Why Giving Up on Finding a Cure for My Chronic Illness Improved My Quality of Life

Hello, my name is Kira, I live with a chronic health condition, and I gave up on finding a cure several years go.

After over 20 years of living with chronic pain and illness, I’ve accepted that if I haven’t already found a cure, it’s unlikely I will ever find one unless scientists discover something new.

I know, I know! I know the drill: If I think I’m going to be sick, I will be sick, and if I think positively, I can make great things happen, including curing all kinds of health conditions. I’ve heard this many times, and I also believe it — to a point.

If you’ve got an acute health condition, one than can be resolved, then absolutely, yes, believe you will heal. When it comes to long-term chronic conditions, however, I believe putting all your focus and energy on hoping that the next treatment or medication will cure you can do more harm than good. I think the problem with “thinking positively,” or having sky-high hopes for every new treatment, is that it can lead to false hope and then to crushing disappointment, which adds a lot of needless pain to your life. And not just emotional pain but physical pain too, because mental and emotional stress can lead to increased physical symptoms.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting you stop having hope. There is always a possibility that a chronic health condition may resolve itself. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the norm, so I think putting your energy and focus on what is reasonable for your diagnosis and prognosis can be a lot more helpful in the long-term.

So with searching and hoping for a cure off the table, what do you do? What I do is focus on symptom and pain reduction rather than on finding the be-all end-all cure. I hope and search for ways to manage my condition, rather than to eradicate it completely. And the great thing is that for me, there are many ways to reduce symptoms, even if just for a while. Symptom reduction and pain relief are realistic and reasonable places toward which to direct hope.

Some of my favorite symptom reduction strategies include:

Resting every day, lying down with my eyes closed for 20 to 60 minutes
Meditating, including guided imagery meditations
Eating an anti-inflammatory diet
Drinking plenty of water and only the very occasional decaf coffee or alcoholic beverage
Drinking a few cups of high pH water (8.5 or higher) two or three times a week
Pacing myself
Trigger point injection therapy
Acupuncture
Craniosacral therapy
IV iron infusions
Body code
Massage therapy
Physiotherapy
Breath work
Spending time with good friends

None of these tools are going to completely cure what ails me, but they go a long way to improving my quality and enjoyment of life.

Keeping a realistic perspective of what you can reasonably expect from your body and your life as well as having no (or low) expectations when you start a new therapy, medication or supplement, can help prevent false hope and massive disappointments.

When you focus on managing your chronic condition rather than curing it, I believe you have a bigger chance of lowering your degree of physical, mental and emotional struggling and stress. It may take a bit of time and effort to shift your thinking and rearrange your life and routines, but what have you got to lose?

Editor’s note: Any medical information included is based on a personal experience. For questions or concerns regarding health, please consult a doctor or medical professional.

Follow this journey at Kira Lynne.