I've been having a rather shyte few weeks, and since I know I'm not the only person with chronic illnesses and pain here I figured we could commiserate together.
Do the season changes eff with y'all as much as they do me?
Meme dump because iykyk
(Me sitting down: bpm 70. Me standing up: bpm 120. Me standing up without beta blockers: bpm 160+. Zoom zoom 🎢)
@cuddlefaery I'm so sorry you're going through a rough time! I noticed you hadn't been posting last week. 🫂 I hope things get better, very soon!
I don't have seasonal struggles, now that I'm away from Colorado (allergies used to get me very badly, by way of chronic sinus infections).
But I do have depression and other things that certainly rear their ugly head, whenever and as long as they please. It is an ongoing and very exhausting battle. And very much a physical one, especially when it comes to anxiety.
(Not my art.)
~ Sunset Snuggles
🦄 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Fiend 🐘 Animal Lover
@SunsetSnuggles sending hugs 🫂 depression always makes everything worse.
Yeah, what started out as a chronic pain flare (pelvis to hip to back to neck to shoulder to jaw to migraine. Gotta love that posterior chain! 🤣) turned into one of my usual seasonal allergy-induced sinus infections. No fun, but no big deal...or wouldn't be if I were actually on my immune treatments right now, which I'm not 😅😅😅
So I was already headed towards asthma flare when partner brought home a cold from his work trip...we keep telling him to stop bringing home pets, we already have too many! So now he and I are all miserable with that and I'm trying not to let this double whammy turn into pneumonia without antibiotics if I can manage.
So yeah... Lots and lots of bed rest and fluids and binge watching Hulu & YouTube & Netflix....and omg I'm so bored but so brain foggy I can't do shit lol.
As I and all the other chronic illness folks are wont to say - it definitely hasn't been fun, but it could always be worse, so there's that! 😁
P.S. - if you don't sing with the accent and whistle, you suck.
P.P.S. one of these days I really need to move somewhere without plants. Or people. Or humidity. Or heat over 80.
Antarctica. I need to move to Antarctica.
Sorry you have to go through all that.
@cuddlefaery I can empathize. I’ve had a series of major health issues and now on extended medical leave.
Air travel over the weekend did not go smoothly. Hurt to stand or move. Yesterday had a delightful massage appointment that really helped.
Seasons don’t necessarily impact my health issues, but severe cold weather does make things more difficult for me. In January we had 3 snow storms in about a week and half that ranged from 6-14 inches, with one bringing temps down to -20 to -40 for 4-5 days. With dangerous temps like that, and not currently working, I didn’t have a reason to venture out for days. In comfy warm clothes, under blankets, and thermostat warming I still had a hard time staying warm, having energy, and dealing with pain flares.
I have mild fibromyalgia so I deal with flare ups and fatigue from time to time.
Also dealing with "seasonal depression" but it's starting to look like it would be best to stay on the pills long term as I am apparently am not as irritable on them. 🤷♀️
I used to have bad depression and anxiety. 30 years of it. Come to find out. It wasn't genetic, like I'd been told all my life. The whole problem stemmed from following the US dietary guidelines. Which is not a scientifically backed document. They had a diet they wanted to push for a variety of reasons. They contracted some scientists to suggest a healthy, research based diet, but in the end decided to ignore what the researchers came up with, as it was almost the opposite of what they wanted.
metabolicmind.org supports research in this area. It's proving to be very effective not only for BiPolar (yours truly), but also for a host of other conditions.
Folks, let me spell this out since from the DMs I've received apparently it was not clear:
I have not asked for advice, let alone medical advice. This thread is not intended to discuss medical advice. If you would like to discuss medical advice, might I suggest starting your own thread(s)?
This thread is also not intended to peddle/push your magic bullet treatment or cure. It's great that it has worked for you/your friend - please don't use this space to do free advertising.
As stated in the original post:
I figured we could commiserate together.
commiserate, v. - to feel or express sympathy for someone’s suffering or unhappiness.
The intent of this thread was for folks to vent, express sympathy/empathy, and feel a little less alone. While discussions absolutely can and will wander organically, please don't hijack this one. Thanks.
A Journey Through the Fog sums up why unsolicited medical advice is so problematic (and usually strongly unwanted):
Although I appreciate people are trying to help, a certain amount of judgement comes with these suggestions. When someone offers unwanted advice, you don’t just hear a helpful tip to try, you hear that you aren’t trying hard enough. The truth is, when you have lived with a chronic illness for several years, you have pretty much tried everything. People don’t understand that we’re not just lying around passively accepting our fate. We’re online doing research on treatments – we are experts on our illness.
Although I appreciate people are trying to help, a certain amount of judgement comes with these suggestions. When someone offers unwanted advice, you don’t just hear a helpful tip to try, you hear that you aren’t trying hard enough.
The truth is, when you have lived with a chronic illness for several years, you have pretty much tried everything. People don’t understand that we’re not just lying around passively accepting our fate. We’re online doing research on treatments – we are experts on our illness.
Unless we ask for it, AND you also are an actual expert in our particular condition, please restrain your good intentions as they cause more harm than good.
And now some related memes, since I get accused of being too serious 🤣🙄
@cuddlefaery Sending you some empathy. I can relate on some levels. Big hugs! 🤗
@TR23 first - oooooh, goldens! 🐶🐶 My very favoritist doggos 💖 I had a golden as a big sister growing up, and she was the best. I totally did not pick up any of my personality from her 😅
Wouldn't it be lovely if we could get massages like every few days? And their effects actually lasted? Lol. In our dreams, I know.
Cold is a double edged sword for me. My joints and old injuries hate it, but at least inflammation and heart calm the heck down 🙃
I'm sorry you've been in pain, but I hope with leave you're able to focus on what your body needs right now.
@LadyVel that's also where I've been for a few years now. For what it's worth, there's that saying - "if your body doesn't make enough of it, store bought is fine"!
I hope your treatments continue to bring you relief 🤗 In some ways, the long term subclinical depression/anxiety (dysthymia) is more bothersome than the seasonal depression or major depression for me, as it's just always there...lurking...pissing me off when I least can deal with it...meh.
Sending (gentle) hugs if feeling huggable!
@walking_xavier I'm so glad to hear you've found something that offers you relief after so long! I know how much that lifted weight off one's shoulders can make a difference. I hope you continue doing well.
@zerolight40 & @CuddleHugs01234 thank you for the support, friends 🤗
@cuuddlefaery No worries. Actually, an old friend of mine Mr T, had arthritis. Not the same thing, I know but, some days he could barely move. He took enough pills every morning to stock a pharmacy. If I remember rightly, driving long distances did him in as well. (We have more stick shifts here in the UK.)
Now and again, I’ll watch an episode of Star Trek. I just wish they would hurry up and invent all this futuristic medical tech…
Oh ‘Always look on the bright side of life…’ 🎵 As the Python boys say.
Sorry to hear it's been a rough few weeks for you @cuddlefaery ❤️ My chronic illness/pain isn't seasonally affected but it certainly has it's own unknowable seasons! Hope you find yourself in an upswing soon. And thank you for the memes! A couple of my favourites...
That feeling when you need to contact your doctor, but you really don't wanna 😩
@cuddlefaery 🫣 Ugh, I felt that one. So sorry you're in that position, today. 🫂
I had to call mine once during a panic attack. I was driving down the highway out-of-state when it hit and didn't know what else to do. I pulled onto the shoulder hyperventilating and thank God the receptionist got the RN on the phone with me immediately, though I could barely get out full words. The nurse was able to do breathing exercises with me until the severity of it passed, and then got ahold of my counselor's office and had her call me.
"Generalized Anxiety Disorder" sounds so innocuous, but when one reads the definition, it becomes more clear how chronically debilitating it can be:
"Severe, ongoing anxiety that interferes with daily activities."
That said, I was able to talk with my counselor, turn on some upbeat music, and somehow drove the remaining six hours home, safe, that day. 💙
I'm so glad this post exists! I'm very chronically ill (I've been bed/housebound for three years now from a single flare up and have struggled with my health my whole life) and it's such an isolating experience. 🥲
Both glad and sad that others on here share my experiences 😅
@Runawaycuddles you'll probably relate to this, too...
My dad's wife is in the habit of commenting on how "fragile like a flower" I am 🙄🙄🙄. Knowing her it's probably a backhanded insult/compliment about being ladylike delicate vs. always sick. I finally said this to her one time and she just guppy mouthed at me a couple seconds and walked away 🤣🙃
I love the memes, keep em coming. 😂
@cuddlefaery this is a joke but you could use this lol 😂 Loved your meme by the way lol 😂
While I don't have one of these chronic illnesses that causes flare ups, my mom does have fibromyalgia and I hate that when she's having a flare up it seems like there's not much I can do to alleviate it, nor do I know what to say to her other than I'm sorry she's going through it and I love her. My heart and thoughts go out to anyone who goes through something similar to fibromyalgia, MS, or any other chronic illness/pain.
@cuddlefaery That’s a good one!
@CSnMUS87 having been on both sides of chronic illness and pain (caregiver and patient), I'm fairly sure that just knowing you're there for her emotionally helps some.
It sucks because none of us can "fix" it, but we can do small things to help. Offering to do chores or run errands, small gestures like cooking a meal she likes or getting her a new cute hot pack. Or even things like just occasionally reminding her that she's not a burden, that you're happy to care for her the way she cared for you, etc. Those sorts of things that people in pain often don't want to ask for but can go a long way to making a flare ease a bit. I'm sure you probably already do a lot of them, but figured I'd list some out for others reading
It was a really hard transition for me, going from the person who always was taking care of everyone to the person who needed to be cared for. I fought it...still do a lot 😅 So even stupid stuff like my boyfriend bringing up a new box of tissues from the garage or asking me if I have Rxs he can pick up on his way home make me feel like crying in gratitude. I'm an "acts of service" kind of gal, so those little things that can make life easier, allow me to use less "spoons", go such a long way.
@cuddlefaery posted: "It was a really hard transition for me, going from the person who always was taking care of everyone to the person who needed to be cared for."
Indeed. I was put on a med a year or two ago that had severe side effects, to the point I couldn't get up to make dinner or take care of our dog, for months on-end. My boyfriend was wonderful in stepping up and taking care of everything, which was very humbling and such a relief; and was also hard to deal with, internally. Thankfully, I was finally switched off that med and slowly moved away from those side effects. I can't imagine dealing with those kinds of symptoms, permanently. 🫂 You peeps are amazing fighters!
I have soooo many memes, guys. Memes are a neurospicy person's love language, so like half of my conversations with friends are just memes 🤣
Before I had both knees replaced, weather pressure changes could be devastating, along with gluten I found out.