The new book cover, with award seals!

Has your new year started off with a bang? I hope so! I think one thing that can help us all get the year to lean more in our favor is being educated about the conditions that we have. You know the old saying, “knowledge is power?” Well, I completely agree with that. With more personal knowledge about fibromyalgia we can better understand what effects our health and things we might try to help it. For those of you yearning to learn more, this post is for you! Back by popular demand, I’m holding another Breaking Thru the Fibro Fog, Scientific Proof Fibromyalgia is Real giveaway! Check out my review of the book in my previous post, Fibromyalgia Book Review & Giveaway. (the giveaway at that link has ended)

Two lucky giveaway winners will get this book, for free! One winner, with a mailing address in The United States or Canada, will get to pick either the paperback or electronic version of the book. One winner, who lives anywhere outside of The United States or Canada, will win the electronic version of the book. Each action listed below will give you 1 entry into my giveaway! Make sure to leave a separate comment for each action and please include the country that you live in.

• Like the Felicia Fibro Facebook Page & leave a comment below saying you did so
• Follow Dr. Whtie on Facebook & leave a comment below saying you did so
• Follow @TheFibroFog on Twitter & leave a comment below saying you did so
• Follow Felicia Fibro on Networked Blogs & leave a comment below saying you did so

I’ll be announcing the winner (picked at random) Wednesday, February 8th, so you can enter until midnight PST on February 7th. This gives you almost two full weeks to enter. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older. Good luck!

Disclaimer: I did not receive any compensation for this giveaway.

The latest Arthritis Today had an article that I loved! Reach, grip, carry, written by Sean Kelley, listed 25 gadgets and tips to help with daily tasks. Some of the items are ones that I’ve previously recommended and others were items I hadn’t seen before. Below, I’m sharing the new ones that stood out to me most. These could be helpful to many with fibromyalgia, arthritis, autoimmune conditions or people recovering from injury. For some of my personal useful product favorites, check out my Resource page.

PurrFect Medicine Opener – Has divots, edges and grippers to make opening a bottle or other pill packaging easier as well as taking cotton out of bottles. It even has a pill splitter built into it.

Touch N Brush – This is a hands-free toothpaste dispenser that doesn’t require batteries or electricity. It even claims to be able to get the last bits of toothpaste from the tube. Included is a battery operated toothbrush, but you can use any toothbrush with the dispenser. This sure would be nice for days with achy fingers!

Hair Dryer Stand – Using this stand lets you blow dry your hair, hands free. It is designed to use on a counter top, can be bent into different positions. I’ve contemplated getting one of these for years.

Combination Dressing Stick/Shoehorn – These were listed as 2 separate items in the article, but this combo piece looks like a great option to me. Its angled hook holds and pulls clothing without the clothing slipping off, 2 Pushers aid in removing shoes and clothing and the shoehorn has a notch for taking off socks.

Hamilton Beach Personal Cup Brewer – If you’re a coffee drinker, single cup coffee brewers give you a quick cup of coffee without having a pot to clean. Obviously, Keurig brewing systems are quite popular nowadays, but I’ve linked to a cheaper option (both unit & coffee pods)

Door Knob to Lever Convertor – This kit converts a traditional, twist doorknob to a door lever, one size fits all. It claims it is easy to install and that the benefits over a metal lever are that it’s light weight and not as cold to touch.

Have you tried out any of these useful gadgets?

Check out this article in the January-February issue

What is Fibro Feelings?

The good news this week is that I rebounded a bit after my massage! After a few days of my hip and leg feeling a little worse I all of a sudden felt a lot better than I’ve felt in a long time! This allowed me to do many loads of laundry, wash some dishes, do some grocery shopping – you know, all those fun things that people do when they feel well. =) In fact, I felt so good that I think I overdid it a tad, so I’m back to resting. I also started getting a new symptom related to my hip – neurological-like shooting pains. I’m used to those from my fibromyalgia, but all of a sudden I’ve gotten a lot of these, concentrated right in this area that hurts a lot more. Last night The Helpful Hubby had to massage it a bit so that the constant, dull pain wouldn’t prevent me from being able to sleep.

Besides the massage, I think another thing that contributed to feeling better was the fact that I’ve been trying to be extra gentle to my hip and leg lately. I mentioned that I was starting to do this last week, but here is what I really mean by that. I have been trying to avoid bending completely (meaning The Helpful Hubby has had a lot of things to pick up) and using my knees, not my hips when I have to bend, using a pillow to prop my leg(s) up on the couch for hours each day and icing the area.

We’ve been getting some snow lately, so I’ve felt badly that I’ve been sitting on the couch while The Helpful Hubby has had to shovel snow multiple times. Ice and hip issues don’t really get along though, so I’ve been trying not to walk outside much. I find that I’m really fearful when trying to do it, as trying to catch myself or falling would be very painful. The snow has also brought lots of pressure changes, which my head, back, fingers, hip and leg did not appreciate. Mentally, I’ve loved the snow though! It is so pretty piling up on the bare tree branches and the evergreens and I love how peaceful it makes things.

Have you had snow lately?

Look at all those tiny, beautiful, crystalline shapes!*

*Image Credit: from www.flickr.com by spcbrass

I recently learned about Ally’s Law (also called The Restroom Access Act) and I wish I had known about it sooner! This law was developed by a 15-year-old patient with Crohn’s disease, Ally Bain. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 11 and at age 14, Ally experienced a Crohn’s flare up in a department store and had an accident because she was denied use of the employee only restroom. Since then, Ally has dedicated herself to raising awareness about Crohn’s disease and the rights of people living with the condition by creating Ally’s Law. This state law guarantees restroom rights to people with medical needs. For those of us who have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) I’m sure we’ve all had times we could have used this law too! The states that currently have this law are: Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Connecticut.

Did you know that ~700,000 Americans live with Crohn’s disease? The body’s immune system attacks healthy cells in the GI tract, causing inflammation and patients often begin experiencing symptoms in their teens. These symptoms include: severe fatigue, abdominal pain, joint pain, diarrhea and weight loss. For more information on Crohn’s go to CrohnsAndMe.com.

Check out my interview video below with Ally and her gastroenterologist, Dr. David Rubin – where we discuss more about Ally’s Law, information on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs) and IBS. Dr. Rubin is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, and Director of the Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition fellowship program at the University of Chicago.

If you’re looking for information on the identification cards/passes that Ally mentioned that some states require, I’ve found that it is easiest to search for your state’s information on The Restroom Access Act and go from there. Some states require passes specific to their state.

Have you ever used this law?