Conquering Your Fibromyalgia Podcast

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions When Fibromyalgia Masks Autism and ADHD: Diagnostic Overshadowing and Neuroplastic Pain The script argues that fibromyalgia’s pain, fatigue, and brain fog can act as “diagnostic overshadowing,” masking underlying undiagnosed autism and/or ADHD. Referencing Dr. Megan Anna Neff’s video on how autism can hide ADHD, the narrator (a physician) connects neurodiver...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions 2025 Pediatric Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) Guidelines: A Brain–Gut, Migraine-Based Action Plan The script explains updated 2025 guidelines for pediatric cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS), framing CVS as a disorder of gut–brain interaction and a “migraine equivalent,” with up to 82% of affected children having personal or family migraine history, shifting tre...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Dr. Megan Anna Neff on Late-Identified Autism, Autistic Burnout, and Self-Care Clinical psychologist Dr. Megan Anna Neff discusses how discovering her child was autistic near the end of her doctorate led her to research autism in girls, recognize her own autism, and create Neurodivergent Insights to translate peer-reviewed research into visuals. She and the...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Autism Acceptance Month Series: Beyond Awareness to Sensory Truth, Masking, and Invisible Illness The script introduces an April autism acceptance month video series aimed at moving beyond awareness to genuine acceptance by explaining the lived experience of autism, especially profound sensory differences, masking, routines as safety, and meltdowns as overwh...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions 2026 POTS Guidelines: What They Update—and the Biggest Blind Spots (Hypermobility, Neurodivergence, and Root Causes) The script reviews the new 2026 POTS Guidelines, noting improvements such as formalized diagnostic criteria, recognition of symptoms beyond tachycardia (GI issues, chronic pain, cognitive dysfunction), and first-line nonpharmacological strateg...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions The 2026 Cholesterol Revolution: PREVENT Scores, Hidden Risk Markers, and CAC Scans The script explains how 2026 ACC/AHA guideline changes aim to make heart attacks more preventable by shifting from short-term “10-year risk” thinking to “lower for longer,” precision prevention, and primordial prevention starting earlier in life. It critiques the older Pooled...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions In this enlightening video, we explore the concept of "tension myositis syndrome," a condition where the brain generates chronic pain, challenging traditional biomedical views. We examine Dr. Sarno's groundbreaking work and how he explained the "mindbody syndrome" through a neurodevelopmental lens. Learn how understanding the intrica...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Navigating ADHD and Chronic Pain: Dr. Kerry Shea's Journey from OB GYN to ADHD Coach In this episode, we welcome Dr. Kerry Shea, an OB GYN who transitioned to working as an ADHD coach. Dr. Shea shares her personal experience living with ADHD and chronic pain, including a diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia, and her struggles with various other invisible i...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions 00:00 A Mysterious Case 00:59 Years of Unexplained Pain 02:19 The Hidden Connection 03:08 The Breakthrough Diagnosis 04:03 Understanding the Science 04:52 Sensory Processing Differences 06:13 ADHD and Pain Regulation 07:24 Amplifying Factors 08:36 Diagnostic Overshadowing 09:52 The Treatment Breakthrough 10:40 Miraculous Results 11:40 Multidisciplinary Appro...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Beyond the Pain Scale: Using WPI/SSS and FIQR to Measure Fibromyalgia Severity and Treatment Progress The script explains that fibromyalgia care often relies too heavily on a 1–10 pain scale, overlooking fatigue, unrefreshed sleep, brain fog, and daily function, which leaves patients feeling unheard and clinicians without clear data. It describes how the Ame...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Sjogren’s vs Fibromyalgia: Key Differences in Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment The script explains why Sjogren’s disease and fibromyalgia are often confused due to overlapping pain and fatigue, noting studies suggesting over 30% overlap, and stresses that accurate diagnosis guides appropriate treatment. Fibromyalgia is described as a central nervous system...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Dr. Stephanie Pearson on Workplace Injury, Invisible Disability Claims, and Disability Insurance Pitfalls Dr. Stephanie Pearson, an OB-GYN, describes how a workplace shoulder injury during a delivery led to chronic pain, failed surgery outcomes, job termination after FMLA, and denial of her hospital disability coverage due to a fine-print work-injury exclusi...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Small Fiber Neuropathy and Fibromyalgia: Correlation, Not the Cause The script examines why findings of small fiber neuropathy (SFN) in fibromyalgia created hope for an objective “proof” of pain, yet argues this link is often misinterpreted as causation. It explains SFN, diagnosed via skin punch biopsy showing reduced nerve fiber density, and notes studies f...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions High-Masking Autism, Anxiety, and the Multi-System Pattern of Chronic Invisible Illness Dr. Michael Lenz reacts to Auticate's video on autistic health and connects it to fibromyalgia-like “multi-system” chronic invisible illness, describing 11 doctors in a year before an autism diagnosis and a pattern of persistent symptoms despite normal tests. The scr...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Three Blood Tests That Reveal Your True Heart Attack Risk: hsCRP, Lipoprotein(a), and ApoB Dr. Michael Lenz argues the standard lipid panel can miss key drivers of atherosclerosis, explaining why some people with “normal” LDL still have heart attacks, and recommends three additional blood tests to better assess risk. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCR...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Chronic Illness, Hidden Heart Risk, and the Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Score Dr. Michael Lenz, a clinical lipidologist, explains that chronic illnesses involving pain, inflammation, or central sensitization (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia) can silently increase long-term risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death—sometimes dou...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Fibromyalgia and the Hidden Sleep Disorder Fueling Your Pain: How Restorative Sleep Breaks the Vicious Cycle The script explains fibromyalgia as a real central nervous system disorder marked by widespread pain, crushing fatigue, and “fibro fog,” driven by central sensitization and neurochemical imbalance (elevated substance P/glutamate and reduced inhibitory...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Making the Invisible Visible: A Longitudinal, Validating Framework for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Illness Care The script contrasts patients’ experiences of chronic pain, fatigue, and brain fog being dismissed despite normal tests with clinicians’ uncertainty in brief, system-pressured visits, framing “medical gaslighting” as a patient safety issue. It propose...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Why I Don’t Recommend AG1: A Cheaper, Higher-Fiber Whole-Food Smoothie Alternative Doctor Michael Lenz critiques AG1/greens powders as expensive, marketing-driven products ($79 for 30 servings) that rely on proprietary blends with unclear dosing, may reduce benefits compared with whole-food “food matrix” nutrition, and provide too little fiber (2 g per scoop...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Internal Tremors and Fibromyalgia: The Science Behind Invisible Vibrations The script explains internal tremors (internal vibrations) as a subjective sensation of shaking or buzzing inside the body with little to no visible movement, often felt at rest and sometimes alongside fasciculations, myoclonic jerks, restless leg syndrome, or periodic limb movement d...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Gabapentin and Pregabalin Explained: Calming an Overactive Nervous System in Pain, RLS, Fibromyalgia, and Sleep The script explains gabapentinoids (gabapentin and pregabalin) as neuromodulators that “turn down” an overexcited central nervous system seen in central sensitization/nociplastic pain syndromes, helping conditions such as neuropathic pain, restless...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Adult Autism and Masking: Why Diagnosis Matters and How to Recognize What’s Beneath the Surface Dr. Michael Lenz interviews clinical psychologist Donna Henderson, co-author with Sarah Wayland and Jamel White of “Is This Autism? A Guide for Clinicians and Everyone Else” and a companion diagnostic guide, about why autism in adults is often missed, especially i...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Walk and Talk in Austin: Activity, Weather, and Fibromyalgia Insights Dr. Michael Lenz records a walk along the Lady Bird Lake trail in Austin, Texas, including views of downtown and the Congress Avenue “bat bridge,” explaining how bats congregate there in summer but are gone by mid-November. He reflects on staying active with chronic pain and fibromyalgia,...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Cohort Study Links ADHD to Earlier and More Severe Perimenopausal Symptoms The episode reviews a population-based cohort study using the Icelandic SAGA cohort (women aged 35–55; n=5,392) examining perimenopausal symptom severity in women with versus without self-reported ADHD (9.9%). Using the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale v1.1,...

Text Dr. Lenz any feedback or questions Trigeminal Neuralgia Beyond Nerve Pain: Marsha’s Racing, Menopause, and Advocacy Story The episode explores trigeminal neuralgia as more complex than a simple nerve injury, often overlapping with nociplastic chronic pain features like widespread pain, fatigue, insomnia, and brain fog. Marsha, a longtime off-road racer, recounts an eight-year path to diagnosi...