Category: Sleep Issues

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How to Make Mindfulness Practical When You’re Chronically Ill

How to Make Mindfulness Practical When You’re Chronically Ill

Talk of mindfulness is everywhere. You have no doubt heard people recommending mindfulness as a method of coping with all sorts of health issues. While it’s no ‘quick fix’ or ‘miracle cure’, mindfulness truly can be extremely beneficial for those of us with chronic illness, and it has proven results!

The benefits of mindfulness for chronic illness

Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment, which promotes a sense of calm and relaxation. This alone can provide a feeling of comfort and relief when we’re going through a lot in our lives. This 2019 study defines the practice of mindfulness as: “intentionally observing the body and mind nonreactively while embracing the individual experience and accepting things as they are.”

When you live with chronic illness, you are often in a prolonged state of ‘fight or flight’, which means that your stress response is overworked. Your body and mind are not designed to handle this prolonged stress, which can understandably take its toll. Stress can contribute to chronic pain and other chronic symptoms. Thankfully mindfulness can markedly reduce stress levels, easing chronic symptoms and reducing the negative effects that come with being in a state of stress for so long.

It’s not only stress that mindfulness can help with: regular mindfulness practices can help us to gain greater control over our emotions and enable us to regulate them more effectively. This creates a more stable mood and an enhanced sense of wellbeing. This increased emotional regulation can even help with mental illness (such as anxiety and depression) which so often accompanies chronic illness.

The benefits of mindfulness for chronic illness

Often the experience of living with chronic illness can create a sense of fear of doing something that may worsen your symptoms (which is completely understandable). This fear can lead to fear-fuelled avoidance, meaning we avoid certain activities in the hope we can avoid a ‘flare’. Unfortunately, this fear-fuelled avoidance can actually worsen symptoms over time. Mindfulness can help us to overcome those fears and deal with them in a calmer, more constructive way. 

When you live with chronic illness, it can be incredibly hard to sleep. Often even when we do sleep, it’s non-restorative and restless, meaning we don’t feel much of the benefit. Mindfulness can help with more restful, regular sleep. Mindfulness can even help us to be more self-compassionate and build our confidence, as well as helping us to feel more motivated to self-manage our chronic illness.These are only a few of the benefits of mindfulness for chronic illness!

Making mindfulness practical:

Now that you know just how useful mindfulness can be, you might be wondering how to get started. It can be tough to know how to engage in mindfulness in a practical, realistic way. Let’s go through some tips to help you introduce mindfulness into your day to day life.

Figure out what type of mindfulness works for you. There are so many different types of mindfulness such as meditations, visualization and guided imagery, mindful movement, body scan meditations, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and more! This variety is great because it means that if you try a style of mindfulness and discover it’s not for you, it doesn’t mean mindfulness can’t work for you! Take your time to do some research and experiment until you find what feels best for you. 

Figure out what type of mindfulness works for you.

Start off with 5 minutes at a time. You don’t have to dedicate lots of time to mindfulness to feel the benefits, especially not when you’re just starting out. Starting out with 5 or 10 minutes at a time can be a sustainable way to introduce mindfulness. You don’t even have to do this every single day to gain the benefits (although if you can this would be fantastic)! 2 or 3 times a week would be a great way to start out. Being as consistent as possible is key. You don’t need any special equipment to get started. Find 5 minutes in a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed or distracted, and you’re ready to go. 

Don’t worry about sitting in a specific position. You don’t have to sit with your legs crossed in an upright position for mindfulness to work. Don’t worry if that simply doesn’t work for you. There’s no magic pose that you have do to gain the benefits of mindfulness. Sit or lie down in any position that is comfortable for you. 

If you feel pain or other symptoms, don’t overthink it. Let’s face it, it’s likely that while you’re sitting and trying to quiet your mind, you might experience pain or other symptoms of your chronic illness. That’s ok. Don’t worry! Mindfulness is about being present in the moment and engaging your senses. If you are experiencing a symptom, feel what you’re feeling as part of the present moment. Try not to overthink it or worry about it. That sounds easier said than done, but with practice it can get easier. Of course that might not always be possible. If you’re having a flare or a severe symptom, you might need to stop your mindfulness practice for the time being. That’s totally valid too! You can always try again later. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed or that you can’t practice mindfulness. 

Find guided mindfulness resources. You don’t have to sit and meditate alone. There are plenty of guided mindfulness sessions online you can access (and many for free!) which will guide you through a meditation step by step. Some people find guided audio or video mindfulness sessions really helpful because it gives them a voice to focus on and clear, relaxing guidance to follow. 

Find guided mindfulness resources to help you be mindful.

Consider mindfulness courses and mindfulness therapy. There are mindfulness courses you can engage in which can help guide you through learning mindfulness skills. You may be able to find some in your local area which you could attend in person, or you could find an online course or app. Mindfulness is often integrated into other types of therapy to treat chronic illness and mental health issues. You could ask your doctor, specialist or therapist if this is something you could involve in your sessions. Alternatively, you could seek a specific mindfulness therapist. If you do so, ensure they are properly qualified

Utilize mindfulness in bed to help you sleep. If you struggle to sleep, you could practice mindfulness a little while before you go to bed at night to get you in a relaxed mood. Another great way to utilize mindfulness to help you sleep is to listen to a guided mindfulness session in bed to help you drift off. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is really great for this purpose because it takes you through relaxing each area of the muscles in your body. This can ease muscle pain as well as encourage relaxation. 

Consider trying mindful movement. For some people, sitting or lying still and trying to relax simply doesn’t work. This is where mindful movement can come into its own. Mindful movement typically involves slow flowing movements. While you’re doing these movements you pay attention to your breathing, to how your body feels and to what is happening in that moment. Yoga and tai chi are types of mindful movement. You can even make other exercises mindful, such as going for a mindful walk. When you’re walking, you might pay attention to how your feet feel as they are hitting the ground. You may notice what sounds you can hear and what you can see around you for example. You’re focusing on exactly what is happening in that moment on your walk, not on the past or the future. Mindful movement brings all of the same benefits of mindfulness, as well as incorporating the benefits of exercise and activity for those with chronic pain. It’s all about what works for you!

Make daily tasks mindful. We don’t always have the time or energy required to dedicate to setting aside specific time for mindfulness each day. However, as you learn the skills of mindfulness, you can make daily tasks mindful that you would be doing anyway. As we learn to pay attention to what is happening in the moment, (if our mind wanders we simply bring our attention back to the present) we are being mindful. Over time this can become a positive habit, and will feel less like a conscious effort. This study explains that, “repetitive attempts to increase state mindfulness leads to an incremental escalation of the general tendency to be mindful in a more automatic manner.”

An example of doing daily tasks mindfully could be eating a meal mindfully. Take your time to focus on how your food smells and looks before you eat it. As you taste it, take the time to really take notice of the flavours, the movement of your mouth and tongue, and the feeling of enjoyment you may experience. You could make taking a shower mindful. Pay attention to how the water feels on your skin. Take notice of the smells of your shower gel or soap. Think about what colours you can see (maybe the bottles in your shower or your sponges are a certain colour). 

Make daily tasks mindful.

Be kind to and encourage yourself. If things don’t go to plan, for example if you can’t quiet your mind or you miss a week of your mindfulness practice, don’t be too hard on yourself! It doesn’t have to be perfect. Remember you’re learning a skill and that takes time. Encourage yourself and be kind to yourself. If you try all sorts of different mindfulness techniques and are just finding that it’s not for you, that’s completely valid too. There are plenty of other chronic illness management options that you can explore. It doesn’t mean you can’t try mindfulness again later down the line if you want to, so don’t worry!

Mindfulness is about you!

Fundamentally, mindfulness is about what works for you. If you can find ways to integrate mindfulness into your life, it can be well worth the effort and have wonderful benefits. Remember that there’s no specific ‘right way’ to practice mindfulness. It’s all about what works for you and your life.

About the Author:

Ann-Marie D’Arcy-Sharpe is 33 years old and works as a freelance writer and blogger. She lives with bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia and arthritis. She writes for Pathways Pain Relief, a chronic pain relief app and blog. The app is created by pain patients and backed by the latest pain science. The app uses mind body therapies to help pain patients achieve natural, long lasting pain relief.

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My Life in Words: (Ashley’s Spoonie Story)

Ashley's Spoonie Story: Ashley's Chronic Pain Journey

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “chronic” is defined as: continuing or occurring again and again for a long time, always present or encountered.  The word “pain” is simply defined as: mild to severe discomfort and suffering.  If you combine the two definitions of the words “chronic” and “pain”, we reach a sole statement that describes the life of those whose “normal” has become something most people cannot comprehend: mild to severe discomfort and suffering that is continuing and occurring again and again for a long time, and is always present and encountered.

Chronic Pain is Life Changing

As is the case with a lot of chronic pain warriors, my life didn’t start out this way.  There was once a time when my life didn’t involve seeing my doctors more often than my friends; when pharmacy visits didn’t happen every other day; when I didn’t have to end up in the ER on a Wednesday night, curled tightly into the fetal position; when I didn’t spend my nights tossing and turning because of the insomnia; when I didn’t have to open a medication bottle multiple times a day.

There was a time when when I didn’t have to research for hours on end just to understand what happens beneath my own skin; when I didn’t have to sit and rest after a shower; when I didn’t have to try to explain things about my body to other people that even I don’t understand fully; and a time when I wasn’t intimately familiar with the definition of “chronic pain” as a result of life has become every minute of every day.

The Life Changing Consequences of Chronic Pain

Everything changed on of March 21st, 2011. It happened in the blink of an eye.  It was a Monday, a bright and sunny afternoon, when an overthrown softball collided with the back of my skull as I was leaving our school’s softball field. I don’t remember much of that incident, except for three distinct things: my coach’s voice close by which was ricocheting around me like a bouncy ball; the cracking sound of the softball hitting my skull resounding in my ears like an echo in a cave; And lastly, the pain. The pain is what I remember the most, and rightly so, as it hasn’t stopped in 8 years, 5 months, and 25 days.

My Chronic Pain Journey

Throughout these years, months, and days, it has been a perplexing, debilitating, yet rewarding and valuable journey.  There have been countless moments where I can’t even seem to even hold myself up anymore, falling to the floor and weeping for the soul that’s exhausted and depleted, and wondering if this is a life worth even living.  I watched the doctor that I had trusted for 4 years look me in the eye and confidently tell me “I don’t believe you’re in that much pain.” I had turned to her to help me find answers to my never-ending questions and search for treatments that would help give me just a small glimpse of blissful relief, and this is what she said to me. She didn’t see the way I collapsed in the hallway; she didn’t  hear my sobs outside of her pretentiously white-walled office; she didn’t see my family pick me up off the ground, all the while telling me repeatedly “we believe you.”

Living chronically ill isn’t for the weak, it has more hard moments that you would ever be able to imagine.  However, there are also some moments that have made this journey that I’ve been living worth it in the end. For example, it has taught me how self-love is one of the most important things in life.  One morning, as I stared into the full-length mirror that I attached to the back of my university dorm door, all I could see was a shadow of someone I once knew, someone I couldn’t even recognize. Staring at my reflection with my roommates laughing on the other side of the door, I said to my reflection, “I am going to love you one day, give me some time.”  I realized that just because our bodies feel like a prison, that doesn’t mean we should treat them that way. And sometime later, before I even knew it, I stared at that same reflection and saw something else. I saw someone who adored their body, even if it malfunctioned.

The Importance of Maintaining Self Love on Your Chronic Pain Journey

Living life with chronic pain, a mild to severe discomfort and suffering that is continuing and occurring again and again for a long time, always present and encountered, might be hard for others to understand, but it’s an understood normal for us chronic pain warriors.  We wake up every morning to endure another day, with a strength we didn’t know was possible. But it’s so important to love yourself, despite the reality your body puts you through. I loved myself as I walked across my university stage and received my college diploma; and I also loved myself as I sat in the ER in excruciating pain on a Tuesday night. Your body deserves the love you have to give, too.

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How Yoga Can Help You Get A Better Night’s Sleep

How Yoga Can Help You Get A Better Night's Sleep

Yoga has different faces. On one hand, it is vibrant in the form of poses and asanas while on the other, it depicts the mindfulness of Meditation. Yoga is a breathing practice in Pranayama while it becomes ethics and principles in Karma Yoga. Some say Yoga helps them stay fit while others argue it is about mental tranquility.

Different people take the ancient science of Yoga differently. Its applications get altered according to circumstances. Yet, none of these definitions is entirely correct. Looking at the traditional Yoga texts, one can decipher the meaning of Yoga as a way of life very easily. Everything that Yoga does directly or indirectly has some relation to the betterment of human life. The science of Yoga is a reflection of what a body is capable of, how fit the mind is, and how composed the soul is.

There is another way of looking at the fitness of the body and mind. Many health experts argue that the intensity of one’s sleep shows his/her health level. The better rest an individual enjoys the more activeness is expected to be shown. By taking both these matters into account, it can be tracked with utmost ease that Yoga is so much about sleeping and vice-versa. Let’s discuss a deeper relationship between Yoga and sleeping.

The Beauty Of Sleeping Yoga

Since Yoga touches every aspect of human life, one cannot refrain from the fact that it is very much a tranquillizing exercise. Let’s take the example of Savasana, which is all but about taking rest. This asana is called the Corpse Pose, thanks to the position of the body in deep stillness or like a corpse.

It is recommended to be practised between two intensive Yoga sessions or poses to bring the body and mind to rest. This helps in refreshing and recharging the body for another session. Although the roots of this astonishing exercise lie in a beautiful practice of Yoga, its applicability is well embedded in the health and wellness of the human body.

Corpse Pose - How Yoga Can Help You Get A Better Night's Sleep

Savasana is practised while lying on the Yoga mat with complete freedom of the mind and body. The hands and legs are relaxed. When one closes the eyes in Savasana, the body, mind, and soul cut themselves out from the rest of the world. Only these three elements of life interact with each other in silence, which is what happens while sleeping.

Practising the delight of Savasana every day can improve the beauty of your sleep. Two of the major reasons people do not get a substantial amount of good sleep, nowadays, are the workload and poor living style. When you relish the peaceful aroma of Savasana, all those stressful moments will be wiped out of the mind and refresh your brain.

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is defined as a state of consciousness – between awakeness and sleep. ‘Nidra’ stands for sleep (yogic sleep). In this stage, the body is completely relaxed. One can feel the inner body with enhanced awareness about various internal organs and metabolism. The practice is all about inner conscious.

Yoga Nidra is referred to as the deepest possible relaxation position. Although this form of Yoga is not a part of the daily practice for many, Yoga teacher training in India includes this practice in the program curriculum. Almost all Yoga schools in the Indian subcontinent give great emphasis to Yoga Nidra as they believe this is the best way to keep one connected to the yogic path with complete awareness and relaxation.

A number of Yoga teachers from all over the globe are of the opinion that the practice of Yoga Nidra is a huge contributor to better sleeping. 

Meditation And Sleeping

The power of Meditation in bringing the mind and body to the zone of utmost silence is quite unparalleled. Meditation is about concentration, tremendous focus on a single object. It is a practice of thought absorption and mental nurturing. An anxiety-full mind cannot enjoy the bliss of sleeping since it is full of many negative thoughts. These negativities haunt you in the form of deviation.

A number of people complain of unpleasant dreams at night. This is what happens when you don’t spend your days in peace. In order to maintain a balance in the lifestyle of an individual, Meditation is one of the best exercises. Begin your day with at least 5-10 minutes of Meditation in a serene atmosphere to feel the calmness of nature.

Sunrise Before Yoga - How Yoga Can Help You Get A Better Night's Sleep

Early morning is considered the ideal time for Meditation and almost all forms of yogic practices. During the dawn, not many people are awake and you get a peaceful and quiet environment. Early morning Meditation prepares you in an awesome way to deal with all the daily stuff with patience. When your days are gratifying, nights are more likely to be pleasant.

You can experience the beauty of Meditation in the evening as well. Since the lunar energy is active during the evening time, you can embrace the feminine power and feel soulful stability with this practice of mindfulness. Many Yoga and health experts suggest enjoying Meditation before going to bed. If you end your day in the vicinity of spiritual energy all you experience is the seventh heaven’s seat.

It is recommended to everyone, who does not enjoy better sleep, to get into the zone of Meditation. The best part about this exercise is that it can be practiced anywhere. Whether you are in the office or waiting for the train at a railway station, just close your eyes and recite a couple of mantras.

How Yoga Can Help You Get A Better Night's Sleep

Yoga Asanas For Superior Sleeping

While there is no doubt in the fact that relaxing yogic practices are better sponsors of amazing sleep, Yoga poses have also been practiced by many people to enjoy the warmth of their beds. If you are interested in following a proper asanas routine, there are many Yoga poses you can enjoy to get a finer sleep at night.

How Yoga Can Help You Get A Better Night's Sleep

Adho Mukha Svanasana, also known as Downward Facing Dog, is among the finest Yoga exercises that promote a fine circulation of blood, making the body ready for experiencing the love that your bed gives. Blood flow promotes harmony in the body and mind which is the best way to have an awesome sleep. There is one very amazing Yoga pose, Paschimottanasana that is extremely effective when it comes to giving joy to the body parts.

When you attend a Yoga teacher training in Rishikesh, they focus more on these Hatha Yoga poses. These exercises are of immense importance in achieving complete balance and stability. One amazing facet of yogic practices – breathing, tells a lot about how the body itself is engaged in making it good for sleeping.

How Yoga Can Help You Get A Better Night's Sleep

Pranayama is known as breath-based Yoga. It is all about the regulation of the air and blood to provide stability to the body and mind. Constant breathing activates the body’s metabolism and a better form of sleeping can be enjoyed by you. As long as you are healthy, your body is fit, no force in the world is going to give you a better and enjoyable sleep.

Thus, it is very important to embrace the delight of Yoga and its practices in the best way possible to lead an astonishing life on the planet with amiable nights of sleep.

About The Author

Bipin Baloni is a passionate Yogi, Yoga Teacher and a Traveller in India. He organizes 200 hours of yoga teacher training in various cities in India and Nepal. He also conducts AyurvedaCourses in Kerala He loves writing and reading books related to yoga, health, nature, Himalayas and Trekking in Nepal .

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Depression: In The Depths Of The Nothingness

Depression: In The Depths Of The Nothingness

Writing may be one of my biggest loves in this life, but it’s also one of my biggest struggles thanks to my health. As a person with chronic illnesses and major mental health struggles, I don’t write as much as I would like to or as much as I used to.

I still find the same release in writing that I always have found but, more often than not, I just can’t bring myself to write. Post-exertional malaise from my ME, and cognitive difficulty from my fibromyalgia makes the activity of writing difficult in itself, but there’s more to it than that for me; a different kind of blockage that can be hard to pin down.

Depression: In The Depths Of The Nothingness

The Blockage

This piece has been doubly difficult for me to write. Not just because of the writing process itself, but because of the subject matter. I chose to write an article for Mental Health Week about depression. And depression makes me lose interest in the things I love. There’s definitely an irony in struggling to write about depression because of depression, isn’t there?

I want my writing to make others feel less alone, but how on earth was I going to approach this topic? When it comes to something as multifaceted as mental health, it can be difficult to know where to even start. My brain quickly got to work on bullying me.

Why would anyone want to read something you wrote anyway?

You have nothing interesting to say. All your work is bland and rubbish, just like you.

I don’t know why you even bother.

There are too many better writers out there. You’ll never be taken seriously.

Your thoughts aren’t valuable enough to be paid attention to.

So here I am, scrambling around inside my foggy brain trying to ignore the bullying thoughts in my head and to figure out whether anything I have to say about depression will even make sense enough to shape into an article.  

Describing The Indescribable?

Up until a few years ago, I thought of depression as an intruder. It would fully catch me off guard, kind of like a huge predator stalking in the shadows and then jumping out in front of me when I least expected it. Some people describe depression as a black dog which won’t leave you alone. As my life has gone on, I’ve come to see it more as some kind of dangerous plant, thriving in the darkness and slowly growing; creeping its way into my life until I’m swamped.

Its roots are deep, and its vines reach further and further into my present consciousness until I can feel them grasping me by the limbs and the throat, pulling me backwards into the dark. Sometimes the vines loosen their grip and retreat, and I can breathe again but, even then, I still know they’re only biding their time. They’re still there, lurking…ready to creep out of the shadow again at some point. And as the years have gone on, each trauma or stress that life has thrown my way has only strengthened the roots in those murky depths of my psyche. 

As well as the stigma, there’s a lot of misconceptions out there about depression. People often think that feeling down for a few days or a couple of weeks is being depressed. It’s not. That’s just feeling blue, which is something that most people experience at some point in their lives. Feeling down occasionally is part of our normal range of human emotion, just like feeling sad is. Feeling sad when something bad happens is not depression. That’s a normal reaction to something bad happening, and will usually dissipate with time. When the low mood persists long-term, that’s when it becomes a problem. 

Doctors and psychologists usually look out for common symptoms when diagnosing depression, such as a loss of interest in things that you normally enjoy, feelings of worthlessness or of despair, feelings of unrealness and even urges to harm yourself in some way. Check out this guide from the charity Mind to find out more about symptoms, causes and potential treatment options. Their website is also full of resources about other mental health disorders and information about where to find help.

The Numbness 

Perhaps my least favourite symptom that comes from being in a depressive episode is what I now call the nothingness. This is something that I have experienced since I was a teenager and still frightens me to this day when it happens. It’s not that I feel sad, or upset or even down, I just feel…nothing. In these times my emotional range seems to just shut down. I can’t feel anything or recall how emotions normally feel. It is the complete absence of feeling, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. It is the most isolating thing I have ever experienced, and every time I feel my mental health slipping I become fearful of that emotional numbing.

Perhaps my least favourite symptom that comes from being in a depressive episode is what I now call the nothingness.

When I’m numb, I would kill to feel sad or angry because then at least I would feel something. Many people I’ve tried to express this to simply can’t wrap their heads around it. I discovered a few months ago that this kind of emotional shutdown can be a response to past psychological trauma.

Going back to writing, it’s really no surprise that I struggle to do it a lot of the time. It’s sometimes like the parts of my brain that feed into creativity have been boarded up like an old abandoned house. It’s like somebody cauterized by ability to even think clearly, let alone comprehend those thoughts and translate them into words. 

Depression

Depression makes it feel as though my brain just won’t work in the way it’s supposed to; the way I know it can work. It feels like there is a thick cloud of fog filling up the spaces in my head. Things don’t seem right; things don’t make sense. I can’t even make decisions. The smallest of decisions feels disproportionately impossible. Do I want a glass of water or a glass of juice? Do I prefer red or blue? Am I a good person or a bad person for the answers I picked? I can’t decide what I want to watch, what I want to read, what music I want to listen to.

I know that I’m passionate about things, somewhere beneath all the fog, but those things seem shapeless; far away from me. I feel completely disconnected from myself, as though the body and mind I inhabit do not belong to me. I interact with my surroundings, but it’s all robotic. I’m not sure what is real.

It’s a cruel state of mind to be in. Perhaps it’s even crueller that all of this is invisible to the world around you and can be masked by a simple “I’m fine!” when somebody asks you how you’re feeling.

We have to be brave enough to answer “I’m not fine.”

About the Author:

Charlotte is a 26 year old writer from West Yorkshire in England. After a spinal cord tumour left her disabled at 19, she started writing about her experiences alongside her university studies. Her blog is called Of Books and Stardust. She also has ME and fibromyalgia, and has experienced mental health problems for most of her life. She writes to raise visibility and to help others feel less alone. Charlotte adores literature, has always loved caring for pet bunnies (or do they care for her?) and is passionate about spirituality, paganism and witchcraft.

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My Life With Fibromyalgia

My Life With Fibromyalgia

My pain story goes back many years. I remember suffering widespread body pain from my teen years and on – I’m 57 now. Mostly, it was mild for many years, but painful enough that I knew it wasn’t normal. I ached all the time, but back then, I was living a pretty transient lifestyle and it just wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. I finally settled down, had kids, entered and left a couple of relationships, and then met my wonderful husband.

Contributing Factors

In 1991, I was in a single vehicle car accident where I spun out on black ice. I took out the driver’s window with my head. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer any broken bones, but I did have a lot of soft tissue damage. I also suffered a huge fibromyalgia flare-up, and was in pain for months, despite going for physiotherapy. This was when I received my official fibromyalgia diagnosis.

Something else that has contributed to my fibro pain is the number of surgeries I’ve had in my life. I underwent stomach surgery in 2004 for severe gastric reflux disease and ended up with nerve damage. In 2007, my body went into overtime with health problems, and I ended up having surgery to remove my left ovary, then my gallbladder and then my right ovary – all happening within a 6-month time frame. Talk about body trauma!

My surgeon also discovered that I had scar tissue covering my bladder and bowels each time he operated and that I’d probably had endometriosis for years without knowing it. It certainly explains a lot of why I had so much pelvic pain over the years. All of these surgeries caused my fibro to flare-up repeatedly until I was in what felt like a permanent flare.

And if that weren’t enough, I also live with Osteoarthritis, Myofascial Pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and several other health issues. These all combine to make my fibro pain unbearable at times.

Living life with fibromyalgia and the factors that led to it.

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had good family doctors in both cities I’ve lived in (Calgary, AB and now Langford, BC). I was referred to and accepted into outpatient treatment at the Chronic Pain Centre while living in Calgary, and there, I worked with a team including doctors, physiotherapists, a psychologist, and others.

Treatments for Fibro

We tried several types of injections for the Fibro trigger points, including Botox, but nothing helped. My fibromyalgia was also treated by putting me on Lyrica first and then Cymbalta, plus a narcotic called OxyNeo (oxycodone). This is the treatment plan I follow to this day.

I also use Mindful Meditation, Music Therapy, Heat and Cold, Epsom Salt baths, Magnesium rubs, and I’ve tried Flotation Tank Therapy as well. Everybody is different in what works for them and these are all things I’ve found that help me especially during a flare-up.

I also use Mindful Meditation, Music Therapy, Heat and Cold, Epsom Salt baths, Magnesium rubs, and I've tried Flotation Tank Therapy as well to help manage my fibromyalgia


My faith as a Christ follower is huge as well, and prayer plays a big part in my life when it comes to pain and managing it. It also helps to have a supportive partner. My husband does way more than his fair share around the house when I’m not able to pitch in with chores and stuff. He understands that I have bad days and is always available for sympathy and a hug.

Daily Life

I have been on Disability since 2009 as I can’t sit, stand, lift or carry for more than a few minutes at a time…I’m constantly having to move or shift positions to prevent my muscles from stiffening or going into spasm. The doctor who diagnosed my fibro and arthritis pain said it’s among the worst he’s ever seen. I feel like my muscles are encased in concrete as they constantly feel heavy and aching and hard to move.

With fibromyalgia, I feel like my muscles are encased in concrete as they constantly feel heavy and aching and hard to move.

I’m never pain-free, I’m perpetually exhausted because I can’t get into the deep restorative sleep….I’m loopy and dizzy from drugs and as much as I keep a positive attitude, I’m frustrated beyond belief that this is what my life has become.

My body is hypersensitive to many things, including the feeling of labels in clothing, loud noise, smells….you name it. I’ve also developed persistent excessive sweating – I can be in a freezing cold area and have goosebumps all over, but I’ll be sweating from my head, arms, and chest. So embarrassing and uncomfortable!

For a period of time, I attended group classes at the Victoria Pain Clinic for relaxation, diet, exercise, etc. and it did help to learn other ways to focus and cope. It also helped to be with people who “get it”. My husband is a saint, and treats me like a princess, but as wonderful as he is, he can’t feel what I feel. Sometimes, the best thing I can do is soak in a hot bathtub and try to focus on other things, but nothing ever makes the pain go away.

I allow myself to be taken care of so I can focus on healing. That was a hard step for me, but a necessary one. I’ve always been the doer, but now…I need to step back and take care of me.

Hip Replacement Surgery

In 2017, I had my right hip replaced because my osteoarthritis was so bad, and there was an impingement as well, which meant the head of the femur wasn’t sitting in the hip socket properly. The surgery took a couple of hours to do, and I was in the hospital for just 2 days before I went home. The nurses had me up and on my feet, the day after surgery and there was actually little pain.

My recovery took approximately 6 months and while I’m still using a cane, it’s because I have knee problems on the same side, not because of the hip. My hip feels great and I’m so pleased with the surgery. My left hip will need to be replaced as well, but hopefully not for another year or so. And during the period right after the surgery, I actually had only a minor fibro flare, partly due to the medications I was taking and partly due to the continual icing of the joint – it helped to keep things to a minimum.

There Is Always Hope

I’ve struggled with a lot of health issues, but my motto is “there is always hope”. It’s the name of my blog as well, where I write about Chronic Pain and Invisible Illness. I keep a positive outlook on life and I know that despite the fact there’s a lot of negative things going on for me health-wise, it could be a whole lot worse as well. I feel blessed overall and I never take things for granted.

About the Author:

Pamela Jessen lives in Langford, BC Canada. She is a blogger who writes about Chronic Pain, Chronic Fatigue and Invisible Illness at pamelajessen.com  She also writes for The Mighty, PainResource.com and various independent publications. Pamela is also a Patient Advocate with the Patient Voices Network in BC.  She sits on 4 committees and one Provincial working group and has also been involved in advocacy work at the Canadian National level as well. Pamela is married to her amazing husband Ray and they have one cat named Dorie.