tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88336081764615594892024-03-21T03:24:06.586+01:00365 pain-free days::a feel-good blog for people living with chronic pain::Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.comBlogger401125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-37200007931677283032023-04-14T02:49:00.001+02:002023-04-14T02:49:13.036+02:00Patient Advocacy - an updatePatient advocacy from the front lines:To all my RA friends: Getting better treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis and chronic pain is hard and the pharmaceutical treatment often has a lot of side effects.I have had RA since the age of 19. I've been disabled and was given up by the health care system, but with hard work, some treatment, dietary changes and maybe a bit of luck, I've been in deep Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-90972347182928809312012-04-22T15:58:00.005+02:002023-04-14T02:49:56.583+02:00World movement for better pain treatment
Have you heard? There's a global movement going on!
Pain specialists and leaders of medical organizations from all over the world got together in Miami just two months ago, to sign this declaration, the Declaration of Miami - to promote better pain treatment all over the world, and to guarantee pain relief as a human right!
Here is the basic text of the declaration:
Presently, there Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com65tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-87795597260842925932012-04-05T13:25:00.000+02:002012-04-05T13:25:06.732+02:00Video interview - coping with chronic pain
I stumbled across this great video interview, where Jennifer Grey shares her experience on coping with chronic pain. She says som every useful things about treatment, structuring your coping mechanisms and how to communicate with your doctor to get the best help possible.
She recommends using the Three Rs :
Research - Get as much information about your pain as possible
Record - Keep a Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-1710429518792881612012-03-06T10:31:00.000+01:002012-03-06T10:31:19.331+01:00Raise awareness!I am in the process of starting up a project to increase awareness about chronic pain, and need to get in touch with individuals based in Norway who can participate by sharing their experiences living with chronic pain.
For my norwegian readers, please read the text at diagnostisert.no and see if this is something you could be interested in - or if you possibly know someone who can participate.
Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-48976258120621607872012-03-01T10:25:00.000+01:002012-03-01T10:25:12.443+01:00Hope for chronic pain patients
I've previously written about how chronic pain changes the brain and especially effects memory centers of the brain. Now new research has shown that not only is this pain treatable, but these changes in the brain can actually be reversed, I read a great post on Bad Boy Science, here is an excerpt:
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"... chronic pain is often defined as pain that lasts longer than the Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-47296938971281149922012-02-29T15:09:00.000+01:002012-02-29T15:09:49.060+01:00Join me on Pinterest
I love social media... It's an awesome way to gather inspiration and stay in touch, especially when you live with chronic disease or chronic pain which severely impacts your mobility.
Blogs, forums and different patient groups and communities can be great both for gathering information, learning about your condition, and sharing the understanding that you may not receive from your immediate Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-38421909240593409212011-12-20T11:37:00.001+01:002011-12-20T11:38:12.844+01:00Stuff we learn...
”Life is a lot like jazz... it's best when you improvise.”-George GershwinAnnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-64403804045486992382011-11-16T15:03:00.000+01:002011-11-16T15:03:06.026+01:00Making friends with pain
When I'm constantly fighting the pain, my body becomes a battle ground... so I've decided to be buddhist about it and embrace my enemy :)Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-69461814686167573692011-11-07T14:42:00.002+01:002011-12-20T11:38:51.791+01:00Feeling electric!It's been a pretty intense year. After spending 2010 working mostly on this blog and my book, this year I have been in worse shape physically - and have had time for reflection. After I got the grant to start a Norwegian blog about the health care system I've been getting more involved in politics concerning chronic disease, patients rights and freedom of choice. With more pain, Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-68791462193171963412011-09-02T14:49:00.000+02:002011-09-02T14:49:18.511+02:00Understanding pain - video
This educational video sums up the new pain paradigm in just 5 minutes. Maybe a bit simplistic for many of us, but great to share with our friends and family as an introduction!Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-78916064232877587372011-06-14T16:44:00.000+02:002011-06-14T16:44:39.740+02:00Ouch? Pain pitfalls and boring setbacks
Sorry for being out of touch lately... I have forced myself to take out sick-leave from all non urgent activities and keep my computer time to a minimum. Nothing dramatic, just a grinding increase in my daily pain through this whole winter, that has left me slightly more humble and quite reduced.
Once again I have trouble walking to the tram and back, not because I'm paralyzed, simply because IAnnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-85358998875668202112011-04-26T13:26:00.000+02:002011-04-26T13:26:02.110+02:00omg SPRING!!!
I walked underneath these cherry tree blossoms on my way to the office this morning... huge fluffy pink clouds of flowers... woooow :) reminds me that watching beautiful nature can provide pain relief. Now that summer is coming, I'm expecting - or hoping for - a significant decrease in muscle pain.
As this has been a pretty bad winter pain-wise, I've been taking measures to take care Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-30815019406087609892011-03-29T14:04:00.000+02:002011-03-29T14:04:50.180+02:00Building a pain-free life
The most important discovery I've made so far in my struggle with chronic pain, is that I have lots of options for pain relief. If I see my goal of having a life unrestricted by pain as a building project rather than as a race, I am free to choose different building blocks and combine them in various ways in order to find a combination that I am happy with.
Personally I don't believe in Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-30782093278842342562011-03-20T10:19:00.002+01:002011-03-21T10:06:58.255+01:00Pain-free tip: Move to a warm climate...?
I can sympathize with this mammut. Living with RA + having about half a pound of steel in my spine makes winter a challenging time to say the least. I'm visiting my native Norway this week and there are still several feet of snow here, while in Gothenburg 3 hours south all the snow and ice melted several weeks ago - but it's still cold as #&%. Sometimes I wish I could live in a warm climate,Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-72753430024204894512011-03-01T15:51:00.000+01:002011-03-01T15:51:13.086+01:00Paying the price of enthusiasm...Ten days of level 6-9 pain after one botched pilates class... what's up with that?! It's been a gnawing constant ache in my neck and upper back for the last week, inflammation? Overstretching? I don't know what it is, only that whatever it was that went wrong has set off my old pain so now I'm right in the middle of a strong flare.
I went to the doctor - new doctor in my new hometown - and apartAnnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-36706885207356430002011-02-21T17:45:00.001+01:002011-02-21T17:47:35.019+01:00A painful day at the gym
This year's experiment: "Just how pain-free can I get?" is taking an interesting turn. I'm not very happy with the Omega-3 for inflammation relief experiment, but the "getting in shape" experiment is progressing nicely.
After being "good" for two weeks, working out 3 times a week while pacing myself and not doing too much, I seem to have reached a rather dangerous point in the journey. I've Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-29232885751265390752011-02-16T15:28:00.000+01:002011-02-16T15:28:11.281+01:00No pills!
Wow!!! I just had one of those "A-ha" moments... I looked at a box of ibuprofen and realized that ... I haven't had to take any painkillers for quite a while, at least four or five days!? That may be a new record since my straight edge experiment in september... which ended shortly after I wrote about how well it was working - having gone 5 weeks with low pain and no meds.
The last months Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-2752165925628273702011-02-08T16:32:00.000+01:002011-02-08T16:32:56.812+01:00Share your thoughts...
Dear readers, there are now more than 5000 people reading this blog every month, and I see I need to start organizing the content better!
This is where I need your help...
How should I organize the material to make it more easily accessible? Would you prefer tags or folders that make it possible to search the entire site for certain keywords, or perhaps a system based on what kind of pain Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-37511688181726672642011-02-07T18:27:00.000+01:002011-02-07T18:27:44.343+01:00Inflammation and pain
Week 3 of my pain reducing experiment is finished and I am not keeling over yet, Yippee :D
The two last weeks of gradually building stamina with micro cardio workouts have had a good effect on my pain levels, but what my new physiotherapist told me last week seems to be a key topic... Chronic pain and inflammation go hand in hand (or nerve fiber in nerve fiber?).
There are gradually moreAnnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-62869813832481802492011-02-03T16:13:00.000+01:002011-02-03T16:13:10.375+01:00Pain Police
While I'm still working on my "cardio for pain-relief" experiment, today I was stopped by the Swedish police and had to blow into a breathalyzer. Since I don't drink alcohol (for health reasons), this is always a laugh, but this time I had a hard time exhaling as long as the device wanted me to.
After my first attempt the policeman looked at the display of the breathalyzer and smiled. He said "Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-5179444719605201292011-02-03T16:07:00.000+01:002011-02-03T16:07:39.766+01:00Working outYesterday I had my first session with my new PT and coach, Kristine, who is a physiotherapist AND professional football player (how cool is that!!!?) Her first reaction on hearing my health story was... "But you're not normal!"
... eeeh... yes. She's right of course... I'm actually an alien in disguise...
But what she meant was that I had a special story and a great attitude. That was nice Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-29793437802932966942011-01-31T17:04:00.000+01:002011-01-31T17:04:44.187+01:00It works!!
Day 8 of micro cardio workouts and it's thumbs up for this test, this actually helps my muscle pain! Lately I've had pretty bad neck pain and muscle pain daily, but I've noticed significant reduction this last week while testing out micro cardio workouts - even with certain slips. Maybe it's too soon to say for certain, but so far it definitely feels like getting my pulse up and circulation Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-32900715663043968562011-01-26T22:52:00.000+01:002011-01-26T22:52:04.875+01:00Serendipity (and brain fog)
Ok, I admit, this cardio thing is turning out to be quite a challenge... maybe it's some kind of passive resistance, but it sort of feels like I have a non-stick teflon brain...I just keep "forgetting" to do the micro workouts... Ooooops ;) It's easy enough first thing in the morning, but as the day progresses I find myself sort of just.... not doing them.
But today I had some wonderful Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-14365311437528402572011-01-25T11:13:00.000+01:002011-01-25T11:13:03.108+01:00Pain relieving cardio
It's easy to fall into a negative pain spiral during the winter months. When the streets and sidewalks are covered with snow and ice as they are now, I tend to get stuck indoors a lot and gradually get less energy and more pain.
I know that increasing my heart rate regularly helps circulation, which directly affects my pain levels, increases my metabolism and releases pain relieving endorphinsAnnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8833608176461559489.post-41488783112078935892011-01-23T11:41:00.002+01:002011-01-25T22:36:09.139+01:00Straightening up
This week I found myself speaking in front of a large group of physiotherapists and chiropractors at the annual conference for the Norwegian chapter of the Bone and Joint Decade. I decided not to tell them about my little "working on my posture" project, as they all looked suspiciously healthy and pain-free... it sort of felt like we were living in different worlds.
Sometimes when I give talks Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679133484914356162noreply@blogger.com3