October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month!

Dysautonomia Awareness Month is here!

I am being quite active this year. I don’t think I was even really aware of it last year, or if I was, I was still kind of embarrassed and confused by my diagnosis so I definitely wasn’t as active and excited about it. But this year, oh my goodness! If you are following me on Facebook or Instagram, or both, you have probably been quite surprised in the uptick of my postings and the sheer amount of turquoise.

By the way, dysautonomia’s official awareness color is turquoise! And, if you also weren’t aware, that is one of my favorite colors and has been for years now, so it’s an awesome coincidence and just makes this even better!!!! ALL THE TURQUOISE! *cough sputter* Sorry about that.

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Happy Fall Ya’ll

It’s now officially fall! Yesterday was the autumnal equinox, which marks the first official day of fall here in the northern hemisphere.

One of my friends, CL, shared an interesting article on her Facebook about why fall is the only season that has two names (one thing I know I have personally wondered about many times). I thought it was an interesting, and not too terribly long, read:

Why Is Autumn the Only Season With Two Names?

Do you have a preference for what you call this season? I use both fall and autumn about equally. Sometimes I’ll even use both in the same sentence! I do really love the name Autumn, as well.

Is this your favorite season? Even if it isn’t your favorite season, what is your favorite part of the season? I absolutely love watching the trees change (so gorgeous!), the smells, the crunch of the leaves underfoot, the feeling of the crisp breeze, and hoodies!!! I also love hot tea and cozy blankets, but I get to keep those all through winter too 😉

Supplements Carry Risks Too

Don’t get me wrong, I am not just blindly wanting you to follow “Big Pharma” down the rabbit hole of taking more drugs and needing drugs to counteract the side effects of those drugs. Actually, I am all for all sorts of different combinations of lifestyles. If you love taking pharmaceuticals, then go take your pharmaceuticals and I’m so happy that they make you feel better! If you love taking supplements, then please go take your supplements and enjoy your life! If you love combining the two, then go do that too and enjoy feeling better! Woot for feeling better and managing our symptoms the best way we know how!!!

Anyway. Now that that is over, here we go. The point of the post 😛

Some people don’t realize that supplements can carry just as many risks as pharmaceuticals can. In fact, I would argue that, because of the state of “common knowledge” they are more dangerous. Why do I say that? Simply because people read an “all natural” label and are willing to pop it into their mouth without learning anything else about it… leading to potentially deadly consequences.

Wait, did I just say deadly?

Yes, yes I did. Continue reading

Soon I’ll Have Research to Share

The paper I’m writing for psych isn’t a traditional research paper. Instead of a research paper, we had to find a short article related to psychology and then summarize it in plain English (I think it’s so we can have more practice in reading and understanding scientific articles). I chose an article that is related to insomnia and chronic pain. Once I get my paper turned in, I’ll share it with you guys because I find it very interesting.

Here’s my paper: Summary of A Pilot Study of Audio-Visual Stimulation as a Self-Care Treatment for Insomnia in Adults with Insomnia in Chronic Pain

Chronic Living – Buzzfeed

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Living With A Health Problem | Buzzfeed

Here’s a collection of good quotes about living as a young adult with chronic health issues.

Defining Disabled from Indisposed and Undiagnosed

Defining Disabled – Indisposed and Undiagnosed

I’m just going to leave this here. I’ve been thinking along the same lines, and she articulated these thoughts perfectly!

 

Your Brain on Pain

I get Real Simple magazine. It felt weird switching from Cosmo to Real Simple, but I suddenly felt like the magazine was being written more towards me, so it was obviously the right time to switch. It’s odd what things make us realize we’re growing up. Anyway, I don’t tend to write about what I read because the things I utilize from the magazine tend to be the organizing and cleaning tips (and there are SO MANY of those online). I do occasionally read stories that tug at my heart, but since I’ve started this blog I hadn’t read a story that felt like it was written specifically for me.

real simple august cover

Well, that all changed in the August 2015 issue (I just read it recently because I fell behind, haha). In the August issue, there is an article simply titled “Pain.” I figured it would probably focus on “normal” pain, for “normal” people… which is kind of true. However, it did actually discuss chronic pain. And there were some disturbing pieces of research mentioned in the article.

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Colorful Creations by Gayle

Mom’s Crafty Blog

This is the blog I helped Mom setup during my Cali vacation! There’s only one post at the moment (and an about me page), but you should still check it out! Any feedback as far as layout or formatting will gratefully be taken into consideration (leave comments on this post)