Saturday, October 23, 2004

SSA has set up an exam for me...

It's on November 2nd (so I have something else to look forward to besides voting for the next leader of the free world). The doctor is female, and I hope to God she has treated FMS patients before, or this will be a colossal waste of time.

I'm going to call the doctor's office on Monday and check out what I'm going to be up against. I'm not going to make the same mistakes I made when I did this before nearly two years ago. I need to get some answers, so I hope that this doctor has some idea what FMS is, because the last doc SSA sent me to didn't. I could tell by the tests he gave me.

More on this later...meanwhile, I have some homework to do.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Stef:

We have been reading your Blog with interest and wanted to let you know about research work that our company (Swiss Medica) has done in developing safe, natural, non-prescription products to help patients fight the pain caused by a variety of chronic ailments. We would also like to supply you with samples of any of our products and get your opinion on how it works for you.

Throughout the past two years, we have developed and acquired a range of products designed to help people get natural relief from chronic pain without the use of pharmaceutical products (which can produce some unwelcome side effects). Consumers and retailers alike have seen the value of these products, allowing Swiss Medica to grow its distribution base to more than 20,000 retail outlets in less than two years.

These increasingly popular products meet the demands of a fast-growing market – as recent statistics show that more than 60 per cent of North Americans have tried at least one form of alternative medicine.

We believe that this is only the beginning of a dramatic shift in how consumers approach their own health – and that the use of alternative medicine will grow exponentially as they continue to discover the benefits of natural products. Our products are designed to provide natural, non-prescription, safe alternatives to prescription products - and thus far have been aimed at pain reduction and management. The Swiss Medica product line currently includes:

• O24™ Fibromyalgia – This is the first product of its kind developed to specifically address the symptoms of long term pain associated with fibromyalgia syndrome and is a patented and clinically tested, strong and safe, all-natural, over-the-counter health product. O24™ Fibromyalgia pain reliever recently became the first product to carry the new National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) official Seal of Approval on its packaging.

• PMS Escape™ – Swiss Medica recently introduced PMS Escape, a dietary supplement developed for women with normal PMS (premenstrual syndrome)-related disturbances in mood and appetite. PMS Escape is a patented, clinically-proven combination of specially formulated simple and complex carbohydrates plus vitamins and minerals, prepared specifically to manage some of the normal mood and appetite-related disturbances women experience during the premenstrual period.

• O24™ Pain Neutralizer - A patented, natural and clinically-tested, non-prescription topical pain relief product. O24 Pain Neutralizer was developed in conjunction with health care professionals, physiotherapists, massage therapists and professional athletes. It has been designed to provide temporary relief for aches and minor pains from arthritis, backaches and muscle strains – and four independent medical studies show its effectiveness.

Since its North American debut in 2004, O24™ Pain Neutralizer has found its way into the training rooms of professional sports teams and onto the body of former heavyweight champion boxer Larry Holmes. The product has also won the support of the University of Body Wellness in Texas.

Meanwhile, O24™ Fibromyalgia was the subject of a recent randomized double blind clinical trial conducted by Dr. Gordon Ko (Head, Fibromyalgia Clinic) and Dr. David Berbrayer (Head, Dept. Rehabilitation Medicine) at Sunnybrook & Women's Health Sciences Centre (University of Toronto). The pilot study, which involved 153 fibromyalgia subjects over a four-to-six week period, compared the 024™ pain reliever against a placebo in patients suffering with fibromyalgia. For participants who used O24 Fibromyalgia, more than 90 per cent of the patients reported mild to markedly better improvement on the 7-point Lanier rating scale.

PMS Escape has been the subject of rigorous testing in three clinical studies at Harvard’s Mass General Hospital, Duke University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The studies all revealed that the product is both safe and effective in treating PMS symptoms. Results have been published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

We invite you to find out more about the company and its products at our Web site at http://www.swissmedica.com – and to reply directly to me to let us know which products you would like to obtain a free sample of – as we would very much value your feedback and input.

Best wishes,

Dean Mailey