By wendy, on November 14th, 2011%
 Image by Big Grey Mare via Flickr
By Wendy Burnett
“Shit Happens” – I know you’ve heard the expression somewhere. There are lots of other ways to say it, but it happens to all of us. Things go wrong. They just do. You can’t prevent bad things from happening sometimes, but you CAN stop them from destroying you when they do.
There have been lots of bad things happening around here in the last several months, and we’re all stressed out about them, but I’m not totally freaked like I would have been a few years ago.
Instead of freaking out, I’ve been looking for other options like ways to bring in more money and ways to save on things I use all the time. Instead of becoming paralyzed, I’ve used the “shit” as motivation, and as fertilizer for the flowering of new ideas. Continue reading Shit Happens – Use it to Fertilize the Flowers »
By wendy, on September 15th, 2011%
 Image by bloomingdalelibrary via Flickr
By Wendy Burnett
One of my absolute favorite activities is a nice long soak in a hot bath full of some wonderful smelling bath salts, but that can be expensive if you have to go out and buy the bath salts at the store. I’ve found out I can make my own; quickly, easily, AND cheaply; with just a few simple ingredients.
Not only are they just as luxurious as the store bought ones, but I can select essential oils that help to relax me and ease my pain, or ones that will wake me up and reduce depression. I decide what effect I want, and with a little research and experimentation, I can get it.
CAUTION: Do not use pure essential oils directly on your skin. They are very strong, and can cause burns and scarring if used undiluted. If you accidentally get some on you, use olive oil or coconut oil on it immediately to dilute it, and see a doctor if there is any pain or reddening of the skin. Also, you should never use an essential oil derived from any plant you are allergic to. (If you’re allergic to ragweed, be extremely careful of chamomile oil. They are members of the same family, and an allergy to ragweed means you may also react to chamomile.) See Using Essential Oils Safely for more information.
The Recipe
- epsom salt
- a glass container with an airtight seal (you can’t use plastic or metal with essential oils, the oils will interact with the container, and could introduce toxins to your salts.)
- essential oils of your choice
- optional: unscented sea salt to mix with the epsom salt
Note: The magnesium in the epsom salt is absorbed through your skin, and helps to relieve pain and relax your muscles. If you’re using the bath to help ease the symptoms of your chronic illness, I recommend that you use no more than half sea salt if you mix it. Although sea salt also contains many trace minerals, it doesn’t work as well to ease pain; and it increases the price of your blend because it is much more expensive.
The basic recipe is simple. For each cup of salt, add 10 drops of essential oil. I like to layer it, with a cup of salt, add 10 drops of oil, another cup of salt, another 10 drops of oil until my container is about 3/4 of the way full, then seal it and shake it up really well. It just seems to mix better and infuse the scents more evenly, especially if I’m using several different oils. For the most even infusion and blending of scents, leave the jar sealed for at least 24 hours before using, shaking it several times to remix and blend.
One of my favorite essential oil blends is half lavender and half rosemary. They are both excellent for skin irritations like psoriasis, eczema or insect bites; stimulate the circulatory system; reduce stress and fatigue; help with migraines and tension headaches; open the the bronchial tubes and help with asthma and bronchitis; repel insects; and reduce pain. Lavender also helps to reduce depression and anxiety, eases the pain of sciatica, and is helpful with vertigo; and rosemary is helpful with neuralgia and “fibrog” (it’s a mental stimulant.)
Using your bath salt:
Fill the tub with water as warm as you can handle (if that’s only tepid, that’s just fine.) Add two to five cups of your bath salt under the running water, swishing it around to make sure it all dissolves, climb in and relax for at least 20 minutes (I normally end up staying at least an hour, adding warm water as needed to keep the temperature comfortable.)
For an even more relaxing, stress-relieving experience; turn off the lights, light a couple of unscented candles, and play some soothing music or a guided meditation.
This bath salt blend is also very helpful in a foot bath at the end of a long, tiring day. It will help relieve the pain of being on your feet, as well as helping to ease the fatigue. Add one cup of the bath salt to a warm foot bath, and soak for at least 20 minutes, adding warm water if needed to keep it at a comfortable temperature.
I’ve found that taking a long, hot bath with my homemade bath salts helps me manage the symptoms of my fibromyalgia, as well as being helpful with various other chronic illness issues. Stress makes my symptoms worse, and a bath not only relieves pain and reduces muscle tension, it also helps me relax and reduces my stress levels.
With the addition of a label and a pretty ribbon, homemade bath salts also make an excellent, inexpensive gift for almost any occasion. You’ll save money, and the recipient will enjoy a soothing experience that will make them feel wonderful.
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By wendy, on August 27th, 2011%
 by Tooley
By Wendy Burnett
I read this awesome post about The Loneliness of Pain and it really made me think about how isolated I feel sometimes. Even though I have people in my life that I CAN talk to about how bad I feel, I frequently choose not to for various reasons.
Have you done that? I’m betting that most of us have, either because we’re afraid that eventually these folks are going to get tired of “listening to us bitch,” or because we don’t want them to feel bad. There are more reasons, but most of them seem to boil down to one or the other of these two. Continue reading (Chronic Illness) = Loneliness + Isolation »
By wendy, on August 5th, 2011%
 Image via Wikipedia
By Wendy Burnett
On August 10th, FibroDAZE is excited to be hosting PFAM and the theme is “Your Happy Place.” (We’ve all heard the expression “Find your Happy Place.” That may be a tough thing to do as a chronic chick. So this edition of PFAM asks “Where’s your Happy Place?”)
There are things that help me feel better on bad days (most of the time,) but there are other days, like today, when it just feels like no matter what I do, I can’t win for losing . . . On days like that, it starts feeling like there isn’t a “happy place” because nothing works.
When that happens, I drag out the headphones and the set of nature sounds CDs, and pick out a CD with ocean sounds on it. (I’m landlocked, and can’t afford to take a trip to the beach every time I need the ocean, so I bring the ocean home. I swear, if I can ever afford to, I’m moving somewhere I can get to a beach in less than an hour.)
I get nice and comfy, with hot packs if I need them; crank up the CD, lay back and visualize being at the beach. I’ve had this “fantasy” so many times that I can literally feel the warm ocean breeze and the sun on my arms; I can smell the salty, fishy, organic scent of the ocean; and can see the seagulls flying against the deep, rich blue of the summer sky. I can feel the hot, gritty sand under my bare feet; and then the cool, salty ocean surf as it splashes over them and recedes, over and over.
I walk down the beach, with the surf washing over my feet, and every time it recedes, it draws some of my stress and worry with it. Continue reading My “Happy Place?” Some Days I’m Not Sure I Have One! »
By wendy, on September 29th, 2010%
I’ve been pretty much offline for about two weeks now, since our router died and we were down to sharing the single network cable coming from the main house. Hubby gets super cranky when he doesn’t have the net, so when he was home, he was the one connected.
He kept telling me I could use it, but he’s not really good at keeping himself occupied without the net. If he’s home and I’m connected, there are constant interruptions and I don’t get anything accomplished anyway. It’s just easier for me to wait for him to go to sleep or work.
Anyway, to make a long story short(er), my online time was so limited that all I managed to do was sort of keep up with my email, and check in with the folks that worry if they don’t hear from me.
The couple of posts I did manage to publish were mostly written offline, then pasted in and touched up. It’s really hard for me to write offline though, because I nearly always need to look things up or refer to articles that inspired a post.
A dear friend sent us a “new” router, and I finally managed to get it set up and working Sunday, so I’ll be able to finish the posts that I’ve been working on, but it may take me a while since I’m dealing with some heavy stress and depression right now. (Both of which cause writer’s block for me . . .)
By wendy, on September 19th, 2010%
This time, the ChronicBabe Carnival asks “how do you handle a crisis?” No matter how hard we try to take care of ourselves, there are times when things go horribly wrong, either with our health or some other personal issue. how do you prepare for such a turn of events? how do you cope in the middle of it all? and how do you recover?
This is a tough one for me, because I don’t handle crisis well any more. There has been so much crisis in my life in the last four years that I live with a constant sense of doom, waiting for the next thing to go wrong, and when it does, I plunge back into depression.
Ask any of my friends and family, and they’ll tell you that I’m normally calm and laid back, that I don’t panic easily, and that I’m very rarely cranky or irritable. On the surface, I seem okay; but on the inside, my stress and anxiety levels are so high that I constantly want to scream at someone; my hair falls out in double handfuls; and every time I think about it, I realize I’m grinding my teeth AGAIN. (And this is with multiple stress reduction techniques in daily use.)
How do you prepare for a financial crisis when you barely scrape by; how do you prepare for a health crisis when you suffer from multiple chronic illnesses and can’t afford a doctor; and how do you prepare for random equipment breakdowns, weather damage, and all the other unpredictable things that can go wrong when you’re just plain out of emotional resources?
I’m not sure how to explain it, but somehow, I manage. Mostly, I “tough it out,” putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next necessary thing until I’ve gotten to the other side. I’ve found a great network of online friendships with others that actually understand what it’s like to live with illnesses that make it difficult to plan ahead, and that know how it feels to sleep for hours and wake up more tired than you were when you went to sleep. I’ve finally learned to reach out, and although it’s rare for me to let anyone know just how bad it really is, I’m learning to set aside my pride and accept the support that these wonderful men and women offer.
My major coping mechanisms involve meditation; relaxation exercises; medicinal teas; aromatherapy; and talking things out with my hubby, roommates, and online friends. It’s amazing how many new options can be found by just TALKING to people with a different perspective on an issue, and even when the particular solutions they suggest don’t work, they usually lead to a solution that will.
By wendy, on September 19th, 2010%
Does having bipolar disorder automatically mean I’m not in pain, or that my pain should not be treated? Does the fact that someone has been addicted to something in the past mean that they should have to suffer excruciating pain for the rest of their lives to prevent readdiction to a new medication? If someone is dying of cancer, what difference does it make if they become addicted to the pain medication that makes their death less painful, that allows them to have a little relief?
Our society has become so terrified by the picture of the crazed, murderous addict that the government has painted for us that we will allow them to do almost anything to protect us, even though in the vast majority of cases that picture is no more than government propaganda.
The government has lost the war against drugs, they have no hope of ever being able to stop the illegal flow of drugs into this country, so they have changed their propaganda, and their targets. The war on drugs has become a war against chronic pain patients and the few remaining doctors who are willing to treat them.
Doctors are being persecuted (AND prosecuted) for trying to provide adequate treatment for their patients, and for every doctor who is prosecuted, many more begin refusing to prescribe the pain medications that make our lives worth living because of the fear that they will be next. Continue reading Killing Me Softly – The War on Drugs Becomes a War Against Adequate Treatment of Chronic Pain Conditions »
By wendy, on September 15th, 2010%
Depression has been a huge part of my life for so long that if it was suddenly taken away, I honestly wouldn’t know how to live. Even on the good days, it’s a constant, hovering just beneath the surface, waiting for the tiniest gap to escape through.
Peel an onion, and separate the layers. Take a good look at that delicate, transparent membrane between them; at how thin it is, how easily it’s torn. Something like that membrane is all that separates me from the depression that lives inside me like a monster, waiting its chance to tear through and eat every bit of happiness, every bit of hope, and every bit of energy I have.
Although I’ve been diagnosed as bipolar (accurately, I think;) my depressions tend to be situational depressions, not bipolar depressions. It may sound like semantics, or even denial, but there really is a major difference between the two. Continue reading Chronic Illness, Stress and Depression »
By wendy, on June 22nd, 2010%
Ever have one of those days? You know the ones I mean, the ones where you have a million things to do and you can’t pry yourself away from the computer, or the books, or the TV?
Now, I have to admit, I’m not actually WASTING the computer time with browsing, I’ve actually been getting a good bit of stuff done (that actually needs to be done.) The problem is that I only have two days off this week, and I have a lot of the everyday, maintenance type stuff that needs to be done, too. The stuff like dishes and laundry, washing the hair and cooking, an errand (that has to be done before the laundry can be started,) etc.
Instead, I’ve been transferring data from one computer to another.
A wonderful online friend was concerned about me being able to maintain this blog because my old laptop is about to die (the CD drive no longer works, the USB ports are iffy, my cocatiel pulled several of the keys off the keyboard, it won’t recognize peripherals any more . . .) Anyway, this friend, who I’ll call P, had a spare laptop that he wasn’t using; and told me if I would arrange to get it here I could have it. Continue reading HEEELLLLP – My computer is holding me hostage!!!! »
By wendy, on June 13th, 2010%
“Passion is the energy that comes from bringing more of YOU into what you do.” –Curt Rosengren
When I saw the topic of this edition of the ChronicBabe Blog carnival, it threw me a bit. After all, passion requires energy, and energy tends to be in short supply when you have a chronic illness because dealing with all the crap that goes along with being sick drains you. As I thought about it, though, I realized that passion also PROVIDES energy, and the more passionate you are about something, the more energy that passion gives you.
Work is a good example of this idea – watch the people who love their work. They always have the energy they need to do what they love doing, even when they’re sick. The passion they feel for their work helps them find a way to do what they need to do, and even seems to help reduce the severity of their symptoms.
Contrast that with those who hate their jobs, who are just putting in the time they have to so that they can bring home that check, or keep that insurance, and survive just a bit longer. Continue reading Find Your Passion, Find Your LIFE . . . »
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"The moral test of a society is how that society treats those who are in the dawn of life . . . the children; those who are in the twilight of life . . . the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life . . . the sick, the needy, and the handicapped."
---Hubert Humphrey
Welcome to the new home of Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired. I hope you'll enjoy the changes, and the new resources I'll be adding as I have time to work on the site. Things will look a bit odd while I learn where and how to modify the appearance, so please bear with me.
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