People with chronic illnesses - how do you keep positive?

Prudent

What a wonderful thread - a lot of hope in the pain. I have fibromyalgia and a mental illness. I also have a full time high stress job and an adult daughter who is ill and needs care. I feel that I have been in a long rollercoaster of overdoing things (to compensate for what I miss when I am ill) and then crash and burn.

At the moment I am off work ill, but having sustained a year and a half of relatively 'well' and I am keen to find keys to maintain my well being. One of the things that was significant this time was that post Christmas I began to notice signs of a dip. I am beginning a WRAP - a wellness recovery action plan - and I am definitely feeling hopeful that it will put me more in control of my well being. I am going to work in little steps on it and if the thread continues, I will update with progress.

See: http://www.mentalhealthrecovery.com/wrap/

My biggest aim is to be able to reduce my working hours and have less pressure as stress has a high impact on all aspects of my well being. The figure in my signature is about achieving that goal.

Thistle-down

thank you Prudent, I have bookmarked the site and will look into it when I am more fully awake!

faerielight

I have M.e/ Fibro/ thyroid disease / osteo arthritis combo and in and out of hospital having bowel surgeries. I go through positivity phases, but at the moment , I've hit the wall due to carrying around 3 more hernias and my surgery keeps getting cancelled, and I feel like my life is on hold . I also have PTSD from the original medical negligence that almost killed me, gave me an ostomy for 3 years, and is the reason I'm in and out of surgery. I used to use exercise ( walking, kickboxing and yoga) to de stress and to boost my mood and I can't exercise any more. I do struggle with chronic anxiety and I do get low. I live alone and get really lonely. I think that beeng ill is really demoralizing, and we have to get creative and seek ways to feel good about ourselves and to feel positive. This site has been a godsend to me, I do all the competitions, I do surveys and chase freebies. I find distraction so helpful, but I'm about to do a course on mindfulness, as I do find relaxation/ meditations on youtube really helpful for relaxing. I have insomnia but it helps to listen to them at night. It sounds silly but the other thing that helps me is having gratitude. Some days I struggle to find any, but even focusing on the smallest good thing , does make me feel a bit better. I also find support forums helpful, they have some good facebook groups too. I think I need to learn to stop fighting and to let go , as fighting just keeps me in the stress cycle.. it's easier said than done though :)Thank you for starting this thread, it shows how many of us there are striving to cope with various illnesses. Take care x

Thistle-down

thank you faerielight and everyone who has shared their own experiences, it does make me feel less alone in this journey.

Gratitude is a big one for me. I go through phases where I keep reminding myself of all the wonderful things in my life, and it does help so much. Then I feel better and forget to be as grateful. There's a lesson in there somewhere

Anoneemoose

I am having 'one of those' evenings..grrr.

We decided to go out for a roast carvery as it's half term and I felt really up to it. As soon as I got in the car however, my tummy started to bloat (I also have IBS). I had my jeggings on that are normally comfy but tonight, they cut me in 2. So I was in pain for most of my meal, and then ended up in the loo with the runs.

I also have have a form of OCD which causes anxiety as well. I know in the grand scheme of things, an IBS flare isn't that bad but when you add it to the days full of other ailments, it takes its toll. Am really fed up and in pain right now ��.

Sorry for the self indulgent rant!!

System

I have bipolar..

For the most part its stable, but i still have depressive and (hyper)manic episodes. Recently my mood has veered towards up, saw my doctor but they weren't much use so i pretty much have to cope on my own. I try and take each day as it comes. I have to pace myself, with work i have limits on the shifts i do, so not shifts over 8 hours (cos i struggle with stress and coping that long) and no early shifts (because my meds make me drowsy and i dont feel safe around oven or knives lol). I'm lucky in that i'm currently on holiday for 2 weeks. I have struggled with my mood though, i've been suicidal and everything inbetween but i have to just keep telling myself it won;t last forever. I don;t know if i "cope" with it per say, i just try to keep going cos that's all i can do right now.

Anoneemoose

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

I have bipolar..

For the most part its stable, but i still have depressive and (hyper)manic episodes. Recently my mood has veered towards up, saw my doctor but they weren't much use so i pretty much have to cope on my own. I try and take each day as it comes. I have to pace myself, with work i have limits on the shifts i do, so not shifts over 8 hours (cos i struggle with stress and coping that long) and no early shifts (because my meds make me drowsy and i dont feel safe around oven or knives lol). I'm lucky in that i'm currently on holiday for 2 weeks. I have struggled with my mood though, i've been suicidal and everything inbetween but i have to just keep telling myself it won;t last forever. I don;t know if i "cope" with it per say, i just try to keep going cos that's all i can do right now.

Thank you for sharing this. I Still think mental illness is so much harder to get support with from family and friends and professionals. My OCD is one where I don't have outward compulsions but can be a very scary and lonely place sometimes.

I don't have a great deal of experience with bipolar but my Aunty has it. I think there were always 'tendencies' there in earlier years but it came to a head so to speak after my uncle was killed 14 yrs ago. It is incredibly sad to see her struggle, both with the highs and lows. X

Thistle-down

Anoneemoose wrote: »

I know in the grand scheme of things, and IBS flare isn't that bad

IBS can be pretty debilitating - my husband suffered for years before finally being diagnosed with Crohns. We could never go out unless he knew there would be a toilet very close by.

I feel for you. I feel for all of you out there!! :grouphug:

nearlyrich

I have Fibro diagnosed about 10 years ago and recently diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis both cause random painful parts of the body..I work full time in a job that can be full on and most evenings and weekends I crash. I don't sleep well despite medication, exercise is hard work but I do feel better when I can do some. I try not to let my illness control my life but sometimes it's just too much. I also know there are people who suffer a lot more than I do.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

You seek out the bright bits. For me, they vary between having a gig last week and one this Saturday night (which is going to floor me, btw, but it's worth it), making it out to meet a friend tonight (last time I saw somebody, I couldn't even talk much) and general silliness with my boyfriend.

I am likely to look quite moth eaten by the summer from RA meds I'm starting soon. On the plus side, the puking will mean I may lose some weight and the boyfriend, instead of heading for the hills (and he's been given that option three times, the most recent when I had to tell him what's likely to happen soon with the meds), put his arms around me and promised we'll be fine - and we're going to go out for an afternoon and buy a bunch of wigs and then go out on the town, wearing the daftest ones we can find.

They're the bright spots. And they outshine the dark times, because they burn so very brightly.