Category: Rambles

CatchMyPain App Review

Helpful Ramblings / 10 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Areas

I came across this amazing app called CatchMyPain thanks to a member from a facebook group I am on. It is available on both the Google Play Store and the Itunes store by searching ‘CatchMyPain’. The app allows anyone with Chronic pain to track and log their pain. It even lets you send it via email making it really easy to share with Dr’s etc!

Catch My Pain

When you use create a pain entry there are 7 pages to complete. On the first page you are presented with a picture of the body and 5 colours to use. Mild pain – Yellow going all the way up to Dark red – Unbearable.

Using these colours you can colour in the area’s which are painful. You can then use colour to specify how intense the pain is in that area. I love this as I find it hard to explain why I am in so much pain. This way I can show people where and how much it hurts so they can get a better idea.

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Pain Intensity options

The body rotates allowing you to colour wherever on the body you need to and theres an eraser if you want to start again.

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On the following page are you are given the option to edit the time frame of your entry. This means you can log exactly when the pain started and for how long it lasted.

I find this handy if you have a particularly bad day and don’t feel up to making an entry until you are feeling better. Allowing you to track your pain accurately as you can enter earlier dates and times too!

Pain Intensity

Next up is the overall ‘Pain Intensity’ which you are given a slider to move. The slider starts from No pain up to Worst pain imaginable.

On the fourth screen, you are given a list of ‘Descriptions’ you can select. These describe the types of pain and you can even add your own. Perfect if you can’t find the right description in the list. You can add as many as you like too which is ideal.

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Condition

‘Condition’ is the 5th screen where you are asked how you felt during the time frame selected on the second screen. You do this by choosing a face to represent ‘Happiness’, from a crying sad face to a smiley face.

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As I have found this app so useful I chose to add on the Stress and Fatigue sliders too for only £0.65! I don’t tend to pay for in-app add ons but this seems a great feature.

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The sixth page is the weather here you can adjust time or date and sync it with your location. You can also enter it manually and it will log the temperature which you can adjust if needed.

Extras

As you can see on the sixth page there is also the option to buy the full weather feature for £1.96. I am currently earning Google Play Store credit using the Google Opinion Rewards app! (Thank me later haha!)

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On the final screen you have the options to add in any comments you wish.

Pain Chart

Having filled out several Pain entries I visited the Pain Chart to see what it showed. I was impressed that it had literally logged everything including the percentage of the body affected by pain!

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I like how it shows Happiness, Stress and Fatigue on here as it also gives people an idea of how the pain affects me. Using this chart I can also work out what actually helps me calm down and relax too. Blogging and Knitting are definitely helping me this week!

Medications

Another part of this app is ‘My Meds’ where it enables you to add any medications you take. You can edit the details of the drug as seen below and you can set the frequency they are taken too.

Again I decided to pay £1.14 so I could add on the Drug intake reminder as I am absolutely awful with remembering to take my tablets at the right time!

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There is also a built-in community, so you can chat with others, when you do this you are asked to set up a username and your display picture becomes the body from your last pain entry showing where and how intense the pain was/is.

Having had a look around the Google Play Store for a similar app several times before I was really happy and impressed when I tried this one out.

What more could you want? It helps you track everything, its an easier way to show friends, family and Dr’s if like me you are very forgetful and forget how to ‘word’ at times and all the data can be saved and emailed to anyone you want! This is a great app for a lot of #spoonies and I just had to share for those that hadn’t come across something like this before.

*This post is in no way affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by any of the companies mentioned in this post.

Ups And Downs

Rambles / 10 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Izzy's Knitted blanket

This past week has been full of ups & downs for me. My pain levels have become unbearable across the week. I’m suffering majorly, in more ways than one because of it.

Ups And Downs

That’s the problem with Chronic pain, it isn’t just the pain the gets to you. Anxiety is a huge problem for me right now, as is depression. I’ve recently discovered the term brain fog. This is what I feel when my pain heightens, I becoming confused, dizzy, anxious, struggling with my short-term memory etc.

When I get like this it’s extremely hard for me to ‘word’ (talk) as I call it. If I am asked something, even if I know what I want to say, it comes out all jumbled up. This leaves both myself and the person im trying to talk to extremely confused. I get frustrated with myself very easily at the moment and have become quite emotional.

Struggling

The hard part for me is being aware of all these symptoms. Knowing it is  my body’s way of saying ‘help, I’m struggling!’ yet not knowing how to change that. I just can’t get my mind and body to cope and ride it out.

After hoovering just a small corner of the girls room, whilst the Mr did all the heavy work, I managed to hurt myself. I did this without realising, I thought I was being careful. I guess a walk into town afterwards tipped me over the edge.

To top it off the following day I managed to trip over our cat, Batgirl and fell into the doorway. I banged my hip on the frame as I fell and landed awkwardly on my right side. I instantly vomited from the pain and ended up passing out. When I woke I was instantly in tears because of the head splitting migraine. I also felt pain all over my body from the fall. 2 & 1/2 day’s later and I am still paying for it, but it is gradually easing again.

Being A Spoonie Mum

I need to learn my limits but I am struggling with this greatly. I’m only 25 & I have 2 daughters that I wish I could get down on the floor with more. Being a bit of a lunatic I hate being unable to do so much. I had a huge meltdown at my Mr this week. I ended up crying that I couldn’t do such a simple task most mothers do weekly. Tidying and sorting through your children’s toys should be something I dread doing! Instead, it’s something I wish I could do more.

I spent a good half an hour telling my Mr all the thing’s I find frustrating. It’s so hard because its stuff I SHOULD be able to do. He sat and listened for a while. Then said this to me, ‘If you saw someone in a wheelchair would you tell them to get up and walk because they should be able to?’. Of course, I said no. He told me that as much as I am finding it hard and frustrating, I need to stop judging myself and beating myself up constantly over what I ‘should’ be able to do. I need to accept that I have limits but there are things I can do and I should be proud of that.

Feeling Better

That calmed me down and got me thinking. Eventually I realised how right he is and decided to sit and finish off Izzy’s blanket since I find it quite a calming hobby. I was in agony but still managed to complete it. Once I had done it I felt so much better, I had achieved something at last! I have made a few mistakes, there are 2 small button holes. They are barely noticeable, so I decided just this once I’d leave it. Afterall, it is my first big project. Luckily the fluffyness hid it well and Izzy had already been demanding I hurry up and hand over her blanket!

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Over the last few weeks, knitting has helped me stay a bit more focused. It has helped me calm down a lot when I am feeling anxious. I concentrate on the next stitch, instead of sitting with a ton of thoughts racing through my head, over-analysing anything and everything possible.

Knitting that blanket has given me such a boost. Seeing Izzy’s face the following morning, watching her carry it all over the place and snuggling with it on her daddy’s lap, made me feel amazing. Such a boost after such an awful few days.

Becoming More Sociable

Some of you may have noticed I have been a little more active on twitter over the last week or so. I’ve had a few chat’s with some lovely blogger’s which has also cheered me up quite a bit. Some of my posts have been shared quite a lot surprisingly. Also, I have recieved several lovely comments which always seem to come through at a low moment and cheers me up.

As much as I have had some majorly down points this week, I have also had several good ones too. I definitely need to focus more on the good than the bad though.

Christmas

On that note, tomorrow we are putting up our christmas tree. I’m getting excited for that, I’m going to cut out a few cardboard shapes, stars, stockings etc for the girls. They can pretty them up with paint and glitter and hang them around the flat.

I have made a small start on christmas presents and we have almost built up enough amazon credit to buy the girls beds. So this week when we get paid, we can buy their smaller presents. We wont struggle as much to make christmas happen, even after out money screwing up several times throughout the year. I’m so grateful for that right now, I know its your presence not presents that children need, but at the same time I’d like to make sure they have a magical christmas. Focusing on tons of food and lots of decorations to brighten the place up and getting the girls into the christmas spirit!

Feeling Grateful

I am grateful for what I am able to do and know I need to give myself a break every now and then. I need to continue to help myself by busying myself with crafts, blogging and doing what I can with the girls. Im aware that anxiety and depression is part of the vicious cycle of chronic pain and thing’s will get worse a lot sooner, if I allow everything to get to me. So I plan to stay as positive as I can, distract myself as much as possible, judge myself less and try to accept my limits more.

Do you suffer chronic pain, anxiety or depression? How do you cope and stay positive? Drop me a comment or head over to my Get in touch page to find other ways of contacting me if you prefer. Thank you for popping by and reading my post x

Calming Hobbies For Anxiety

Anxiety / 10 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Knittting a blanket

I’m focusing on calmig hobbies after I wrote about anxiety last week and how I’ve really been struggling. It is really affecting me, along with depression mostly because I suffer from chronic pain.

Calming Hobbies For Anxiety

I asked readers for tips to help me feel less anxious constantly. One tip I recieved was to write down every thing I want to get off my chest at night and the other was to find a hobby to keep my mind focused.

I have managed to pick up the yarn I needed to finish my knitting project and half way through knitting a scarf too. I have been making an effort to knit a few rows every few hours.

CBD Oil

While not a hobby, per se, since we’re on the topic of anxiety, I felt like CBD was worth a mention as something that you could take alongside doing these hobbies to give you a little extra help, since CBD Oil can also be extremely helpful for anxiety, among other things. There are so many companies that sell a variety of products containing CBD oil including gummies, creams, and capsules, such as Blessed CBD. Having tried them myself I can safely say they do provide some health benefits, however dosage may need playing around with to find the perfect dose for you and your individual needs

Writing And Knitting

Every night on my notes I write down everything that has been frustrating me. Knitting, along with writing whats on my mind each night, does feel like its helping. As I write, it feels like a weight is being lifted. With knitting, I think about less and less with every stitch focusing only on the next stitch.

I noticed a lot of my writing each night is about how my pain has limited me throughout the day. It makes me feel useless as I tend to end up sat on the sofa, trying to focus on not moaning too much. However, over the last day or so, I’ve been focusing on my knitting whenever I’m on the sofa. Doing this, I at least feel like I am achieving something, watching my projects grow.

Coping Better

My pain levels have escalated throughout the day but im still feeling positive. I havent had an attack in a few days now and I feel a bit more positive in general so I’m going to keep up the writing and knitting and once Ive finished Izzy’s blanket and scarf I plan to attempt learning crochet!

calming hobbies
Almost complete!

Thank you for the tips and keep them coming in if anyone has any others 🙂

Do you craft? Feel free to link up your makes, I love seeing what other people have created!

Struggling with Anxiety

Rambles / 10 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Anxiety

Struggling with Anxiety

Struggling with Anxiety is one of those things that come and go as they please making it very difficult to avoid an attack.

Recently due to the fact I suffer from chronic pain and have struggled for 5 years to get a referral for pain management, having had to swap to Esa because of this (which as a result left us with no money for almost a month!) amongst other things, anxiety has been getting the better of me.

I am quite an anxious person in general I worry about anything and everything and find it very hard to switch off but I’ve definately been struggling a lot more recently.

Its making it very difficult for me to go out and do things even when im having a fairly good day because I panic I wont make it there and back, I freak over the fact I look funny when I walk because of the pain, the more pain im in the more I visibly struggle to walk which makes me panic that people will stare at me.

Im trying to put together a video for the Samsung SmartThings campaign but Im struggling to do it, every time I attempt to record what I’m doing and talk about it as I go I begin to panic and hyperventilate, start shaking & sweating and feel extremely nauseous and like the walls are closing in on me. It’s seriously depressing me that such a simple task feels like climbing the worlds tallest mountain to me right now.

Making calls is a huge issue for me again, anyone other than the Mr on the other end of the phone and I struggle to answer or make the call. Having thought I’d got over making and recieving calls it feels like I’ve taken a huge leap backwards again.

I really need to find a way around this but I haven’t a clue what to do.. So Im asking you, My readers if any of you suffer or know someone that suffers anxiety that may have some tips on how to get around it?

I’ve tried breathing exercises but these just seem to make things worse.. what else can I try?

All comments are welcome, if you’d like to contact me privately please visit my Get in touch page to find a suitable way to contact me. All help is very much appreciated!

Chronic pain at 25

Physical and Mental Health / 10 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Part of the reason I decided to begin blogging again is also part of the reason I stopped blogging before. I am a Chronic pain sufferer and have been for over 5 years now. I struggled to get the help I needed when it first began which caused me to become extremely depressed and anxious.

Shutting Down

I shut off from a lot of my friends and closed my blog and deleted all trace of it as I was fed up of ‘moaning’ about the pain constantly. I’ve recently realised that sometimes to cope with chronic pain you need an outlet where you can vent and moan so you can clear your mind and take control again.

Keeping Track

As I’ve come to realise this I’ve decided I’m going to document what goes on with my various appointments, to help me keep track, vent & moan on bad days and make others aware of how chronic pain affects lives, and hopefully find other’s who have learnt coping techniques and to hear their story too. If you’ve got this far then here is my story.

Lower Back Pain

Since my pregnancy with my eldest daughter in 2010 I have had excruciating lower back pain. It all began with struggling to climb the stairs in our first flat whilst pregnant, I’d struggle so much I’d be in tears. I thought at the time it was just typical pregnancy pains until it continued about 6months after my eldest was born.

X-Ray Results

I eventually got to a point where everyone was telling me I had to go to the DR’s and find out what was going on. Eventually, I did and an x-ray showed I had scoliosis of the lumbar spine and low disc space in L4-L5. My GP referred me to physiotherapy which wasn’t helping and due to unfortunate circumstances at the time I became unable to afford the fare to get to my physiotherapy sessions and gave up trying to seek help.

Chronic Pain

After a few years of struggling with the pain and trying to manage it with over the counter medicines, I got much worse especially a few months after the birth of my youngest daughter. Over time it got to the point where I could barely pick her up, so I went to my local GP to try and get some help.

Physiotherapy, Again

Again I was referred to physiotherapy which didn’t go well at all. After the first session, I hurt for almost 2 weeks! By the third session, I was barely able to walk for the next 3 weeks. I went back to my GP and explained the pain was worse and explained how it travels down my leg and at times I can’t walk or move my legs, attempting to lift my youngest up gives me extremely painful spasms, all of it combined is exhausting and depressing and on top of it all on really bad days I’m extremely nauseous too.

Medication

I was prescribed Amitriptyline, Duloxetine, Naproxen and Co-dydramol to try and help manage the pain & the depression. I was surprised to find out that some anti-depressants are also used for nerve related pain but after doing a bit of research discovered they are quite regularly prescribed for this reason. Unfortunately, the medication does very little but I am at least able to sleep a bit better on the Amitriptyline which is some relief.

Another X-Ray

I was sent for more x-rays which showed lordosis of the thoracic spine which shows signs of muscle spasms. This indicates its likely to be a nerve problem which it seems my GP must have worked out as she prescribed the amitriptyline from the start. When I attended my last physiotherapy session the physio decided it was best to release me and refer me to pain management as he said it was clear the exercises had aggravated the situation and he didn’t want to hurt me more and he made me a referral marked as ‘urgent’.

Pain Clinic

I now have to wait until the 14th December for my pain clinic appointment, which after seeing the waiting times at some hospitals I’m quite lucky I got an appointment this year. I’m hopeful I can find ways to manage the pain and remain as active as possible with their help as being stuck indoors most of the time and unable to enjoy simple things without suffering for it has had a major impact on my mental health and my family.

Reaching Out

I’m hoping to connect to other Chronic pain sufferers by sharing my story here and keeping track of my progress. If you read all of this post then, Thank you for taking the time to do so and please feel free to contact me in any way if you want to share your story or just a chat.

Strange words from the 5 Year Olds mouth

Parenting / 10 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Kids always come out with weird stuff dont they? Or is that just my daughter? Over the last few months she has been coming out with some rather odd stuff..

Admittedly having the parents she has its hardly surprising as we aren’t exactly ‘normal’ but even I’m a little shocked by the following things she has come out with recently…

  • Can I get a my little pony? Then cut its eyes out and chop its hair off, pull out the stuffing and colour it in and make a zombie pony?
  • Mum can I have some dead squirrels? So I can draw with them and make things out of them?
  • I’m going to buy vanish gold for my birthday. So I can throw it in your face and video it and put it on youtube. That would be so funny!
  • (Latest one! April) Mummy so & so has a willy, he told me! Daddy doesn’t though…