Archive for June, 2010
June 27th, 2010 by Karla Setchel
Hey Folks,
In the last 22 years, I’ve been diagnosed with Tempolar Mandular Joint Disorder (TMJ), bilateral epicondylitis in both elbows (commonly known as Tennis Elbow), Fibromyalgia (FMS) and Chronic Fatigue (CSF). All of these conditions involve some inflammation which causes increased pain. While I do use a few medications on a regular basis and a few more for flare ups, I try to control my sypmptoms with natural products because I have less side effects from them and I believe there’s a better chance of me actually getting well by not adding any more “synthetic additives” than I absolutely have to.
One of the products that I have found to be very helpful is a power house of natural antioxidants which are natural anti-inflammatories. This whole food juice puree does a very good job of reducing my pain which in turn allows more energy to be directed at things other than dealing with the pain! This antioxidant juice has a 2000 ORAC score for a 2 ounce serving – which is the antioxidant equivalent to 5-7 common fruits and vegetables. The FDA states that we should be getting 7-9 servings of fruits and vegatables per day, which most of us don’t. Drinking this juice is an easy, quick, enjoyable way to get enough antioxidants to fight the inflammation associated with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, epicondylitis, TMJ and other conditions that involve inflammation of the joints or tissues.
For more information on this super antioxidant, feel free to give me a call or send me a message.
Here’s to Feeling Better!
Karla Setchel
(540) 366-6134
www.KarlaSetchel.com
www.facebook.com/KarlaSetchel
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Tags: CFS, Chronic Fatigue, fibromyalgia, flare, flare up, FMS, health, Karla Setchel, knee pain, natural, pain, remedies, TMJ
Posted in Managing Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue & TMJ, Pain Relief, Reducing Impact of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue, Survival & Recovery, TMJ/TMJD/TMD | 19 Comments »
June 26th, 2010 by Karla Setchel
Hi Folks,
Karla Setchel here, for those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been disabled from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, TMJ, IBS and all the annoying initialed syndromes that go along with them since 1999. I’ve tried many traditional and alternative methods in an attempt to get well. I missed so much of my children’s lives while they were growing up – which was devastating, and have had a “care giver” (does laundry, shopping & drives me most places) and housekeeper in order to live in my own home rather than going to an “assisted living” facility. I refuse to believe the Dr.’s when they say there is “no cure” and expect to be symptom free at some point.
So, enough about me. What I wanted to write about today is something else that I have missed out on since the FMS/CFS/TMJ became too severe for my to “function normally” – reading! Healthy people take for granted that they can just pick up a book & enjoy reading it. I pick up a book and within minutes the pain in my arms, hands, fingers, jaws, and neck increase. It takes less than 5 minutes of reading for my chronically dry eyes to become too blurry to read the words, even with moisturizing drops every few minutes. Are you still able to read comfortably? Even if you are, do you – or are you too busy? A friend of mine, Christy Dutilly, came to my rescue today when she told me about audible.com
Audible.com has a special right now for $7.49 a month (for the first 3 months then goes up to $14). You get a free “book” of your choice to download to your computer or IPod that is yours to keep, forever. Then you get LISTEN to the book rather than having to read it! I’m very excited, I’ve already downloaded my first book ! Now, I can listen to a book while I’m doing the dishes, cooking, or sitting on the couch when “there’s nothing on TV”. There are different plans to choose from. You can cancel at any time without any cancellation fee. You can choose a “FREE” plan, but then you pay full price for each book. I chose the $7.49 a month plan, I got my first book FREE and 30% off of any future books unless I cancel my monthly plan. When the price goes up to $14 in 3 months, I will reevaluate to see if it would be cheaper to pay full price for the books and not pay for a monthly plan.
I hope you have found this information helpful. Please check out other posts on my blog www.KarlaSetchel.com for more helpful tips on Living with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, TMJ and all the other things we have to deal with. You can even get a FREE Report on my blog “5 Easy Ways You can Reduce the Impact of FMS/CFS”
Here’s to Feeling Better!
Karla Setchel
www.KarlaSetchel.com
(540) 366-6134
www.facebook.com/KarlaSetchel
If you liked this post, please leave me a comment and share on other networks.
Tags: CFS, Chronic Fatigue, fibromyalgia, flare, flare up, FMS, health, inflammation, Karla Setchel, natural, pain, recovery, remedies, TMJ
Posted in Managing Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue & TMJ, Pain Relief, Reducing Impact of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue, Survival & Recovery, TMJ/TMJD/TMD | 19 Comments »
June 20th, 2010 by Karla Setchel
Hey Folks,
OK, I finally “cheated” on The Wellness Prescription diet after being strict with it for about a month. I had half a cup of organic salsa & 6 or 7 organic corn chips. It’s the first time since I stopped eating the “inflammatory foods” like tomatoes, grains (includes corn), beans, legumes, potatoes stc.. in an effort to reduce the pain of fibromyalgia. The book says you’re supposed to be able to “cheat” 20 percent of the time, so we’ll see if I can tell a significant difference.
Like I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, what I’ve been told from nutritionists is when making ANY nutritional change for health purposes, to do it for at least 3 months to give your body the chance to “feel” the difference. OK, it’s only been an hour since I ate the salsa & chips and my hands feel swollen & stiff and my knees are hurting — is it really the food or psychosomatic? I don’t know. I was hoping that I could get away with the 20 % cheating rule without increasing my pain or stiffness. I’ll go back on the strict version tomorrow and try to make it another month before I “cheat” again and see what happens.
I’ll let you know how things go. I did receive my “osteoball” but I haven’t inflated it yet so I can’t give any info on that. Hopefully I’ll get that done before next week! Anyone else trying “The Wellness Prescription” diet to reduce inflammation? If so, let me know how it’s working for you 
Here’s to Feeling Better!
Karla Setchel
540 366-6134
www.KarlaSetchel.com
P.S. I spoke with my osteopath & he said he definitely thought the pain, swelling & stiffness was from the corn chips I ate. He wasn’t sure if the salsa would have done it. Eventually I will try one “inflammatory food” at a time to see if I can actually eat ANY of them, but for now my occasional “cheating” will be whatever I’m craving 
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Tags: fibromyalgia, flare, flare up, FMS, health, inflammation, Karla Setchel, knee pain, natural, pain, remedies, The Wellness Prescription
Posted in Managing Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue & TMJ, Pain Relief, Survival & Recovery | 17 Comments »
June 11th, 2010 by Karla Setchel
Hey Folks,
Hope everyone is fairing well in this heat! We had a great meeting yesterday, thanks for helping out Paula when I had to keep answering the phone — was talking with a guy about a new wheel chair lift — he’s hard to get in touch with & of course returned my call, twice, during our meeting! LOL
We had the honor of meeting Savanna & Nathan in person. She has been diagnosed recently, hope we didn’t overwhelm you with info!
Paula reported that she didn’t see any improvements with the magnesium oil sample that she had received from Linda, so she’s continuing to use the Trivita pain gel. I use the magnesium oil first & if doesn’t help enough, I put the Trivita pain relief gel over it but something “crystalizes”, one of the minerals I guess — but whatever works.
Paula also reminded me that I have lidoderm patches! She said she puts one on each hip when she sleeps to avoid being awakened with pressure point pain — what an idea! I had stopped using mine except for really bad days or spots but had never thought to use them at night to avoid the “being awakened by pressure pain in my hips & shoulders”. Thank you Paula and this is just another wonderful example of why we have the group!
A friend told me about the “osteoball” so I ordered one. I’ll do a blog post on it after I get it & let you know what I think about it. It’s supposed to help rebuild lost bone mass & should help me rebuild atrophied muscle — hopefully with exercises that I won’t hurt myself doing. If you’re new & haven’t checked out my blog, go to www.KarlaSetchel.com ; There’s some very good info (at least in my opinion) about how to cope with your symptoms.
Linda posted some notes on a recent radio blog, I’ll try to get them out soon — unfortunately my e-mails have gone over 1100 so I’m having a little trouble keeping up! If you have an urgent question, please feel free to call me.
Much Love & Many Blessings,
Karla Setchel
540 366-6134
www.KarlaSetchel.com
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Tags: CFS, Chronic Fatigue, fibrofog, fibromyalgia, flare, flare up, FMS, inflammation, Karla Setchel, knee pain, motorized wheel chair, natural, pain, remedies, wheel chair
Posted in Managing Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue & TMJ, Support Groups, Survival & Recovery | 1 Comment »
June 2nd, 2010 by Karla Setchel
Hi Folks,
Last week I read pages 51-52 of “The Wellness Prescription” by Dr. David H. Rahm — great feat I know! It said to avoid certain foods to reduce inflammation – grains, legumes (beans & peanuts), “night shade” vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, eggplant) and reduce dairy products to see if this “get well diet” works for me where all the others have failed (even though they worked for others). A great “side effect” of my first week is that I lost 2 pounds! At first it was easy to follow but this week I’m missing my “raw sugar snap peas” which has been a staple for me for years — I thought they were healthy for me, they were ready to eat, easy to chew (TMJ) & tasty! But– I’ll stay away from all the “inflammation producing foods” for a month to see if it reduces my fibromyalgia pain & decreases my chronic fatigue.
It’s been a very hectic week, I only see my Dr. every 2 weeks so I don’t know if I’ve lost any more weight yet, but I have read more of the book. It also states that “stress” can cause inflammation! So I’m avoiding foods I like & still causing extra inflammation? This better be worth it! I do drink a wonderful antioxidant juice that naturally reduces inflammation so at least I’m doing SOMETHING right! LOL Continue Reading
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Tags: CFS, Chronic Fatigue, diabetes, fibromyalgia, flare, flare up, FMS, health, inflammation, Karla Setchel, knee pain, natural, pain, remedies, TMJ, weight loss
Posted in Managing Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue & TMJ, Pain Relief, Support Groups, Survival & Recovery, TMJ/TMJD/TMD | 22 Comments »
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