Chronically ill fairy Godmother

I am your Chronically-ill fairy godmother. Keeper of life hacks, symptom management, and resources! Send me questions or comments and I will address them as quickly as I can! Please remember, I am only a peer, and if you need medical or professional opinions, please reach out to your actual doctors!

A little about me!

I’m a twenty something student in the U.S, who was recently diagnosed with Dysautonomia, Ehlers-Danlos Hypermobile type, and Mast-Cell Activation Syndrome. I was diagnosed informally five years ago, but received official diagnoses after January of this year. I work in counseling and hope to eventually help those in the community around me.

I love my cat, traveling, and herbal tea. Sometimes I paint too! 🖌️🐱

As someone who has faced the diagnosis process alone, I realized how hard finding resources was, and wanted to make it feel a little less lonely for others. So please never hesitate to reach out in DMS or Asks, I will always lend an ear💙

Tags:

This is where you will find a list of tags I use for asks, tips, and resources.

Dear Chronic me: Reassurance for Chronic illness

Ask the Ache: Q&A, where you can ask about resources, or advice!

Potsie positivity: positive vibes for when you need something to brighten your day!

Spoonie support line: Energy balancing and maintenance

Resources: Self Explanatory

Foodies: When you need some chronic illness friendly foods/recipes. Send in your own too!

ChronicAlly prompts: journaling prompts to keep up and help you learn more about what works and what doesn’t! Released every other Monday.

Pain unmasked: providing item lists and recommendations/ratings of items

Venting Veil: In case you need to commiserate, or vent about your feelings

Keeping up with crash: announcements and updates about the blog/more personal info about moi!

Anywho! That’s all for now! I hope you enjoy this compilation of resources I slowly horse and accumulate in my years of sick!

Do you have any tips on how to break up the task or be more lenient with it? I've moved the vacuum closer to the outlet, and the area I live in is small, but it's not really the physical activity that makes it such a struggle, its not being able to be flexible.

Absolutely! So first things first, you may not be diagnosed, but you are still identifying an area of struggle, that is very good.

1.) Don’t think too hard

I also hate vacuuming, however, some things I like to do is not think about it until I’m already up and moving, and then kind of put your brain on autopilot (like you’re completing a task in a game), and vacuum as much as you can (safely). It’s a good way to not dread the task and then lose the momentum you may be trying to build or preserve.

2.) Timers

You can also set timers! Sometimes I’ll set a timer for 20 minutes, put in my earbuds, and just do that task until I hear the timer go off!

3.) Task Approximation/Analysis

Prepping tasks can also be helpful! Like you have already moved the vacuum closer (love that), now try and start with maybe just vacuuming a part of a room or even a rug! Set it up to be very minimal tasks that your brain is like “oh I can definitely do that!” This is called Task approximations or analysis.

4.) Reward system/Chart for success

You can also always reward those tasks after, maybe on days designated to vacuum, you go and get a treat or you get to watch your favorite show! It can be helpful (and fun) to even reinforce these behaviors with a sticker chart sometimes.

If you have POTs or MCAS, and you choose to drink or smoke (or partake in anything) Please stay hydrated!

And no, not your average hydrated for club nights or trying to beat a hangover.

Like literally space out your drinks with electrolytes if you can, have salty food, and compression available, especially with the summer heat.

🥂TLDR; Some chronic illnesses react very negatively to alcohol and other substances, so if you can, stick with only one, and monitor those symptoms, you likely will feel it the next day.