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Despite Pain Blog – Talking About Pain

We know there are thousands of people living with trigeminal neuralgia but often their voices go unheard.

However there are pain warriors who are gifted writers, and share their experiences so others may benefit.  Liz the creator of Despite Pain Blog writes about her life with the aim of providing encouragement, education and support and welcomes sharing her thoughts.

Welcome to Despite Pain

Thank you for visiting my blog. My name is Liz and I’ve been living with a few painful conditions for many years so I know first-hand what it’s like to live with chronic pain. You can find a bit more about me here.

 

Learning to Listen to Your Body When You’re in Pain

Liz slso posts to Instagram  Facebook and Pinterest

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50 ways to live well, despite chronic pain

Do you ever struggle to plan how to live well despite chronic pain?

The following list was taken from resources available on the Chronic Pain Champions website.  The Founder is Tom Bowen

Hello, I’m Tom Bowen.

My chronic pain journey started in January 2009 after surgery left me with nerve pain.

When I first experienced symptoms I had a tough time adjusting to them. I let them control me, instead of me controlling them. They affected my life, my family, my friends, my job, and my activities. No different than others facing the same challenges.  Read More

50 ways to live well, despite chronic pain
What’s in your toolbox?

Google symptoms
1. Take responsibility for your pain
2. Learn about pain
3. Get out of bed and start your day
4. Reduce stress
5. Avoid negativity
6. Challenge and replace unhelpful thoughts
7. Use positive self-talk – stay positive
8. Reduce focus on the pain
9. Be kind to yourself and others
10. Moderate activity – pace yourself
11. Do muscle relaxation
(passive/progressive)
12. Be mindful and grateful
13. Change expectations
14. Journal/write (but don’t track pain)
15. Laugh frequently
16. Breathe deep and slow
17. Reduce use of unnecessary and unsafe
medication

Medication meme
18. Say “I can do this”
19. Maintain good sleep habits
20. Avoid pain behaviors
21. Start moving (walk and other exercise)
22. Smile
23. Listen to music
24. Reward yourself
25. Create a daily plan
26. Modify activity to make things easier
27. Get out of the house – enjoy nature
28. Give and get hugs
29. Be a role model
30. Limit napping
31. Say no
32. Do Tai Chi
33. Take a break from the news and social
media
34. Try easy yoga
35. Don’t allow yourself to be a victim

Cat meme
36. Pet a dog or cat
37. Avoid catastrophizing – don’t ruminate
or wallow
38. Be a friend
39. Volunteer
40. Play a game
41. Do art
42. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
43. Forgive someone (including yourself)
44. Stretch
45. Eat healthy
46. Watch a movie
47. Do random acts of kindness
48. Visit with a friend
49. Meditate
50. Attend a pain rehabilitation program

Download this free E-BOOK Chronic Pain Won't Stop Me

Visit chronicpaincpainchampions to get more information and resources

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Six Great Plant-Based Foods to Fight Nerve Pain

Six Great Plant-Based Foods to Fight Nerve Pain

By Dr. Bussell – March 30, 2021

If you’re living with nerve pain, there is a definite benefit to eating healthy, low-inflammatory foods. A plant-based diet offers abundant opportunities for healthier nerves and less pain.

What’s also great, is how easy it is to prepare simple meals at home, where you control the ingredients that go into your meals. The convenience of eating out doesn’t outweigh the risk of relying on restaurant kitchens to use foods or ingredients that will relieve rather than aggravate your nerve pain.

During National Nutrition Month and beyond, eat more of these six plant-based foods that are great for your health and help reduce nerve pain. Incorporate these into your diet every day in half or full cup servings, fresh or frozen. Eat them separately or mix up some appetizing salads. Bon appetit!

  1. Green and leafy vegetables. Broccoli, spinach and asparagus all contain vitamin B, a nutrient important for nerve regeneration and nerve function. Spinach, broccoli and kale also contain a micronutrient called alpha-lipoic acid that prevents nerve damage and improves nerve function.
  2. Fruits. Eat at least one fruit daily to help heal damaged nerves. Berries, peaches, cherries, red grapes, oranges and watermelon, among others, are loaded with antioxidants, which help to decrease inflammation and reduce nerve damage. Plus, grapes, blueberries and cranberries have been found to be full of a powerful anti-inflammatory compound called resveratrol.
  3. Zucchini. A type of summer squash, zucchini is actually a fruit. Like other fruits, it’s rich in antioxidants and, therefore, good for nerve cells. It’s also a good source of potassium, which promotes effective nerve transmission, and magnesium, which calms excited nerves.
  4. Sweet potato. This root vegetable offers several nerve health benefits: An abundance of vitamins A and C, which provides antioxidant protection for cells. Sweet potatoes also have natural anti-inflammatory compounds. Animal research has demonstrated that nerve and brain tissue has shown reduced inflammation after eating purple sweet potato extract. And the high fiber content of a sweet potato won’t spike your blood sugar because it causes starch to burn slowly.
  5. Quinoa. Although it’s commonly considered to be a grain, quinoa is actually a flowering plant that produces edible seeds. Once a staple food grown in the Andes Mountains for native people of Peru, Bolivia and Chile, quinoa has become a worldwide favorite, grown in more than 70 countries. Quinoa is a great source of potassium, which aids effective conduction of messages through nerves. It’s an excellent source of magnesium, phosphorus, manganese and folate. This superfood also contains protein, fiber, iron, copper and vitamin B6.
  6. Avocado. This unique fruit is full of healthy fats. Like quinoa, it has a healthy dose of potassium, which promotes effective nerve conduction. Avocados also help increase your body’s absorption of antioxidants.
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Catastrophizing – how to stop making yourself depressed

It is easy when you are coping with chronic pain to see the worst scenarios in everything around you.

Your mind sets off on a flight of fancy and before you know it, the sky has fallen and all hope is gone.

Mental responses can be retrained to reduce the impact on mental health and quality of life.  Learn how to recognised the signs.

Emma McAdam is a licenced marriage and family therapist who uses her therapy skills and psychological research to create bite sized nuggets of help.

You can access her full library here with many short videos which may help you cope.

 

– YouTube Emma McAdam – Therapy in a Nutshell

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Loving yourself isn’t easy when chronically ill

Our Association connects to other chronic illness individuals via our Twitter account.  Some have trigeminal neuralgia, however many have other conditions.

What is the same though, are the struggles that anyone with a condition that causes chronic pain, can relate to.

We have to be kind to ourselves at all times, even when our bodies refuse to play nice.

The following blog was written by Rhiann who has been diagnosed with long-standing brain stem lesion and spastic paraparesis.

We hope her insights help to manage your journey with chronic pain

Loving Yourself Isn’t Easy When Chronically Ill

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A research on quality of life score (QOLS) of patients with trigeminal neuralgia

A research on quality of life score (QOLS) of patients with trigeminal neuralgia

When I visit my medical professionals they always ask questions in order to be sure of the diagnosis, and to be sure the treatment they recommend is appropriate to me personally.

I have discovered the following article which may interest you.

While it contains scientific language and in parts may be difficult to work through, you can read at the end before the list of references, a list of questions with the words for a five point rating system. There are some questions on that list that I am going to remember so when I visit my GP or Neurologist or Neurosurgeon I need to provide the answers, even if not asked – because I believe it may make a difference and help them help me.  Perhaps you might feel this way.

The article, ‘A research on quality of life score (QOLS) of patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN)’ written by Yejiao Luo, Mingjie He, Chenjun Li, and Hongya Yang and published in the

Journal of infection and Public Health Vol. 12 Issue 5  September–October 2019, Pages 690-694,

Quality of life research

Article by Helen Tyzack