EXCERPT: Sunbreak: Understanding the Pain No One Can Explain © Shana Johnson 2023 Available on Amazon Sept. 2023 CHAPTER 1 EXCERPT When the sun breaks through When I lived in Seattle, the sky was gray for nine long months, from October through June. During this gloom, short bursts of sun appeared, lasting only a…
Does your doctor believe you? How to find one who does. Does your healthcare provider take the time to listen? Do you feel more like an inconvenience than a client? And when you share your symptoms and concerns, does your doctor believe you? You need to learn how to find one who does. The relationship…
From back pain to depression, one woman’s agonizing journey In my practice, I’ve worked with countless patients who were referred by their providers because their back pain had no physical cause. Exams, X-rays, and MRIs showed nothing abnormal. Those tests don’t show over-reactive, over-sensitized nerves! And when a physician doesn’t understand this stress-related condition, they…
Work overload really blows your mind! Work stress and headaches go together. Too much angst hits you in physical ways you might not realize, resulting in a stress-related disorder. Here’s a story about how stress overload really blows your mind! Stress can destroy your health. When you go for long periods of time with…
Nerve Sensitization Symptom Evaluator Author: Shana L Johnson MD, AskDrShana Signs that pain is related to nerve sensitization (nociplastic pain) includes long-standing symptoms symptoms (> 3 months), spread of symptoms beyond the boundary of the injury area, marked increased sensitivity to painful stimuli, and non-pain symptoms that cause system-wide symptoms like severe fatigue, disrupted…
Author: Shana L Johnson MD, AskDrShana There are multiple classes of medications that lower the reactivity and pain signals from nerves. Many of the medications were developed for other medical conditions but were found to reduce nerve pain. I refer to them as “neuropathic agents” since they lower reactivity and pain signaling from the nerves.…
Author: Shana L Johnson MD, AskDrShana Nerves gone rogue! How stress sparks extreme pain Imagine suffering from constant headaches, debilitating back pain, or embarrasing digestive symptoms but being told nothing is wrong. Your told your medical tests are mostly normal. This discrepancy between pain and pathology can be explained by nerve sensitization.…
Central sensitization is a phenomenon that complicates chronic pain. It represents a change in the nervous system that is associated with the development and maintenance of pain. The change results in a persistent state of high reactivity and a lowered threshold for feeling pain. For example, in one study, a person with central sensitization…
