Skip to main content

Learning to say "no"...

When you suffer from a chronic condition--regardless of what condition that might be, you have to learn how to live within your limitations. At first, this is not so easy. Part of this is denial on your own part; it's hard to admit that things are not quite the way they used to be.  This would be admitting weakness, perhaps?





Still other times, other people are the culprit.  When you are home on disability, they may think you are just twiddling your thumbs and need to be doing things to keep yourself busy.  They might be asking you for a favor--running an errand, making phone calls, etc...never stopping to think about the possibility that this is too much for someone who is chronically ill.

That is where you have to take ownership of the situation...you have to learn to say no more often. You have to learn to say no to yourself when you have the urge to push through something that's really too much under the circumstances. You have to say no to others sometimes as well-- because if you don't, your own health and well being will be compromised.

If you really feel like you can't say no, maybe you can get used to telling others that you'll do as much as you are able.  It might not be a bad thing to say that to yourself as well.  At least it's a start!

Sources: About.com; Keep calm-o-matic

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Living with Chronic pain hits the big screen!

Been to the movies lately?  Jennifer Aniston is on the big screen in a recent release titled "Cake." Her character, Claire is a victim of chronic pain...she belongs to a support group, where all of the members are coming to terms with the suicide of one of their members.  Of course, she also takes pain medication and addiction is another of her problems...and of course there's more! I guess I am writing this post just to bring readers' attention to the fact that Hollywood has become aware of the crisis that is chronic pain.  This movie is a testament to that. People that don't have to live with this kind of pain don't fully understand the whole story.  Maybe this movie will shed some light on the issues. Here is the official trailer for the movie: Sources: prweb;NorthJersey.com;YouTube

Effectiveness Of Ozone Injections Is No Longer Up In The Air

Most of us know someone who has osteoarthritis, if we don't have it ourselves.  Joint replacement surgery is a pretty common remedy when the joint becomes severely damaged and the patient is in a lot of pain.  With risk of complications from such a surgery, perhaps an alternative treatment should be tried first. One such remedy is the injection of a synthetic version of collagen(e.g. Synvisc®) into the affected joint.  This procedure restores the cushioning to a joint that has degenerated over the years. It can diminish the pain substantially and help put off joint replacement surgery for months to years.  The biggest drawback is that these products are expensive.   GoodRX , a web site that can be used to estimate the cost of medications, estimates the cost of these products to be over $1,000 each. Here's another example--and I am not sure how widely accepted this protocol has become since study authors introduced it in November 2015.  Are you ready for this? Inject

Fibromyalgia Week: Day 2

Tender points...click caption for WebMD animation Tender points are a unique feature of fibromaylgia.  There are 18 such points on the human body (9 pairs as shown).  Using special technique by hand or a dolorimeter, a fibromyalgia patient will experience pain in at least 11 points, and there will be at least one painful tender point in each quadrant of the body! One study found that up to 96% of fibromyalgia patients suffer from sleep disorders. It is believed that this is responsible for a deprivation of delta sleep, during which human growth hormone is produced. This hormone is essential to tissue repair. Other common problems in fibromyalgia are fatigue, concentration/memory ("fibro fog"), and depression.  There is no doubt in my mind that just enabling the patient to sleep well on a regular basis would be of great benefit! It is not uncommon for fibromyalgia patients to have coexisting conditions--some of these are lupus, disease, irritable bowel syndrome, l