"I feel like I'm burning alive. It's hard for people to believe me."

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What it feels like to have "man on fire" syndrome By Rachel Sonis Ideas Editor Erythromelalgia—or “Man on Fire Syndrome”— is a neurovascular condition that causes episodes of pain on one’s skin that feels similar to, well, burning. By “burning,” I don’t mean that parts of the body just become very warm. Put simply, once an episode flairs, erythromelalgia makes you feel like you’re burning alive. An illness that feels stranger than fiction, erythromelalgia is, indeed, very rare (only 1 in 100,000 people in the U.S. have reportedly been diagnosed), which causes many people to misunderstand or even disregard this condition as anything truly serious. Writer Je Banach pulls back the curtain on what living life with erythromelalgia looks like, and calls for an open, honest dialogue when it comes to uplifting people who have misunderstood conditions like hers. Because it is one thing to have a life-altering chronic illness—it is another to be believed that you have one. READ MORE   Share the story

What else to read Column: Big Pharma Is Fueling the Drug Pricing Crisis By Tahir Amin and David Mitchell 1 in 4 Americans cannot afford to take their medications because of pharmaceutical companies' drug patent abuses. Read More » Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd Is Also Up With Her Toddler at 1 A.M. By Charlotte Alter The Bumble CEO on postpartum depression and getting her kids to sleep. Read More » 9 Ways to Squeeze in More Steps Every Day By Angela Haupt Stop texting the people you live with, and get (or borrow) a dog. Read More » Is There Really No Safe Amount of Drinking? By Jamie Ducharme What the latest science says on drinking and health. Read More » Why We Remember Music and Forget Everything Else By Nayantara Dutta Psychologists say it's no surprise that we can easily recall lyrics and melodies for years and years. Read More »

ONE LAST READ Lab-crafted psychedelics in the works Well-known psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms are inching closer to getting regulatory approval for use in treating mental health illnesses. As they do, the Wall Street Journal reports, investors are putting money into lab-made chemicals that start-ups say provide the health benefits without the long, complex psychedelic trips induced by the old-school versions. Read More »

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