Every small thing you do for yourself health adds up. The grief is heavy and it comes from a place of love. The grief knows the pain is wronging you.

I’m proud of you. I hope on the good days you can be proud of yourself.

Nobody can feel what you’re feeling but you. Nobody knows the severity of what you would be putting yourself through if you were to “tough it out.”

If you do “tough it out,” the purpose for you doing the thing will most likely not be fulfilled anyway. You probably will not be mentally present or engaged. You probably will not have a good time or get much out of it. Etc.

If people really have such a problem with it, thats a huge red flag. Being transparent about your needs and boundaries is a great way to weed people like that out of your life.

If you have any kind of chronic illness or disability, remember that you probably have a very warped judgement of what is “reasonable” to endure in terms of pain, fatigue, burnout, etc.

You didn’t ask for this, you don’t deserve this, there is no reason you should have to bear the weight of it alone. I bet if someone else was in your position, you wouldn’t mind helping accommodate for them?

Low energy days are truly sacred, take them seriously. Please respect your body’s signals. “If you do not choose times to rest, your body will choose for you” or however the saying goes

It is so much pressure to have to deliberate what sacrifices are necessary for proper self care. Give yourself extra credit for having to deal with that stress on top of whatever is putting you in that position in the first place. Thats a lot at once

You are leading by example and showing others that you would never expect them to hurt or overextend themselves for your benefit. Putting yourself first always inspires other to do the same.

I suffer from severe and nearly constant headaches that require talking to a lot of different doctors and difficulty noticing them build up.

Years ago an ER doctor handed me a poorly formatted but incredibly useful 10-point pain scale with a number, key word, and short description of how one might be unconsciously responding to the pain. It had no information on who created it and I've never seen it anywhere else.

On Tumblr, again uncredited, I came across a really great and similar fatigue scale, but it was formatted in such eye-searing colors I could barely read it from fatigue. So again I cleaned it up and added it to my collection.

And then I ran up against tracking apps that were otherwise very good, but used a 4-point scale instead on a 10-point scale, so I added a conversion.

And then I ran up against my neurologist preferring the Traffic Light Scale, so I added a conversion for that in both a black & white and (gentler on the eyes) color version. My neurologist was very impressed with this scale and the conversions, so I updated the online copies so she and others can print them out from PDFs or save the images. She noted that a big reason that chronic pain patients are under-treated is that pain is so subjective and people who are used to always being in some pain under-report the severity. From my experience and many other people I've shown them to, these charts are very good at guiding people to more accurate responses and helping healthcare providers get on the same page.

So I'm sharing these updated versions on here again.

Pain Rating Scale

Green, 0/4, 0/10 - No Pain - Pain free.

Green, 0/4, 2/10 - Minimal - Pain is barely noticeable; tightness.

Green, 1/4, 3/10 - Mild - Feel a low level of pain entering awareness only when my attention is devoted to it.

Yellow, 1/4, 4/10 - Uncomfortable - Pain is troubling but can be ignored most of the time; am able to continue activities.

Yellow, 2/4, 5/10 - Moderate - Moderate pain but no break in activity or concentration; guarded movement patterns.

Yellow, 2/4, 6/10 - Distracting - Pain is troubling and breaks through concentration but is tolerable; activity level changes.

Red, 3/4, 7/10 - Distressing - Pain is intense and preoccupies my thinking; can complete tasks but it is difficult and must cease some demanding activities; considering pain medication or other pain reducing agent.

Red, 3/4, 8/10 - Intense - Severe pain that makes concentration difficult; can do only non-demanding activities; taking pain medication, etc. Can't carry on a conversation well, pacing , etc.

Red, 4/4, 9/10 - Severe - Cannot concentrate on anything else; sweating, unsteady breathing, can do almost nothing. Can barely talk.

Red, 4/4, 10/10 - Immobilizing - Excruciating pain, constant; unable to move.

Fatigue Rating Scale

Green, 0/4, 0/10 - Not tired at all.

Green, 0/4, 1/10 - Slightly tired, but still able to carry on as normal with little to no difficulty.

Green, 1/4, 2/10 - Finding everything more effort than usual, but still able to carry on.

Yellow, 1/4, 3/10 - Tiredness makes it hard to enjoy activities that are usually fun, but still able to work or study (with some difficulty).

Yellow, 1/4, 4/10 - Possibly able to do some work or studying, depending on how much effort it takes. May choose to work or study from home. Avoiding activities that take a lot of energy.

Yellow, 2/4, 5/10 - Mostly unable to work or study (except low effort tasks that can be done from home) can go out (for example to buy food) but only if essential.

Yellow, 2/4, 6/10 - Too tired to go out, but still able to move around the house and do activities that require little energy and focus. Preparing a meal is difficult. Can't work or study.

Red, 3/4, 7/10 - Doesn't need to lie down and can walk around the house, but can't stand for more than a few minutes without resting. Finding it hard to eat some foods. Can't focus on anything easily.

Red, 3/4, 8/10 - Able to sit up for a while and walk around the house if absolutely necessary. Unable to eat most food. Holding a conversation is difficult.

Red, 4/4, 9/10 - Able to sit up for a short time and can walk short distances (with difficulty), e.g. to get a drink or go to the toilet. Can't eat.

15/09/2025 Doctor Beverly Crusher @SpaceDocMom Incoming Transmission…