Living with Fibromyalgia

Being Healthy with Fibromyalgia – Network Spinal Analysis

May 17, 2013 By Dr. Leo Quan Leave a Comment

Living with Fibromyalgia can be an ongoing experience with pain, fog and fatigue. There may be no injury present, or compared to the symptoms the injury is small. Or, it may have healed long ago, so why does it still ache?

Fibromyalgia and other forms of chronic pain do not happen because of muscles or joints alone. Some skeptics may even tell you it’s all in your head. So what is really happening? The latest understanding is that our nervous system plays a big role.

What’s the nervous system?

It is made up of nerve endings, nerves and the spinal cord. These are the sensors, wiring and switches for gathering, transmitting and processing input from all parts of the body. The nervous system’s largest processing centre is the brain. This is where the nervous system receives the signals and makes its best interpretation. For many people living with fibromyalgia or other forms of chronic pain, the nervous system is miswired and distorts what should be benign input. The result is a painful misinterpretation, ouch!

What this all means is that pain comes from our nervous system and in particular the brain.

If the pain experience comes from a brain miswired, how do we address the pain and get back to health? Pain medication, usually the first resort, can quiet the nerves and the pain centres in the brain. Unfortunately, pain meds modify the experience only and not the underlying issue. Take away the medication and the pain returns. Why? The nervous system is still misinterpreting signals as painful. Reorganizing the nervous system is the key to health.

How do we improve the health of the nervous system and correct the signal distortion? We need to reorganize the sensors, wiring and switches. We need to rewire the nervous system.

Network Spinal Analysis

Network Spinal Analysis and Fibromyalgia A gentle approach can be the answer. Network Spinal Analysis is leading edge chiropractic that has helped improve Fibromyalgia symptoms and achieve greater health using a system of light touch. Developed by chiropractor Dr. Donald Epstein, Network Spinal Analysis helps the body form new connections between brain and body. It is a gentle technique that is well suited to people living with Fibromyalgia. Light touch is used along specific areas of the spine causing large-scale changes across the entire body.

The gentle touches, applied with as much force as putting in a contact lens, are made over specific areas called “spinal gateways”. Gateways are critical information processing centres for our nervous system. They’re how the nervous system can monitor and regulate on our inner and outer environments. They are focal areas for free energy and with light touches can help the nervous system to unwind, heal and growth. When a Gateway is contacted the body naturally breathes and moves, stretches, awakens, and releases stuck energy and stress. With regular care, this ability becomes deeply ingrained.

The nervous system is the new cornerstone to health and well-being. Functioning optimally, it helps all parts of the body to communicate with each other. It allows us to sense and adapt to ever changing internal and external environments. For people living with Fibromyalgia or other forms of chronic pain, the nervous system can be miswired and can interfere with normal body function. Network Spinal Analysis makes possible a re-organized and rewired nervous system. If you could rewire ourselves for greater healing, growth and well-being, what would open up for you?

Yours in health,
Dr. Leo Quan

Filed Under: Chronic Pain, Coping Tips

My Fibromyalgia Awareness Day 2013

May 13, 2013 By Shannon Hutcheson Leave a Comment

First Love Yourself Well, as you may know, Fibromyalgia Awareness Day was yesterday, May 12. I had all kinds of plans to write up a resource for Canadians with Fibromyalgia. What was happening and where.

Unfortunately, I’ve been having a really rough time pain and focus wise lately. Yesterday was an utter wash with vertigo so bad I couldn’t move without feeling like a dizzy drunk.

The long story, shortened

Two months ago, my husband fell on the ice in the parking lot of his work place. He broke his ankle pretty badly. The ankle bone was not a clean break, but nearly right through. They decided he didn’t need a pin, which is good. However, it became a long hard battle to actually get the worker’s compensation pay he deserved. We still don’t know if it was something his work bitched about, refused to sign or acknowledge, or if it was worker’s comp that was the issue. We think a little of both.

Needless to say, the money has been really tight around here. We’re late with rent and could not buy my usual medication, including the pain medication. So I’ve been suffering through it with Aleve (NSAIDs are BAD for you long-term) and OTC Mersyndol (like Tylenol 1 without the caffeine). Until today, it had been 6 weeks without Nucynta. Yep, that’s a LONG time for someone who is accustomed to 500 mg of Nucynta CR per day plus 100 mg of Nucynta IR per day for breakthrough pain. You can imagine my intense hatred of my hubby’s work. To keep it short, my hatred is as strong as a supernova. But I digress…

Things can only get better

So we found out the hubby can return to work this week for a month of light duties. We’re also hoping he can be transferred to a less physical job within the company he’s worked at for 26 years. There was a job posting for something he is qualified for, so we’re really hopeful he’ll get it. He has seniority and the pay is the same. The hours would be the same too, so we’d be thrilled for him to get this job. Here’s hoping!

The good news is that while he is on light duties, worker’s comp still covers him. If he returns to work earlier (than the proposed June 31, 2013) he gets paid full time wages instead of a percentage of his full time wage. So that’s a plus. Even better though, if he gets that posted job, he will always get full hours whereas before he was almost always shorted hours. So we’re really hoping he gets that job!

The best news, for me, is that this posted job is FAR safer than the one he had. He is a rollman by trade (printing), and handles 80 lb rolls of paper as they maneuver them into the press for printing. It’s a very physical job (yes, he’s buff! lol minus the Buddha belly) and a stupid mistake can cost you a finger, a hand or even your arm. I’m terrified of the football field long sized machines! So I’d be doubly glad if he got this far safer job posting (at the same pay).

Finally, due to someone’s screw up, my birthday is wrong in the health insurance’s files. Which means I cannot get any prescriptions filled until it is corrected. Sometimes it can take days to get fixed. I called directly to confirm they had the wrong birthday and they gave me a 2 business day time frame where I can get my prescriptions filled. So however it long it takes to them to “officially” update my part of the file (which has to be done through his work), I can get the meds I need. Yay! and thank goodness, too.

Health insurance back on track

Unbeknownst to us, there is online access to the health care insurance company his work is with. So now I can see with my own eyes what is covered, specifically, and what isn’t. We were amazed to see that massage therapy, acupuncture and naturopathic care IS covered (we were told otherwise by his work). NO chiropractor though. Only a measly $300 a year, per type, but still it’s better than a kick in the ass with a frozen boot! Right?

Anyway, now I can keep track of exactly what is going on with our health insurance coverage. No stressing over that anymore, whew! Mostly.

Something else I found out today too. Lyrica is now available in generic form. The pharmacist told my hubby about it when he was picking up the Nucynta for me today. Same ingredients, just generic. Which means cheaper. Cheaper is good! So if you are taking Lyrica, ask the pharmacist for the generic. In Canada, the doctor doesn’t have to change the prescription. The pharmacist can, however, fill the prescription with the generic drug.

In fact, I was told that most health insurance companies will not allow you to buy the “label” brand version if there is a generic anyway. So heads up, this is a very recent thing. Don’t be surprised if you are told Lyrica is no longer covered by your plan. The generic form very well may be. Just ask your pharmacist.

That’s it for updates for me. Hope you are feeling as good as you can be! I also hope your Fibromyalgia Awareness Day was better than mine!

Let me know what you did? Or share where Fibromyalgia Awareness Day events went on in your Canadian city?

Light and Love to you and yours and thanks for reading! <3

Filed Under: Journal

Beware of Canadian Disability Tax Credit Companies

April 26, 2013 By Shannon Hutcheson Leave a Comment

If you have applied for Canadian disability, you may have come across one of the many Canadian Disability Tax Credit Companies online offering to get you a sizable return simply for being disabled in some way. I am writing about this because Canadians with disabilities (and Fibromyalgia patients seeking to claim disability) should be aware of the scrutiny this Disability Tax Credit (DTC) has been getting by Revenue Canada. Since at least 2011.

This Disability Tax Credit is entirely separate from your government disability application or the CPP disability application. It is something in addition that you can apply for. The DTC is a non-refundable tax credit that a person with a severe and prolonged impairment in physical or mental functions can claim to reduce the amount of income tax he or she has to pay in a year.

The problem is that apparently the proper forms and doctor reports required are difficult to get (though this site makes it sound easy and so does this gov’t document - PDF) together. There are companies that claim they know exactly how to get the proper forms and acquire the necessary doctor’s reports necessary to reward you with a favorable outcome – money. For the service, they want but a wee cut of the money you get.

My intent with this post is mostly a buyer beware ALERT. The Better Business Bureau recommends that you “review and understand any material that is provided before making a decision. Ensure you have a clear understanding of what is being offered” BEFORE you enter into any agreement with companies that say they can help you (or a family member) get a large Disability Tax Return. There could be a major reason why not many people know about (or get) this tax credit that has been around since 1988.

Who Are These Disability Tax Credit Companies?

Two Disability Tax Credit companies in Canada that I am aware of are:

The Canadian Disability Corporation: http://www.canadadisability.ca/
The National Benefit Authority: http://www.thenba.ca/

For more listed companies (there are a lot!), just search “Disability Tax Credit Companies” in your favorite search engine.

I actually contacted the National Benefit Authority the year I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I got a lot of paperwork to fill out. After reading it all I balked at the 30% cut they wanted to take of any return they could get me. Not that I felt they deserved less, just that it made me feel rather leery of the whole thing. The “what is in it for me” part of their business seemed pretty shady. I never pursued it but often wondered how legit it was. I sure could have used the money in the last few years.

One of the first things I really freaked out over after I got my Fibromyalgia diagnosis was the fear that I could become so desperate for pain relief that I would do or try pretty much anything to get it. I didn’t want to be a Victim of shady snake oil types. Thankfully, I’m a huge skeptic by nature. I’m also internet savvy due to the number of years I’ve been online (since the mid 90′s, good grief!). Even so, my biggest fear (still) is being preyed upon buy those unsavory people who inevitably crop up when there is money to be made by taking advantage of others.

Being in pain 24/7 for years is a very, very terrible thing. Something most people just cannot imagine until or unless they have experienced it. Even for a short time (like after a major surgery). Day after day after day of the same kind of pain that you just cannot ever fully escape from. I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again: There should be no wonder why so many chronic pain patients also have severe depression.

sign and date this document So, if you are a Canadian with a disability and have seen these kind of offers online, please (PLEASE!) take caution and make sure you truly understand what you are getting into. Make doubly sure of the legal aspects of entering into a relationship with a 3rd party to attempt to get you Disability Tax credits that you may (or may not) be entitled to. Take heed that Revenue Canada is very likely to scrutinize the process and that legal ramifications could be very high if this process is not entirely honest.