Category: Living with chronic illness

Fibromyalgia is extremely painful because there are so many different types of pain that are possible.

How is Fibromyalgia so painful and what does the pain feel like?

txchronicmom@gmail.comchronic fatigue (CFS)/ME

I’m often asked if Fibromyalgia is as painful as people say, and if so what does that pain feel like? It’s not an easy question to answer because Fibromyalgia and the resulting pain are complicated. However: Yes, Fibromyalgia is incredibly painful It’s not one type of pain, there are multiple ways of feeling that pain.…Continue reading How is Fibromyalgia so painful and what does the pain feel like?

How to live with TMJ disorder as a side effect of Fibromyalgia

txchronicmom@gmail.comchronic fatigue (CFS)/ME

I’d never heard of TMJ until I had Fibromyalgia and started seeing the two words paired together. It’s not surprising as Fibromyalgia is one of those illnesses doctors rarely explain correctly because they’re too busy to pay attention. One of those random symptoms is TMJ or temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD). What is the TMJ (temporomandibular…Continue reading How to live with TMJ disorder as a side effect of Fibromyalgia

How “Dopesick” misinformation is killing people with chronic pain

txchronicmom@gmail.comLiving with chronic illness

Dopesick is killing people with chronic pain.  In the last six months, things have spiraled out of control with regards to the opioid crisis hysteria. The release of “Dopesick” has created armchair addiction and pain experts. They believe Dopesick is a documentary even though it’s an entertainment show. Don’t you dare tell them that though, they’ll…Continue reading How “Dopesick” misinformation is killing people with chronic pain

Sometimes it's the little things about living with chronic illness that annoy you. There's nothing like yet another person trying to sell you a magic cure, or tell you that you're not trying hard enough.

How the absurd little things annoy you when you have a chronic illness

txchronicmom@gmail.comDear Healthy People

Life with chronic illness can be stressful, weighty, and overwhelming, but sometimes it’s the absurd little things that annoy you. Life has been a stressful mess the last year and a half, so I figured it was time for some chronic illness humor. Here are a few things that annoy me the most, with sarcastic commentary…Continue reading How the absurd little things annoy you when you have a chronic illness

Having a positive outlook will not cure your chronic pain, that's toxic positivity. At best, it will help you to survive your pain, at worst it will put you into denial about your situation and keep you from getting appropriate treatment. 

How chronic pain is brushed away by toxic positivity

txchronicmom@gmail.comcoping

Toxic positivity is now the premier coping mechanism touted for dealing with chronic pain. Doctors have decided that pain is all in the attitude, and if someone is in pain, they’re not being optimistic enough. This has horrifying results for people in pain whose doctors are blaming them for their own suffering, and telling them…Continue reading How chronic pain is brushed away by toxic positivity

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the U.S. and England. She lost an eye in an accident, but spent her whole life denying her disability.

Elizabeth Blackwell: The disabled doctor that hated sick people

txchronicmom@gmail.comdisability

I’ve known about Elizabeth Blackwell for a long time, but what I did not know was that she suffered a serious eye injury while practicing medicine and became disabled. That injury changed the trajectory of her life, and possibly the trajectory of medicine as she taught the world that women were capable human beings. I…Continue reading Elizabeth Blackwell: The disabled doctor that hated sick people

Wellness culture preys on women with chronic illness who have been rejected by the sexist medical system. Wellness culture convinces women that they can cure their diseases if they just try hard enough, and that is toxic.

How wellness culture is toxic for people with chronic illness

txchronicmom@gmail.comInvisible Illness

Wellness culture is toxic for people with chronic illness and chronic pain, and many chronic illness blogs and influencers get sucked into the culture and spread it with the best of intentions. They arrive so excited to talk about their illness, but slowly over time, they realize that chronic illness is a very niche topic…Continue reading How wellness culture is toxic for people with chronic illness

Wilma Rudolph lived with disability as a child, and survived double pneumonia, scarlet fever, measles, mumps, and whooping cough all before she was seven years old. The one that left its mark was polio.  It "crippled" her legs and stopped her from walking or running like the other children.

How Wilma Rudolph survived polio and became the fastest woman in the world

txchronicmom@gmail.comdisability

Wilma Rudolph lived with disability and sickness from the very beginning. She’s born into this world way too early. There’s no treatment for babies two months premature. Most babies weighing four pounds at birth don’t make it, but she did. The odds are stacked against her. She’s the 20th of 22 children and her parents…Continue reading How Wilma Rudolph survived polio and became the fastest woman in the world

How the opioid hysteria and moral panic worsened the opioid crisis

How opioid hysteria and moral panic worsened the opioid crisis

txchronicmom@gmail.comLiving with chronic illness

A moral panic is happening in the United States right now, and it’s the so-called “opioid crisis” or “opioid epidemic” that pops up daily in the news. Reporters can be heard lamenting that the sky is falling and that anyone and everyone is addicted to prescription drugs. Of course, we know that isn’t true, but…Continue reading How opioid hysteria and moral panic worsened the opioid crisis

Fannie Lou Hamer grew up as a sharecropper, earned the nickname "the First Lady of Civil Rights", became the co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Party and the co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, and she lived with a disability

Disabled Women in History: Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement

txchronicmom@gmail.comdisability

Fannie Lou Hamer grew up as a sharecropper, earned the nickname “the First Lady of Civil Rights”, became the co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Party and the co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and she lived with a disability. Fannie had a gift for captivating audiences with her forceful personality. She dealt with violence…Continue reading Disabled Women in History: Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement