Getting Through the Tougher Times

I hope you all haven't given up on me since I haven't posted in quite some time.  I'm still here and I haven't given up on our project!  I just have become overloaded as the end of my semester approaches in grad school and my body is bombarded with a major pain flare up.  This is the worst and longest flare up I've had since beginning Endo Undo, and it has been interesting to try to compare to how things were before we began our project.  The trouble is, as many of probably know, pain is something that is nearly impossible to remember.  We can remember that we have been in pain, but our minds are incapable of truly recalling the exact levels--which would be helpful for a comparison--as a means of self-preservation.  Imagine if you could actually remember exactly how much everything in your life physically hurt it would essentially be a constant reliving of that pain, which would be unbearable.  Believe me, our minds are doing us a favor by not letting us compare.  This does make comparisons over time a challenge, though.


Although all I really want right now is some short-term relief from this pain, I am trying to stay focused on our end goal, which is to create the best possible environment for my body to heal itself.  This takes time and I am successfully not discouraged that I am continuing to have flare-ups.  We knew when we started that this wouldn't be a quick fix or a silver bullet.

There are a few things that help to get me through the tough times:

1)  My heating pad, hot water bottle, and/or cold packs.  I sometimes lie with a cold pack on my lower abdomen and a heating pad behind me (I know the tag says never to do that, but I don't think the manufacturers have ever had cramps!).  This combination of heat and cold is very soothing.  Cold reduces inflammation and heat soothes soreness and is comforting.

2)  Baths.  Need I say more?

3)  Yoga.  This is important for me to remember to do every day, even on those days when it feels like it might be the worst thing in the world.  When I went to visit Clara in January for the launch of Endo Undo, we spent some time interviewing and working with her amazingly knowledgeable and generous yoga master, Alice Joanou, who owns Loka Yoga in Oakland.  She designed a simple but powerful program specifically for my needs that I use to improve my body's lymphatic circulation, to build strength, flexibility and balance, and, ultimately, to relieve pain.  I will post more on that at a later date.

4)  Distraction.  Nothing helps my pain like not having to think about it constantly.  Watching a funny movie, reading an engaging novel, being out in nature, going for a car ride, doing mindless data entry--whatever keeps my mind of f the pain is a blessing in that moment.

There are many more things that help me, but that is the list I can think of today.  I will add new ones as I think of them.  If you have endo or have ideas for other ways to get through bouts of increased pain, please leave us a comment!