Where to Look in Lumigrate.com re: Fibromyalgia and Such: From a 2009 Blog Post

Many of our current followers are looking here for information specifically about fibromyalgia and related conditions and symptoms.  Since Lumigrate's key concepts are to provide information which is

• valid (our medical provider experts and their clinics are highly reputable)
• progressive ('integrative medicine' is progressive AND valid -- proven to bring down costs and increase outcomes
• streamlined (overviews in blogs with just a few 'best' links we know of FMI (For More Info) 
• fun (particularly in our facebook marketing: join us at

this blog post is intended to STREAMLINE things for people who have limited resources.  Think of resources as:

• time
• energy
• money

Naturally, this is challenging, as the subjects we deal with cross over previous 'definitiions' and 'paradigms' and it's not like anything in the body can be isolated to one 'thing' in our type of 'integrative' paradigm.  To quote a friend about the chronic illnesses: "It's like chronic illness is a fabric and each particular type is a different thread but they're so made of similar fibers in so many ways".  So when you start pulling on a thread to see where it goes, you end up with quite a long strand of yarn to roll up into a ball (organize) and then start re-weaving or knitting or needlecrafting with, so to speak.

So I'm going to get you headed in some directions here/below -- with links and all that --- and the last one will place you in the Forum area / Fibromyalgia, where you will find a bunch of other people who have been working on their fabric, yarn and re-weaving.  You can then delve in quite a bit there for more information -- I had few big suprises in the first year of Lumigrate, but the top of the list was the depth, breadth, and heart of the people who would initially find us and start contributing by writing.  I encourage you to use it as a tool to read initially and learn from and when you feel you have something to contribute that is worth people reading -- keeping in mind the above 'resources' of the users, we all will look forward to what YOU might add if you wish to do so.

Integrative medicine's premise it to incorporate and integrate "Body, Mind and Spirit".  So each of the areas of Lumigrate (videos, products, blog, forums) hopefully reflects that.  I'm going to list these out for you (and it might be worth printing this page for your reference).  (And so you can understand the variety of user abilities we're dealing with, some people do not realize those words on the purple line are 'tabs', so if you refer someone to the website, please be aware of that if they're a novice to websites.)

1. Videos:  For anyone with fibromyalgia, both $0/free videos are appropriate and recommended.  All of the low-cost ($20) videos also apply to most people with fibromyalgia and the ones by Dr. Rollins are truly at a fairly 'high' level and would be a great resource for your medical providers to learn from IF you were to take or fax or mail a copy of this or another page to them (or call and suggest).   Many are unsure about what is entailed with downloading our videos (it's very easy and fast) and what comes with it (all the handouts and info shown on the screen in the presentation) so I wrote a previous blog about that which can be printed or referred to and has eased that hump for everyone we are aware of. www.lumigrate.com/blog/how-get-video-lumigratecom-documentation-comes-easy [1]
2. Products:   This area was inspired by someone who had been watching me on the weekend while working on Dr. Rollins' "Heart Health" video while the website was in development, and when he went to order what he now was interested in taking, he didn't remember the brand / type to order online, so in each video area on the website AND in one tab called 'Products', you have a fast 'go to' place to refer to what Lumigrate's experts suggest people consider purchasing.  If it's best for you to order then, you can click through to Amazon.  Amazon was only chosen as it is 'known and trusted' as a starting point when seeing how people utilize the website and until we can either route people to another source for ordering products.  We hope to have something more 'unique to Lumigrate' in the future as our users and other businesses continue to value our standards.  (Click on the "Products" tab to see what I'm referring to if you wish.)
3. Blog:  There are many blogs which we routinely suggest for people looking to us re: FMS and at the one year mark of the website being up we were realizing that things are difficult to find when in blogs, so I blocked and copied to the respective Forum areas the blogs having to do with anything related to fibromyalgia or otherwise popular (such as H1N1/influenza, or immune system information).  Things you might want to look for in the blogs OR the Forum areas if you're interested in FMS information: Dr. Rollins' seminar from July 29, Adrenal Fatigue (book reviewed), and the blogs from the whole timeframe from mid July when I went to Berkeley to speak at the Chronic Pain conference and came back and wrote short reviews with links on all of the major speakers there, including Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, author of From Fatigued to Fantastic and medical director of Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers.  Please be sure to consider doing Dr. Teitelbaum's free 'symptom analyzer' and read that blog or piece in the Forum/Fibromyalgia, as I had the benefit of hearing him speak in person and for 45 minutes, which is a SHORT time to talk about the topic so it is the 'very biggest concepts' from his perspective.  He was on Dr. Oz in October and it clearly was a 'tip of the iceberg' kickoff segment and we can expect to see much more from him and Oprah, and there are some blogs about Oprah's website and O magazine as well.  
4. Forums:  The Forum area / Fibromyalgia has truly proven to be an inspiration daily for me and all of us who are working closely with the website.  We're intending to have that area grow in the direction you all help it go, while keeping it to the premises we mentioned at the top of this blog entry .. streamlined, valid, progressive, fun!  The link: www.lumigrate.com/forums/collaborative-care-discussions/fibromyalgia [2].  For our second year on the Internet with Fibromyalgia Awareness Day (May 12th in 2010), I organized a collaborative event with three Lumigrate experts discussing fibromyalgia, and refer to it as The Three Doctors Interview.  Deirdre Rawlings, ND interviewed and hosted on her website an hour long teleseminar where she interviewed Marc Spurlock, MD and Jerry Rand, MD, both well-known chronic pain /fibromyalgia specialists from Texas and California, respectively.  The link to reading about them and the interview and then linking out to Deirdre's website can be found on Lumigrate in our Awareness Forum at: www.lumigrate.com/forum/three-doctors-webinar-addressing-fibromyalgias-pain-insomnia-fog-n-fatigue-integrative-approac [3]
5. FUN..... I'm a firm believer that people will come back if they know they'll have some FUN, so you'll see that we have Forums written by a Yenta (meaning 'town gossip'), which actually deal quite a lot with chronic pain as the woman who writes as Yenta has fibromyalgia among other things.  "Life is Good With Alice" is written by mature woman in the South who has a wonderful way of utilzing her spirituality and intelligence as Yenta does but from a much different perspective; we were pleased to have her writing for Lumigrate at the time of the oil spill in the Gulf as the eyes and ears of our world perhaps are more picqued for awareness about how interconnected we all are.  This concept of 'integration in medicine' is so beautifully embellished by Alice and Yenta. 
6. Occupational Therapy - I also have two additional occupational therapists besides myself who I am happy to say I have become friends with over the years since having been their professional colleagues when we all lived in Colorado Springs.  They write in the Occupational/Functional Therapy section (Petie the OTR) and Karen's Korner (generally about driving and function in addition to occupational therapy concepts).  At the time of my writing this I am beginning to delve more in my own time and writing into adaptive equipment information to bring that to you in the future .. massaging and heating gadgets, ice packs, canes, elevated toilet seats and my personal favorite, seat cushions for sitting comfortably. So keep checking back as these things are new all the time -- we have an acupuncturist now too!   

And for the most daily fun and learning, please join us on facebook: Our fan page specific to FMS is:

www.facebook.com/pages/Lumigrate-Fibromyalgia/171861550591 [4]
[2]

and we have a general Fan Page (search on "Lumigrate" and you'll see the fan pages.. there are now three, as of adding a new one in late January of 2010).  Also, follow us on Twitter and then let us know in facebook fan area what you're up to OR if you have something big to say, certainly add into the forum!