“With #fibromyalgia, I have basic high-level pain with #fibrofog that makes my head feel cloudy… I can’t seem to grasp any thoughts no matter how vital… Often I have crackling electric pain that feels as if it shatters my spine.” #chronicpain #spoonie

What a Day of Pain Is Like for Me

A woman with multiple conditions that cause her pain takes us through a typical day.

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“This is one of the heart-breaking aspects of #chronicillness life. Many conditions are unpredictable. One day can be better, the next really problematic. Often without a 'why' as to the change… making plans is really difficult.” @throughfibrofog #spoonie

5 Daily Challenges When You Live with Chronic Illness - Through The Fibro Fog

There are many daily challenges when you live with chronic illness. Here are just five of the activities that we encounter often.

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“#ChronicPain can disrupt sleep, which in turn, exacerbates the pain, creating a distressing cycle. This disruption heightens #anxiety, reduces pain tolerance, and diminishes emotional resilience, making day-to-day coping a challenge.” #MentalHealthMatters

How Chronic Pain and Mental Health Feed Each Other

"Chronic pain and emotional well-being are not merely intersecting factors, but rather forces that are in a perpetual state of push and pull."

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“Someone may appear to be functioning completely normally and without pain—yet inside they are suffering… Despite the tough face we put on to get through the day, there is a lot they aren’t witness to behind the scenes.” #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness

My Friends Get Real About What It's Like To Be Friends With My Chronically Ill Self

Writer has a conversation with friends about their friendships and chronic pain.

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“I spend everyday in excruciating pain. I’m sensitive to light & noise, simple tasks are hard… My short term memory’s bad…#CRPS is a horrid disease… Don’t allow someone to minimize your journey—every warrior is a warrior.” #RareDisease #ChronicPain #RSD

Don’t Allow Someone Else to Minimize Your Journey - RSDSA

CRPS is a horrible disease. Most people, even with CRPS, don't understand CRPS fully. Don't allow someone else to ...

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“#ChronicIllness can make you feel worthless… Many of us lived fast-paced lives before…running around, full of life…to struggling to get out of bed… It may make you feel upset with your appearance but nobody can take your inner beauty—You are worthy.”

10 Reasons We Are All Worthy, Even If Chronic Illness Makes Us Feel Like We're Not

Sophie Ward explains why everyone is worthy and has a purpose in life, even if chronic illness makes them feel like they don't.

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“When the #chronicallyill person is first diagnosed or initially experiencing #symptoms… those around them rally their support… As time passes, so does support. The irony of this is, with time, physical conditions and symptoms often worsen.” #ChronicPain

Private, Secret, and Alone: Chronic Illness and Feelings of Isolation

It was 6 am on a Monday morning and a warm and hazy sun flooded my room reminding me that I had an appoi...

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“Days fade and bleed into one another. Minutes begin to feel like hours, hours like days, days seem like weeks, and weeks… like years… with only one remaining constant—pain.” #chronicpain #disability #housebound #chronicallyill

The Struggles I Face Every Day With Chronic Pain

Cassie Behrendt describes the immense pain and difficulty she experiences daily with fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalom...

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“Humans understand the finality of death better than #chronicillness where the loss isn’t final & the emotional agony is ongoing… We simply have no rituals for the sustained grief that keeps on giving or the agony that becomes a way of life.” @georgiexoxo

Losing Friends Due To Chronic Illness - Georgie xoxo | Enchanted Living

One day last spring I was sat sipping chamomile tea in a beautiful hotel with one of my dearest friends with ...

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“I grieve for the days I could honestly and simply say, “I’m good, how are you?” I struggle even knowing how I am. I have been sick for so long that it can be hard to tell if I’m getting better, or worse, or staying the same.” #chronicillness #chronicpain

When the Question 'How Are You?' Is a Painful Reminder

A woman with a chronic illness shares why it's so hard when people ask, "How are you?"

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“Spending time convincing people that you really are ill really affects you… ‘Sure, she isn’t up for going to this event. But she could go to that other event, so she’s fine.’ If only it worked like that!“ @kmitchellauthor #chronicillness #chronicpain

The Impact of Chronic Illness on an Individual | Kate the (Almost) Great

Chronic illness patient Kate the (Almost) Great has been ill for nearly two decades, and she shares what the imp...

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“#ChronicPain is not something you get used to… you get used to the fact that you’re always in pain but it doesn’t dull any of it… It takes a massive toll on your body and isn’t something that gets easier the longer you have it, it gets more exhausting.”

27 Things Chronic Pain Is Not

The Mighty community shares what chronic pain is NOT to bust some of the most common misconceptions.

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“Years of constant #ChronicPain can make us masters in the skill of hiding it. Just as we struggle with a condition that is so all encompassing, others may find it hard to comprehend as they cannot see the pain we become so adept at hiding.” @apainprincess

But You Look Good: Living with Disbelief of Invisible Illness and Pain

Each time we are told that we 'look good' or 'look well' by people who have little concept of even the lengths...

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“When we live with #pain and symptoms 24/7, if we lived our lives reacting to it by constantly screaming… we would wear ourselves out even further and cause even more physical #stress… more pain… We have to find some way of living with #chronicillness.”

7 Things I Want Family to Know About Chronic Pain This Holiday Season

A woman living with complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia, degenerative disk disease and other chronic illnesses ...

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“When you have #Fibromyalgia, it’s a monthly, weekly—sometimes daily—thing, getting knocked down… Boom. A flare hits… immediately back to basic survival again… I’m suddenly just pushing through…struggling to do the day-to-day minimum.” @SoIsFibroReal

Fibromyalgia…Pyramid of Resilience | The - So Is Fibromyalgia Real? What I Know Is Real - Blog

Over the years, having fibromyalgia, I have been continually KNOCKED BACK DOWN to BASIC SURVIVAL MODE. Working on the most basic of needs.

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“#Music is where I can lose myself within lyrics & notes… Just stopping & #breathing allows me to calm down and remind myself that my #anxious thoughts are not real…I try to not allow myself to be consumed by #anxiety & #depression.” #mentalhealthmatters

25 Self-Care Tips for People Who Hate Self-Care

We asked The Mighty's mental health community to share unorthodox self-care tips for people who don't like more stereotypical methods of self-care.

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“When we rush, we are approaching life as though we’re under pressure. This may have been a productive way of being when energy wasn’t limited, but with #chronicillness it just causes harm—and keeps nervous system stimulation levels high.” @MEholisticCoach

7 Tips for Mastering Pacing for ME/CFS | The ME/CFS Holistic Coach

Master the important but difficult skills involved in making sure you dont run out of energy when you have an ...

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“#SelfCare is not selfish. You cannot lift anyone else up with broken wings. You have to take care of yourself as best you can. If you don’t, it makes it so much harder… Be sure you are taking care of your needs.” #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness

10 Ways to Break Through the Burnout of Chronic Illness

Winslow Dixon shares 10 ways to help feel less burned out when living with chronic illness.

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“I remember missing weeks of college because of the #pain and being told that I was depressed… I remember being diagnosed with #endometriosis and everyone expecting me to be better… But it wasn’t… and no one seemed to be listening.” Medical #Gaslighting

The Trauma of Medical Gaslighting With Endometriosis

"A medical professional implied to my parents that the pain was in my head and that all I needed was some co...

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“I have friends online who I’ve never met in person—who are just as important to me…#severeME can be very isolating…like no-one understands… Social media means being able to connect w/ others—as we live our limited lives.” @Loremipsumlife #pwME #spoonie

Virtual ME sanity

I was having a conversation recently about how isolating ME can be, especially for my severely ill friends, when ...

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“The problem with so many people who live in my world of #chronicillness is that we never fake being ill—but we’re masters at faking being well. I think it makes people uncomfortable if I’m honest about how I’m feeling.” #ChronicPain

To Those Who Find My Illness 'Hard to Understand' When They See Me Smiling

A response to those who don't understand how she can be smiling and "fine" while also being sick.

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