Tag: chronic pain

Start thinking horses when encountering hypermobile patients... we may not be that rare!

This isn’t going to be a post on how specifically to diagnose the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) or Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD) per se, as that’s already been covered here. Rather, I want to draw attention to the many “red herrings” or false leads that we and our doctors often identify and manage to recognize and

Hammer syndrome? Wait a minute Jan – you’re already talking about Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD), multiple Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) among other things. You could say you’ve put the “syn” in syndromes, don’t you think? So what’s “Hammer Syndrome”?? Good news: it’s not a disease

I don’t know how this doesn’t get more press or notice, but it’s become increasingly and glaringly obvious to me that all of the awareness raising around EDS, MCAD and “friends” (what I call the Chronic Constellation here) is almost exclusively being done by white people. And mostly women. Or at least that I’m aware

I know, “what is normal” is a really loaded question or statement, but I’m not intending it to be. My normal is not yours, nor theirs, nor anyone else’s. We all truly have our own “normal”. I’m just trying to help distinguish between the majority who are not hypermobile, and those of us who are, but

As many of you know, we’re unfortunately finding Mast Cell Activation Diseases aka “MCAD” of all kinds (forms of masto or the newly recognized MCAS and even newer HaTS since 2016) to be relatively common in Ehlers-Danlos patients, which is why I’ve written about them at length. I’m so grateful to Patricia Murray-Wood for following

2017 editor’s note: I wrote this post in early 2016 a year before the new EDS nosology and diagnostic criteria were presented in March 2017, so some of the diagnostic information below is now outdated. E.g. the Brighton (with an “r” to be clear) Diagnostic Criteria are now obsolete, but the Beighton 9 pt scale

I’m writing this post while listening to the replay of The Anxiety Summit produced by Food and Mood Gal Trudy Scott this week (June 16, 2016). And I am not surprised to find myself falling down yet another rabbit-hole, with yet more rabbit-holes attached! (Are you?) And unfortunately, I must say I’m finding anxiety, whether

Update February 7, 2017: Via The Ehlers-Danlos Society (aka “The EDS”) on Facebook the full new EDS nosology will be published on March 15, 2017. Meanwhile, some preliminary documents have been shared ahead of time, including one that talks about the new “framework” for recognizing and diagnosing the most common, hypermobile form of EDS. So,

Fasten your seatbelts and settle in with a snack (again), you’re in for a bit of a long ride, smile. I’ll try not to make it too bumpy! (Last updated February 25, 2023.) Hopefully you’ve heard of “The Trifecta” by now – that is, the relatively common trio of issues we find comorbid in the