We are sharing three updates of developments that we want to make sure you are aware. Medicare Comment Period Ends Monday You have until this Monday (April 6th) at 5 pm Eastern time to comment on some proposed technical changes in Medicare and Medicaid Programs. They call for technical changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, … Read more

The Drug Enforcement Administration announced this week that it is increasing Aggregate Production Quotas (APQ) available to pharmaceutical manufacturers for the production of controlled substance medications. Many of those medications—and some doctors who prescribe them —have been targeted by the DEA. The result has been strong complaints from the chronic pain community that patients have … Read more

By Ed Coghlan. In what could be a small but dramatic step to improve treatment and education of fibromyalgia, the Fibromyalgia Care Society of America (FCSA) announced it is launching a Fibromyalgia Center of Excellent Program (COE). The FSCA, founded in 2015, has raised the funding necessary to identify and help fund the first COE … Read more

And other embarrassing brain-fog incidents By Liza Zoellick One of the most troubling and annoying symptoms of both my Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia is brain-fog. I’ve talked about in a previous post but time and again, as symptoms go, brain-fog comes in at the top for winning the “most annoying,” prize. We’ve all been there, … Read more

By Ginevra Liptan, MD. CBD (cannabidiol) is everywhere  You can get CBD at the health food store or in your coffee drink now, and everyone is curious about it. Recent New York Times had this to say about CBD “It’s hot, everywhere and yet almost nobody understands it.” Ginevra Liptan, MD What is behind the CBD explosion? … Read more

Every week I write about tools and resources to help people live better with fibromyalgia and chronic Lyme. You’d think I’d have the perfect plan to deal with the inevitable flare of symptoms. Well, not so much! I swear there’s something about a flare that incapacitates the few brain cells I have left. Put simply, … Read more

I was a healthy 22-year-old, I worked 50 hours a week on night shifts at a heavy job that I enjoyed because it kept me in shape. On the weekends I walked pretty much everywhere. I wasn’t a fitness fanatic but I had the energy to look after myself, now I am the opposite. I … Read more

When I saw this tweet from Stanford University Pain this week, I was intrigued. Stanford and @Duke Anesthesia researchers find brain data to explain why fibromyalgia patients may feel benefit from opioids even though opioids may not work better to reduce chronic pain. They referred to this article, which I suggest you read. While the use of … Read more

People with back pain can assess it using an app on their phone just as effectively as using the current paper methods, says a study from the University of Warwick. The study, published in the journal Journal of Medical Internet Research, shows that digital versions of established measurements for assessing back pain are just as reliable, which … Read more

By Ed Coghlan You may remember that our friend Terri Lewis, Ph.D. ran a survey trying to identify chronic pain patients and the issues that face them. During the recent California wildfires, Dr. Lewis remembered that she had received several responses from chronic pain patients who lived in Butte County in rural Northern California and … Read more