There has been days for us all who suffer from pain and exhaustion disorders where we just want to cover our heads and close off the world. I for one have become so frustrated with the continued pain and lack of motivation due to shear exhaustion, that I just wanted to be left alone to wallow. Being kind to yourself is absolutely necessary when you are suffering from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and other pain disorders, however, wallowing in self pity and blame is not necessary and can actually be detrimental to your health.
If there is one key element I have learned over the years of self-healing and coming to terms with my illness, its making peace with my illness. I'm sure you are thinking right now, 'how do I do that' or 'I have totally accept my illness'. My response to the later - are you sure? Because if you are not making steps to better your health and being proactive in how you treat your body, then you are most certainly not accepting your condition. If you are wondering, how do I do this? Then here is advice from someone who knows as a patient and practitioner how to begin this journey.
The only way to make peace with your illness is to accept that this is now a part of you and begin to learn what agrees and disagrees with your body. I have learned that every conventional drug I tried - Tramadol, Diazepam, Amitriptyline and Gabapentin - made my condition much worst. Whether this is due to the nervous system overloaded with toxins due to the drugs or that it was just not effective for my symptoms, is neither here nor there. But what is important is that I learned that I had to rely on more holistic and natural remedies. This include getting up slowly and taking those first steps towards physical activity, cutting out gluten, alcohol, nightshade vegetables and even meat - which I love by the way, seeing as I'm a Nordic gal from eastern Canada. Of course other treatments came in to play such as osteopathy, counselling and of course homeopathy; but I think the most important step I made to making peace with my own body and this illness was just taking a step back when I felt unwell and taking it easy. Not pushing myself to the point of adrenal fatigue. Not getting anxious about my condition, thus overloading my system with cortisol and adrenaline - which I will discuss more in future blogs.
It is also essential that you allow loved ones to care for me when needed. Try to stop yourself from feeling like a burden. You are not a burden, you are a human being in pain. Also talking about your condition. Yes talking. Doesn't matter who with, mind you I wouldn't advise just walking up to strangers and telling them your woes, but you get what I mean. Let friends and family in on how your are feeling. If you are experiencing a flare-up, inform you boss. Talk to your significant other and help them to understand the strange symptoms you maybe feeling at that time. Wrap up on the coach with that hot water bottle and a cup of tea and link in to a forum with other suffers who understand. Write a post on my facebook page and ask others how they are feeling and share your story. Its all about self-care and engagement. That is what making peace with your illness is about. Your GP, therapist, homeopath can only take you so far and can't be there most of the time. You must find other means to access support and begin to accept that you are in this particular place at this particular time and although it is painful, lonely and what may seems like, has no future; there is always a possibility for change if you allow it and be open to it.
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