Winning at Fibromyalgia

Episode 47: How to decide whether your new symptoms are fibromyalgia or something serious?

My patients often ask me: How do I know whether what I feel is my old fibromyalgia or something new and serious? in this episode I share my own recent experience after developing new symptoms of numbness tingling in R hand and R foot, how it freaked me out and what helped me feel better. The story is still evolving :-)

Episode 46: What to do with new pain on top of "old" pain?

In this episode I give you suggestion on how to handle situation when you experience acute on top of chronic pain of fibromyalgia.

Episode 45: What does the pain relief in fibromyalgia come down to?

Episode 45: What does the pain relief in fibromyalgia really come down to?   Hello friends! So Excited to be here, brining you episode #45.   The focus of today’s episode is zeroing in on what is the pain reduction really about. I had an epiphany very recently and realized that I have to share it with you because it just may help some of you to think of pain relief in fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions differently.   While I was still working on this episode, 2 da...

Episode 44: what do a sick child, a break up and an overwhelmed Mom have to do with fibromyalgia ?

Episode 43: Winning at fibromyalgia online course available for the first time

WAF Episode 44: The first of its kind, Winning at Fibromyalgia online course is born! https://www.martinaziegenbeinmdcoaching.com/course-pre-sale-landing-page https://www.martinaziegenbeinmdcoaching.com/offers/mgeMgobJ/checkout Hello friends!   Today is a special day. First of all, I am recording this from my “studio” in England and when it airs, I will still be in England!  Of course, I don’t have a studio in England, I am visiting my sister and she lives in England, about 30...

Episode 42: On healing/relaxation response and pain relief with Dr. Robyn Tiger

Today's guest: Dr. Robyn Tiger Physician | Trauma-Informed Self-Care Coach | Podcaster Dr. Tiger shares so much good stuff it is hard to know where to start. Robyn Tiger, MD is on a mission to empower busy humans with self-care tools backed by science and research. She does a lot of work with physicians on the verge of burnout or coming out of burnout but the tools she discusses in this episode are literally for EVERYONE. At the beginning of the episode i asked her how she got t...

Episode 41: How winning at fibromyalgia feels like to me, one year reflections

Episode 40: One year anniversary, success at modulating acute pain

Episode 40: You experience an acute jolt of pain – now what? Welcome to episode 40 of WAF Podcast! I am recording this episode exactly on my podcast first anniversary! I launched The Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast exactly a year ago, October 15th 2021. It is now October 15th 2022. This is the 40th episode. I could choose to be upset over not giving you 52 episodes – one per week. But instead I am choosing to be grateful and excited. Grateful for all of you who listen and have f...

Episode 39: The pain of a break up and my fibromyalgia

Episode 39: The pain of a break up is both emotional and physical   Hi! Welcome to episode #39!   Today I am going to talk about the pain of a break up! It is something I first heard about a year ago when I was taking pain reprocessing courses and at that time I found it fascinating. I was recently dating and it did not occur to me I would be “testing” on myself    Break ups hurt. NO matter how many times you have thought about breaking up with the person or questioned whethe...

Episode 38: From my guest appearance on Dr. Chiaramonte's Integrative Palliative podcast

Episode: Weaving the threads (of WInning at Fibromyalgia philosophy) together

Episode 37: Weaving the threads (of Winning at fibromyalgia philosophy) together   Hello friends.   In the past few episodes I discussed individual pieces of the Core Winning at Fibromyalgia program. Today I am coming on here for a sweet short episode to recap, and emphasize the most important pieces and what I am doing about it.   I do strongly recommend listening to prior episodes to learn more about the individual steps. In summary, they include: The Neuroplasticity conce...

Episode 36: healing past trauma in fibromyalgia pain reduction - personal story

Episode 35: Self-compassion in pain reduction

You might wonder why we need to talk about self-compassion in pain reduction in fibromyalgia. What does it have to do with alleviating physical pain? Well, it turns out, a lot. Self-compassion is a way of soothing the over-agitated nervous system, that is amplifying our pain sensation on constant basis. We may not be directly to the part of our nervous system that amplifies the pain. WHen we practice self-compassion, we are addressing our suffering, whatever is the circumstance, and...

Episode 34: Pain reduction tools - Somatic tracking

Today we talk about somatic tracking as one of the core techniques on pain reduction.

Episode 33: Letting go (of the outcome expectation)

Episode 32: Enbrace the concept of neuroplasticity

in episode 32: I talk about embracing the concept of neuroplasticity - the fact that the brain can determine what hurts, how much and can also make it better/we can rewire the brain neuro pain pathways. ONe of the hallmarks of neuroplasticity is also the fact that the brain is wired for any sign of threat/danger. When it finds it, it can increase the sensitivity to pain and the pain perception itself. It does not have to stay this way, and it never does. The pain can increase, or ...

Episode 31: Do you believe (in your body's ability to heal)?

Episode 31: Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast   Well hello my friends! It has been a while! I have been MIA a little bit, for a good reason and I am back  I met someone special, his name is Greg and he has swept me off my feet, that’s all I will say for now.   I am coming on today to introduce you to my new, simplified version 2.0.1 of my Winning at fibromyalgia method. It is very powerful and I am very proud of it.   For those who don’t know me, I am a board-certified rheumat...

Episode 30: Dr. Saloni Sharma on solution for back pain

Episode 30: With Dr. Saloni Sharma on Solutions for back pain   I was so excited to talk to Dr. Sharma about back pain. Back pain is one of the most common problems of humans in general, and it does frequently bother patients with fibromyalgia. Dr. Sharma is a dual certified in Physical Medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and Pain management. She is medical director of the Orthopedic Integrative Health Center at Rohmans Orthopedics and specializes in the NON-operative care of muscu...

Ep 29: How negative beliefs can torpedo your pain reduction efforts in fibromyalgia

Episode 29: why losing hope can torpedo your efforts at reducing pain from fibromyalgia   Well hello there my friends!   It has been a few weeks since I talked to you from my office in person  I brought several guests to you and I hope you loved the episodes.   Today I want to touch upon something that has been weighing on my mind last few days. I had a patient told me recently: “Doctor Z, I already DID ALL OF THAT. I tried EVERYTHING. I already did meditation, physical thera...

Episode 28: On recovering from traumatic brain injury and living with pain with Dr. Susan Hughes

Episode 28: Recovering from Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic pain with dr. Susan Hughes   Dr. Susan Hughes is a board certified currently non-practicing family medicine physician who survived and recovered from traumatic brain and other body injuries 8 years ago. She reveals:   - how it was to get through trauma of a car accidents, subsequent fall out including difficulty reading, speaking and remembering things and people and inability to continue practice medicine. - ...

Episode 27: Practicing Stillness with Dr. Nissa Keyashian, adult psychiatrist

Today I am bringing to you Dr. Nissa Keyashian, an adult psychiatrist practicing and living in San Jose, CA. Her generosity in sharing her expertise may prove to be the most consequential of my guest episodes. We talk about mindfulness and stillness - the basics of what it means and how to start practicing. STudies have shown that pain responds to stillness because that's when the "healing response" and parasympathetic nervous system are activated. Practicing stillness helps our mi...

Episode 26: When sleep is a problem with Dr. Afolabe-Brown

Episode 26: When sleep is a problem  Dr. Afolabi-Brown is a board-certified sleep medicine physician and pediatric pulmonologist, founder of Restful sleep MD. She empowers busy moms prioritize their sleep.  The struggle is real – pain and lack of refreshing sleep go hand in hand. We talked all things sleep: “It feels like I was hit by a truck”. Where do you even start when a client/patient tells you that’s how they fell? Two main issues with sleep: 1. Quantity versus quality. B...

Ep 25: Interview with Dr. Daniel Clauw, part 2, on narcotics and CBD/THC in fibromyalgia

In the second part of the interview, Dr. Clauw discusses use of opioids, CBD and THC in fibromyalgia, as well as exciting new avenues the research is heading (study of psychodelics and calorie restriction).   As always don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or find me on facebook under Dr. Martina Ziegenbein Fibromyalgia Pain coaching! 

Episode 24: Interview with Dr. Daniel Clauw part 1

Dr. Daniel Clauw is the leading researcher in the field of fibromyalgia and chronic pain at University of Michigan. HIs group was the first one to show that the pain of fibromyalgia was real. By using functional MRI of the brain (fMRI). We chatted about many things and today I am bringing you part 1 of the 2 part interview. Part 1 brings the following: - how it all came to be that he was leading the group in studying fMRIs in patient with fibromyalgia (his group got funding for st...

Episode 23: Dr. Lissa Rankin on healing our bodies and traumas, part 2

Welcome to part of my conversation with Dr. Lissa Rankin, a board certified Ob/Gyn who is now focusing most of her energy on healing work and just recently completed work on her newest book Sacred medicine (it can be pre-ordered on https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096NHG3M8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1). In the part two of our conversation, we talk about: - cancer (and any chronic ailment) can be a a result of chronic overdoing/not caring for ourselves properly (and Dr. ...

Ep 22: Viewing fibromyalgia as a part (of ourselves) with Dr Lissa Rankin

Episode 21: Not all pain is equal (but all pain is real)

IN today's episode, I am reminded of how many chronic pain sufferers do not know what kind of pain they have when they first start off with having pain. I have been participating in a book club of WAY OUT authored by Alan Gordon (through Tell me about your pain community on FB) and through talking to other attendees with chronic pain I was startled by the finding that it takes a long time for humans to find out what kind of pain they have. Finding a provider who can explain pain is ...

Episode 20: ER Doc Dr. Tamara Beckord on her secret to dealing with overwhelm

  Welcome to episode #21 of the Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast!   We have a special guest today Dr. Tamara Beckford. She is a Mom, Wife, ER physician, Host of Docs Who Care Podcast, Speaker and Wellness Expert coach and CEO of the Ur Caring Docs.   I brought Dr. Beckford on today because she helps professional women put their health and wellness first without guilt. She talks the talk and walks the walk. She is the embodiment of what it takes to live a full live and enjoy it. ...

Episode 19: Mind Body troubles of my own this past week

WAF Episode 19   Hello! Welcome to episode 19 of the Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast! I feel a weird sense of pride that I am inching toward the number 20.   First of all, I want to acknowledge the tragedy and injustice going on in Ukraine. I am originally from Slovakia and during the era of Soviet union, Slovakia had Russian/Soviet military bases all over the country. We were still Czechoslovakia when we came under the political influence of the Soviet union in 1948. We were t...

Episode 18: Dr. Schubiner talks about all things chronic pain and how to get rid of it.

Episode 18: Howard Schubiner, the Director of the Mind Body program and the best physician you can ask for when you have chronic pain Dr. Schubiner is a clinical professor, Founder and Director of the Mind Body Medicine Center at Ascension Providence Hospital in Southfield, MI. He treats patients with chronic pain and makes their lives better. By curing or reducing the pain. He is my role model, I have first met him in September 2021 on a conference call as part of my participatio...

Episode 17: What brings down the danger signal in pain: summary

Episode 17   Hello hello hello!  Welcome to episode #17 of Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast!   I just want to spend a moment expressing gratitude to those who tune in and listen – thank you. I appreciate you. My little website analytics gives me some stats on my podcast and among them is a list of countries where my listeners are. I am so humbled to see I have listeners in US, Canada, Germany, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Quatar. It is TRULY an honor to be reaching...

Episode 16: Talking PTSD and Chronic pain with Dr. Leigh Ann Dooley, Board Certified Psychiatrist

Episode 16: On PTSD, Chronic pain approach and CBT compassion with Dr. Leigh Ann Dooley   I am so excited about presenting this episode to all of you. Dr. Dooley is a board certified practicing Psychiatrist and currently works at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, GA. We chatted about so many things including what made her go into Psychiatry, who was her secret weapon in residency training and how she manages to stay above the stress. I loved her straight talk about h...

Episode 15: Who are you without your pain? Part 2. Are you listening to your intuition?

Hello my lovely listeners! Welcome to Episode 15 of the Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast! Today I continue to ponder question: Who are you without your pain? part 2 DO you listen to your intuition?   In one of the earlier episodes (episode 5) I outlined my approach to my patients and clients with chronic pain and summarized it in 5 steps: Be open to learning the concept of neuroplastic Believe you can and deserve to feel better. Practice sending messages of safety to your brai...

Episode 14: Who are you without your pain? Part 1

Episode 14: Who are you without your pain? Part 1.   I would appreciate any feedback so hop online to facebook or www.winningatfibromyalgia.com and leave me an email    I have never considered the question fully, in reference to the pain until recently, when one of my young patients told me during a somatic tracking exercise we were doing in the office, that that’s her concern. She has had pain since she was 16. She got injured during martial art practice, doing something she r...

Episode 13: How to approach chronic vaginal and vulvar pain with Dr. Yasmin, Ob/Gyn

Vulvar and vaginal pain, with and without sexual intercourse, is not particular or specific to fibromyalgia. However, it is not talked about often enough and it can be very disruptive to a woman's life. I am  chatting with Dr. Yasmin, a board Certified Gynecologist and Obstetrician who is specializing in intimate and sexual health of menopausal and postmenopausal women.  SOme highlights: 5:20 - model of Dr. Yasmin's practice (both in office and virtual) 7:00 - the burden of pain ...

Episode 12: Discussing strategies for anxiety with Dr. Jill Bailey, psychotherapist and family medicine physician

Episode 12 notes   Hello! It was so insightful to chat with Dr. Jill Bailey about her new adventure as a psychotherapist. She transitioned from being a Family Medicine physician into a psychotherapist after getting some additional training in 2021.   I picked her brain about how to approach anxiety and Here are some highlights on what we hit in our segment today: Bailey shares a bit of her story of how she got to where she is (1:45) Her journey to psychotherapy (2:42) What he...

Invitation to sign up for my Winning at fibromyalgia online class

Course announcement   Well hello everyone!   I am Dr. Ziegenbein, your favorite Rheumatologist and fibromyalgia expert coach! Welcome to this bonus episode of WAF podcast! I have an exciting announcement and what a better time to announce it than at the end of the year?  Can you believe it is New year’s eve tomorrow??? As you notice today I don’t have the fancy music/so called “intro” because my person who does it is on vacation, and I don’t know how to do that    The ann...

Episode 11: Why you should see a Rheumatologist to confirm the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia

Hi. This is Dr. Ziegenbein, your favorite Rheumatologist, and fibromyalgia expert. Fibromyalgia has a capacity to rule, and even ruin your life. I am here to show you how to stand up to it, how to be your fibromyalgia boss. Once and for all.  Welcome to episode # 11 Of the Winning at Fibromyalgia podcast! I hope you LOVE my new intro and music as much as I do. I picked the music myself and then had someone with real mixing skillz attach it to my recording and then attach it to th...

Episode 10: How to approach a conversation about your needs with Dr. Alexandra Stockwell

My special guest Dr. Alexandra Stockwell and I discuss important conversations in a relationship as it pertains to someone in pain. I learned an important detail about approaching this type of conversation, that may have held me back in my own life because I have NOT been doing it! Listen in and let me know what you think and whether approaching these conversations come to you naturally or you are like me and need some pointers :-) You can find me at facebook under martina lenarto...

Episode 9: Patient stories from my practice

I showcase 3 patients who all have neuroplastic pain/symptoms and all three have different situations they are dealing with Hello Friends and Winning at Fibromyalgia warriors!   Please know I mean the word “warrior” in the best possible sense of the word. My vision is to help a thousand women struggling with fibromyalgia every year. IN order to do that, I do have to become a warrior. Like a superwoman or Avenger. So I am becoming one    Welcome to the Winning at Fibromyalgia p...

My Breakthroughs on my own fibromyalgia journey

Hello Hello Hello!   I am excited to be back for an episode # 8 of Winning At Fibromyalgia podcast! Title of today’s episode is: “How I reached breakthroughs on my own fibromyalgia journey”   I shared during an earlier episode on the podcast that I have fibromyalgia back pain. It is mostly in my upper and mid back. I have had it since 2010 or so. It has been really frustrating at times to figure out what works. I have been to PT, massages and even had a trigger injection by one...

Episode 8: My Breakthroughs on my own fibromyalgia journey

Hello Hello Hello!   I am excited to be back for an episode # 8 of Winning At Fibromyalgia podcast! Title of today’s episode is: “How I reached breakthroughs on my own fibromyalgia journey”   I shared during an earlier episode on the podcast that I have fibromyalgia back pain. It is mostly in my upper and mid back. I have had it since 2010 or so. It has been really frustrating at times to figure out what works. I have been to PT, massages and even had a trigger injection by one...

Episode 7: How do you know you are winning (at fibromyalgia)?

Welcome to Episode 7 of the (best ever) Winning at Fibromyalgia Podcast!!!   I am Dr. Martina Ziegenbein, a Rheumatologist and your Fibromyalgia expert and guide, bringing you news and all the things Fibromyalgia.   Timur and I spent some time with good friends in Boston and It was cold! I guess it is time for me to accept Cape Cod gets winter weather!   In the last episode, I talked about the 5 steps of my Winning at Fibromyalgia method. Today, I am talking about how do you k...

Episode 6: The 5 core steps of the Winning At Fibromyalgia Method

In this episode I introduce the 5 core steps of my Winning at Fibromyalgia Method. I have worked hard to distill it to just the main 5 so that it is short and simple.  Today I am bringing you episode #6! It is so far my longest episode and possibly the most exciting.   I am explaining my “Method” how I approach fibromyalgia in my practice. It incorporates and summarizes things I learned from multiple years of rheumatology practice, attending, and listening to lectures on the topi...

Episode 5: What can be done for fibromyalgia - Emotional Awareness and Expression therapy

Hello and Welcome everyone to episode #5! Today I am going to talk about another part of pain reprocessing therapy - Emotional Awareness and Expression therapy   Let me first briefly summarize the main teaching points of prior 4 episodes    Fibromyalgia pain – neuroplastic pain - misfiring neurons in the brain pain centers and pain pathways. They are misinterpreting safe or neutral signals from the body. THE PAIN IS REAL. The good news is that the pain pathways CAN BE REWIRED ...

Episode 4: What can be done about Fibromyalgia part 2: Somatic tracking

In this episode I continue to delve into components of pain reprocessing therapy. The basic outline of this process include: 1. confirming the dg of Fibromyalgia, 2. being open to the concept of neuroplastic pain, 3. practice of self-compassion, somatic tracking, and emotional awareness and expression therapy. Today we talk about somatic tracking.

Episode 3: What can be done about fibromyalgia pain Part 1

In this episode I give a summary of my approach to fibromyalgia pain. It has 3 main steps and we talk about the first two and one substep of the 3rd step :-)   Hello there!   Welcome to Winning at Fibromyalgia Podcast Episode #3: What can be done about fibromyalgia pain?   I am Dr. Martina Ziegenbein, the executive producer of the podcast. I am so excited to be here today.   In the first two episodes, I talked about what is fibromyalgia pain – that it is neuroplastic type o...

How does the fibromyalgia pain come to be?

Hello there my friends and fibromyalgia warriors! I mean warriors in the most loving way. Welcome to episode #2 of my podcast Winning at Fibromyalgia. I am Dr. Martina Ziegenbein, a rheumatologist and an executive producer of the podcast  Today’s episode title is: How does fibromyalgia pain come about?   One of my girlfriends just emailed me asking about the follow up episode to the first one. Thank you Sandi, I am a few hours behind on recording  I was told in the past I somet...

Episode 2: How does the fibromyalgia pain come to be?

Hello there my friends and fibromyalgia warriors! I mean warriors in the most loving way. Welcome to episode #2 of my podcast Winning at Fibromyalgia. I am Dr. Martina Ziegenbein, a rheumatologist and an executive producer of the podcast  Today’s episode title is: How does fibromyalgia pain come about?   One of my girlfriends just emailed me asking about the follow up episode to the first one. Thank you Sandi, I am a few hours behind on recording  I was told in the past I somet...

Episode 1: Where is the fibromyalgia pain coming from?

In this first episode, I explain the difference between acute and chronic pain, or in in other words between the "regular" pain and "neuroplastic" or "brain" pain. The pain is always real, but it differs of where it comes from. Hello there! I am super excited to introduce you to my first Podcast ever called Winning At Fibromyalgia!  Episode #1: Where does the pain of fibromyalgia come from?  My name is Dr. Martina Ziegenbein, I am a board-certified Rheumatologist. For those of y...