° " All I Do Is Worry About Thing's I Can't Control. Ever Since I Got Covid I Have Been Feeling Very Depressed Anxious And Sad Lately.. I Have These Horriable Migraine's.. I Cannot Sleep. At All.. I Feel Like I'm Getting Worse... I Have Already Had A Breakdown.. " ° • Sincerely ° SKAOI KVITRAVN ° #Depression
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9 comments
#AmplifiedMusculoskeletalPainSyndrome #Arthritis #Asthma #Anxiety #bedbound #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome #Depression #COVID19 #Disability #DistractMe #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #Endometriosis #Fibromyalgia #GastroesophagealRefluxDisease #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #Insomnia #Lupus #Lymphedema #MightyTogether #MentalHealth #MemoryLoss #Migraine #Grief #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Psoriasis #PTSD #RareDisease #SuicidalThoughts
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In the U.S. around 40% of the population has at least one chronic illness and in Europe it is around 35.2% of the population, so why are people living with illness still not heard from in the mass media?
I am an avid podcast listener with my favourite areas of interest in women, wellness, mental health, book authors of all genres and musicians. I love hearing from people of all racial, social, cultural and gender backgrounds, but I notice that people living with chronic illness talking about their experiences and challenges are massively underrepresented. It’s as though we don’t exist or that our problems don’t. In the mass media we are mostly spoken of in terms of how much we cost the country and the medical service – you only have to look at the covid 19 narrative to get an idea of how important we are (“it only seriously affects the chronically ill”).
It can already feel isolating to live with illness and the myriad of challenges it poses from financial, to social and relational through to personal identity and self-value, knowing that most of the people in your environment do not share these same particular issues. And when we don’t feature in mainstream media either, it adds to the alienation.
Living with illness does not define who I am, but it is a major part of my life and undeniably shapes it. The emotional and physical impact of long term illness is pertinent to how I live and clearly as I am accompanied by around a third of the population, with numbers rising, I would think that there is a dialogue that needs to be entered into and voices that need to be heard.
Living with illness is a personal and societal reality that cannot continue to be ignored – this is the new norm and we deserve a place at the table. I want to hear from those who have to share their time between work, friends and doctors; who plait their career with pain and medical care; who move through the world adapting to an ever shifting physical and emotional landscape. More and more young people are learning what long term illness feels like and yet the media is not inviting them to step up to the mic, let alone hold it and be the ones to start a conversation.
I think it’s time. What do you think?
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In 2018 before becoming a freelance illustrator my Chronic Migraine became dramatically worse and I had no choice but to leave my job as a Teaching Assistant in a school for disabled children:
For a lot of people with chronic illness the lack of flexible working options can end up excluding them from most workplaces. In my case I couldn’t get my employer to agree to part-time hours so I had to leave in order to manage my health.
When you become disabled or existing conditions worsen it has a massive impact on your lifestyle, your work options and how you socialise with others. You have to adjust to your ‘new normal’ and confront feelings of loss and fear, of being ‘left behind’ and isolated from the rest of the world, and of letting people down because your capacity for activity is unreliable.
I now support myself through my illustration work and shop and I intend for these pins to empower people to focus on their health and personal strength over financial and ‘productivity’ goals.
The designs are inspired by the spoonie community online (a spoonie is a chronically ill person whose energy levels and activities are limited by their condition/s). The community helped me to adjust to my own new reality, accept my situation and adapt.
The response to my illustrations about Migraine and chronic illness online helped me feel accepted for who I am and be kinder to myself so I became determined to use my art to give back to the community; to provide them with that same sense of acceptance and personal agency.
I hope my colourful and striking pin designs will serve as reminders of what people have already overcome and that there is a whole community out there who understand and support them.
My illustrations are my way of fighting back against a socio-political system that tells us our limited capacity to work is not ‘enough’; that our worth is determined by our productivity and our personal conditions open to doubt and scrutiny. These measures devalue human life and lead to the dismissal of disabled lives by politicians and the general public, as during the ongoing Covid pandemic.
My pin designs will be added to my existing Chronic Warrior collection and feature phrases such as ‘Endometriosis Warrior’, ‘Diabetic Warrior’, and ‘I Hate My Guts’ (my favourite from the new collection, which features intestines morphing into a snake and the titular phrase written on the large intestine).
I Hate My Guts’ is designed for everyone living with conditions such as IBS, IBD, Crohn’s, or who uses a stoma, in honour of our ongoing struggle with our own organs! I’ve long been fighting against my own digestive system and a sense of humour about these things is an essential survival tactic!
My Kickstarter campaign is running until the 7th of March and you can back for multiple pin, print and sticker designs here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/abistevens/chronic-warrior-enamel-pins-3
You can also find my existing Chronic Warrior designs in her shop at www.abistevens.etsy.com.
#spoonieSisterhood #chronicmigraine #chronicartist #IBS #chronicwarrior #Endometriosis #PCOS #Diabetes #Migraine #Fibromyalgia #Fatigue #CFS #ME #autoimmune #Spoonie #chronicArt #chronicartist
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I use to have untouchable confidence. Then I gained weight from Hypothyroidism and suddenly I wasn't shaped perfectly like before, my pain got worse and my body turned into a fluffy blob as I fondly think of myself-no sarcasm.
It is HARD to rise your confidence but first you must do something to help you see yourself in a better light. It is not others views that shape you but it is what and who you give that power to that has control.
Take it back! Dress fancy for no reason, do your hair fancily, exercise a bit or eat a Lil bit more health consciously. Put on a little bit of makeup, get a nice haircut.
You have far more power than the world wants you to know.
Next You must stop negative talk! Every time you think or say something negative about you or your body you must then say three things that you love about yourself or three things that you like about yourself or three things that you admire or the other people have admired about you. For everyone negative thing you must say three positive things. I also write uplifting quotes on my mirrors and dry erase marker. It's amazing what something that you don't think twice about can have such an effect on how you consider yourself.
You, my dear Mighty friend, are a Work of Art!
Say that out loud! YOU Are a Work Of Art!
And that is NOT contingent on your health 💕💕💕
#AmplifiedMusculoskeletalPainSyndrome #Arthritis #Asthma #Anxiety #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #Depression #Disability #DistractMe #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #Endometriosis #Fibromyalgia #GastroesophagealRefluxDisease #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #Insomnia #Lupus #Grief #bedbound #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome #COVID19 #Lymphedema #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Psoriasis #PTSD #MightyTogether #MentalHealth #MemoryLoss #Migraine #RareDisease #SuicidalThoughts
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Well every 2 years I change the name of my brain fog… I don’t think I’ll change it this year. But before this name it froggies… and on bad days I would say they are Ribbing everywhere… my Drs. Would say I’m glad you try to laugh through it. Well since I had Covid it has been awful…. It’s like I’m plastered. I’m not sure how to cope with the blank and as a business owner I’m stuck. I don’t even know where to begin to get started but all I know is the pain is so unbearable that I can’t function and the doctors don’t even have a clue as to what to do. #FibroFog #Fibromyalgia #covidlonghauler #ChronicPain
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5 comments
Question...has anyone experienced extremely heightened fibro symptoms due to #COVID ?
Went to #ER on Christmas Day evening with stroke like symptoms. Facial numbness and tingling. Slurred speech, dizziness, tremors, twitching.
Transferred to hospital by ambulance, lots of tests...most everything came back ok. (Thankfully, or not because of course its all in my head, right) My heart was slightly enlarged.
Kept overnight for observation, neuro on call said he has seen Covid do this to people with nerve conditions. Whatever that means.
I'm a public school teacher and have all the vax, and boosters- this was my fourth case of Covid each time it puts me flat on my back for a week or more with strange symptoms but this was the worst and scariest by far.
Thoughts?
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5 comments
Question...has anyone experienced extremely heightened fibro symptoms due to #COVID ?
Went to #ER on Christmas Day evening with stroke like symptoms. Facial numbness and tingling. Slurred speech, dizziness, tremors, twitching.
Transferred to hospital by ambulance, lots of tests...most everything came back ok. (Thankfully, or not because of course its all in my head, right) My heart was slightly enlarged.
Kept overnight for observation, neuro on call said he has seen Covid do this to people with nerve conditions. Whatever that means.
I'm a public school teacher and have all the vax, and boosters- this was my fourth case of Covid each time it puts me flat on my back for a week or more with strange symptoms but this was the worst and scariest by far.
Thoughts?
11 reactions •
5 comments
Hi. Am seeing therapist tomorrow.
It's been a while.
I hope I can get there and not worry.
She had covid so I was worried about that.
I think at least my mood has been OK.
So we can talk about difficult things.
Am seeing some friends today. But am very nervous as I am in most social areas.
Scared of saying too much.
Or not saying enough. Can take it as it goes. #social anxiety #CPTSD #Depression .
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10 comments
Has anyone else here caught COVID, and found the progression of their CMT pick up in speed? I had COVID a little over a year ago, right at the start of 2022, and while I didn’t get that sick, this past year my levels of neuropathic pain have really increased quite a lot, and I’ve definitely noticed that I’ve lost more muscle in my lower legs than I would have expected to over one year, when I’ve made sure to continue to use those muscles as much as I can bear. I also have started to have serious cramping in my hands several times a day.
Last I looked into Charcot-Marie-Tooth and COVID, there wasn’t really any information beyond ‘probably not a great combination’, so I’m wondering if there’s anyone with first hand experience with all this.
I’ve heard COVID referred to as a stress test on your body— any conditions you were unaware of will be brought out so you are aware of them, and any conditions you already knew about or had symptoms of will be made worse, which really does feel accurate for what it’s been like for me this past year
#CharcotMarieToothDisease
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