Everyone needs to be distracted from time to time, whether from illness, what’s going on around them or simply from life itself. Distractions don’t take the problems away, but they might take your mind off whatever is bothering you. When you’re living with pain, learning to distract yourself from it…
Chronic Pain
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Silent Symptoms of Chronic Illness – Loneliness and Isolation
Living with chronic illness of any kind is difficult. Obviously, the physical symptoms are difficult to cope with. There are often lots of emotional symptoms to deal with too, like depression, grief, guilt, stress and anxiety. But there are two other symptoms of chronic illness which are often overlooked –…
Awareness
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Supporting People on Rare Disease Day
It can take a lot of courage to discuss health issues with friends and family, but sometimes people put their own health in the public spotlight to help others. This awareness is especially important when it comes to people who are living with a rare disease. When people are living…
Awareness
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Why We Need to Support Rare Disease Day
Rare Disease Day, which takes place on the last day of February, was first set up in 2008, with awareness events taking place in just eighteen countries. Last year, 90 countries took part. To bring awareness to Rare Disease Day, I’d like to share a few stories from people who…
Emotional & Mental Health
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How to Support Someone who has an Invisible Illness
Some illnesses are obvious to the naked eye. If someone is hobbling around with a plaster cast on their leg, we can tell they have a broken leg. If they have misshapen fingers, we can normally presume that they have painful arthritis. But so many people have health conditions that…
Chronic Pain
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How to Cope with Medication Side Effects
For many people living with chronic health conditions, medication isn’t optional — it’s essential…but, unfortunately, it often brings a few unwelcome side effects along with the benefits. Some settle once your body adjusts, while others like to linger. We can learn to live with them to an extent, but some…
Medical
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How to Manage Medication More Effectively
You probably know the script — meds for breakfast, meds for lunch and meds for dinner. It becomes part of the daily routine. But they don’t always help as much as we’d like, and they often come with side effects. The good news is that with a bit of planning…
Medical
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How to Help Doctors Listen and Understand Better
When we live with chronic illness, the relationship we have with our primary care doctor becomes one of the most important ones in our lives. We rely on them to guide us, support us, and help us make sense of what our bodies are doing. But what happens when we…
Self Help
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Ten Good Intentions to Carry into the New Year
Here we are, celebrating the start of another new year. Each new year, people make resolutions. I’m not so keen on that term. Resolutions are seldom kept. I prefer to write a list of intentions. Good intentions which I will try to carry on in the new year. I really…
Chronic Pain
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Does Pain Steal Enjoyment from Your Life?
Does pain steal all enjoyment from your life? We shouldn’t let it. The Good Pain Theory explains how I cope with pain after doing something I enjoy.