Any new diagnosis requires a period of adjustment, time to come to terms with the implications and a good support network around you – however, arthritis is particularly challenging. The chances are it’s a condition you have to manage for the rest of your life, dealing with pain along with potential mobility issues and any…
Tag: chronic pain
Preparing for the Biologics appointment
Next week I have my first appointment with the Biologics team since the switchback to Humira. Usually a routine six-monthly check up but the significance of this one is that it’s three months since I restarted on Humira – and three months is the period in which you are told to expect to see a…
I am…pain.
I am strong, until I’m not,I am cold but my joints burn hot. I am happy, on the surface,I am not fit but for what purpose? I can love, but not myself,Not yet dying but don’t have my health. I am travelling but in one direction,Followed by shadows, devoid of reflection. Short on temper but…
Processing the feedback from the Pain Management Clinic
Background reading: Preparing for the Pain Management Clinic Some of you kind folks have been dropping me messages about how I got on at the pain management clinic; firstly, thank you and secondly apologies for the delay in writing an update from last week’s appointment, it didn’t exactly go as I hoped and I needed…
My Top 15 motivational songs to kick chronic pain’s ass!
Being in pain sucks. Its tiring, makes the days and nights long and if you’re like me, you are much more likely to be short tempered or grumpy with loved ones when in pain. Therefore, if you’re looking for a pick-me-up or something to break the dark clouds when pain is getting you down, I…
Preparing for the Pain Management Clinic
I am nervous but I don’t think it’s fair that I should be. I’ve been pushing for help dealing with the pain for months now. The worst thing about this flare, the one that’s been raging a year now, is that I have been offered zero support compared to previous experiences. No physio, no hydro,…
Everyone sleeps except me
Okay, so I don’t know if this is going to become ‘a thing’ or not but my last post where I wrote a poem (for the first time in about 20 years!) became, within 24hrs, the most popular post I’ve written in the month-old life of this blog! Considering it is still very early days…
A poem about how I feel right now
As some of you know, I’ve been experiencing some brand new symptoms of late that are really getting me down, multiple infections, crippling fatigue, all over joint pain and night sweats to name but a few. After recently reading Lindsay Reid’s poetry based on her experiences living with Ankylosing Spondylitis (available here: https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/product-page/my-dark-guardians-lindsay-reid) it made…
How do you deal with being off work due to poor health?
At what should be a time for rest and recovery, do you put more pressure on yourself than your employer? Living with a chronic illness, you would have at some point needed some time off work. Whether that be due to treatment, a flare, hospitalisation or simply to rest. Perhaps it is just me and…
Remembering to say thank you when you have a chronic illness
If you’re like me, you can have days where having a chronic illness and in particular, being in chronic pain, makes you a bit bitter and angry at the world. It’s ok to have a ‘feeling sorry for yourself day’ occasionally. However, it’s important to remember and be grateful for those days where things do…
