lupus Archives

Bungee Jumping Off the Friendship Cliff

Tonight, while looking for something on Facebook, the search ironically brought up my ex best friend. To know what an unprovoked emotional attack this was by FB you need to know she & I were never FB friends & share no friends in common. So like I said, very uncool Facebook! Suddenly there she was: standing on the [...] Continue reading →

Fixing Treg / TH17 Balance: The Key To Fixing Autoimmunity?

Treg / TH17: The New TH1 / TH2 Imbalance? For years we’ve been hearing that TH1/TH2 balance is a big key (if not the key) to disorders such as lyme disease, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia. But treatments aimed at restoring TH1/TH2 balance have largely produced mixed results. Studies on Crohn’s disease suggest that overexpressed TH1, often thought to be [...] Continue reading →

Methotrexate For ME/CFS

ME/CFS as Autoimmunity It’s been well-established for years that ME/CFS is a disease of immune dysregulation. The latest study out of De Meirleir puts this disease more firmly in autoimmune territory: “In eight out of 12 individuals with ME, immunoreactivity to HERV proteins was observed in duodenal biopsies. In contrast, no immunoreactivity was detected [...] Continue reading →

Groundbreaking Study in Fibromyalgia

A small study could be groundbreaking for Fibromyalgia patients. A study conducted by the neurology department at the University of Wurzburg, Germany has discovered small nerve fiber neuropathy in Fibromyalgia patients. The researchers conducted a small study, comparing Fibromyalgia patients to people with depression & healthy controls. What is small fiber peripheral neuropathy? SF [...] Continue reading →

Allodynia (aka: Don’t Touch Me, My Skin Hurts!)

In the middle of the night, someone took your soft, 400 thread-count cotton sheets & exchanged them for dry, course, 400 grain-count sand paper. Every time you moved or rolled over, the sand paper stripped away another layer of your skin. The next day, simply putting on a shirt or brushing your hand over your [...] Continue reading →

One product that could save your life & your sanity!

“What are you allergic to?” the nurse asked in that droll tone that said she had already asked that question too many times today. I didn’t reply, I just reached into my wallet & handed her the worn, folded paper, a document I made years ago when the short list of drug reactions I could [...] Continue reading →

Playing Hide & Seek with the Flu

I am currently playing hide & seek with the Flu. I am hiding, hoping the Flu isn’t seeking! Getting the flu feels like a game of Russian roulette (& I don’t tend to be lucky). When it feels like your body is already using every ounce of “fight” it has to battle your illness, adding anything else (especially [...] Continue reading →

Pain Pump – The Way I Deal with Chronic Pain

I have a pain pump. That might not seem like a big deal to say, but like so much when you are sick, it became something I didn’t talk about. I could see & feel the shock from other people at how “extreme” it seemed to them. I almost felt embarrassed I needed it, as if no one [...] Continue reading →

Hair Loss – Treatments & Solutions

Let’s face it, being sick doesn’t exactly make us ready to win a beauty contest any time soon. Until they have a Miss AutoImmune pageant, I don’t think the pale skin, weight loss & muscle wasting will be considered a plus. Adding in hair loss might help us make the top 3 but at the [...] Continue reading →

Hair Loss – Treatments & Solutions

Let’s face it, being sick doesn’t exactly make us ready to win a beauty contest any time soon. Until they have a Miss AutoImmune pageant, I don’t think the pale skin, weight loss & muscle wasting will be considered a plus. Adding in hair loss might help us make the top 3 but at the [...] Continue reading →

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