Important resources for the holiday season
Hey everybody! Well we are just days away from the big day, today is winter solstice and the days are dark, the weather is not nice and everyone is under pressure to have the ‘perfect’ day! But not everyone has someone to spend the day with, not everyone has a home, not everyone has a family who support their sexuality or gender and there are people who will not be safe this holiday season so here is a list of resources. I want to make sure that as many people as possible have these important resources for the holiday season. Samaritans Samaritans.org is a safe place to talk when depressed, suicidal…
I had a barium swallow
This week I had a barium swallow at the hospital, I was really nervous before it so I thought I’d share my experience. So, over the last couple of months, I have been struggling with problems with my throat, in the past when I said this the GP would refer me to speech and language. This was because I have neurological issues that have not been investigated and were why at first, they thought I had multiple sclerosis. Sometimes my mouth and throat work out of synch meaning that my swallowing is affected and leads to choking among other symptoms. However, this time my throat has an area that has…
Low energy means low motivation
Does anyone else find that low energy means low motivation? When my energy levels are low I just want to curl up and do nothing. Usually I am very motivated, I am good at setting myself goals, breaking it down into managable steps and reaching the target. But I have recently found myself struggling with this, and I have come to notice that those days are usually when my energy is low. I talk a lot here on the blog about my struggles with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, otherwise known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It is the reason I cannot work, why I cannot walk far, and why I need to rest…
How my illnesses affect my life
This month is Disability Pride Month, so I thought I would shine a light on how my illnesses affect my life. Ehlers Danlos Syndrome This is a connective tissue disorder that affects how stable my joints are, for me personally this illness has affected me the worst though I was only recently diagnosed. This illness was something I was born with and is why I spent my childhood in pain being told it was just growing pains. In reality, the constant walking incorrectly, and stressing my joints is why they think I got fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia This gives me a low pain that is always there, fatigue, and strange sensations and…
My Illnesses really slow me down
There are times when my illnesses really slow me down and when I say it is frustrating that is a HUGE understatement! So, let’s have a chat about it. I have a YouTube channel and on it I do videos about witchcraft on a Monday and vintage fashion on a Friday with occasional chronic illness/disability videos. I’m so proud of my content and I put in so much work, but I don’t grow as fast as I would like. It’s taken me 6years to get over 1000 subscribers and sometimes I feel a little demoralised by that. However, I’m so proud of my content and I work so hard, so…
Building a mental health routine
For full article read Building a routine for mental health thank you xx Share this post:
Frustrated with illness and GPs
Do you ever feel completely frustrated with illness and GPs and the ways that health professionals and government agencies react to it? If so, this is the blog post for you! I am diagnosed with a few overlapping illnesses that seem to cluster together like a group of gossiping old women! Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue or ME as it is known by doctors. Together these old women leave me mostly housebound, exhausted, unable to clean my home or do my hobbies as much as I would like. They took away my ability to work in my twenties and stole my chance to be a nurse I’d trained…
Recovering from a holiday
Recovering from a holiday can be hard, I know for me it is the thing that I dread the most and why I rarely go. But we all need a break now and then, so let’s talk about it. I just got home from 4 days in Scotland, we went for our best friend’s wedding, and it was amazing! But for me, my husband, and our friend Amanda, we needed to be careful because we all have chronic illnesses. So, we drove up on the Friday, and instead of sightseeing, we spent Saturday in bed resting and recovering from the drive. Sunday was the wedding, and we ate, danced, and…
How To Self-Soothe When Life Seems Totally Overwhelming
Self-soothing is something that many people learn in childhood. It’s the ability to calm yourself down, even when the world around you feels overwhelming. Unfortunately, many of us miss out on this critical developmental stage, either because of traumatic events in our lives, breakdown of our families, or abuse from parents. This means that we enter adult life without the ability to withstand the inevitable knocks and blows that it deals us. The good news is that there are a host of ways that you can self-soothe when life feels like it is getting too much. Here’s what to do: Breathe Deeply Deep breathing activates the rest-and-digest part of the…
Dealing with travel anxiety
This weekend I am going away for a few days to Scotland to my best friends wedding and right now I’m dealing with travel anxiety. I’m full of worry about what to pack and what could happen, so let’s have a chat about it. When you have chronic illnesses, both mental and physical, routines become something that help you to cope. Doing things in a particular order or a certain way is comforting and makes having illnesses easier to deal with. But routine can become a kind of prison, you can’t do everything the same every day, it isn’t living life to its fullest. So, when we were invited to…
When insomnia rears it’s head
When insomnia rears it’s head it can feel overwhelming and make you feel unable to control the situation. I’ve struggled with this so many times over my life and yet I am currently struggling with these things now. Usually my sleeping is something I can count on, I don’t nap anymore, even with ME/CFS, and I take CBD at night to help as well. But sometimes no matter what you do, insomnia can come into your life like an invader, taking your ability to rest at night or get things done in the day because you are so tired. The last week or so I have been struggling with this,…
