Martha Lehman, RN

It is estimated that at least 6 million people in the United States suffer from Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and only 15% have have been diagnosed. Along with this, 1 out of 4 American adults deal with chronic pain and 7 million Americans have trouble sleeping. What is going on? We live in a stressful, sedentary, nutrient poor, and anxious world that our bodies were not designed for and it is showing up as chronic health problems. Ultimately, whether we like it or not, most of will experience a time when our body says “no more!”. When this happens, we develop disease (you might even call it "dis-ease," because of the way the illness prevents your sick body from being at "ease"). The reality is that our current way of working with chronic health conditions is to throw pills at people and hope for the best. As much as we would like to believe a “super pill” exists that will fix all our ills, it just isn’t so. As a matter of fact, many times the pill taken for one ailment, leads to another problem that, you guessed it, requires another pill! Don’t get me wrong, being a nurse for the past 30 years I have seen first-hand how well medications can work. However, I have also seen medications that cause enough of an annoyance that the person would rather live with their discomforts rather than suffer the side effects of the medicine. If done well, the practice of medicine partners with the holistic idea of “wellness” and uses the least amount of medication needed to assist the patient to be free of “disease.” As a nurse with continuing education in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, as well as personal experience with these syndromes, I hope to be your partner in finding your personal way to wellness. YOU CAN FEEL BETTER!!!