Posts
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Circadian Rhythms and Immunity
I've always wondered how many PWCs are natural night owls trying to function in a daytime world. I would frequently be tossing and turning till after 2 AM and have to be up between 6:30 and 7 AM to get to work on time. Would I have gotten sick if I could have slept 8 hours every night and not report to work till noon?
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The best laid plans....
I was finally going to make a dent in the pile of mishmash boxes thrown together by paid housecleaners whose cleaning technique was "I put everything in a box for YOU to put away!" instead of putting it away themselves (or, at least, making a separate box for each room instead of mixing silverware from the kitchen with legal papers from the dining room with drugstore items that belong in the bathroom and clean socks that belong in the bedroom, all on top of the book that I had been reading in the living room, which I set down for a minute in order to go to the bathroom).
I had a couple dozen boxes in the living room so that I could sit out in the sunshine on the front porch to work on the project.
And on the second day of that project, I opened the front door to find a City Violation because I haven't been able to find someone willing to do a good job on the yardwork that's beyond my physical abilities. There have been piles of leaves collecting for quite some time because the people who are supposed to sweep up and put the leaves out for pickup just sweep them into the corner of the stairway or under the foliage of the plants instead. I get lightheaded bending over even once, therefore the idea that I am going to bend down repeatedly to scoop up these leaves is filed under Not Gonna Happen.
I promptly wrote a letter to the City pointing out that I am disabled, and asking if they can refer me to any program that provides yardwork assistance to the disabled. I haven't been able to get any help on my own; maybe my City Councilman can finally make the right connection.
Meanwhile, I'm risking my health to do more than I should trying to appease rules that were made for the able-bodied that don't take into consideration that some of us aren't able to do those things. And, no, none of the neighbors have offered to help; they'd rather complain about the conditions than do anything about them. Hard as it is for those who live in small towns to comprehend, those of us who live in the big city do not automatically befriend our neighbors -- we make friends at work, not at home.
Once again, an important task I've started doesn't get finished because something else became a higher priority. So now I have a half-cleaned mess outside the house and a half-cleaned mess inside the house. And half-done laundry in the laundry room. And a computer that really needs to go to the repair shop. Most of this could be knocked out in one day by an able-bodied person, but I am not an able-bodied person; it'll take one full day out of my schedule to drop off the computer and another full day to bring it home. Another full day shot dealing with the laundry.
Who knows when I'll get back to the box-sorting task that I deemed most important. Someone else's priorities have to take precedence.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Win a Computer!
Win An HP Laptop Computer
A four year old used, but very serviceable, laptop computer is being given
away.
The fully functional computer is a Hewlett Packard DV6000 laptop with a
Microsoft XP operating system. The computer is in excellent condition.
Installed programs include the Microsoft Office Suite including; Word,
Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. Other programs include, Streets & Trips,
Money, Mozilla Firefox, Explorer and Quicktime. The computer also has a
built in Webcam for online video communication.
The winner of the laptop computer will be drawn from a list of those who
contribute $20 USD, or more, via PayPal to cfsKnowledgeCenter, the
non-profit sponsor of http://www.me-cfscommunity between 12:01am EDT
Saturday, February 4, 2012 and 12:01am Wednesday, February 8, 2012.
To be eligible for the drawing, click the following link and make a donation
of $20, or more: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=756137
4> &hosted_button_id=7561374
Due to the cost of shipping, only those contributors from the continental
United States and Canada are eligible for the drawing.
The winner will be announced Wednesday, February 8th.
Daniel Moricoli
http://www.cfsknowledgecenter.com <http://www.cfsknowledgecenter.com/>
http://www.me-cfscommunity.com <http://www.me-cfscommunity.com/>
http://pocketmoneyfund.org <http://pocketmoneyfund.org/>
Practical Information, Community & Research Support for those afflicted with
ME/CFS
A four year old used, but very serviceable, laptop computer is being given
away.
The fully functional computer is a Hewlett Packard DV6000 laptop with a
Microsoft XP operating system. The computer is in excellent condition.
Installed programs include the Microsoft Office Suite including; Word,
Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. Other programs include, Streets & Trips,
Money, Mozilla Firefox, Explorer and Quicktime. The computer also has a
built in Webcam for online video communication.
The winner of the laptop computer will be drawn from a list of those who
contribute $20 USD, or more, via PayPal to cfsKnowledgeCenter, the
non-profit sponsor of http://www.me-cfscommunity between 12:01am EDT
Saturday, February 4, 2012 and 12:01am Wednesday, February 8, 2012.
To be eligible for the drawing, click the following link and make a donation
of $20, or more: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=756137
4> &hosted_button_id=7561374
Due to the cost of shipping, only those contributors from the continental
United States and Canada are eligible for the drawing.
The winner will be announced Wednesday, February 8th.
Daniel Moricoli
http://www.cfsknowledgecenter.com <http://www.cfsknowledgecenter.com/>
http://www.me-cfscommunity.com <http://www.me-cfscommunity.com/>
http://pocketmoneyfund.org <http://pocketmoneyfund.org/>
Practical Information, Community & Research Support for those afflicted with
ME/CFS
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Pharmaceuticals and fat - 13 Drugs That Can Make You Gain Weight
If your doctor has put you on any of these, and then starts to nag you about your weight, make sure he's aware that weight gain is a known side effect. Sometimes they don't know.
One of the prescriptions I tried caused me to put on 30 pounds in 3 months, and even years after stopping that prescription, the weight gain remains. Even a starvation-level 500 calories a day doesn't take it off; my metabolism was permanently altered.
Some of the pages in that link do suggest alternative drugs that won't cause weight gain. With others, virtually every treatment for that medical condition will result in weight gain.
Response to Ricky Gervais
PERMISSION TO FORWARD AND RE-POST ON OTHER FORUMS, SOCIAL NETWORKING
SITES AND USE IN NEWSLETTERS. PLEASE TWEET AND RE-TWEET ON TWITTER.
Western Mail Letters.
If Trudy (played by Rachel Isaac) had phoned in sick (The Office star's
battle with ME, Western Mail, 28 January 2012 --
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/showbiz/2012/01/28/the-office-star-s-battle-with-me-91466-30206478/)
and her "Office" manager, David Brent, was equally ill-informed and
sadistic as Ricky Gervais, the actor who plays him, he would have said,
'M.E. - not MS, not the crippling, wasting disease - oh no, M.E. That's
the one where, "'don't feel like going to work today," ...' (You Tube* -
see below my signature for links, if you wish to see Ricky perform it).
Ricky says that he has apologised to people with M.E., 'I thought it was
psychosomatic but it's physiological ... very misunderstood, so easy to
ridicule ... the symptoms are not apparent, like losing a limb ... they
say, "We're tired," and we go, "How do we know that," ... seems like a
molly coddling society that accepts this new disease that wasn't around
100 years ago [Sic. This is not necessarily true]' Many of us do not
accept his as a sincere apology since he later repeats the same offence
elsewhere and does the same to people who have other illnesses and
disabilities, who, "are not gonna have a go at me, are you?" I don't
think Ricky does believe that there is a real illness called M.E.
It is true that there is no universally agreed diagnostic test for M.E.
- such as a blood test for Diabetes, or a scan for MS - but you would
have to believe that millions around the world, with so much to lose and
nothing obvious to gain, were malingering or hypochondriacal. The legal
principle of, "innocent until proved guilty" seems to be inverted here
to, "faking until proved ill."
I believe that Rachel Isaac was genuinely ill but I do wonder whether
she had M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), or some other illness. She
might, for example, have been burnt out, exhausted, by all the events
happening in her already busy life, which called for rest, or a change
of lifestyle, to put her right; or she may have had a viral infection,
one like Epstein-Barr (Glandular Fever), which took an unusually longer
time from which to recover, as did Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
and actress Barbara Windsor. These are examples of chronic illness but
not M.E. Some people think it doesn't matter and we can diagnose all
illnesses that have this rather vague symptom of "fatigue" under one
collective term, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). It is known, however,
from hard-knock experience and research evidence (Twisk& Maes, 2009)
that treatments recommended for some CFS patients, such as Cognitive
Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Graded Exercise Therapy (GET), may be
disappointingly ineffective and even harmful for M.E. sufferers.
Incidentally, people with MS were once treated with the same scepticism
that M.E. sufferers are now expected to endure, until a test confirmed
it for them. We have learnt nothing from this experience. It is no
laughing matter.
Yours sincerely
drjohngreensmith@mecommunitytrust.org
Dr John H Greensmith
ME Community Trust.org
* We have been unable to find the original version of Ricky Gervais,
alone, performing this sketch - we believe it may have no longer be
available to view on You Tube but the main substance is at the start of
these two videos.
Comedian Ricky Gervais on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic
Encephalomyelitis (You Tube, 5 December 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8avzoG5NWI&feature=player_embedded#!
And
CFS/M.E - The Torturous Disease (You Tube, 24 August 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOflARSgNnE&feature=related
--- Ends ---
SITES AND USE IN NEWSLETTERS. PLEASE TWEET AND RE-TWEET ON TWITTER.
Western Mail Letters.
If Trudy (played by Rachel Isaac) had phoned in sick (The Office star's
battle with ME, Western Mail, 28 January 2012 --
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/showbiz/2012/01/28/the-office-star-s-battle-with-me-91466-30206478/)
and her "Office" manager, David Brent, was equally ill-informed and
sadistic as Ricky Gervais, the actor who plays him, he would have said,
'M.E. - not MS, not the crippling, wasting disease - oh no, M.E. That's
the one where, "'don't feel like going to work today," ...' (You Tube* -
see below my signature for links, if you wish to see Ricky perform it).
Ricky says that he has apologised to people with M.E., 'I thought it was
psychosomatic but it's physiological ... very misunderstood, so easy to
ridicule ... the symptoms are not apparent, like losing a limb ... they
say, "We're tired," and we go, "How do we know that," ... seems like a
molly coddling society that accepts this new disease that wasn't around
100 years ago [Sic. This is not necessarily true]' Many of us do not
accept his as a sincere apology since he later repeats the same offence
elsewhere and does the same to people who have other illnesses and
disabilities, who, "are not gonna have a go at me, are you?" I don't
think Ricky does believe that there is a real illness called M.E.
It is true that there is no universally agreed diagnostic test for M.E.
- such as a blood test for Diabetes, or a scan for MS - but you would
have to believe that millions around the world, with so much to lose and
nothing obvious to gain, were malingering or hypochondriacal. The legal
principle of, "innocent until proved guilty" seems to be inverted here
to, "faking until proved ill."
I believe that Rachel Isaac was genuinely ill but I do wonder whether
she had M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), or some other illness. She
might, for example, have been burnt out, exhausted, by all the events
happening in her already busy life, which called for rest, or a change
of lifestyle, to put her right; or she may have had a viral infection,
one like Epstein-Barr (Glandular Fever), which took an unusually longer
time from which to recover, as did Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
and actress Barbara Windsor. These are examples of chronic illness but
not M.E. Some people think it doesn't matter and we can diagnose all
illnesses that have this rather vague symptom of "fatigue" under one
collective term, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). It is known, however,
from hard-knock experience and research evidence (Twisk& Maes, 2009)
that treatments recommended for some CFS patients, such as Cognitive
Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Graded Exercise Therapy (GET), may be
disappointingly ineffective and even harmful for M.E. sufferers.
Incidentally, people with MS were once treated with the same scepticism
that M.E. sufferers are now expected to endure, until a test confirmed
it for them. We have learnt nothing from this experience. It is no
laughing matter.
Yours sincerely
drjohngreensmith@mecommunitytrust.org
Dr John H Greensmith
ME Community Trust.org
* We have been unable to find the original version of Ricky Gervais,
alone, performing this sketch - we believe it may have no longer be
available to view on You Tube but the main substance is at the start of
these two videos.
Comedian Ricky Gervais on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic
Encephalomyelitis (You Tube, 5 December 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8avzoG5NWI&feature=player_embedded#!
And
CFS/M.E - The Torturous Disease (You Tube, 24 August 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOflARSgNnE&feature=related
--- Ends ---
* * *
Similarly, the only court in the US in which someone is guilty of attempted fraud until proven innocent is disability hearings. In every other court, there is the presumption of innocence until someone brings actual proof of wrongdoing.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
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