A Little About Me
I’m 29 and have various chronic/invisible illnesses such as –
- Fibromyalgia
- Joint Hypermobility Syndrome
- Idiopathic International Hypertension aka IIH
- Gastric Dumping Syndrome
- Chronic Migraines
Those are just a few things I’m dealing with and YES they cause horrific pain. Pain can impact your life in many ways from getting out of bed in the morning to cooking your kids a meal. It also affects your mental health, I mean being in constant pain can be draining!! Some days I can’t get out of bed, others I can just about get dressed and leave the house. Being a mum of 2 can be challenging but I’m lucky to have an amazing husband and great parents there helping make things that bit easier for me.
Managing The Pain
Managing chronic pain can be tricky. Taking medications can be damaging on our bodies long term, but what choice do we have right?! But then there are the side effects too, Nausea, withdrawals, fatigue. It’s like we fix one thing to cause another am I right?
Over the year’s I’ve tried what feels like pretty much every single form of treatment, medication, cream imaginable to try and cope with the pain. Not all of them work, in fact most of them haven’t. Sometimes though I just want to try anything other than taking more morphine and this is the reason for this post. I wanted to share some things I’ve tried that help me get by each day when I just don’t want to go straight for more meds.
*This post contains some affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission if a product is purchased but at no extra cost to you!! All opinions are my own.*
Wheat Bags
This my main go-to method to help ease my pain. Wheat bags are essentially a bean bag that can be put in the microwave and heated up and placed on any part of your body that you feel pain. Below I’ve shown 2 options, a lavender scented one and a non-scented one. I personally use lavender ones as the scent is known for calming and relaxing so I find it helps me that little bit more!! I have about 4 or 5 of these myself and they are really cheap!!
Epsom Salts
Epsom Salts have been used for 100’s of years to help relieve pain!! The magnesium in Epsom Salt can be absorbed through the skin, increasing magnesium levels in the body. This can reduce swelling and pain related to inflammation. I like to run a hot bath and put around 3/4 of a cup into the water and have a good soak. Bear in mind this can make you quite relaxed/tired afterwards so its best at night time before bed!!
Joint/Muscle Gel’s
There are so many different gels out there! They have anti-inflammation ones, cooling ones, heat ones. This helps get me through the day when I don’t want to take constant painkillers and work by rubbing the gel directly onto the area of need. Below are some I’ve tried and find work best!!
I really hope you find some of these helpful!! Living with chronic pain is awful and sometimes unbearable!! If you try these let me know how you get on with them, or if you have any of your own methods please let me know!!
Much Love – Mrs Slee-Jones xx
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I do not live with any chronic pain or any conditions that cause it so I can only imagine what it is like for you — and it’s so great that you can share some tips on how you manage. I use Epsom salts as they certainly work on my very basic, general aches and pains so it’s great to hear they can be useful on more serious pain as I can pass this info on to some of my friends who do deal with similar conditions as you. Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh I’m so glad they help, and I hope some of the info help your friends too!! Thanks for commenting!!
I don’t have chronic pain but I can definitely second the wheat bags, epsom salts, and tiger balm. They are all excellent products. If you have pain, these are a must-have for sure.
Thanks for your input!! They’re definitely must-haves!!
This is a great informative post. I don’t have any chronic illnesses but I have a few friends that do. I will certainly share this with them
Thanks so much!! I hope they find it helpful!!
It is always a pleasure to get to know you more and more and it is admirable how you get through on a daily basis, truly. I wonder if the Wheat bags work the same if you freeze them…I don’t have anything like what you are going through. I have a very bad back (they wanted to reconstruct my whole spine and put me on disability at 20!). The Epsom salts are heaven sent and I try to make a habit of using them at least once a week. As far as mentally going through pain is it is very hard, I couldn’t even imagine how hard this must be on you, you are a very strong woman. I know that when I couldn’t walk it was like torture, watching life from a bed. I use to watch my girls running and playing and I would cry because I just wanted to be with them, I wanted to be a mom and play with my girls. When you have Pain you have to have a strong mental game. I am keeping you in my thoughts and always praying for you my love! Stay Strong!
Awah that’s so kind of you!! I’ve never thought of freezing them so I will look into that!! I feel you, I was 18 when I fell ill and life from a bed really was tough. Did you end up having the surgery?? Yes, you definitely have to be headstrong. Thank you so much it really means a lot!! Sending love to you and your beautiful family xx
oh no I didn’t see that you replied! Let me know how it works out with freezing them! I actually did not have the surgery, my brother tried that option and it didn’t change anything other than the fact that he was hooked on pain meds. for a while. I actually tried the more natural route which was physical therapy, I did it for 4 years and it changed my life. I have my bad days but thanks to physical therapy I know just what to do when it does act up!