This is Harper’s chronic fatigue syndrome story, also known as CFS, myalgic encephalomyelitis or "ME", ME/CFS, and CFIDS (chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome). I call her story a #Chrillog, which stands for “chronic illness weblogs,” in which we look at our journeys through a nervous ...
APOEs (Adverse Pre-Onset Experiences)
Type 2 Diabetes and Trauma: 8 Categories of Adversity Increase Risk (+Tips, Fact Sheet and Why It’s Not Your Fault)
Get the Free Fact Sheet & Post The forms will appear momentarily Chapters Preface A New Model The New Model: Weight is Not the Cause There is a profound and deeply shaming stigma assigned to larger bodies or having type 2 diabetes (T2D) in our culture. T2D is ...
My PreDiabetes Story: Overweight, “Sugar Crashes,” and Trauma (+ My Type 2 Diabetes Talk at Avaiya’s Free Online Summit)
This is my story of prediabetes and trauma. It is one reason for the series of posts I'm doing this month on type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes and one that is at epidemic levels in the US and other developed countries. The under-appreciated role of adversity as a risk factor is ...
Planting Seeds for Healing 8 Categories of Adversity (and Chronic Illness)
There are empowering, encouraging things about understanding the role of adversity and trauma as risk factors for chronic illness. Among the most important are that it provides opportunities. Opportunities for making sense of symptoms. Opportunities for removing blame. And opportunities for planting ...
Trauma and Type 1 Diabetes: Dan’s Onset Story and Symptoms (With Research That Explains It)
Have you ever wondered whether trauma can cause the autoimmune form of diabetes? Or if there is, at the very least, any research about links between trauma and type 1 diabetes (T1D)? Or if trauma contributed to your risk of developing some other chronic illness, whatever it may be? The science ...
IIA. ME/CFS and The Cell Danger Response: How Adversity Triggers the Freeze Response and How the CDR Gets Stuck (Includes Surveys)
I've described how chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disease driven by a cell danger response (CDR) and a nervous system caught in a threat response of freeze and some of us with an underlying fight/flight response (wired and tired) in Part 1. This second post describes how the CDR gets stuck ...
IIB. ME/CFS Surveys (The Cell Danger Response and Hibernation Series)
This post contains a group of chronic fatigue syndrome questionnaires (ME/CFS surveys) and serves as a short companion to other, more detailed blog posts. Post I introduces Dr. Robert Naviaux' research on the cell danger response (CDR) and how ME/CFS represents a metabolic state of freeze. Post IIA ...
Essential Guide to Chronic Illness, Trauma and The Nervous System: Keys to Quelling the Volcano
Having had a chronic illness for 20 years, it has sometimes felt like I've had a volcano inside of me - out of my control, traumatic, and life-altering.But research explaining links between chronic illness, trauma and the nervous system has made sense of my illness. It has also helped me ...
#6 Trauma Triggers Type 1 Diabetes and Other Diseases (Buffers, ACEs, Delayed Onset after Trauma+)
In this 6th post of my discovery series, I review 25 years of studies examining links between stress, trauma and adverse events, and type 1 diabetes (T1D). The findings support the long-held suspicion that serious life events increase risk for type 1 diabetes. Whether you have T1D or a different ...