By wendy, on June 9th, 2010%
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! »
By wendy, on May 20th, 2010%
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?)
Continue reading How are You? How Do You Answer the Hardest Question Ever When You Live with Chronic Illness? »
By wendy, on May 17th, 2010%
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. Continue reading What does a "good" day look like to you? »
By wendy, on May 7th, 2010%
In my Sunday post, I promised you complementary/alternative methods you can try for pain and stress control/reduction, so here we go. These methods apply in all of the 4Ps, although they apply in different ways in different stages. Continue reading Learning to Live with Pain – Being Proactive (Part 2) »
By wendy, on May 6th, 2010%
EFT
Does it work? Yes, and no . . . Like anything else, EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) has its benefits, but it is definitely not going to make your fibro go away completely. It does, however, help my symptoms and make my fibro easier to live with, so I’ve added it to the resources I use to help me cope. (Is this purely a placebo effect? I don’t really care. If I feel better, or have less pain, it’s worked for me, and I’m happy with that no matter what the mechanism is.)
I downloaded the free EFT manual from http://www.emofree.com and read the information provided, memorizing the steps needed to perform a treatment. The first symptom I tried it on was a migraine, and it worked pretty well. The first treatment eased the pain, Continue reading EFT and Tapping for Fibromyalgia – Do They Work? »
By wendy, on May 5th, 2010%
Jenni has the Learning to Live With Pain Blog Carnival up . It’s a day late, but definitely NOT a dollar short, offering the perspectives of twenty-two amazing babes (and me) on how to live with chronic pain as a permanent unwelcome guest in your life. Check them out, maybe you’ll learn something that will help you or a loved one cope.
**If you are reading this post anywhere other than wendyburnett.wordpress.com it is because it has been stolen. Please click on the link provided to return to the site of origin.
By wendy, on May 2nd, 2010%
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
Kahlil Gibran
Have you ever watched the Discovery Channel show “Mythbusters”? They do some really interesting stuff on there, and this past Wednesday (April 28th,) they tackled a pair of “myths” about pain:
- Women have a higher pain tolerance than men. and
- Cursing increases pain tolerance
It was pretty interesting. They set up a bowl of ice water that was kept at just above freezing (1 degree Celcius) and attached to a timer. They then tested an equal number of men and women, seeing how long each person could keep their hand submerged. The subjects were not told that the men and women were competing, and for the first test, they were not permitted to curse while their hand was submerged. Continue reading Learning to Live with Pain – Being Proactive »
By wendy, on April 27th, 2010%
ChronicBabe is hosting Grand Rounds this week, and they’ve chosen the topic “ladylike.” This post isn’t going to make the deadline (I worked so many hours last week it was all I could do to keep us fed,) so it won’t be in the carnival, but I found the topic interesting, so I decided to write it anyway.
I guess I should probably start with a confession. . . If you used the word “ladylike” to describe me around my friends, they’d most likely laugh in your face. I was a tomboy growing up, and I never really “got” the whole ladylike thing. Continue reading Blowing Your Nose Is Not Ladylike, and Other Truths of Chronic Illness »
By wendy, on April 25th, 2010%
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmfxlTXF73w&feature=player_embedded]
A few years ago, my rheumatologist suggested that I try a TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator) for my fibromyalgia pain. She gave me a prescription (be sure to make a copy of the prescription to keep in the case with your TENS in case you need to travel with it,) and I jumped through all the insurance hoops, picking up my TENS unit a few weeks later.
I visited a physical therapist to learn how to use it, and started taking it to work with me every day. I used it constantly for a while, Continue reading Does Using a TENS Unit Ease Fibromyalgia Pain? »
By wendy, on April 19th, 2010%
The University of North Florida is doing a new study, researching personal experiences with chronic illness, including those without a diagnosis yet. According to their website:
“Our goal is to document and share the collective voices of those who endure the challenges of living with chronic physical symptoms. We seek honest and candid responses in an online survey from patients who personally know about the impacts of living with symptoms of illness. Your voice is vital to providing awareness and understanding, and to help establish issues that we need to address in medicine. This research taps into information that lab work and other technologies cannot reveal, relying on input from you for the advancement of science and understanding. Continue reading Give Your Pain a V.O.I.C.E. (Verification of Illness, Coping & Experience) »
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"The moral test of a society is how that society treats those who are in the dawn of life . . . the children; those who are in the twilight of life . . . the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life . . . the sick, the needy, and the handicapped."
---Hubert Humphrey
Welcome to the new home of Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired. I hope you'll enjoy the changes, and the new resources I'll be adding as I have time to work on the site. Things will look a bit odd while I learn where and how to modify the appearance, so please bear with me.
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