Kait’s Journey with Miserable Malalignment Syndrome

Kait lives with miserable malalignment syndrome, which means that the bones in her legs are rotated abnormally. Since childhood her femurs were pointed inwards while her tibias rotated outwards, causing her knees to face each other. Even though this rotation was plainly visible to the naked eye, it still took Read more…

Managing Somatic Symptom Disorder Inside a Multitude of Chronic Illnesses

Colby has 11 chronic illness and mental health diagnoses. These include chronic pain (currently diagnosed as fibromyalgia), PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), asthma, IBS, eczema, PTSD, depression, anxiety, bipolar, ADHD and somatic symptom disorder. That last diagnosis might be the least well-known of Colby’s illnesses. According to psychiatry.org, “somatic symptom disorder Read more…

The Testing Is Not Definitive – Cassie’s Pain Journey

Cassie sums up her chronic pain situation by saying, “we know there’s something wrong but we can’t put a name to it because the testing is not definitive.” She experiences chronic joint pain, chronic fatigue, brain fog and arthritic damage with no evidence of inflammation on her imaging. Doctors have Read more…

Serena’s Duo of Severe Chronic Pain Conditions

Serena has gone to great lengths to uncover the cause of their severe chronic pain. Like many chronic illness patients, they have run into barrier after barrier when seeking care. Serena lives in Tennessee and has been denied for health insurance 5 times. They have also been denied 3 times Read more…

How Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Became Andrea’s Path to Empowerment

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis refers to an onset of autoimmune arthritis at a young age, which happened to Andrea when she was just 10 years old. She had been experiencing severe TMJ, wrist and knee pain, but doctors did not realize she had juvenile RA throughout her childhood. She was finally Read more…

Judy Foreman on How Chronic Pain Impacted Her Journalism Career

Judy Foreman is a lifelong journalist who spent most of her career at the Boston Globe as a science and medical writer. She had a medical column that was syndicated in national and international outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Baltimore Sun and others. She is the Read more…

Opening Up About Mental Health: Rachel Guyer-Mafune on Anxiety, Depression, ADHD and Bipolar Disorder

This week on the Major Pain podcast, Seattle based performer Rachel Guyer-Mafune discusses her history with mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, ADHD and bipolar disorder. Although she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in freshman year of college, she is only now beginning to open up about this diagnosis publicly. Read more…

Can Fibromyalgia and Fitness Coexist? An Interview with Coach Ki

After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Kiera (AKA Coach Ki) did some online research to see if she would be able to continue her fitness journey. She was disheartened to find several accounts of people unable to continue training with this disease. Kiera has been passionate about fitness since she was Read more…

Living with Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Joey Torre lives with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a painful, chronic skin condition that affects up to 2% of the population. The disease causes the formation of bumps, lesions, or boils in sweat gland areas, such as the armpits and groin. Joey also experiences extreme fatigue, which can sometimes accompany HS, Read more…

Years After Being Propped Up as a Bipolar Success Story, Genevieve Questions the Messaging She Was Directed To Share

As a senior in high school, Genevieve won an essay contest writing about the changes she’d like to see with the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder. This brought her to the attention of a foundation aimed at raising bipolar awareness, and at 19 years old she began touring with a state Read more…