Can MBSR help fibromyalgia? After years of being interested in mindfulness and meditation, I finally signed up for a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course in 2017. I'd only recently learned what MBSR was from reading The Whole Health Life by Shannon Harvey, which talks about the … [Read more...]
Coping with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Illness
Inspiration and thoughts on how to improve coping skills when dealing with Fibromyalgia, chronic pain, fatigue, and invisible illness.
23 Best Apps for People with Chronic Illnesses
23 Best Apps for People with Chronic Illnesses (guest post by Brenda Kimble) There’s more to your smartphone than leveling up and scrolling through social media. In fact, medical research studies have shown that if you’re living with a chronic illness, smartphone apps designed especially with … [Read more...]
My experience with ACA subsidized insurance (after two years)
My biggest concern when I got divorced in 2017 was how I would handle health insurance. Living with chronic illness I was fairly sure my only option would be going through the exchange at healthcare.gov. But, I'd heard horror stories about how expensive it still could be, and about the limited … [Read more...]
Sometimes Rest Is The Answer
Sometimes we need to be reminded that a flare doesn't mean a return to the worst. A bad day doesn't mean it's going to be a bad week, and a bad week doesn't mean it's going to be a bad month, and none of these mean we are going to keep feeling bad forever. The last 6 months have been really busy, … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Show Your love, even when you feel like crap.
When we aren't feeling well it's all too easy to take it out on those closest to us. We can let the stress get the best of us and that often leads to lashing out. We can't take the anger and frustration out on the illness that causes these emotions, so we take them out on the people around us. Most … [Read more...]
How musician Dan Reynolds deals with a Monster Pain in the AS
Celebrities are just like us is a truth that we often forget… and sometimes they do as well, but not Dan Reynolds, lead singer for Imagine Dragons. Dan hasn’t forgotten the struggles that he’s gone through to get where he is, because in many ways they aren’t over. It’s difficult for me to think of … [Read more...]
What it means to Let Go
I often struggle with letting go. Letting go of things, letting go of feelings, letting go of attachments. This past year I've let go of a lot of physical things, as I've worked to minimize my possessions. But, in other areas I've not been so good at letting go. The last few weeks I've felt stuck … [Read more...]
Living With Chronic Pain in Denmark
Life in Denmark as a Chronic Pain Patient by Erik Hamre As chronic patients, we see sides of society that others don't. We get to become intimate with the quirks of the healthcare system, we learn to make money stretch as far as it has to. Sometimes, maybe often, we get frustrated with red tape … [Read more...]
4 Things I Need to Remember to Help Me Get Through Bad Days
While I've felt better during the last couple of years than I have at any point since I became ill, I still have bad days. Lately, I've been having more of them and I know why. I've been pushing myself harder and doing a lot more than I really should. As a result I have to keep reminding myself that … [Read more...]
How Weighted Blankets Can Help Fibromyalgia Symptoms
For years I've heard anecdotal stories about how weighted blankets have helped improve fibromyalgia symptoms, but I'd put off purchasing one because I wasn't sure it would be worth the price. After years of wanting a weighted blanket I finally got one and I wasn't disappointed. Years … [Read more...]
