We get one shot at life.
How we live it is largely up to us.
Do we stop living because of chronic pain?
Is it the end of our life?
No.
Life has changed but it has not ended.
We’re left with a choice.
We can play the hand we’ve been dealt as well as possible.
(I play my hand by trying to stay as healthy as possible, thanks to diet changes and natural medicine, along with just pushing through.)
Yes, if I push too hard I often pay.
Sometimes with increased pain the next day.
But at least I feel as if I have something to show for it. (A great experience. A great memory. The feeling that I’m living life instead of letting it pass me by.)
There was a time I really was too sick to do much.
My inflammation level was off the charts. My stress level through the roof.
I was on a vicious cycle of high inflammation caused by stress, coupled with high stress caused by inflammation.
Life was pretty much out of control.
Because I was very familiar with natural health, I knew what to do.
(Yes, you can be very familiar with holistic healing and still lead an unhealthy lifestyle. I am living proof of that. Natural medicine takes work, including diet changes. I resisted taking that drastic step.)
Living A Full Life With Chronic Pain
There is sooooo much gloom and doom surrounding fibromyalgia.
If you don’t believe me, then pay a visit to a large Facebook support group.
It’s one of the most depressing places I’ve ever seen.
In fact, I rarely visit now because of the woe is me and woe is you attitude.
Any positivity and the knives come out.
I know some people are very sick.
We are all different.
Some people have complicated medical histories and may be beyond the reach of natural medicine.
But you never know until you try.
This particular online support group is not supportive of natural remedies.
If you note that you’ve improved with lifestyle changes, be prepared for angry responses.
I don’t know why hope can’t be part of the discussion.
Not everyone has the potential to get better.
But enough of us do, judging by the many stories of people who feel better, thanks to diet and lifestyle changes.
Why there is so much resistance to the idea that you can do things to feel better is something I’ll never understand.
Can You Live A Full Life With Chronic Pain?
Yes, you can live a full life with chronic pain.
But it’s much easier if you can do something to decrease the pain, preferably naturally.
Drugs have side effects and sometimes these can be as bad, if not worse, than the original problem.
Pharmaceuticals do not cure and generally do not lead to greater wellness.
That’s why it’s much better to make lifestyle changes, instead of taking drugs.
Not that I am totally anti-drug. Pharmaceuticals can be lifesaving if you need them.
One could even make the case for taking them temporarily, to manage pain, and then working with your doctor to wean yourself off of them as lifestyle changes start to make a difference.
It’s important to note that diet changes and natural healing methods take time.
(In the meantime I suggest adopting a “mind over matter” attitude and deciding that you’re going to have a good life, regardless of your pain.)
It takes time for our bodies to heal. Just as it takes time for our bodies to get into a state where chronic pain develops.
For me, it was years of poor eating habits, coupled with runaway stress.
Some of the stress was due to me allowing various narcissists in my life. There does seem to be a connection between fibromyalgia and psychological trauma.
Actually it took years of a strict anti-inflammatory diet, coupled with MANY natural healing methods, before I felt better.
But I really had no choice because I could barely walk and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life as an invalid.
Anyway, I personally think it’s important to believe that life can get better. That we can feel better, if we take care of ourselves.
I won’t lie and claim I didn’t have some dark days. Days when I wondered if I’d get through this and worried about what lay ahead.
But I kept at working on reducing my out-of-control inflammation.
There are MANY ways to reduce inflammation naturally. What works for one person may not work for another.
But I put together an online course to explain what worked for me, designed to help you navigate the tricky world of natural medicine, so you can work WITH your own doctor to develop a wellness plan that works for you.
My course is designed for people to work with their own physician, in a practice covered by insurance.
