Post Herpetic Neuralgia – Capsaicin Patch Mediocre Results

Posted on August 22, 2010 by admin

Though study of high potency 8% capsaicin patches reached statistical significance (p=0.044), they did not show a clinical difference from control patches. (dropped pain scores 0.39/10 more than control)
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Chronic Pain May be A Cytokine Inflammation Disease

Posted on August 15, 2010 by admin

Cytokines are small chemicals released by immune system to help fight infection. They make one achy and tired, as some feel after they have had a vaccine shot. I have written how many  diseases (chronic pain, diabets, alzheimer’s) are going to be found to have cytokine abnormalities:
Cytokine Inflammation Diseases Will Be the Diseases of the 21st Century

Now it looks that the pain of acute pancreatitis pain can be blocked by a simple oral interleukin-6 inhibitor.

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Quick Rating of Fibromyalgia Severity

Posted on August 15, 2010 by admin

The Fibromyalgia Impact questionnaire now appears as a series of Visual Scales that makes progress easy to follow.


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Fibromyalgia Sleep Disorder Treatment Success Highlights Narcoleptiform Sleep Disorder

Posted on August 15, 2010 by admin

High proportion of cases of Fibromyalgia (FM) and Chronic fatigue subjects had sleep studies and HLA body marker abnormalities suggestive of narcolepsy and responded to Sodium Oxybutate Continue reading →

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High Brain Insula Glutamate Confirms Fibromyalgia Central Hypersensitivity Idea

Posted on August 14, 2010 by admin

The idea sufferers of Fibromyaglia have pain amplifying circuits got confirmation with finding of high glutamate (pain transmitter) in insula of the brain. It’s like the brain is on fire…

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Sick Muscle Mitochondria Seen in Fibromylagia Cases

Posted on August 14, 2010 by admin

Mitochondria are the energy furnaces in the cell. When they don’t work you run out of “gas” and the cells get sick. Degenerating mitochondrial, low levels of mitochondrial supporting CoEnzyme Q10 (tissues not blood) and overwork excessive oxidation are seen in Fibromyalgia biopsies. Continue reading →

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Mortality in Fibromyalgia

Posted on August 14, 2010 by admin

There is some good new and bad news in a recent study

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Fibromyalgia – Simple Home Treatment

Posted on August 14, 2010 by admin

Stand up with one leg bent up. Position two mirror over the bend up leg so its reflection looks like you have both legs up. This gives patient an amazing sensation of weightlessness. Hold position for 30 seconds and stop for 5 minutes before repeating. Repeat procedure up to 15 times. In one case study, this reduced pain from 8.00 to 4.93 while non-weightless mirroring only dropped it from 8 to 7.33.

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Posted in Fibromyalgia, Mechanical aids | 1 Comment

Naltrexone Low Dose May Benefit MS – But Not Really Much

Posted on August 10, 2010 by admin

Sorry, Naltrexone works so-so in MS at 4.5 mg/day (about 1/10 a 50 mg pill) Continue reading →

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Preventing Neuroma Nerve Formation By Pruning Cut Nerves Onto Other Nerves

Posted on August 9, 2010 by admin

Certain operations are fraught with neuroma issues – the classic being phantom limb. Measures to prevent that have not been entirely successful – – but who would have thought about End-to-Side Neurorraphy “pruning” cut nerves to intact ones. Continue reading →

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Taking Progesterone Can Prevent Spinal injury Damage – What About Nerve Damage From Any Surgery? – And Maybe If It Does at All…!

Posted on August 9, 2010 by admin

Last year at the CPS meeting, there was a poster presentation on how progesterone can prevent post injury nerve damage. When asked if men should take it at time of surgery, the student answered yes… There are more reports of Progesterone’s neuroprotective powers.. Continue reading →

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Prior Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis and Now Told You have an Irritable Bowel – That’s a Bum Rap- Signs of Inflammation Persist

Posted on August 8, 2010 by admin

After remission of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, persistent symptoms often continue and are denigrated as Irritable Bowel Syndrome implying  that these cases have somehow now gone psychological. Now fecal calprotectin levels – reflecting pus inflammation in the bowel –  have been found to be persistently high in these cases. Continue reading →

Posted in Abdominal pain | 1 Comment

If Fibromyalgia is a Mast Cell Skin Disease, Would Tanning Help? – No but..

Posted on August 8, 2010 by admin

Finding Mast Cell accumulations up to 15 times normal in the skin of Fibromyalgia (FM) subjects has raised the question whether FM is a skin condition causing a tenderness there. This has sparked my interest in dermatological treatments. A trial of UV treatments didn’t show much. Continue reading →

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Sacral Insufficiency Fractures – Hard to Make – a Possible Examination Technique

Posted on August 8, 2010 by admin

One elderly lady, I recently saw, fell and multiple fractured her left humerus. Was seen, put in a sling, kept briefly in hospital and discharged. Because she could not walk, she was reassessed and found to have a pubic ramus fracture – kept in hospital briefly by hospitalist and sent home. Recently I saw her and found serious tenderness over the sacrum – very much suggesting a sacral fracture.  Regular xrays are often useless because this area is covered with gas. In certain elderly osteoporotic cases, the sacrum can fracture in what is called a sacral insufficiency fracture without even any trauma. This can cause longstanding pain without being diagnosed because doctors have excessive faith in xrays

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Sodium Hyaluronate Injection For Supraspinatus Tendinitis Rotator Cuff

Posted on August 8, 2010 by admin

Both Hyaluronate Injection and physiotherapy work for isolated simple supraspinatus tendonitis though the former would be easier – but more expensive… Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Injection, shoulder | 1 Comment

Midazolam Augmentation of Lumbar Steroid Injections – Use, in Just Mechanical Back Pain

Posted on August 8, 2010 by admin

Recent article demonstrated that a combination of steroid and midazolam worked well for post herpetic neuralgia:
Miracle Treatment – Low Back Post Herpetic (Post Shingles)Neuralgia Treated With Epidural Steroid and Spinal Midazolam Without Local Can Give Significant Relief For Over 3 Months

This reminded me of an old article finding midazolam alone intrathecally worked as well as steroid (Depo_Medrone 80 mg)epidurally for mechanical back pain… Might the combo, sufficiently diluted for safety, be useful in chronic back pain epidurally or caudally? Continue reading →

Posted in Back Pain, Drugs, Injection | 1 Comment

Is Fibromyalgia a Mast Cell Disease – like some “somatization diseases” such as migraine, TMJ, irritable bowel, and interstitial cystitis

Posted on August 7, 2010 by admin

Sorry – trying to change fonts has duplicated some areas…
It is become increasingly clear that so-called “somatization” “psychosomatic” diseases are associated with abnormal concentrations of mast cells – guardians of  peripheral sensitization and also carriers of allergy reactions such as hives. Now Fibromyaglia has been found to be associated with excessive mast cell accumulations. One wonders if a skin biopsy could be used in the future to diagnose Fibromyalgia. There can be a problem finding mast cells because of a bad tendency to understain specimens.

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Posted in Abdominal pain, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, Interstial Cystitis/Gynecologic, mast cell disease | 8 Comments

Confirmed – Botox works for Trigeminal Neuralgia – Given Into Trigger Zone

Posted on August 4, 2010 by admin

Cases of Surgery failed drug resistant Trigeminal neuralgia were treated with Botox to trigger zones and not only resulted in relief, but also relative cure in some case Continue reading →

Posted in Botox, Trigeminal Neuralgia | 3 Comments

Confirmed – IV Vitamin C During Acute Shingles Has Effect

Posted on August 2, 2010 by admin

Recent blognote was written showing significant decreases in acute shingles pain with Vitamin C:
Helping Prevent and Treat Post Shingles Pain / Post Herpetic Neuralgia – Can It Be as Simple as Vitamin C to Help?  Now two further cases are published showing rapid decreases in pain with IV Vitamin C. Continue reading →

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Growth Hormone Deficiency Common in Fibromyalgia But Where is Evidence That Rx Helps That Much?

Posted on August 1, 2010 by admin

A recent abstract (not article) was published finding that baseline growth hormone and peak growth hormone levels (after insulin reaction provocation) were diminished in Fibromyalgia ,but prior article attempts of growth hormone supplementation looked disappointing to me. Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Fibromyalgia | 1 Comment

MRI Imaging Often Useless in Chronic Pain – Leading to the “There’s Nothing Unusual on MRI so Your Pain is all in Your Head”

Posted on August 1, 2010 by admin

You never fully appreciate how poor a certain procedure is until a better one comes out and belittles the old one. Most MRI articles spend time telling you what they can do -not what they can’t do… how poor MRIs  are is becoming more clear with a new experimental technique called diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Continue reading →

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Actonel Improves Osteoporosis Back Pain Without Fracture – on 5 mg/day

Posted on August 1, 2010 by admin

In Osteoporosis, not only did Risedronate 5 mg/day cut back pain to 1/3 in 4 months, it cut the disability rating in half – despite the fact there were no fractures. Continue reading →

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Immunoglobulin Helps Multifocal Diabetic Neuropathy

Posted on August 1, 2010 by admin

There seems to be two distinct types of Diabetic Neuropathy (DM) – Multifocal and Symmetrical. The former “showed a marked improvement in severe pain”; the symmetrical did not. Continue reading →

Posted in neuropathic | 2 Comments

Cytokine Inflammation Diseases Will Be the Diseases of the 21st Century

Posted on July 31, 2010 by admin

Cytokine (Immune chemical) diseases will become more clear in the ensuing years. Recently Tension headache was associated with higher Interleukin-6 levels. Continue reading →

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High Vitamin D Prevents Pains from Breast Cancer Aromatase Inhibitors – But is Hard to Achieve

Posted on July 31, 2010 by admin

Aromatase Inhibitors are used in post menopausal women to prevent breast cancer recurrence. Aching muscles and joints can be a hazard. High Vitamin D levels help prevent this problem but this is harder to achieve then one would think. Continue reading →

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