Category: Uncategorized

  • Living With the Seasons According to Chinese Medicine: The MCAS & EDS Version (Are You Ready For Spring?)

    Living With the Seasons According to Chinese Medicine: The MCAS & EDS Version (Are You Ready For Spring?)

                Most of the posts on this blog start with hEDS as the baseline and expand outward to include MCAS and/or dysautonomia.  In this one, I’m centering MCAS.  Spring season brings its challenges for everyone, but when you’re a mastie?  Spring can be particularly and specifically extra difficult for those of us with MCAS.  This…

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  • The Empyrean and The Poppy War Trilogy (Some Thoughts on Dragons, Hypermobility, and War)

    The Empyrean and The Poppy War Trilogy (Some Thoughts on Dragons, Hypermobility, and War)

                Did you expect to feel moved when you read The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros only to find that the main character, one Violet Sorrengail, lives with her book world’s version of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?  Would you be more interested in Rin, the protagonist of The Poppy Wars series if you discovered that she,…

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  • Dysmotility, Anyone? (Gastroparesis & hEDS)

    Dysmotility, Anyone? (Gastroparesis & hEDS)

                The word paresis is of Greek origin and it indicates letting go of or weakening or slackness of muscle.  It refers to partial paralysis rather than a complete stopping of movement (paralysis).  When this word describes what’s going on with a person’s digestive system, it is a problem indeed.             Gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying)…

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  • Health coaching, Edu-coaching, Consultation: The Which and Why and When for People with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

    Health coaching, Edu-coaching, Consultation: The Which and Why and When for People with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

                Working with a health coach can be one of the most affirming, valuable, inspiring things you can do when you decide that yes, it is time to make some change.  And yet, as a person with a complex condition (or list of conditions) it is, as always, a bit more challenging than what the…

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  • The Languages of Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes, MCAS, and POTS: Words Count

    The Languages of Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes, MCAS, and POTS: Words Count

                How do you articulate your experience?              Yes, this is a loaded question.  If you read it and thought of your joints, your articulations, then you read it just fine.  If you went to the implication of verbalizing, you are also correct.  Even so, for the purposes of this blog post, I will focus…

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  • Congee For Zebras (Like Chicken Soup for the Ehlers-Danlos Warrior Soul, but Better)

    Congee For Zebras (Like Chicken Soup for the Ehlers-Danlos Warrior Soul, but Better)

    Chicken soup for the soul?  Eh.  What about Chinese congee, or rice porridge, for zebras?  To me, that sounds just right.   In this blog post, consequently, I want share some thoughts about comfort food along with some encouragement for the zebra spirit. We all need encouragement, don’t you think?

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  • Living With the Seasons According to Chinese Medicine: The EDS Version (Are You Ready For Winter?)

    Living With the Seasons According to Chinese Medicine: The EDS Version (Are You Ready For Winter?)

                Every season is nested into a context and has its own associations.  What do you think about when you ponder winter season?  Holidays, colder weather, the space in between fall and spring…? In my practice, about 80% of my EDS, MCAS, and/or POTS patients see winter through the lens of icy hands and feet…

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  • Acupuncture and hEDS: Getting To The Point

    Acupuncture and hEDS: Getting To The Point

                What’s more important, the journey or the destination?  This is a bit of a clichéd question and most of us know the answer to it. In theory, the best part is the journey, or the process of learning and growing and experiencing. The destination, of lesser importance, is the goal or outcome.  But if…

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  • Astragalus for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and MCAS (Or… What is Huang Qi?)

    Astragalus for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and MCAS (Or… What is Huang Qi?)

                Astragalus… you may have heard of it. If you have EDS and/or MCAS and are familiar with the supplement options popular within the community, you probably have tried it too.  Astragalus grows in China, Mongolia, and North Korea and is a beloved herb in Asian tradition.  Its Chinese name is huángqi (alternate spelling: huáng…

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  • Self-Care For Folks With Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Yes, You Do Deserve It)

    Self-Care For Folks With Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Yes, You Do Deserve It)

                Self-care when you live with a complex disorder like EDS (especially if you have the usual add-ons like MCAS or POTS) is crucial…but what, for a person with chronic illness or pain, does this term actually mean?  And how can a person create a meaningful program if they already dedicate considerable energy to making…

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