Painopolis

Previously on Painopolis, editor and health journalist David Sharp described his descent into chronic pelvic pain syndrome and recounted his early reliance on a urologist who repeatedly misdiagnosed the cause of Sharp’s pain as mere prostatitis.

In this episode, Sharp makes a physically agonizing trip out of state to attend an innovative pelvic-pain clinic. It’s a big gamble, because if the clinic’s approach fails to give him some relief, he’s got no plan B.

Sharp wraps up his chronic-pain story with specifics about how he’s doing today. He also reveals the strategies he now uses to rein in his pelvic pain. Thanks to these strategies, he’s gone from being nearly bedridden to living a full life.

Today, Sharp fills you in on:

• The key components of the six-day pelvic-pain clinic he attended

• How he learned a type of meditation called “paradoxical relaxation” that allowed him to downshift the tension in his body so his muscles could heal

• Trigger-point therapy—what it felt like to undergo the finger-in-the-rectum sessions and how the therapy deactivated his muscle tension

• How his turbulent childhood led him unknowingly to equate muscle tension with safety

• How psychotherapy helped him work through childhood trauma and gain a new way of looking at both life and his life-altering pelvic pain

• How he successfully overcame the panic attacks he started to get a few months into meditating, the cornerstone of his treatment regimen

• Why you need a support team to help you deal with chronic pain—and who to keep off your support team

• The top six things he does on a daily basis to reduce his pain.

Go to this episode’s show notes at http://bit.ly/2tzzH73 ‎for more details on the resources and strategies that Sharp used to combat chronic pelvic pain syndrome and reclaim his life.

Painopolis editor David Sharp recounts the ferocious, nonstop pelvic pain that hit him seemingly out of the blue and had him writhing on the floor. When his doctors misdiagnosed the pain as mere prostatitis, he searched for answers on his own. Ultimately, he turned to an unconventional approach that he learned about from other men who suffered from the same problem.

In today’s episode (he tackles his journey from being nearly bedridden to resuming a normal life in next week’s episode), Sharp talks in-depth about:

• The unforgettable day his ass spontaneously imploded

• How he got stuck in a “see the doctor/take antibiotics/get better/get worse” loop

• His hunt for strategies and tools to relieve his pain

• How a pelvic-pain internet forum led him to discover the health card he really got dealt

• His “I’m an experiment of one” attitude toward trying new treatments

• His decision to travel to an out-of-state pelvic-pain clinic with an unconventional protocol

• Seeking his wife’s help with his life-altering condition

• How he “rebooted” his body after sleeplessness and anxiety hit

Go to this episode’s show notes at http://bit.ly/2qZJGko for further details on the resources and strategies that Sharp used to combat his pelvic pain and reclaim his life.

Imagine how empowering it would be to tap into the minds of top scientists. And not just any top scientists, but rather, the very people who’ve devoted their lives to coming up with better treatments for your specific medical problem. Their views could have a profound impact on the choices you make about your health care—from which physicians you select to which treatments you try.

The fact is, getting cutting-edge insights from the world’s leading medical researchers is surprisingly easy (and free)—if you know how. In this episode, we tell you about an internet-based research tool named PubMed.gov. It can help you quickly get your hands on straight-from-the-lab findings and conclusions published by the world’s leading experts in every medical field. Those published papers are often packed with important insights that can help shape your health-care decisions and make you a savvier patient.

We let you know how well PubMed.gov works based on three criteria:

• Is it effective?

• Is it easy to use?

• Is it inexpensive?

And we wrap up the episode by revealing the Painopolis rating we give PubMed.gov based on its usefulness, user-friendliness and cost (we’re tough graders, by the way). If you believe—as we do—that information is power, this episode is for you.

After you’ve listened to our review, click on our free, half-hour-long PubMed.gov video tutorial (it’s way better than the head-scratching tutorials found at PubMed.gov) found in the show notes for this episode at painopolis.com/pubmed-review/. Our video tutorial will give you an easy-to-follow demo on how to use PubMed.gov. With that video tutorial as your guide, you’ll become a whiz at digging up the newest and most rigorously investigated findings from the world’s foremost experts on any medical topic.

Imagine how empowering it would be to tap into the minds of top scientists. And not just any top scientists, but rather, the very people who’ve devoted their lives to coming up with better treatments for your specific medical problem. Their views could have a profound impact on the choices you make about your health care—from which physicians you select to which treatments you try.

The fact is, getting cutting-edge insights from the world’s leading medical researchers is surprisingly easy (and free)—if you know how. In this episode, we tell you about an internet-based research tool named PubMed.gov. It can help you quickly get your hands on straight-from-the-lab findings and conclusions published by the world’s leading experts in every medical field. Those published papers are often packed with important insights that can help shape your health-care decisions and make you a savvier patient.

We let you know how well PubMed.gov works based on three criteria:

• Is it effective?

• Is it easy to use?

• Is it inexpensive?

And we wrap up the episode by revealing the Painopolis rating we give PubMed.gov based on its usefulness, user-friendliness and cost (we’re tough graders, by the way). If you believe—as we do—that information is power, this episode is for you.

After you’ve listened to our review, click on our free, half-hour-long PubMed.gov video tutorial (it’s way better than the head-scratching tutorials found at PubMed.gov) found in the show notes for this episode at painopolis.com/pubmed-review/. Our video tutorial will give you an easy-to-follow demo on how to use PubMed.gov. With that video tutorial as your guide, you’ll become a whiz at digging up the newest and most rigorously investigated findings from the world’s foremost experts on any medical topic.

In 1947, an American congressman suddenly collapsed while traveling in Europe. He was taken to a doctor, who concluded that the 30-year-old man was in such terrible shape that he’d be dead within a year. After returning to the U.S., the congressman publicly explained away his health scare as nothing more than a transitory flare-up of malaria that he’d first contracted in the south Pacific while serving in the Navy during World War II.

That congressman was John F. Kennedy, and he managed not only to outlive that doctor’s dire assessment but also to cover it up. What’s more, the cover-up was so successful that the only thing that the American public knew about Kennedy’s extensive health problems during his ascent to the presidency was that he had occasional backaches. But even that bit of knowledge only hinted at the truth.

In fact, JFK was severely crippled by excruciating back pain, abdominal pain, a life-threatening autoimmune disease, hypothyroidism, and other significant ailments throughout his life. In the mid-1950s while serving in the U.S. Senate, for example, he was hospitalized nine times for back pain, abdominal distress, prostatitis, and other problems. In that same period, he was even given last rites when a high-risk surgical procedure on his back nearly killed him.

After becoming president, he continued to be wracked by pain. During his first year in office, he had to rely on a cherry picker to hoist him into Air Force One because he was too hobbled by back pain to climb the stairs. As his brother Robert Kennedy once said about him, posthumously, “At least one half of the days that he spent on this earth were days of intense physical pain.”

Today, on this 100th anniversary of JFK’s birth, Painopolis delves into his battle with chronic pain. Joining us is Rose McDermott, a professor of international relations at Brown University, whose fascinating book, Presidential Leadership, Illness and Decision Making, explores the impact that pain and illness have had on leaders such as Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Nixon, and of course, Kennedy. As part of her exhaustive research into JFK’s health history, she—together with a physician—painstakingly studied JFK’s medical records stored at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Item by item, McDermott analyzed and deciphered those records to reveal the hidden story of a man struggling with debilitating pain while simultaneously shouldering the world’s most powerful job.

It’s a story that includes:

• An alarming assortment of medications that JFK took to control his pain and also to boost his mood

• The role played by a shady character dubbed “Dr. Feelgood,” who routinely injected JFK with a controversial concoction laced with amphetamines

• How JFK kept both the cause and severity of his pain secret from the American public

• How his chronic pain may have shaped the style and substance of his leadership in ways that the American people were never aware of.

Interviewee:

Rose McDermott, Ph.D., is the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of International Relations at Brown University and a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She’s also a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Her research encompasses a wide range of topics across many disciplines, including the effects of illness on political leaders. Her books include Presidential Leadership, Illness and Decision Making and also Risk-Taking in International Politics.

Go to this episode’s show notes at painopolis.com/jfk-a-profile-in-pain/ for more information on JFK’s health history and medical treatments, along with a timeline showing the major personal, political, and medical milestones in Kennedy’s life.

In 1947, an American congressman suddenly collapsed while traveling in Europe. He was taken to a doctor, who concluded that the 30-year-old man was in such terrible shape that he’d be dead within a year. After returning to the U.S., the congressman publicly explained away his health scare as nothing more than a transitory flare-up of malaria that he’d first contracted in the south Pacific while serving in the Navy during World War II.

That congressman was John F. Kennedy, and he managed not only to outlive that doctor’s dire assessment but also to cover it up. What’s more, the cover-up was so successful that the only thing that the American public knew about Kennedy’s extensive health problems during his ascent to the presidency was that he had occasional backaches. But even that bit of knowledge only hinted at the truth.

In fact, JFK was severely crippled by excruciating back pain, abdominal pain, a life-threatening autoimmune disease, hypothyroidism, and other significant ailments throughout his life. In the mid-1950s while serving in the U.S. Senate, for example, he was hospitalized nine times for back pain, abdominal distress, prostatitis, and other problems. In that same period, he was even given last rites when a high-risk surgical procedure on his back nearly killed him.

After becoming president, he continued to be wracked by pain. During his first year in office, he had to rely on a cherry picker to hoist him into Air Force One because he was too hobbled by back pain to climb the stairs. As his brother Robert Kennedy once said about him, posthumously, “At least one half of the days that he spent on this earth were days of intense physical pain.”

Today, on this 100th anniversary of JFK’s birth, Painopolis delves into his battle with chronic pain. Joining us is Rose McDermott, a professor of international relations at Brown University, whose fascinating book, Presidential Leadership, Illness and Decision Making, explores the impact that pain and illness have had on leaders such as Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Nixon, and of course, Kennedy. As part of her exhaustive research into JFK’s health history, she—together with a physician—painstakingly studied JFK’s medical records stored at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Item by item, McDermott analyzed and deciphered those records to reveal the hidden story of a man struggling with debilitating pain while simultaneously shouldering the world’s most powerful job.

It’s a story that includes:

• An alarming assortment of medications that JFK took to control his pain and also to boost his mood

• The role played by a shady character dubbed “Dr. Feelgood,” who routinely injected JFK with a controversial concoction laced with amphetamines

• How JFK kept both the cause and severity of his pain secret from the American public

• How his chronic pain may have shaped the style and substance of his leadership in ways that the American people were never aware of.

Interviewee:

Rose McDermott, Ph.D., is the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of International Relations at Brown University and a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She’s also a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Her research encompasses a wide range of topics across many disciplines, including the effects of illness on political leaders. Her books include Presidential Leadership, Illness and Decision Making and also Risk-Taking in International Politics.

Go to this episode’s show notes at painopolis.com/jfk-a-profile-in-pain/ for more information on JFK’s health history and medical treatments, along with a timeline showing the major personal, political, and medical milestones in Kennedy’s life.

Welcome to Painopolis! It’s a new podcast for people with chronic pain. And also for everybody else.

That’s because we’ll be bringing you stories about people who confronted the worst hell imaginable, surmounted it, and are now ready to tell the rest of us how they did it. You’ve never come across stories like these. Stories straight from the trenches. For example:

•  You’ll hear from a med-school graduate in so much pain that she intentionally put herself into a coma and came out of it pain-free.

•  We’ll tell you about a guy who needed $90,000 for cancer treatment—and his family and friends who figured out how to raise the money through GoFundMe in just two weeks.

•  You’ll meet a Florida stockbroker with chronic pain who talked the federal government into giving him a lifetime supply of free marijuana. (The government even rolls it for him!)

•  You’ll learn about a famous politician who secretly battled intractable pain while simultaneously shouldering the world’s most high-profile job.

•  You’ll hear about a journalist who dialed down his chronic pain by delving into the dark corners of his past. Oh, yeah, that journalist is me.

And by the way, if you’re still using Google to answer your medical questions, we’ll tell you about a wealth of research tools so powerful that they make Google look as flimsy as an old newspaper. And many of these tools won't even cost of you a dime. Cases in point:

•  Care to know how much money your doctor is getting from drug companies?

•  Want to tap into the minds of leading medical researchers and top physicians for free?

•  Want to know how to get access legally to medications so new that you can’t even buy them at a pharmacy?

You’ll find out how to do all that and much, much more.

Prepare to be riveted.

Painopolis. Relentlessly in search of what works, one defiant story at a time.

Coming soon on iTunes and at painopolis.com.

—David Sharp, editor

Welcome to Painopolis! It’s a new podcast for people with chronic pain. And also for everybody else.

That’s because we’ll bring you stories about people who confronted the worst hell imaginable, surmounted it, and are now ready to tell the rest of us how they did it. You’ve never come across stories like these. Stories straight from the trenches. For example:

•  You’ll hear from a medical-school graduate in so much pain that she intentionally put herself into a coma and came out of it pain-free.

•  We’ll tell you about a guy who needed $90,000 for cancer treatment—and his shrewd sister who figured out how to raise the money through GoFundMe in just two weeks.

•  You’ll meet a Florida stockbroker with chronic pain who talked the federal government into giving him a lifetime supply of free marijuana. (The government even rolls it for him!)

•  You’ll learn about a famous politician who secretly battled intractable pain while simultaneously shouldering the world’s most high-profile job.

•  You’ll hear about a journalist who dialed down his chronic pain by delving into the dark corners of his past. Oh, yeah, that journalist is me.

And by the way, if you’re still using Google to answer your medical questions, we’ll tell you about a wealth of research tools so powerful that they make Google look as flimsy as an old newspaper. And many of these tools won't even cost of you a dime. Cases in point:

•  Care to know how much money your doctor is getting from drug companies?

•  Want to tap into the minds of leading medical researchers and top physicians for free?

•  Want to know how to get access legally to medications so new that you can’t even buy them at a pharmacy?

You’ll find out how to do all that and much, much more.

Prepare to be riveted.

Painopolis. Relentlessly in search of what works, one defiant story at a time.

Coming soon on iTunes and at painopolis.com.

—David Sharp, editor

Music:

•  Our theme music is “Gentle Storm,” composed and performed by Betsy Tinney (betsytinney.com).

Welcome to Painopolis! It’s a new podcast for people with chronic pain. And also for everybody else.

That’s because we’ll bring you stories about people who confronted the worst hell imaginable, surmounted it, and are now ready to tell the rest of us how they did it. You’ve never come across stories like these. Stories straight from the trenches. For example:

•  You’ll hear from a medical-school graduate in so much pain that she intentionally put herself into a coma and came out of it pain-free.

•  We’ll tell you about a guy who needed $90,000 for cancer treatment—and his shrewd sister who figured out how to raise the money through GoFundMe in just two weeks.

•  You’ll meet a Florida stockbroker with chronic pain who talked the federal government into giving him a lifetime supply of free marijuana. (The government even rolls it for him!)

•  You’ll learn about a famous politician who secretly battled intractable pain while simultaneously shouldering the world’s most high-profile job.

•  You’ll hear about a journalist who dialed down his chronic pain by delving into the dark corners of his past. Oh, yeah, that journalist is me.

And by the way, if you’re still using Google to answer your medical questions, we’ll tell you about a wealth of research tools so powerful that they make Google look as flimsy as an old newspaper. And many of these tools won't even cost of you a dime. Cases in point:

•  Care to know how much money your doctor is getting from drug companies?

•  Want to tap into the minds of leading medical researchers and top physicians for free?

•  Want to know how to get access legally to medications so new that you can’t even buy them at a pharmacy?

You’ll find out how to do all that and much, much more.

Prepare to be riveted.

Painopolis. Relentlessly in search of what works, one defiant story at a time.

Coming soon on iTunes and at painopolis.com.

—David Sharp, editor

Music:

•  Our theme music is “Gentle Storm,” composed and performed by Betsy Tinney (betsytinney.com).