Understanding and improving our stress response to reduce pain and suffering
Having lived with chronic pain from dystonia for over 20 years, I spent most of that time focused on treating the physical symptoms. This has been very important and...
They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know: Learning to Manage Judgement and Criticism from Others When Living with a Chronic and Debilitating Condition
In my last blog, I talked about the difficulty being understood by others when living with a chronic health condition and the challenges that come with it. You can...
“I understand, but I also don’t understand” – A message to everyone about chronic health issues
A few days before a recent family gathering, I had a flare up in pain and other symptoms of dystonia that prevented me from attending. One of my relatives...
The power of our inner dialogue on our health
I believe very strongly in the power of thoughts and words as it relates to my health. I say this because I have lived with a painful chronic neurological...
How life before and after chronic pain from dystonia changed my entire world
For most of my 21 years with chronic pain and other symptoms from dystonia, a neurological movement disorder, I viewed it as a curse; an evil intruder that ruined...
Coming to terms with painful challenges is hard!
Life is filled with endless ups and downs. The first 5 of my ongoing 20 years living with dystonia were pretty much nothing but down times. I experienced the...
Self-care: Why, When, What, and How Much?
I have been compensated by Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC for this blog post including for sharing information about XEOMIN® (incobotulinumtoxinA). I am not currently being treated with XEOMIN. For a...
Slow down to manage your pain
How many of you find yourself rushing around and it’s causing you stress and pain? And if you already have pain, does it add to your pain? Are you...
Embrace the suck of life
Most of us are familiar with the Latin term, carpe diem, which means “seize the day.” This phrase became especially popular in the movie Dead Poets Society with the...
Don’t let your obnoxious pain get under your skin
If you live with pain, you know how debilitating and life changing it can be, and how it can dictate your entire days’ activities, as well as your moods....
Are you turning your gizmo into a gremlin? Understanding and managing anxiety
When I think of anxiety, I think of the movie, Gremlins (1984). For those of you who have seen this movie, you know that feeding a gremlin after midnight...
How healthy is your information diet? Is it stressing you out?
We are all of course aware of diets for food, but what about diets for other aspects of our life, such as those that feed our emotional health? I...
Take a break for your health when your world is spinning out of control
For the past few months, I have been running around doing a lot of things that I have no interest doing. Life was just extra busy with so many...
