but is presented as food for thought.  This information cannot take the place of professional medical advice. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should come under the direction of a physician. No guarantees are made regarding any of the information in this newsletter.

Scroll down this page to read Topics 1-5:
1. LETTERS FROM READERS
2. MILLION LETTER CAMPAIGN UPDATE AND T-SHIRT/SWEATSHIRT INFO
3. POSITIVE RESULTS IN 150 FIBRO PATIENTS
4. FIBROMYALGIA TALES
5. FMS ARTICLE WRITTEN BY A READER'S BROTHER

Topics 6-20 http://www.fms-help.com/December2004Page2.htm
6. WHICH TYPE(S) OF FIBRO DO YOU HAVE?
7. MAMMOGRAMS BAD FOR YOU?
8. FLU AND EARS
9. FOOD ALLERGIES (revisited)
10. CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISORDER SITE
11. BEXTRA WARNING
12. HEART DAMAGE AND CFIDS/M.E.
13. FIBROMYALGIA MAGAZINE
14. THYROID MEDICATION HELPS READER'S FMS SYMPTOMS
15. INTERNATIONAL FIBROMYALGIA ORGANIZATIONS
16. POST-POLIO SYNDROME AND CFS
17. HOW TO CHECK YOUR THYROID YOURSELF
18. CHRISTMAS BLUES?
19. 15 MISTAKES YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO MAKE IN FILING FOR DISABILITY
20. M.E.OR CFS AND DISABILITY

Topics 21-36 http://www.fms-help.com/December2004Page3.htm
21. BRAIN AND SUBSTANCE "P"
22. PAIN SCALES
23. THYROID MEDICATION CYTOMEL
24. NEW EVIDENCE FOR CFS
25. WILSON'S THYROID & CHILDBIRTH
26. SINGLE WITH CFS?
27. TV SHOW PORTRAYS FIBRO IN A NEGATIVE MANNER
28. LYMPHATIC MASSAGE
29. FIBROMYALGIA & FATIGUE CENTERS
30. ALTERNATIVES TO ANTI-DEPRESSANTS
31. FMS SURVIVORS SUPPORT ONLINE
32. CHOCOLATE FOR COUGHS?
33. ROOT CANALS BAD
34. A MERRY HEART
35. SPIRITUAL UPLIFT CORNER
36. DOMINIE'S PERSONAL UPDATE

 
1. LETTERS FROM READERS
 
"After reading your web page http://www.fms-help.com, I felt like you were describing my life!"
 
"I was thrilled when I found your site...thank you for all the helpful information."
 
"You have a wonderful informative website. Plan to share your website with our support group members."
 
"I have received my T-Shirt and Sweatshirt http://www.fms-help.com/tshirts.htm for The FMS/CFIDS Million Letter Campaign. They are Really Beautiful and I am Proud to wear them.  I have been dx with Fibro now for 6 years now. I really enjoy your website. I am so glad I have found it. It helps me deal and understand this Disease. Thank you for being here for all of us."
 
"Thank you for your help and newsletter.  I have just signed up and am learning so much!  I don't feel as alone in all this."
 
About the marriage booklet at http://www.fms-help.com/marriage.htm: "I am so thrilled to see that you are also a Christian (as are many others that I talk to that are dealing with CFS/FMS). It certainly helps when we are trying to deal with things as a godly wife/mother, etc., to know that there are others who can encourage us along our way."

 "I am reading your story on fibromyalgia http://www.fms-help.com/fibro.htm   I was diagnosed with it approximately 2 years ago.  Thank you for having this web page.  It is good to know someone knows how you feel and why."

"I love my Tshirt!! http://www.fms-help.com/tshirts.htm  I wore it right away!! The ribbon colors, purple and green look amazing together! Thank you so much. I already have my letter written http://www.fms-help.com/letter.htm  just waiting now for May to send them out!  Thank you Dominie and to Jason too for such prompt, polite and friendly service!" [NOTE FROM DOMINIE:  Jason at Cornerstone Graphics is making the T-shirts for us.  He has been wonderful to work with!  They are donating a portion of the proceeds from the shirt sales to the campaign.]

"I have been reading on your site http://www.fms-help.com for a good 1/2 hr. now & I'm very impressed.  I'd like to request the list of helpful sites about family relationships for those who have FMS/CFIDS."

"I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by all the material I could read, but will look for items of interest in your [newsletter] table of contents."  [NOTE FROM DOMINIE:  This is the best way to utilize my newsletter....just look for topics that catch your interest--otherwise it can be mind-boggling.]

"I really enjoy your newsletters. they are most informative. I am continually struck by new information you send."

"I have also been battling with this problem for about forty years, diagnosed about 11 years ago. I have been bed-ridden, befuddled, and house bound many times and must still bow to this spectre. No longer able to work, teach dance, or walk very far without assistance, I am still plodding along, hoping for some relief from this nightmare of constant jabbings, stabs, aches, cramps and the constant feeling of being 'one big bruise.' Thank you for stepping up to the forefront as our champions. Perhaps something will come of it that is positive and nothing like the many, many, doctors, (of whom I've forgotten names because there ARE so many) who know less than I of this malady." 

"Thank you for your tireless work to supply we in the hinterlands with validating and comforting messages."

"I was just given, by a chance conversation, a copy of the Million Letter Campaign http://www.fms-help.com/letter.htm   I was EXTREMELY interested in your website & read most of it.  In the last 10-12 months I have developed a lot of oddball symptoms that after reading your articles, I am afraid that I MAY be suffering from FMS.  I am by NO means a hypochondriac, I just want to know what is going on & that it's not all in my head."  

"I can't THANK YOU enough for sharing your website http://www.fms-help.com and reaching out to people like
myself. I have FMS/CFS and I will send out the letters as requested. If there is anything I can do for DOCTORS, LAWYERS, PEOPLE to take me serious in this uphill battle I face EVERYDAY of my life I will do it."
 
"Kudos to you for your determination to help others!!!  I thank you many times over.  Keep up the good work as one of God's 'angels' here on earth."
 
"I was just reading your story on Fibro http://www.fms-help.com/fibro.htm after looking at all the copies of my doctors reports and test results since 1982.  I was just recently diagnosed with FMS but didn't really believe it until I read your story.  It's all too familiar. I think I'm starting to reach my limit of endurance and need to reach out to others who understand.  In my family I'm considered the strong one and always have to support everyone else.  They don't care about things such as 'what's that Fibro thing?'"
 
2. MILLION LETTER CAMPAIGN UPDATE AND
T-SHIRT/SWEATSHIRT INFO
 
There are 17 ladies now working on the MLC team to get the word out to people with FMS/CFIDS, support groups and organizations.  You can learn about the Million Letter Campaign at http://www.fms-help.com/letter.htm  We are asking people with FMS/CFIDS to write a one page letter about their illness and snail mail it to the 5 addresses listed on the site on May 1, 2005.  The difference between writing letters individually vs. the MLC plan is the difference between snowflakes and an AVALANCHE!!  Please plan to participate.  We hope to gain national recognition for this illness and media coverage to help increase awareness of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.  The Million Letter Campaign T-shirts and Sweatshirts are REASONABLY PRICED, BEAUTIFUL and HIGH QUALITY!!! http://www.fms-help.com/tshirts.htm  Wearing them will help support the campaign and get the word out!
 
  Here's a letter from a newsletter reader about her shirt--
 
"Just thought I would let you know about how your t-shirts/sweatshirts can be a teaching tool. I stood in line at the grocery store last week and the woman behind me was reading the back of my sweat shirt and asked me about it. I was able to tell her about fibromyalgia, facts, not myths and she was very interested to hear about it.  So, not only will be educating those we write letters, but by wearing our shirts, we can educate the public, one person at a time.  By the way, if anyone is interested, I love my sweatshirt, and it washes up wonderfully!"
 
3.  POSITIVE RESULTS IN 150 FIBROMYALGIA PATIENTS
 
From a newsletter reader (if this article were written in PLAIN English, it would be more helpful)---

 Article from Aging Healthfully Magazine
 
The data in this clinical outcome study document the efficacy of the ecologic-integrative management protocols used in reversing fibromyalgia (excellent or good outcome in 84.7%).
Abstract from The Journal of Integrative Medicine Volume 3 Number 1
Majid Ali, M.D., Judy Juco, M.D., Alfred O. Fayemi, M.D., Omar Ali, M.D., Mahboob Baig, M.B.,B.S.;
Marta Babol, M.D., Karimullah Zirvi, Ph.D., Carol Grieder-Bradenberger, R.N., Mary Ann Carroll, R.N.

 Here's an excerpt--
 
Ecologic-Integrative Management Protocols
    The comprehensive, ecologic-integrative management protocols employed were based on clinical, biochemical, and high-resolution microscopic assessment of the microecologic cellular and macroecologic tissue-organ systems of the body. Such protocols included the following: choices in the kitchen designed to provide for optimal hydration, elimination of foods causing incompatibility reactions and rapid glucose-insulin-adrenaline shifts; supplementation with vitamins, minerals, and some "redox-restorative substances" (RRSs) such as glutathione, taurine, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), coenzyme Q10, and lipoic acid; ample herbal support for the bowel, blood, and liver ecosystems (including colon hydrotherapy and liver flushes); endocrine support, especially for the thyroid, adrenals, and sex hormones; intramuscular and intravenous nutrient protocols; oxygenative therapies, including nasal oxygen, intravenous infusions of hydrogen peroxide and ozone, and EDTA chelation; gentle stretching and noncompetitive (limbic) exercise; and training in effective methods for self-regulation, stress reduction, and guidance for spiritual surrender.
 
[NOTE FROM DOMINIE:  This is a very encouraging article!  However, if you need some ideas in plain English, read my 100 Tips for Coping with Fibromyalgia and Insomnia at http://www.fms-help.com/tips.htm and, of course, my newsletter each month, where I try to keep everyone up to date on the latest.  There are back issues of the newsletter on my site http://www.fms-help.com --they are loaded with helpful info!]

4.  FIBROMYALGIA TALES
 
Feel like writing about your FMS?  Read this from Sophie Lee sophie@ibstales.com--
 
I found your wonderful fibromyalgia website today and I was wondering if I could publish your story of fibro on my own new website. I currently run a site called IBS Tales for irritable bowel syndrome sufferers at www.ibstales.com and the site is basically a way for sufferers to read about the experiences of others and swap stories.
 
Because a lot of IBS people suffer from fibro as well I am starting a new site called Fibromyalgia Tales. Because it is brand new I need a few stories to get it going, and I was wondering if you would mind if I included yours? I would of course be happy to include a link to your website or email address.
 
Although there is nothing online yet the URL will be www.fibromyalgia.org.uk and I expect to have something online during this coming weekend.
 
I would be very grateful if you could let me know whether this would be OK, and if there's anything extra you would like to write about your fibro experiences then I would be very happy to hear about them.  The limit should be 3,000 words, but I'm happy to edit stories if someone has a particularly long version of theirs.
 
All the best,
 
Sophie Lee sophie@ibstales.com
 
5. FMS ARTICLE WRITTEN BY A READER'S BROTHER
 
WHEN A LOVED ONE HAS FIBROMYALGIA, HOW CAN I HELP? 
http://fmaware.org/patient/family/loved_onehas_FM.htm
 

 
PAGE 2 (Topics 6-20) http://www.fms-help.com/December2004Page2.htm
 PAGE 3 (Topics 21-36) http://www.fms-help.com/December2004Page3.htm
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DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor. I am a fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome survivor. The purpose of this website is not to diagnose or cure any disease or malady, but is presented as food for thought.  This information cannot take the place of professional medical advice. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should come under the direction of a physician. No guarantees are made regarding any of the information in this website.