Invisible Disabilities Week 2021
It is Invisible Disabilities Week 2021 and as an advocate, carer, and person with invisible illnesses I wanted to talk a bit about my own experiences. I hope this article helps you to feel a little less alone. I am on TikTok and I tell you this because most days I dance on there to show my vintage style outfit of the day, and if that was all you saw me do you would probably assume I was well. I don’t usually use a mobility aid around the house, and so I don’t usually have one while I dance, but I am disabled. What you cannot see is chronic pain,…
Back care awareness week 2021
It is Back care awareness week 2021, and this time they are concentrating on the affects of working and studying from home and people spending more time at home. Being more sedentry can cause back problems so lets chat about them. I remember in the first pandemic lockdown, thinking wow people are finally going to see how we feel as chronic illness sufferers. They will have to do everything from home, unable to just pop out to shop whenever they want, and unable to go to live shows and things they take for granted. And at first, it really felt that way, with plays and concerts suddenly online, and people…
How balance affects confidence
I think it is so important to chat to you about how balance affects confidence, I have seen it in myself and my mom who has Multiple Sclerosis. Not knowing when you are going to fall leaves you with a fear that is always there and I think its time we talked about it. It is Balance Awareness Week which is set up by the Menieres Society and something that has affected my own and my mom’s life as we both battle chronic illnesses. I was trying to do some research for this article and could find hardly any information about confidence and balance that wasn’t written with the elderly…
How to Cope With a Loss
Losing someone is never easy. It can be challenging when it’s a family member or loved one that passes away. However, there are certain things you need to do to cope with the loss. First, accept what has happened and try not to deny your feelings about it. Acknowledge them, but don’t dwell on them too much either because this will only make you feel worse after the grieving period. Here are more ways to cope with a loss. Give Them a Befitting Send-Off If you face a loss, the best way to cope with it is by giving them a befitting send-off. This could mean anything from having their…
Dealing with Painsomnia
After spending a night in pain and awake I thought we should have a chat about dealing with painsomnia, something those of us with chronic illnesses know a lot about. Last night I went to sleep at about 11pm, and was tired usually by the evening I need to sleep and I was exhausted and looking forward to a good nights sleep. Just a couple of hours later however, I was awake and trying to get comfortable it didn’t matter which way I lay I just wasn’t comfy. This is unusual for me thankfully, and though I wasn’t aware I was in pain I felt like my legs just didn’t…
Migraine awareness week 2021
It is migraine awareness week 2021, and raising awareness for this is so important to me because they were the first sign to me that I had a chronic illness. Far too often though, people suffer with migraines feel alone and lost as to where to get help and understanding. When I was in university I started to have migraines a couple of times a week, I was training to be a nurse and I thought I would have a lot of sympathy. Instead, I was made to feel as if I were asking for time off because I had been out drinking, or was faking for sympathy. My chronic…
Pain awareness month
Pain awareness month is an important time of the year for advocates, we can take the opportunity to raise awareness for the fact that chronic pain is not like acute pain. There are so many different definitions, and statistics and ways to explain what pain is like, but living with chronic pain is so different. I often talk here on the blog about my own experiences with chronic pain, this is because it is important to me that people understand how pain is to live with. Many of us, including me who was a nurse when I got sick, assume that medications can take pain away completely. However, no matter…
How to Relieve Tension
With all the responsibilities of life, it can be very difficult to stay calm and feel grounded. The smallest thing can make you snap and make you feel extremely tense. It is essential to take the time in your day to stop, take a breath, and release the weight of your emotions and feelings. A lot of times this can be hard to do because you may not know the most effective way to release your tension. Everyone is different and everyone has a different way to release that works for them. Here are a few ways you can reduce the tension of your busy day. Breathe Learning how to…
Working through frustration
Working through frustration has become something I am used to, something I battle with every day. Chronic fatigue holds me back from so much, recording my YouTube videos, even writing this blog so I thought we should chat about it. I have suffered with ME/CFS for so long it’s hard to remember how it feels to have a day without feeling bone tired. Sometimes it eases off me and I have a couple of days when I feel productive, I wake early and get things done. I always forget to pace on those days and I soon realise why I should still move at the same pace as on not…
6 Ways to Protect Your Mental Health
Every day our mental health comes under attack from many different angles, and we must do what we can to protect it. But where do we start? Here are some simple steps that you can do today to help improve your overall mental health and wellbeing. Talk about how you feel One of the simplest things you can do is talk about how you feel with someone that you trust. Although the hardest part about this can be finding the words to express how you are feeling. This can take some practice but once you are able to verbalise how you feel, you may find that your problems and issues…
