If you have spent much time online searching for information about your chronic disease (mine being fibromyalgia, but I have a few others that I search on, too), you will run into ads for this, that, and some other thing trying to sell you a "cure" or "treatment" that will solve all your problems.
These "cures" (that aren't--most chronic diseases don't have good treatments or cures, which is why they're chronic) can be as simple as books and as complicated as supplement systems or mechanical devices. The ones selling these products know that we're suffering and that our suffering makes us desperate, especially late at night when the painsomnia is horrible, and their marketing skills are amazing.
Just look at the #Fibromyalgia posts on Twitter. People selling books, yoga programs, supplements, more supplements, big Pharma drugs, devices for pain, more devices for pain, studies, and so much more. For those of us really suffering from the pain, it all can feel overwhelming. We're easy marks, really, but we have to be careful of those snake oil salesmen.
What really gets me is when I see the national groups joining in to sell us stuff. I'm all for awareness, so I have my purple ribbon, shirts, and water bottle, but honestly, how much crap am I expected to buy? Sell me a book that sells a product or program, and yeah, I'm going to be grumpy.
So here's my request: Stop selling us stuff! My chronic disease should not be for your profit. Help us instead to create safe, supportive communities locally and online, and let's use that money for research, not for someone's bottom line.
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