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Why don’t fibromyalgia medications work consistently?

There are three FDA approved medications for the treatment of fibromyalgia: Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Savella. These three medications have been shown to reduce pain and increase function in some people with fibromyalgia, but they don’t work well for everyone, or even for the majority of the people who take…

Alcohol Worsens Brain Function

A study recently published The BMJ evaluated the cognitive effects of drinking with a long-term observational study. This study categorized 550 people based on their alcohol consumption into abstainers, light, moderate and heavy drinkers. They found higher alcohol consumption was associated with a stronger decline in mental skills and…

Take a Breath!

How about a peaceful state of mind? There are a cluster of nerve cells in your brainstem that connect breathing to relaxation, attention, excitement and anxiety. That’s what researchers at Stanford University have found out. Selectively manipulating some neurons caused the type of breathing to change in the mice;…

Can An App Reduce Your Anxiety?

  Treating symptoms of anxiety and depression can be difficult due to barriers such as lack of availability, cost, and time-constraints of therapies. There is a need for simpler and more readily available treatment methods. The answer to better treatment might have been in our hands all along: smartphone apps.

Back Pain Information

Back pain is one of the leading reasons for physician visits in the U.S. Recently, the American College of Physicians (ACP) released new guidelines for treating chronic back pain. The new guidelines emphasize the use of non-drug therapies, such as massage, heat therapy, or exercise, as the initial treatment…

Better Blanket – Better Sleep

Weighted blankets are carefully designed quilts embedded with small plastic pellets. These “heavy” blankets improve sleep quality and to ease anxiety in adults with insomnia, according to recent study results. Many fibromyalgia (FM) patients suffer from sleep disorders as well as chronic pain. Could these weighted blankets potentially…

Fibromyalgia and Loneliness

When we talk about fibromyalgia (FM) we always stress the importance of identifying pain triggers and improving symptoms. However, over the years less attention has been paid to the lack of emotional and social support that many fibromyalgia patients are experiencing.

Everyone is at Risk for Chronic Pain

Fibromyalgia (FM) has long been difficult to diagnose. However, over the last few years big strides have been made by establishing widely accepted diagnostic criteria. Today more FM patients receive the proper diagnosis and treatment plan. Many researchers have developed different techniques to identify any dysfunction in fibromyalgia patients.

Tell your Doctor about your Pain

“It hurts all over” the feeling that many chronic pain patients are familiar with but how do you describe your pain to someone like your doctor? This is a challenge that pain patients experience frequently. They often can’t exactly describe the pain they feel, what words to use, and…

New Fibromyalgia Drug?

Fibromyalgia (FM) patients have only limited treatment options. This is about to change soon.  Mirogabalin, a new drug for fibromyalgia and chronic nerve pain is currently in clinical trials. This could potentially make mirogabalin the next best treatment of fibromyalgia. A trial of more than 1,000 FM patients will…