BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

I have some of the same things this woman does. And because I have been diagnosed as physically disabled 18 years (NOT MY "CHOICE"!!! either) some people comment on how well I "adapted" and "cope" because I'm giving them the impression "it's no big deal"... Well IT IS A BIG DEAL... it cut my living a decent productive life off at the knees... in my 30s !!! From the great site: BUT YOU DON'T LOOK SICK! __________________ Lately I’ve been getting the impression from some of my friends that maybe my growing list of chronic illnesses is no big deal. No one is actually coming out and saying these words, but that is definitely the feeling I’m getting. This point could be debatable. Maybe they think that. Maybe I’m projecting. But this is how they are making me feel, so right now this is my reality. And it’s fine really. I know that no matter how much education I do or how much awareness I try to bring, I am neve...

by Toni Bernhard, J.D. The Stigma of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I've been sick since 2001 when I failed to recover from what appeared to be an acute viral infection. It has left me mostly house-bound, often bed-bound. In effect, I've had the flu without the fever for almost ten years: the aches and pains, the dazed sick feeling, the low grade headache, the severe fatigue. It cost me my career as a law professor; it cost me the ability to be active in the lives of my children and grandchildren. Because I meet the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) case definition, I've been given the diagnosis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Although there have been some promising developments (a possible connection to a retrovirus; the presence of unique proteins in the spinal fluid of CFS patients), as of this writing, there's no proven cause and no cure. This is not surprising, given that so little money is allocated for research into this debilitating illness. Why? One reason i...

PLEASE WATCH THIS WHOLE VIDEO The doctors and psychiatrist threatened Sophia with sectioning in a mental hospital if she refused to go into a particular M.E. Clinic. They carried out their threat in July 2003. The effects on Sophia's health were devastating. She died on 25th November 2005. She was only 32. I believe it is now time that not only the public in general, but doctors, psychiatrists, the legal profession and M.P.s should read Sophia's documents. They need to see them so that they can understand how the doctors, psychiatrists, social workers and others in high places coldly ignored the truly terrible physical suffering she endured; how her right to make a valid choice was brushed aside and her human rights totally abused. It is clear to me that grave injustices were done to her, not only in her life, but in what I see as a 'cover up' in her death. This same criteria is still being used against many thousands of others with M.E. in a similar way. From: ht...

In 1995 I was working hard at a large, "white shoe" corporate law firm. They had offered me manager training and I said no. The politics at this place were such that if you weren't a "yes" person - you didn't get anywhere. Sorry, I am not a "yes" person. I had re-entered counseling after 10 years of infertility treatment had yielded yet no results. My marriage was circling the bowl. I not only didn't feel like a woman - I felt like nothing. I buried myself in work. I became the go-to person the partners or most demanding lawyers would call to help with whatever cases they were on. I worked evenings so when most people were on their way home, I was on my way to Wall Street. I worked in a dark, airless office. My work was highly detail oriented and often very sensitive & confidential in nature. It started slowly. And I kept attributing my symptoms to something else. Allergies, stress, PCOS. The metallic taste in my mouth, the buzzing in ...

This information was, in my opinion, so important for EVERYONE who has EVER been bullied -- whether as an adult or a child, online or off... verbally or emotionally abused, teased, put down, invalidated, smeared or slammed -- I am putting it here on my personal blog. I have, far too often, heard people I think should know better say -- "PTSD just PROVES [that person] is mentally ill." PTSD is NOT Mental Illness -- it is Psychological Injury. When we start to remove the stigma -- more people who need treatment & support will get it. If John McCain had become President? We'd have had a man in the White House who has PTSD. Think about it. Common features of Complex PTSD from bullying People suffering Complex PTSD as a result of bullying report consistent symptoms which further help to characterize psychiatric injury and differentiate it from mental illness. These include: Fatigue with symptoms of or similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (formerly ME...

By DENISE GRADY Many people with chronic fatigue syndrome are infected with a little known virus that may cause or at least contribute to their illness, researchers are reporting. The syndrome, which causes prolonged and severe fatigue, body aches and other symptoms, has long been a mystery ailment, and patients have sometimes been suspected of malingering or having psychiatric problems rather than genuine physical ones. Worldwide, 17 million people have the syndrome, including at least one million Americans. An article published online Thursday in the journal Science reports that 68 of 101 patients with the syndrome, or 67 percent, were infected with an infectious virus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV. By contrast, only 3.7 percent of 218 healthy people were infected. Continuing work after the paper was published has found the virus in nearly 98 percent of about 300 patients with the syndrome, said Dr. Judy A. Mikovits, the lead author of the paper. XMRV is a ...

MAY 12 AWARENESS DAY Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) Fact Sheet Chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is also called chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). It is recognized by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration and Social Security Administration as a serious, disabling illness. CFIDS is characterized by unrelenting exhaustion, muscle and joint pain, cognitive disorders and other symptoms (read on). Many people with CFIDS are denied disability benefits because doctors and employers wrongly believe they are lazy or have a mental illness rather than a serious physical condition. Although its name trivializes the illness as little more than mere tiredness, chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), brings with it a constellation of debilitating symptoms. CFIDS is characterized by incapacitating fatigue (experienced as p...

THANKS FOR THE MENTION SPARK! Together we can help education people about the horrors and reality of living with these invisible disabilities! "A posting on Barbara’s Tchatzkahs blog by Marina Vataj entitled “ Wake Up and Smell the Real Deal on Fatigue” discusses the CDC’s acknowledgement of CFS as a real disease. It lists symptoms and statistics and provides the CDC’s website address. (208/07)" CLICK HERE FOR A FULL MEDIA LIST FROM SPARK

A Legal Victory for the "Invisibly" Disabled! I've spent time sitting in the office of Senator Schumer (D-NY) and even had appointments with the aides of Mike Thompson (D-CA), Xavier Becerra (D-CA) and Stephanie T. Jones (D-OH) - all members of the House Subcommittee on Health. My issue? Reforming ERISA so that genuinely disabled persons, particularly those of us with autoimmune and invisible disabilities. Get a fair shake from the Insurance Industry. Did you know that the Insurance Industry is the SECOND largest lobbying faction in Washington? Remember that your premiums may be paying for free lunches to Washington policy makers so that your claims are delayed or denied! CA Jury Awards FM/CFS Patient $15.4 Million in Disability Suit by ImmuneSupport.com On Thursday March 8, 2007 a jury in the Superior Court of San Diego County, California ordered Prudential Insurance Company of America to pay FM and CFS patient Darla Johnson $14 million in punitive damages. This wa...