So if you struggle with chronic illness,
there’s probably one thing that you absolutely dread
and that is a chronic illness flare up.
You know, when all of a sudden your body's like, “Boom,
“I'm just going to get worse for no reason
“and make everything awful for who knows how long.”
Well, that's what we're going to be
talking about here in today's video.
What to do when a chronic illness flare up
shows up and decides to ruin your life.
Like, how do you start healing from that?
What do you do?
Anyway,
if you want to learn more about that,
then definitely stay tuned for today's video.
My name is Ellie Dashwood and this is my channel
where we thrive together and live our best lives.
If you like either of those things, then definitely subscribe.
So I'm pretty open about all of
the chronic illnesses that I have.
I have a whole video on it.
But I know that this is something
a lot of you in our community struggle with.
I recently asked you on an Instagram Q&A,
“If you could change something
“about your life, what would it be?”
And so many of you responded
with your illnesses or your health.
And I totally get you. Like, I feel the same way.
In fact, I've been having a flare up
of my chronic illnesses in the past few weeks.
I'm doing a bit better now.
Clearly, I'm sitting in front of a camera. But it is no fun.
So I thought today I would share some tips
that I personally use when having an illness flare up.
And these are more like
mindset ideas, general lifestyle ideas,
because of course, every single chronic illness is different.
Every individual is different.
So I try to keep these things
to ideas that could help anyone and everyone.
First, an important reminder, though, I'm definitely not
a health care professional in any way, shape or form.
And this is not health care advice.
I don't really know what I'm talking about.
Let's all be honest here.
I'm just a girl with chronic illnesses
that, I'm sharing my own
personal experience and what I have found helpful.
But definitely consult with your personal health care
physician to see what you need to do in your circumstances.
There are seven tips, so let's get into number one.
So number one is show yourself love
and remember that the flare up is not your fault.
It's the illness’s fault.
I am definitely someone who, when a flare up starts,
I start blaming myself.
I start asking like, “Okay, what did I do?
“What did I not do that caused this?”
And I can think like, “Wow,
“Like, I failed. Like I was taking really good care of my health,
“but clearly I messed up somewhere.”
But while sometimes we make dumb
decisions like everyone makes dumb decisions,
but they don't have these chronic illnesses
right there on them to jump on them when it happens.
And honestly, a lot of times chronic illness flares
because it feels like it because of the weather,
because of things completely and totally out of our control.
So instead of having a flare and thinking like, “Oh,
like I failed
“at taking care of my health” or “This is all my fault,”
just remember to show yourself love
because you're going through
a hard time and this is not your fault.
Ultimately, this is the illness is fault.
Number two tip is give yourself grace and the time to rest.
Resting is so important. It's vital medicine.
That's how our bodies can heal and get better.
But of course, I feel like
at least in American culture,
we kind of have this go, go, go, be productive,
atmosphere does not exactly, you know,
make you feel great about resting.
It makes you feel like, “Oh, I'm just over here being lazy.”
But no, like rest is medicine.
Appreciate it.
Now, of course, while you're resting,
it can get a little bit boring if you're just laying there.
So I like to have activities
that make me still feel productive,
but don't aggravate my symptoms or make me worse while I rest.
So, for example, crocheting, drawing, coloring.
Something I did this past flare up
was actually re-design my website.
I'm using Squarespace now, which I'm so excited about.
It's so easy to design really beautiful
and unique and custom websites with Squarespace.
So I had a blast doing that and this is totally not sponsored.
I just literally spent hours and hours of my life
in the past few weeks on Squarespace.
But I will definitely be
linking it to it for you guys down below.
But speaking of Squarespace and websites
like I know some people with chronic illnesses
that started a blog,
just because that was something that they could do
while sitting on the couch while laying in bed.
You know,
they could
still connect and share
and do something that they felt was productive
while still getting that rest in.
Number three tip is communicate.
Be open with the fact that you have chronic illnesses
and that they're flaring up right now with others.
This is one of the reasons
I let you guys know about my illnesses,
because when I'm not able to post,
you guys are a lot more understanding
because you know
what's happening with me. And this is the same thing
with friends, family, work colleagues.
Like when you are not able to show up, it can be like
a huge hit on our self-esteem.
I felt like, right, Like
because we all want to be the people
I feel like who show up, who can do the thing,
who follow through on commitments.
But chronic illness doesn't always let us do that.
But I found
at least that communicating
what's going on
and why we can't fulfill those commitments is so important,
and it really helps other people understand more.
And honestly, if they don't understand,
well, that's their problem.
They need like a course in empathy and human understanding.
And sadly,
you know, eventually
they're probably going to get that the hard way,
but we can all just pray for them that it's not too hard.
However, during this past flare, I had family come through town
and we were supposed to go
hiking together and I was so excited,
but I wasn't able to do it.
However, what I was able to do was go out to dinner
with them later at a sit down restaurant
and then go back home and like have a good chat with them.
And so by doing the things that I could do with them,
I feel like I still showed them how much I love them.
Right verse even though I wasn't able to go hiking.
Tip number four is take care of yourself in little ways,
whether that's taking a shower,
washing your hair when you feel up for it.
Like, you know, sometimes during a flare
you can't even get in the shower.
That's like way too much to ask.
But for example, if you're going to lay in bed
all day, put on your cutest pajamas.
So at least you're in cute pajamas while laying in bed.
And I've discovered that
when I do little things for myself,
even when I'm having a chronic illness flare,
it like signals to my brain like, “Hey, you know what?
“You're still worth taking care of
“and I still love you,
even though you're going through a really hard time right now.”
The other thing I have spent years
sort of learning
is listening to my body and knowing
when it needs complete rest
and when I can push it a little bit.
Sometimes what my body needs to get better
is that some time out in the sunshine.
Sunshine has so many health benefits
from vitamin D to infrared radiation.
Meanwhile,
sometimes I just need a little bit of exercise
like I spent 12 minutes yesterday
walking on the treadmill,
which I know is not very long, but it was just the right
a little bit of pushing my body need to start healing more.
However, again, that was something
I had to learn
the hard way over the years of when to push a little bit
and when to just completely rest.
Tip number five is stay positive.
Now, first of all, I want to say that
I feel like crying is incredibly therapeutic.
Like if you're having a flare up
and you feel like crying, like go for it.
That is my general worldview there.
However,
our bodies and our minds are so
interconnected that if we let ourselves
stay trapped in a lot of negative emotions,
I feel like that hinders
the healing process that slows it down.
And so I always like to have my moment of crying
and then try to refocus on more positive things.
One major example of this is I have to remind myself
that the flare up is in fact, going to end.
I, in the early,
like bad stages of a flare up, I could be like, “This is it.
“This is my new life.
“It's always going to be like this now.”
Even though it clearly hasn't.
I did once have this kind of flare for six months.
That was a long time, but even that eventually got better.
And I think that's just good to remember, to always
have some hope there and remember, like, you know,
this is a rough time, but it is going to come to an end.
Something else
I would say
is, obviously,
I feel like a lot of us chronic illness people
love to watch movies and TV while resting,
and I just try to keep it positive and
and really look for movies that take me to a place
I'd like to be or really lift up my spirits.
Yes, I am suggesting watching the six hour 1995
Pride and Prejudice because honestly,
everyone needs to do that when feeling bad.
But I do think that it can be very easy to maybe
get stuck on TikTok watching people rant
about negative things all day.
There's something especially depressing
about TikTok short form content.
I don't even know what it is.
It's like the most depressing
of all platforms in my experience.
However, it's very easy to absorb that negativity,
and when your body is trying to heal,
the last thing it needs is a bunch of negativity.
Tip number six goes along with the positivity thing,
which is focus on your hope,
and if you don't have a hope, try to find a hope,
even if it's just something to look forward to.
As in like, “Oh, I'm going to go on vacation next year.”
So I have to say that my hope comes from my religious beliefs.
I definitely believe what it says there in Revelation 21:3-4,
about how God's going to wipe out all tears and all pain.
And we're all going to have perfect and amazing health.
And I just look forward to that time so much.
In fact,
when I'm feeling really bad, that's what I meditate on.
Like, I envision myself in that time when I have perfect health.
And for some reason I was realizing
like what I envision the most is like
what I'm going to wear.
Like I have all of these outfits picked out.
You think I'd be like, “I would do this
“and that if I have perfect health.”
No, apparently I'm just going to wear outfits
when I have perfect health.
But by really envisioning it in detail,
it keeps it very alive and real for me.
And it reminds me of that scripture,
I think it's in second Corinthians about how
their current tribulations are momentary
and light compared to the wonderful
hope that God gives us.
And so, you know, chronic illnesses,
they're just temporary, at least in my opinion.
Though, I definitely know that not everybody has that same hope,
at least religiously as I do, but I feel like there's so many
other things we could find hope in, whether it's
maybe you're just really looking forward
to your vacation next year, or maybe you hope
that science will someday cure your incurable disease.
I do have this strange dream
that someday they're just going
to come out with a celiac disease cure.
Because honestly, guys, I wish I could eat wheat so bad.
I miss pizza.
Tip number seven is be patient.
Healing takes time, Recovering takes time.
And you're worth that time.
You're worth taking the time to get better.
I know that can be very easy
to get stressed out like I tend to always have like,
“I have plans.
“I have dreams. I have things I have to do.
“I have to hurry up and get better.”
But like in my experience, at least,
that does not make me get better.
If anything, it stresses me out and makes it worse.
I definitely think health problems
are kind of like watching a boiling pot.
Like if you're just sitting there
staring at it like, “Are you better yet?”
Like it's never going to boil.
So I like to again,
focus on other things,
do something like semi productive,
like work on my website or start a blog or whatever else
and just recognize that yeah,
this takes time, but I'm worth that time
and it will eventually get better when it gets better.
So guys, those are my seven tips to: remember to
show yourself love,
give yourself grace, take care of yourself,
stay positive,
focus on your hope and be patient.
Ultimately, dealing with a chronic illness
flare up is not fun.
It's not a great time.
But just remember that
your chronic illnesses do not define you.
You are still an amazing and wonderful gift to mankind,
and no illness can take that away from you.
So as always, guys,
keeping awesome because you're awesome. Bye!
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