Random Questions – Post #5

If you’re new to our “weird/random/oversharing” corner of the Internet, or, if you need a refresher, check out Random Questions – Post #1.  For the veterans, welcome home.  Make yourself comfortable!  Random Question #5 Who are you?  How do you define yourself?  Are you who you’re related to?  Your career?  Your interests?  Your quirks?  So… …

3 reasons to pay attention to social comedowns in a pandemic changed world

This is so true. Having fibromyalgia, I already had some issues after social events (no matter how awesome they were). Talking about it is the first step – It’s more common than you’d think!

Love Uncommon

Many people experience a social hangover or comedown after spending time with friends. Some people know it as con-drop. Others just recognise that social interactions have the cost of a night of rumination and worry or a morning of scattered brain. These experiences are not widely discussed, which means that folks can feel really ashamed when they have a hard time after an otherwise pleasurable social event. I think this is a great moment to start talking more about social hangovers and come downs because they are very likely to get more common as more places come out of lock down and people start to socialise more. The shift from relatively few social interactions to a great deal more social contact, and particularly contact with larger groups of people, is likely to cause increases in social anxiety, higher levels of adrenaline and cortisol in our blood as we have social…

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5 Do’s and Don’ts For Communicating With The Chronically Ill

These are so on point!!! I might not agree 100% with Don't Number 4, but I gotta agree that hearing about someone's sniffles does irritate me. If you have a loved one with a chronic/invisible illness, read "Spoon Theory." It explains so much, so well. I can't recommend it strongly enough.

“But You Don’t Look Sick!”

I have fibromyalgia. I've been accused - by family members, mind you - of being a drug addict, being lazy, & using my father. Sometimes people who say, "you don't look sick" mean well. Sometimes these same people are making assumptions based on us fighting our hardest to stay upright & smile at whatever function …

My Chronic Illness is Worse Than Yours

We don’t need to compete with one another for “who has the worst chronic illness.” We should be lifting one another up, not shooting one another down. 😦

bookmarkchronicles

A lot of my family members still don’t know that I have Hashimoto’s disease. It’s never really come up and I don’t know how to bring it up spontaneously. Instead, I just don’t talk about it.

One of my cousins also has a chronic illness – fibromyalgia. While our diseases are different, I figured that she would understand what it’s like to not always be in control of what happens to your body. For that reason, I thought that opening up to her would easy. I was hoping that after I came clean, we could build a support system for each other.

I was wrong.

I actually wish that I hadn’t told her at all and now I will be sure to never talk about it around her again.

The first time I mentioned it, was because the endocrinologist’s office is near her house and stopped by on my way there. It was…

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Women, Doctors, and The Lack of Diagnosis

This is so on-point. It took me 4 years, 2 pain management doctors, & a rheumatologist to get my fibromyalgia diagnosis. I was told, repeatedly, that I was exaggerating the pain. It couldn't possibly be as bad as I was saying. I had 2 psychiatrists tell me that it was "phantom pain" & fibromyalgia diagnoses …

Book Cover Reveal

As a fellow fibromyalgia patient, I would love to read this book. It sounds incredibly powerful. It could also serve readers who don't have fibro - we all need to slow down, sometimes. 🙂