Sunny did not consider her diagnosis as a major pain, but rather a “major inconvenience,” until she realized how affected her daily life was. Since childhood, Sunny battled to stay awake during the day. She experienced sudden waves of drowsiness and her eyelids feeling heavy, which often would not resolve Read more
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Avery was gearing up for senior year of college when she began to notice painful changes in her body. Her initial symptoms included difficulty sleeping and intense jaw pain. Avery also began to notice growth in her facial features, hands and feet. She thought these changes could be from another Read more
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Sydney Anne Bennett lives with functional neurological disorder (FND), which is a condition where the brain doesn’t communicate properly with the nervous system. Sydney’s symptoms include chronic pain, hallucinations, loss of taste, trouble sleeping, hand paralysis, seizures, ataxia, muscle spasms, fatigue, and difficulty using her legs. Consequently, after a year Read more
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Rho has a self-described laundry list of diagnoses, and she has had to fight for every single one. Her list includes autism, ADHD, bipolar 2, CPTSD, excoriation disorder, keratoconus, IBS, GERD, chronic kidney disease, tactile allodynia and chronic pain. Along the way she faced constant medical gaslighting and dehumanizing treatment, Read more
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Cianna has been a dancer her whole life, saying “as soon as I could walk I was dancing.” Over the past few years chronic illness has altered her life’s course, and frustratingly taken her away from dance. While it has been difficult to leave her life’s passion behind, Cianna has Read more
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Kenny Alhadeff first appeared on the Major Pain podcast 3 years ago, sharing his experiences living in recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism. This year Kenny will celebrate his 40th year of sobriety. Since first appearing on the show Kenny has experienced the most intense chronic pain of his life, Read more
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This week on the Major Pain podcast we are joined by NYU Professors and psychoanalysts Dr. Avgi Saketopoulou and Ann Pellegrini to discuss the intersection of trauma and gender, as discussed in their book Gender Without Identity. They propose a new theory of gender development, that gender is something all Read more
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Jamie is a social media chronic illness advocate under the handle @LoveWarriorHugs, but her advocacy extends beyond social media. She is an epilepsy ambassador with the National Epilepsy Foundation, and she’s also been involved in successfully lobbying to change pain management laws in Illinois. Her passion for advocacy stems from Read more
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Rasheera Dopson, host of the Womanhood & Disability podcast, is an accomplished author, public speaker and advocate spreading her messages of justice, disability empowerment and awareness. She came by this work through her own experience living with two rare syndromes, both caused by her being born about 5 months premature. Read more
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We’re kicking off the fourth season of Major Pain by catching up with previous guests! Michelle and Bek both have new diagnoses that are recontextualizing their journeys, while Simon is feeling completely cured. As Major Pain enters its fourth season, now is a great time to support the show on Read more
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