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Showing posts from April, 2018

Fibromyalgia: My Health Journey

Recently I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a multi system chronic condition that is characterised by chronic widespread pain, extreme fatigue, brain fog, digestive complaints and depression. For a sufferer of Fibromyalgia, stress is a major driving force in exasperating symptoms. It is a lifelong condition (there is no cure) but with a range of therapeutic care, symptoms can be managed and even improved. It sounds like a lot, and it is. It has felt like I’d stumbled into a dimly lit tunnel filled with physical and psychological challenges coupled with medical puzzles that needed a large brains trust to solve. I’ve been in this tunnel a long time, but have now stepped into some sunlight. Rather than being completely devastated by this diagnosis, I felt a huge sense of relief, validation and overwhelming gratitude. For my persistent struggle with extreme fatigue, insomnia, digestive complaints, low moods and pain have for the past 7 years made me question my sanity, and doubt my capabil

Self Care

  Once upon a time there was a woman (a mother in fact) who was feeling so tired and run down that the only thing that encouraged her to keep on going was her great love for her family. With every need she felt a tug on her compassionate heart. With every chore, she wanted to provide a home of safety, warmth and comfort. With every tear, she wanted to be that shoulder to cry on. As days rolled into months, rolled into years, she felt the well of love for her family begin to slowly deplete. What once was over-flowing became ever close to empty. No matter how much she tried to just continue living on love, droplets of frustration, exhaustion and discouragement began to fill her well. When the needs of her loved ones confronted her each day, instead of meeting them with patience and kindness, she felt herself quickly turning to anger (an emotion that she hated, yet felt powerless to oppose).   Then one day in utter despair, she confided in a friend her growing concern that the cherished