8 Ways Alternative Medicine Hurts Those of Us With Chronic Illnesses

This is SO DAMN TRUE, it’s scary! 😦

Emily Coday's avatarChronically Ridiculous

Since the moment I first got sick the suggestions people gave me were unreal. The suggestions began with “just needing to pray harder” and gradually made their way to biofeedback, grounding, crystals, supplements, and more. I honestly am not sure which was worse, but I do know that suggestions and trying alternative medicine have only made a hard life with chronic illness harder.

1. The Patient Gets Blamed When a Treatment Doesn’t Work

When a doctor gives me a medication and it doesn’t work I don’t get blamed for the failure. However, when I try an alternate medicine I nearly always do get blamed for the failure. When it was biofeedback, I wasn’t trying hard enough or practicing enough. When it was acupuncture, I wasn’t trying to relax hard enough. Even with supplements, I just hadn’t waited long enough for the benefits (no matter how long I waited).

It is…

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Suicides in Chronic Pain Community – Part 1

As the suicide rate increases in pain patients being withheld pain medicine, we will all be labeled “addicts”, when the truth is, the government now feels the need to dictate to doctors how much pain medication we are and are not allowed to have. #PeopleWithPainMatter

lanakirby's avatarRally 4 Pain

are-cdc-opioid-guidelines-causing-more-suicides_-pain-news-network

Over the next few blogs, we’ll be sharing a series of stories of people whose pain became so severe after the CDC “guidelines” were released and the States rushed to enact even tougher laws in an effort to show “progress” towards curbing the heroin crisis, causing a chain reaction of media hype meant to stigmatize and further antagonize chronic pain patients. This, along with attitudes from some physicians that regardless of whether the patient will decline, opioids will be reduced significantly or discontinued all together due to the government’s new opinions and instructions on opioid treatment for long-term use.

For many people, they know what type of pain they were in prior to the implementation of a pain management plan consisting of opioid treatment in conjunction with other modalities which was working nicely for them.  For the majority of these patients, the pain never “goes away”, it just gets…

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Surgeon General Call to Action Falls Short

Zyp Czyk's avatarEDS and Chronic Pain News & Info

Surgeon General Call to Action Falls Short | Huffington Post by Lynn R. Webster, MD Author of “The Painful Truth”

Law-enforcement seizures of illicit fentanyl have soared, changing the face of drug-related deaths and necessitating new public health strategies to meet the evolving threat.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an 80 percent increase nationally in synthetic opioid deaths from 2013 to 2014, an increase that coincides with a 426 percent rise in the number of drugs containing fentanyl seized by law enforcement.

The country is being overrun with truly deadly drugs that are killing increasing numbers of people, yet the CDC remains focused on prescriptions for pain patients.  

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CDC Guidelines Refuted with Scientific Evidence

Zyp Czyk's avatarEDS and Chronic Pain News & Info

Neat, Plausible, and Generally Wrong: A Response to the CDC Recommendations for Chronic Opioid Use – Medium
Stephen A. Martin, MD, EdM; Ruth A. Potee, MD, DABAM ; and Andrew Lazris, MD

Finally, someone is standing up for the truth about opioids and pain patients. These three courageous M.D.s expose the CDC guidelines for the fraud they are.

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Today Doesn’t Feel Like A Monday

Hello everyone! I haven’t been around much of late, and for that I am sorry, even though I know apologies aren’t necessary.

I am dealing with a family crisis and quite frankly, I’ve lost my temper and I’m one of the most unpleasant people at the moment to deal with (not that I’m all that pleasant on other days ending in Y). I’m about 0.1 seconds from utterly snapping. I’d love to be able to blame that on PMS, but the truth is, my first reaction to things isn’t always the perfect reaction, which is why I like to step away from a lot of situations, if I can, before I react. When they say stress is the leading killer, whoever “they” are, they’re right. I thought I was going to have a stress-induced heart attack last night. 😦

After apologizing to the person I yelled at, I realized that I truly see the world differently than others. I’m not a “There are so many good people in the world.” kind of person. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the world, even as a child, with that level of naivetĂŠ. I see evil walking around disguised as “people”, and on occasion you come across a few angels looking out for others, but on a whole, this world is not chock full of good in every direction one turns in. If it were merely me, I would keep on keeping on, but when it affects someone close to me; I go ape-shit.

For those who’ve asked: Yes, I did find my brother. He got in touch with me late Tuesday morning and explained what happened, as well as his nearly two-week absence. I would like to thank the Falls Township Police Department for their assistance and to the cop that assisted me personally, who was 100% nicer to me when I called to let him know I’d found my brother. His entire demeanor changed after that, and he told me to get in touch with him if I ever need anything in the future. That was a nice moment. Not many cops send you an e-mail and include all of their contact information in case you ever need something in the future. Major points were scored for that one.

On the downside, finding my brother “safe & sound”, sort of, didn’t even last a full three and a half days before something truly horrible happened, something I’ve been concerned about for months now. All I can do in this moment is be supportive and help him get medical care because his heart isn’t good, despite having had bypass surgery last year. He is in pre-kidney failure and requires a supplement to help it (I’m not 100% sure that even he knows what it does or doesn’t do. I just know that it’s expensive and he needs it.), and his insurance chose the absolute worst time to cut him off. He is now without much-needed medication (roughly 10-12 prescriptions that must be taken daily. He has already been without these drugs long enough for damage to re-occur.) that keep his heart functioning and other things at a normal rate. I have no idea when the insurance company will start paying for his care again. Because of this, I will be posting an online fundraiser ASAP for emergency assistance. Every penny will go towards his medication and doctors visits until he has insurance backing him again. Unfortunately, they’re not very speedy, it took several months for it to be processed last time, and despite reaching out to pharmaceutical companies and various charities, no one is willing to assist him with what he needs, mostly because, despite the older ones being generics, a lot of these medications add up. This is life or death. I don’t ask for myself, but I do ask that if you can help in any way, however large or small, it is going to someone who truly needs it. If the link doesn’t go up this week (My mind can barely concentrate on the paint on the wall, much less the logistics required for this sort of thing, so bear with me.) and you are able to contribute something immediately, I will provide you with the direct information if you leave a comment or e-mail me. If you require more information, just ask. I won’t violate his privacy, but I can elaborate for those who are afraid of being scammed (Unfortunately, this does happen and I am all too aware of it. I think that is disgusting, because so many people are truly in need. I’ve never understood the scamming mentality.). For my brother, I am willing to swallow my pride and ask for much-needed help.

And now, I am going to try catching some desperately needed rest because today really IS a Monday and I can’t afford to lay in bed all day. Naturally, I wish I had better things to say as well, but I’m doing my best.

I will be back soon, and hopefully get the fundraiser going the second my foggy brain allows it.

Best,

lisa-1

copyright Š 2016 by Lisa Marino & Blackbird Serenity LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.