“From the bitterness of disease man learns the sweetness of health.”
– Catalan Proverb
The odds are heavily stacked against us, but we can defy some of those odds! While we can't control everything going on with our bodies, we can learn to control that which is still within our control in order to change where we're at! We cannot leave it all to our doctors, far too many of them don’t understand what we’re facing anyway (they think it’s all psychosomatic).
Most of us have spent years (or decades) complaining about symptoms only to have it fall on deaf ears by those we love and trust. Overtime, that can wear out even the strongest and most confident amongst us. We tend to stop believing what we feel to be real, and it ultimately changes the way we see ourselves and our attitude towards everything pertaining to us. We need to turn our perspectives, so that we see ourselves as worthy and capable of more.
We don’t have to ignore our reality or turn a blind eye to the negative aspects of our conditions to have a positive and healthy perspective. We can choose to frame things in a positive light. For example, if I am no longer able to walk as far as I could this time last year, I can look upon that situation with an air of defeat… or I can remind myself that I was also unable to walk that far three years ago, but with determination, with time I made progress! It may be unfair that I must start over again, but I am worth every ounce of effort that it takes to do so. I can acknowledge the unfairness, and then choose to focus on making progress towards my goal. A positive attitude is not going to will Chiari or EDS away, but it can improve our experience of living with these conditions.
Most of us have spent years (or decades) complaining about symptoms only to have it fall on deaf ears by those we love and trust. Overtime, that can wear out even the strongest and most confident amongst us. We tend to stop believing what we feel to be real, and it ultimately changes the way we see ourselves and our attitude towards everything pertaining to us. We need to turn our perspectives, so that we see ourselves as worthy and capable of more.
We don’t have to ignore our reality or turn a blind eye to the negative aspects of our conditions to have a positive and healthy perspective. We can choose to frame things in a positive light. For example, if I am no longer able to walk as far as I could this time last year, I can look upon that situation with an air of defeat… or I can remind myself that I was also unable to walk that far three years ago, but with determination, with time I made progress! It may be unfair that I must start over again, but I am worth every ounce of effort that it takes to do so. I can acknowledge the unfairness, and then choose to focus on making progress towards my goal. A positive attitude is not going to will Chiari or EDS away, but it can improve our experience of living with these conditions.
When you’re not feeling good the last thing we usually want to do is spend time cooking, but what we eat can increase inflammation and inflammation increases pain and much more. Inflammation is the immune system’s response to anything that it perceives as an attack on the body. As Chiari & Comorbid patients, we tend to have elevated Sedimentation rate (ESR) and High sensitivity c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels, both of which point to problems with inflammation. With so many things out of our control with our conditions, it’s important that we gain control of the things that we can, and what we choose to put in our mouths is something that we can control. And just like what we choose to eat can cause inflammation, the good news is that it can also decrease inflammation.
When you struggle to hold up your head and every joint in your body hurts, exercise is the last thing you want to think about doing... Read More
It’s easy to be stressed when you’re dealing with pain, but stress is terrible for our central nervous systems and can cause an increase in neurological pain/symptoms. Your brain, spine, and nerves hate stress. Its effects can reach nearly every system in your body from your Central Nervous System (CNS), Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS), Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), to your Enteric Nervous System (ENS). Even your Immune System sees its effects and concludes it as an invader that it must attack, lowering your immune response to other things that it might encounter.
Have you fought the fight and have a passion to help other EDS/Chiari/Comorbid improve their quality of life through diet, exercise, or stress management?
If so, joining our Health & Fitness Team might be the perfect place to help make a difference!
We are looking to organize a team committed to helping patients learn natural means of reducing pain and improving symptoms.
For more information, see our listing!
We are looking to organize a team committed to helping patients learn natural means of reducing pain and improving symptoms.
For more information, see our listing!
