she is back to work...
"Even sitting here with you today, I'm in head-to-toe pain. But what's interesting about it is that I've found through neuropsych research and my relationship with my doctors that fibromyalgia can be treated through mental health therapy. And mental health is a medical condition. It should be treated as a medical condition. It should not be ignored."
Lucky Lady Gaga I say if she is able to access mental health therapy when it’s hard enough just to see a doctor these days 😳
She is a wonderful advocate for fibro - I watched her Netflix doc and it really resonates when she said about not knowing how other people cope without all the help she has - I like that she acknowledges how lucky she is to be able to access the kind of support needed. 💙
Yes that’s great , I’ll have to watch her documentary👍
so she is doing great and on the stage. This definitely means the management of this syndrome depends also a lot on money you have and medical help 
today.com/popculture/music/...
Money can only get you so far. Your condition is what determines how you manage with it. She has expressed about the dark times she has had and says she works inspite of the pain that she still endures. She is doing what she loves in spite of her pain.
Its far too simplistic to say money or celebrity makes it easier or even different.
yes but the majority of the celebrities seem to be doing more less well so definitely access to good medical care is very important for this syndrome
I don't think it is as simple as affording access to good medical care - the ability to access and try different treatments, having access to the therapist you want to work with rather than whoever is available etc come into it too
If I could afford weekly sessions with my massage therapist then I reckon I could be almost pain free, and able to manage without meds for example
I have seen so many diferent people will all different socioeconomic backgrounds doing well and badly. The condition and the variability within our community is so diverse. I can point to people that are not well off holding down full time jobs, or able to run 10Ks or a marathon, and other well off people that are confined to a wheelchair and are very limited in their options.
Small data points lead to incorrect conclusions. Its easy to look at lady gaga and be envious of her life, energy and ability to do so much. She cancelled 10 dates in 2018 due to her pain..... I find it hard to judge how freinds are getting on with their fibro as opposed to those on the other side of the world.
Also "majority of celebs" is a very small dataset that have come forward and confirmed they have fibro. I would say 20 or so covering the UK and US. And there is variability in that group as well.
It's great that she has managed to find a treatment that has worked for her, and is allowing her to continue with her career
She acknowledges in her documentary that she is lucky to be able to afford all the treatments she uses daily, and that she doesn't know how people who cannot afford to manage to cope
Do you know what her treatments consist of? I am curious.
Not offhand, as its been a few years since I watched her documentary. Back then she had massage therapists on hand 24/7, etc
It is possible she is taking ketamine among other treatments. Ketamine is very expensive.
Ketamine and lidocaie infusions are offered to people (after all other treatments are exhauseted normally and depends on area) but the reports afterwords is they do nto work for all, sometimes tail off or have short term efficacy. Another treatment that is right if it is for the right person but you only know about it afterwords.
Also I think when looking up on her treatments there were quite a few "hangers on" like ketamine centres using the story but not saying she was taking it. I do not think many specifics were mentioned about her treatment plan in public.
Arguably it would be irresponsible as everyone would chase that treatment no matter its efficacy.
Yes it stands to reason that if you can afford it you will get the treatments you need without having to wait and choose to see whoever you want, sometimes unfortunately money does talk , as you said I’d have daily massages not weekly lol plus all the other treatments available that we can’t get access to without paying for them
Hi, I also think it matters greatly how badly people are effected with fibro to be honest.
Some can actually carry on with most of their daily life. So to be honest only she and others know how bad they are really feeling.
In my humble opinion throwing money at an issue does not alway fix the problem.
I personally have found you also don't need money to find help with mental health issues. Believe me their is help out there and not just for the wealthy.
Momo
I just end up thinking about the Michael Jackson and Prince who were ultimately killed by the fact they had their own private doctors who gave them dangerous painkillers on demand.
Important & interesting to hear her say she has pain during the interview and not on stage. Same for me: On stage (or similar) my cortisol prevents me experiencing the pain to a certain extent and for a certain time. But as soon as I get off I can hardly walk. And if I used that cortisol effect for a few minutes too long the resulting flare can take hours, days or weeks to calm down. Especially if the resulting pain brings my sleep down more. Best if I lie down immediately, do relaxation exercises. And somehow keep up with self-discipline by focusing on just me, no peopling etc.
In my experience I agree that severity of the condition(s) on the one hand is far more important than accessibility and money. But I'd also add motivation on the other. When you're poor you can still find lots of workarounds to get what you need, if you really want to. And you don't need to be rich, just moderately well-off and praps partly have private insurance, to get pretty quick and pretty full access. But of course for some things it does help with severity and motivation if you have a bit more money and a bit more access, a bit less hurdles.
A good example for motivation though would be Lady Gaga's ice baths. You don't need any money at all to have a quick cold shower like I do, you need motivation. I'll always be surprised how few people actually even try it. Even after I try to calm them that cold and wind are also major pain triggers for me, that it's mainly the space of time that is the problem....
So I don't envy celebs for their money etc., seeing the way they live and die. But I think the great asset of Lady Gaga is her motivation, which helps her do what she does despite what she has. And I definitely have all her motivation, and enough money now. But my condition(s) are very severe that there's nothing much left for me to try. Except use my motivation to live a very different to the life I had two years ago, only 10-20% of those activities, but still living it to the full, with happiness and verve.
a funny for the ladies ,fibro fog moment :)
Does any ladies get this issue?
Lady on her way to help me with dla forms. :)
Sport Relief programme on BBC1has a lady on with fibro.
