New Website

This blog is no longer active! All new posts and articles can be found at http://transformyyourchroniclife.com/wordpress

A Lovely Surprise . . .

I’ve been very remiss, but it’s time to make up for that . . . A few weeks ago, I found a wonderful surprise in my email. Jolene, over at Graceful Agony, has awarded this blog the “One Lovely Blog Award.” I’m amazed and honored to be chosen, however, fulfilling the requirements has been rather difficult. Between them, Dominique (4Walls and a View) and Jolene had managed to pass this award to many of the blogs I follow, so I had to find 15 more blogs to pass it on to. Since Dominique also gave me this award for the new blog on my website (Transform Your Chronic Life) I told them I was going to “cheat” and use the same list for both blogs, but I lied . . . I’ve made a couple of changes because I found a blog they both missed, and another new one I really like.

The New ChronicBabe Blog Carnival is LIVE!

Jenni, over at ChronicBabe, has Blog Carnival #6 up! The topic this week is “passion” and there are plenty of different perspectives covered.

Do You Live With Chronic Pain? Your Right to Adequate Treatment is Under Attack!

Continue reading Do You Live With Chronic Pain? Your Right to Adequate Treatment is Under Attack! Please do not click on the title to reach the rest of this article – the blog is moving to a new home, and this site only contains an excerpt.

Image via Wikipedia

The state of Washington has passed a bill (SHB 2876) that could limit access to treatment for your pain and set dosage limits on opioid pain medications. This is a serious issue for all of those who live with chronic pain and their families/caregivers, as well as for society as a whole. Inadequate pain control results in more frequent doctor visits, increased work absences, lower productivity, higher rates of disability and an increased need for social programs such as food stamps. It can also cause depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment (difficulty thinking, reasoning, or remembering,) a compromised immune system, chronic stress, an impaired ability to perform everyday tasks such as dressing or housework, limited mobility, disturbed sleep and more. Continue reading Do You Live With Chronic Pain? Your Right to Adequate Treatment is Under Attack!

ChronicBabe Blog Carnival #5: Favorite Self-Care Tools and Techniques is Live!

The newest ChronicBabe carnival is up! Nineteen different posts give you a wide range of options to try, and the ladies who wrote the posts know what they’re talking about – they all live with this stuff 24/7. Wander on over and find something new to help you feel better.

My Chronic Illness Journey – The Trip I Never Expected (or WANTED) to Take

Chronic illness is a life-changing experience for everyone, and each person’s journey is very different; but there are experiences we all recognize as well. How many of us have lost jobs, friends, spouses, homes, and family members to our disease? No matter what illness we have, we share so much that we can connect on a level that many will never understand unless the journey comes to them. We share symptoms, and losses, and lessons; and we share the understanding that our lives will never be the same because the illness, the journey, has changed us in ways that can never be undone. Even if we were to wake up tomorrow and be healthy again, even if by some miracle we were cured; the experience has changed us in fundamental ways, and the lessons it has taught us can never be unlearned.

My journey began many years ago, and it has changed my life so much that when I look back I barely recognize the woman I was. I was married, and miserable, and convinced that I was too stupid to ever be able to take care of myself without a man to tell me what I thought, what I wanted, and what I felt. I was depressed and suicidal, dissociative, and having flashbacks that I thought were delusions or hallucinations. I was terrified that I was losing my mind, and more terrified to tell anyone what was happening for fear that I really WAS “going crazy.”

I can pinpoint the exact moment that my journey through illness began, too. Not with a time or a date, but with an event; an event so ordinary, so innocuous, that I could never have suspected the effect it would have on my life. Continue reading My Chronic Illness Journey – The Trip I Never Expected (or WANTED) to Take

You CAN Feel Better: Self-care Tips and Tricks for Fibromyalgia and Bipolar Disorder

Image by jaci XIII via Flickr

The new ChronicBabe Blog Carnival theme is favorite self-care tools and techniques, and will go live on Tuesday June 1. I love this topic . . . self-care is a very important part of managing a chronic illness, and we all deserve to take good care of ourselves. I use a lot of non-medication methods to manage the symptoms of my multiple chronic illnesses (the short list is fibromyalgia and bipolar disorder, but if you’re really interested in the entire list, check my “Who Am I” page,) and I love sharing them with anyone they might help. I use a lot of aromatherapy and herbal teas for symptom control; and stress reduction techniques to minimize flares, anxiety, and bipolar cycling; so let’s get started. Continue reading You CAN Feel Better: Self-care Tips and Tricks for Fibromyalgia and Bipolar Disorder

I Have a New Website!

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I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I finally decided to take the plunge and create a website that I can have more control over. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with it (as far as adding things like forums, memberships and what have you,) but I DO know what the goal is . . . I want to share what I’ve learned about living with chronic illnesses and how to live the best possible life you can despite the limitations of your disease.

It’s going to take me a while to get everything organized, but I’ve got all of my posts and pages copied over, and for the time being, until everyone who reads my stuff has had a chance to get their bookmarks and links, etc. changed, I’ll be posting everything to both sites (if you have links to one of my posts somewhere, don’t worry about it, I won’t be deleting this blog any time soon so you won’t need to change them unless you just want to.)

The new blog is called Transform Your Chronic Life : For those who are sick & tired of being sick & tired . So far, it’s mostly this blog plus a little extra content (a few link pages so far,) but I’m working on some articles about things like stress reduction and non-prescription pain control

Topics for the new site will include fibromyalgia, cfs/me, bipolar disorder, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, coping skills, alternative and complementary medicine, managing your treatment, researching medication interactions and side effects, and just about anything else visitors ask about.

Related articles by Zemanta

• ChronicBabe Blog Carnival #3: Learning to Live with Pain (chronicbabe.com)
• ChronicBabe Blog Carnival #1: I can bring home the bacon! Thoughts on work and chronic illness (chronicbabe.com)
• Tired on Top of Exhausted (ohmyachesandpains.info)
• ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia News Around the Web (fightingfatigue.org)
• Fibromyalgia: Mystery Pain Explained (lifescript.com)
• Aromatherapy for Fibromyalgia (aromatherapy.suite101.com)
• Fibromyalgia affects mental health of those diagnosed and their spouses, study finds (scienceblog.com)

How are You? How Do You Answer the Hardest Question Ever When You Live with Chronic Illness?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmic_bandita/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

I think we all hate that question when it’s asked by “normals.” Unless it’s someone you know well, you never know whether to tell the truth (I feel like shit, thanks for asking.) or lie (Fine, how are you?)

What does a “good” day look like to you?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/noahbulgaria/ / CC BY 2.0

My definition

My personal idea of a good day is one where I don’t have to go to work, and I can spend some time just doing things that make me feel better. It does NOT mean that I’m not in pain (I haven’t had a day when the pain levels were below a 4 or 5 on the pain scale in at least 5 years.) It also doesn’t mean I’m not exhausted, or that I can actually remember all the things I need to take care of without lists, notes and reminders from the people around me.

What it does mean is that the pain levels are at a 6 or below, and that I can lay down with the hot pads when I need to, or take a nap.