Some chronic illness hacks from my worst times:
- take your pills with something. I know it’s good bragging that you can take pills dry but it really sucks to get esophagus problems from that. If you have trouble washing them down or psyching yourself up to swallow, try it with food! Oatmeal, prunes, or banana were my favorites
- take it ten steps at a time. Literally. If you don’t know how you’ll manage to get through an hour meeting or a long distance, count your steps or breaths. Focus on the pattern, walk to syllables to your favorite poem or song, count in French, whatever gets you through that small chunk of time. Then do it again
- have a distraction. Your brain can’t face your symptoms all the time. Watch or listen to something for everything
- sit down. Sitting usually hurts less than standing for me. Sit while brushing teeth, showering, sorting laundry
- switch your media. You will build negative associations to a song you listen to when you are in pain. Some take longer than others. I constantly cycle through music and keep a playlist of music that seems immune to the associations
- take breaks. Pace yourself. There’s no shame if you need to take four days to cut your nails or read one paragraph at a time
- plan for rest days. I usually have a day before and after a task set to just prepare and recover
Please add your wisdom!
