Tag: medicine

Seeking Zebras of Color

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

What is Normal

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

50,000 Shades of Grey

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EDS nosology and diagnostic criteria were presented in March 2017, so some of the diagnostic information below is now outdated.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

Heads up change is coming May 2016

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,

Birds of a Feather

Birds of a feather flock together. And although we like to call ourselves medical “zebras”, for the purposes of this discussion I’m calling us birds to honor the age-old adage. Because we definitely flock and hang together whether we realize it or not, diagnosed or not from what I can see. I keep finding increasing

When Else to Suspect Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Author’s note March 16, 2017: Since the brand new updated criteria and nosology for all forms of the now plural Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (13 of them as of 2017) and the brand new category of Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders JUST came out, please bear with me as I get my site updated to reflect this. Accordingly, please take

Our Stories of Strength coming out May 2015

I’m thrilled to share that my short “story of strength” was included in the first edition anthology of Our Stories of Strength: Living With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that came out on Kindle May 8th, 2015 for EDS Awareness Month! And as of June 1, it is now also in Print on Amazon too! It is co-edited

MCAD linked to Autism Spectrum April 2015

Editor’s note April 2024: I’m behind on updating all my pages to reflect the change in terminology in the mast cell disease world. Mast Cell Diseases, or just MCD (no “A”) is now the official umbrella term for all forms of mast cell diseases, including Mastocytosis (all the forms), HaTS, and MCAS among other less

Calling All Geneticists

Wow, who would have thunk it? Careful what you ask for –  you may get it: we seem to be raising enough collective awareness finally through regular and social media that more people are suspecting they may have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and seeking out a diagnosis finally, yay. I see increasing numbers of media stories, both

Flares happen

This post is brought to you by Peanut, my faithful therapy rattie and napping partner as I find myself going splat a lot more with my 2nd worst flare since my initial 2012 onset “storm” or “cascade” that first got me diagnosed with Hypermobile type Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I’m strongly suspecting a hormonal cause to this