I’m writing this letter because recently I’ve realised that despite having you in my life for the last five years, there’s still a lot of things I haven’t managed to let go of from before you came. I never expected you to come into my life, and when you did, I was in no way prepared…

One of the best parts of my new schedule, in my opinion, is my evening routine, which has managed to seriously increase the amount of sleep i’m getting as well as the quality. Everyday still isn’t perfect of course, but i’m finding that waking up is alot less of a challenge than it used to be, so i thought i’d share my routine, and the products that make it so amazing, with you!

One of the biggest obstacles for me when i was learning to live with my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome diagnosis was working out what i was now allergic to in terms of skin and hair care. Many of the staple products i had relied on for years were suddenly leaving me with awful flaky scalp, itchy rashes, or dry skin, so I realised it was time to go back to the drawing board and change the products i was using. Please bear in mind every single person is different when it comes to work for them, but these are recommendations and it might give you a place to start.

I get a lot of compliments on how creative I am despite the fact that EDS makes buying clothes that are both stylish and comfortable a bit of a challenge. So, for this week’s confession I thought I’d reveal which clothes I love, why, and where you can grab them too! Hang on to your sparkly pants Zebra’s!

Online, people see my life as magical, where I never have to go to work, have an incredible boyfriend and a crazy cat called Moo. Where books seem to flow out of me in a torrent of unstoppable words. But what aren’t you seeing?

Well… I’ll tell you.

I talk to a lot of chronic pain sufferers, whether that’s because I’m looking for advice, or they’re looking for advice from me. However, I always seem to end up seeing the same thing both externally and internally and it got me thinking.

Chronic pain sufferers struggle with self-worth.

Why is that?

Is it because we are worthless?

Is it because we lose our worth to these diseases?

No.

Absolutely not.

“100 out of 100 relationships that involve caregiving fail.”

-Dr Phil

It’s very rare these days that I see something which makes me irritated enough to write a blog post about it. But here we are. I came across this little pearl of wisdom from Dr Phil via my friend @Queenof_thebookworms who is also a fellow chronic pain sufferer on Instagram. (Side note- she’s really cool- you should definitely go follow her if health related positivity and book love is your thing.) And I was stunned.

A lot of people ask me one question in particular when it comes to living with chronic pain.

How do you do it?

Or similarly I hear-

I don’t know how you do it.

I don’t know how you live like this.

The sad reality of the fact is, that chronic pain is my life now, and I don’t get a choice. Well, I guess I could curl up in a ball and retreat into the depths of my very comfortable bed for all time and never be seen again, but that’s not much of an existence now, is it?

There isn’t any question about why I became a writer. It’s that reason you never want to list as motivation, but something which often puts you on the path you least expect, and which if you’re lucky like me, turns out to be the exact place you should be.

I was desperate.