A couple of years ago, I realised I needed a break from blogging, and I eventually gave myself permission to do that. I was tired — physically, mentally, and emotionally. At first, I thought a few weeks off would be enough, but weeks soon stretched to months, and my break away became much longer than I had planned. I wrote a handful of blog posts during that time away, but when I finally returned to writing last year, I felt so much more relaxed.
My blogging break really wasn’t a choice — it was vital.
A Blogging Break Was Vital to Recharge and Find Clarity
In 2012, I started running the End Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness page and support group on Facebook. That in itself was tiring, but made me feel as though I was helping people in a small way. Then I started blogging here on Despite Pain. Awareness mattered. Support mattered. Trying to help people mattered. But a couple of years ago, the mental exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks.
My own pain was bad, but I was also reading about other people’s pain. I was living it, reading about it, and writing about it. And I simply couldn’t keep doing it. I passed on End Trigeminal Neuralgia to someone else, hoping it would help. It did help, but I still felt utterly drained. I felt guilty if I didn’t post enough on my blog or social media to create awareness about health issues. I felt as though I was letting people down. Guilt, as I’ve written about before, is an emotion that is extremely draining. I often say, “ditch the guilt,” but it’s not an easy thing to do.
I Realised I Needed a Blogging Break
Every time I opened my blog to write a new post, I struggled. I felt drained. I had nothing to give. I considered closing my blog altogether. I was paying for it but wasn’t using it — more guilt.
As someone who often writes about listening to your body, I didn’t always take my own advice. Eventually, I did. I realised that I needed a complete break from my blog to refresh myself. That’s when I picked up my pencils and started drawing. I put everything else aside and focused on art. I charged my extremely worn-out batteries.
Should I Blog At All?
I found myself questioning whether I should be blogging about pain at all anymore. But if I had shut down my blog, all my old posts would have disappeared — not just the work, but the heart I had poured into them.
Something kept coming into my head. When you know of people who are facing unimaginable challenges, it’s easy to start believing your own struggles don’t matter as much. But that isn’t true — health isn’t a competition, and everyone’s experience is valid.
I also began thinking about the purpose of my blog. Was I actually helping anyone? Could my experiences with scoliosis, trigeminal neuralgia or coeliac disease really help other people?
Then, during a conversation with a friend, something clicked into place — it doesn’t really matter what the names of my conditions are. What matters is the experience of living with health issues. And that’s what this blog is about: living, coping, adapting, grieving, and finding moments of light — no matter the diagnosis.
In the Midst of My Blogging Break, I Received a Reader’s Email
Occasionally, I receive emails from readers. One day last year, an email popped into my inbox from someone who’d read my blog. They thanked me and told me that my posts had helped them because they knew someone “got it.”
That reminded me why I write, and it made me decide to keep the blog going, but I had to do it in a way that felt more manageable.
I Had to Rethink My Blog
My batteries had been recharged, but I knew I couldn’t go back to blogging in the same way. I couldn’t let writing about health take over my life — I needed to make more space for other things too, including art.
Something had to change so I didn’t burn out again. I tried to let go of the pressure I felt around writing and became more open to the occasional guest post.
Social media, which is more or less necessary if you have a blog, has always felt like a nightmare. I’d posted on Facebook and Instagram sporadically, with no real plan, so that needed to change too.
My back hadn’t been playing nice for a while, and I couldn’t draw, so I used that time to build a small bank of draft blog posts and create a series of social media posts. I wanted a mix of posts — not just health and awareness, but posts that could bring a little light alongside the heaviness.
You might have spotted that weekend posts on my Facebook and Instagram pages are fairly lighthearted and often feature my dog. I even made a silly video for Burns Night about gluten-free haggis. Some people might look at those posts and think, “Why is she posting things like this? Her blog is meant to be about living with chronic pain.”
And that’s the thing — chronic pain is a huge part of my life, but it’s not all of my life. And I can’t let it be all of my life.
Chronic Illness Blogging
Chronic illness bloggers are often a voice for people living with conditions that don’t get much publicity. But they’re living with their own health issues too.
They often support other chronic illness bloggers by reading, sharing, and commenting on each other’s posts. When we don’t have the time or energy to do that, guilt can creep in. But one thing I’ve learned over the last couple of years is that pushing ourselves only leads to burnout — and blogger burnout is very real. Sometimes it’s vital to step back, rest, and allow those batteries to recharge.
Always Allow Yourself to Step Back
I’m glad that I did eventually take my own advice and listen to my body. I gave myself permission to step back, rest, and find clarity.
If you’re struggling because you feel drained, guilty, or unsure whether you’re doing enough, please remember this — stepping back doesn’t mean giving up. Sometimes it’s exactly what’s needed to protect your health and rediscover why you started in the first place.
We all deserve space to rest, recharge our batteries, and return in a way that feels sustainable.
For me, that blogging break made a huge difference.
Thank you so much for reading.
If this post resonated with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
And feel free to share it with your friends or support groups.
Take care,
Liz.
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Sometimes, stepping back is vital.
I feel exactly the same way! I started my blog in 2016 and stopped in about 2021 and haven’t blogged since. The same issues you mentioned crop up. I’m paying for the blog, so why can’t I write? Am I wasting my money? I’m still not ready to come back to blogging as I help run a large Facebook group for one of my conditions (spinal CSF leaks) and that’s taking up all my time. Thank you for writing what was in my head!
Thank you so much for sharing this — it really means a lot to know the post resonated. Supporting others, especially through a large Facebook group, takes a huge amount of energy, and what you’re doing really matters.
Please don’t put yourself under any pressure to return to blogging. You’ll know when — or if — the time feels right. Taking care of yourself has to come first, always. I’m glad the post helped you feel a little less alone. I imagine there are many chronic illness bloggers who feel or have felt the same way.
Take care,
Liz
I loved this so much! Thank you, Liz, for your words, wisdom and insights, courage and compassion too. 🤍 Love that you listened to your body and ditched the guilt, especially knowing how hard that can be. Love that it was healing for you too, and making art is always a beautiful thing. I can relate to this piece so deeply. Currently caught in a grandest flare/setback precisely because of not listening, and pushing too hard, but it’s just as hard sometimes to not help if someone is struggling, especially when we know just how horrid it is (and with that, all spoons vanish!). I’m so happy you took a break, and it helped you to reach this finer, kinder place. Never feel guilty for taking a break (she says, feeling guilty; working on it though!) Your words help, thank you. Always love reading your writing. 🤍
Hi Jo, thank you so much for such a thoughtful and generous comment — it really means a lot. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with a flare just now; it’s so hard to step back when we know how awful things can be for others. You work so hard and that pull to help others is strong, especially when we understand it so well.
Please be kind to yourself — I know how hard that is, even while we’re telling others to do the same. I’m really glad the post resonated, and I truly appreciate your kindness and your words.
Thanks for sharing, Liz. I am taking a break from my blog while I decide what to do with it. After 15 years I was exhausted from running the blog and associated social media pages, and I had lost direction with it. What began as a means to promote my self-published novels turned into a commentary of my personal chronic pain journey, my life as a single parent within a marriage, my ghost hunting adventures and spiritual interests. Now my children are older, I feel wiser, and I need to decide what my purpose is going forward. And that is absolutely fine.
Fifteen years is a long time to hold a blog and all its social media pages, and it’s completely understandable to feel exhausted and in need of space. Our lives change, and sometimes our blogs need time to catch up with that too.
Taking a break to figure out what feels right now — or even whether you want to continue at all — really is absolutely fine. I hope this pause gives you the clarity. Take good care of yourself.
You really do pour your heart into your posts. From personal posts to awareness posts, everything you write about, you write so well. You make a difference here and you have purpose. And I’m really glad you received that email from a reader. It’s so true that when someone “gets it”, it can mean so much. It’s selfish of me to say I want you to keep blogging, and I would miss your blog too damn much, because it needs to be what’s right for you. Taking a break and rethinking things sounds like it has been much needed and beneficial so well done for doing it.
I’m really glad you put here about posting on social media – my posting is sporadic to non-existing a lot of the time. I lost a lot of followers on Insta and it’s no longer what it was to be able to easily go through content from creators you follow… I seem to get a lot of content I don’t follow and random ads, (plus a mountain of golden retriever content, which they know I look at so much so I’m happy to browse!) I could do with taking a beat to build up a little cache of content, catching up, and committing to a better schedule. Not sure that’ll ever happen, but your post has been quite inspiring and encouraging.
And I’m also glad you mentioned blogging about your dog. It really does start to feel like we’re penned in. We’re pain and illness bloggers, so that’s all we can write about. We can branch out to life with illness and adapting and such, but what about things we like, things that interest us, things that aren’t directly about pain/illness? That’s something I’ve struggled with, too. But you’re so right. The health side of things can’t be all of our life. And it shouldn’t ‘have’ to be all of our content, either.
Caz xxxx
Thank you so much, Caz — your comment really means a lot to me. 💛
I’m so glad the post resonated with you and that it felt encouraging rather than heavy. I think so many of us put pressure on ourselves to keep going, keep posting, keep helping, even when we’re exhausted, but sometimes we just need permission (from ourselves) to pause and rethink things.
Social media really isn’t what it used to be, is it? I rarely post on Twitter these days. I use Meta to post on Facebook and Insta, but Insta gets hardly any views. It seems to be that live reels get all the views, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the energy or desire to do those.
And yes — I completely agree about feeling “penned in” as chronic illness bloggers. Our health is a huge part of our lives, but it can’t be all of it. We’re allowed to write about the things we love, the things that bring light, and just life in general too.
I’m really grateful for your support and your kind words — and I’m so glad we’ve become friends through blogging. Sending you lots of love and hoping you are having as good a day as possible.
Liz
xx
Great reflections, Liz! I’m glad you and your blog are still around 🙂 Even if there are no new posts, I’m sure existing ones are still helpful for people with similar experiences — and we know there isn’t all that much out there. I myself am not writing new posts for now, as I’m trying to earn more money and also focus on other types of writing. Sending hugs! x
Thank you so much, Sheryl — that really means a lot 💛
It’s lovely to hear you’re focusing on other writing and work just now. Your old posts are full of valuable and helpful info, so it’s always good to share them.
Thank you for your kindness and encouragement as always. Sending hugs right back ❤️