TIME Doesn't have any, it seems.

TIME Magazine and TIME.com don't seem to have time to check facts or state things clearly and accurately anymore.

I ran across their list of the top ten medical breakthroughs of 2007 on TIME.com just now, wherein they list the use of a drug called Lyrica to treat fibromyalgia as the #7 breakthrough of the year. (You can read all five sentences they posted on the topic at http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686252_1690389,00.html )

The statement that turned my stomach was "...the pain of fibromyalgia is unique and, therefore, unresponsive to conventional painkillers." I have fibromyalgia. I can tell you right now that this blanket statement is false and misleading. It's false because some of us do find varying degrees of relief from conventional pain medications, and it's misleading in its oversimplification of a very complex issue.

Fibromyalgia pain is unique. That's why Lyrica is such a breakthrough for so many people; it treats that pain in a different way, and that way works better for some people. But not everyone responds well to it, and not everyone can get it in the first place.

Conventional pain medications do have their place in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Some of us do get relief from them, but what often happens is that because fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder, over time the patient's body gets used to the medication, and it takes higher and higher doses to give the same pain relief. This is called tolerance. The problem facing fibromyalgia patients is that because the pain continues and therefore the need for increased doses continues, doctors and others start to become skeptical of the veracity of our claims of pain and need for medication. Simply, they start to think the patient is addicted to their pain meds and is just trying to get high. Even though it's been shown that chronic pain patients who are properly treated are unlikely to become addicted to their medication and abuse it, these patients are often unceremoniously dumped. They are given no more medication, and referred to detox programs or psychiatric treatment. But we're not addicts and we're not crazy or attention-seeking. We are in pain, real pain that does not go away, and only gets worse the longer we go without treatment.

I may have lost some people by now, You might be wondering how I got off on such a rant from that short, simple statement in TIME's article. The reason I'm so upset by that little statement is that fibromyalgia is already so misunderstood, both by doctors and laymen alike. There's so much talk about people who manipulate the medical system to get prescription drugs to abuse, and so much talk about narcotic pain medications being overprescribed. Sure, there are people who abuse medications and abuse the system to get them. But there are far more of us who really need those medications and are unable to convince caregivers that we need them, so we have to go without any treatment at all. Blanket statements like the one in TIME's article only further mislead people and feed the myth that fibromyalgia is a synonym for addiction.

Let me tell you, it is not! This disease is all too real. I am in pain every second of every day, and I do not remember a time in my life when this wasn't the case. I get exhausted by the slightest activity, but I lay awake in bed, unable to sleep. When I do sleep, it's fitful and I wake up more drained than before. I have trouble with concentration, and my memory is bad. I get confused easily. I have to be very careful about what I eat, and even then I have miserable digestive problems. There are too many components of this disease to list, and none of the doctors I've seen (and there have been many) can do anything for most of it. Back when I was prescribed pain medication, if I went to the doctor for help because it wasn't working, they would discontinue it instead of adjusting the dose. As for this new breakthrough, Lyrica, I asked about it when it was still in the process of gaining FDA approval; the doctor said we would have to look at the information when it was approved and became available. When I asked again, I was just told that it wasn't right for me. No explanation, and no alternatives offered.

The doctors our society hold in such high regard for their education and wisdom don't understand this disease and many don't seem to be interested in learning. The general public knows even less about it, and things like that article just make things worse for people like me. That's a very frustrating and frightening thing when it already seems like things can't get much worse.

Let there be lighting!

I did the best I could with the photos I originally took for my Etsy shop, but they weren't too good. For the hats, which make up most of my inventory right now, I didn't have anything to display them on (and I didn't like the way they looked on me) so I did what I always do if I need something I don't have and can't just run out and get... I made one. In this case, I crocheted myself a display head. It worked, but the look left a bit to be desired.

So a few days ago I received a box of heads in the mail... styrofoam heads, that is, the kind you're supposed to use for displays and photos (courtesy of my dad). He also gave me some tips on how to aim the big light he's letting me use, and adjusted the camera settings. I'm absolutely blown away at what a huge difference those changes made! My shots aren't perfect, but I'm quite proud.

My friend Jess also deserves some credit in this, because the card reader he gave me saves me lots of time and batteries in transferring files from the camera to the computer. Thanks, Jess!

Please have a look around my shop at http://jenhintz.etsy.com and let me know what you think of the new photos. I still have a few to replace in coming days, so stay tuned.