These ideas only take a few minutes but can have a big impact.

Rest is an essential part of chronic illness. Finding the right bedding can make or break your time in bed. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Cynthia Hill is an occupational therapist with over 25 years of experience. Here she shares about the chronic pain cycle and tips for recovery and healing.

"If you’re doing any of these things, please stop."

Cortisol and Fibromyalgia Every single day, as I’m getting prepared in the morning, I see a version of myself in the reflection that makes me want to creep right back into bed. Overnight, my face has put on five extra pounds, as if I earned a cheeseburger eating competition in my dreams. Not only do […]

Discover what it means when someone looks well when chronically ill. Hint: it's not exactly what most people think. In this post I share the reality.

Introducing the perfect shirt for those days when you just can't catch a break! This Comfort Colors tee features a retro, lived-in look and feel, and is designed with a cool "Sorry, Can't. Flare Day." graphic that speaks to those dealing with chronic pain and invisible illnesses. Crafted with premium quality materials, this soft and comfortable tee is perfect for those days when you need a little extra support. Whether you're dealing with MS, fibromyalgia, lupus, or any other chronic pain condition, this shirt is a great way to raise awareness and show that you're not alone. With a range of sizes available, this shirt is perfect for anyone looking to embrace their unique journey and express themselves in a fun, colorful way. So why wait? Add this awesome Comfort Colors t-shirt to your wardrobe today and get ready to take on whatever life throws your way! • Washing Instructions • -Wash inside out, in cold water, on gentle cycle. Tumble dry low or let air dry. -Do not use Fabric Softeners or Bleach. -Do not dry clean. Avoid ironing on the design. • Sizing • -Please review the photos to see specific sizing charts for these items. -Please note that adult shirts are unisex size. -Lay your favorite shirt flat and measure armpit to armpit to compare to the size charts in the photos. • When can I expect my order? • -Processing Time: Processing typically takes 2-6 business days as your item is made to order. During the holidays, please expect delays as the number of orders is higher than usual. We will do our best to get your order to you a soon as possible. -Shipping time: First Class shipping will take 1 to 5 business days. • Returns or Exchanges • -All our shirts are custom printed just for you, so we do not accept returns or exchanges. -If there are any quality issues with your order, please message us and send a photo and we will replace it ASAP. Thank you for supporting our small family business!

Managing my fibromyalgia and arthritis has always been a difficult task. Here's a few ways I managed to deal with chronic illness, college, and good grades.

Learn about the causes and symptoms of histamine intolerance — the overproduction of or inability to break down histamine.

23. It means needing two days to recover from an activity that doesn’t bring anyone else pain.

#12 is SO REAL.

One of the hardest things to do when you are chronically ill is finding the balance between laying in bed and doing absolutely nothing on the bad days and doing absolutely everything on your good days, so you in turn have 2 weeks of nothing but bad days. It is such a vicious cycle. And I am here to tell you, that I am the biggest failure of it of them all. I am here to tell you that not even yesterday was I sitting on my front yard crying to one of my friends talking about the constant exhaustion and not knowing how to balance things and just wanting to have something positive in my life. Her in return telling me to do things small (like just one good thing for a small amount of time). And me in turn spending 12 hours in the hot sun today. FAILURE! We are in this together friends. I don't write these blogs because I have all the answers, I write them because they are my struggles and I know as someone with chronic illness that you probably do too. I was originally going to title this blog "Am I really that disabled?: Finding the Balance in Chronic Illness"...but the real reason I'm writing this blog is because I'm having some minor, unnecessary wheelchair self-conscious issues. See I just started using this thing big time this week for school purposes. If I carry my backpack into class, I don't make it to class. I have to sit down in the middle of the street, parking lot, hallway, whatever, and wait for someone I know to help me to class because the ridiculous distance I have to park away from my classes (even with a handicap tag) plus the weight of my book bag (even with Kindle edition textbooks) does me in fast. So I'm wheelchair bound. Lucky me, I've got a great pretty one. And I look great in it. Unlucky for me are several things. Here I will make you a list. I get my own wheelchair out of my trunk, put it together, put my book bag on the back, and sit down and wheel off. I'm sure that looks weird. Like how many handicap people do that. Once I get to my class I don't really need to use my wheelchair anymore necessarily because I don't have the book bag weight (unless I'm going somewhere further away, like to eat) so I look like a weirdo wheeling in and then walking to like the bathroom and water fountain and office and feel the need to explain to everyone when they ask me about it, even though it's no ones business. My campus is not wheelchair friendly at all. The ramps are at a huge incline (for instance, the one in front of DISABILITY SERVICES was so steep, I took my wheelchair back to my car and packed it up and decided to walk because I could not get my chair up the ramp...in front of disability services...not joking) so it's super hard to wheel up them. Half the time when I finally get up them, there isn't a button to push to open the doors for me so I have to hope some one walks by to open the door for me, the doors aren't really wide enough for me to fit through comfortably, and the sidewalks are in horrible repair so it's REALLY hard to make the wheelchair go anywhere at any rate of speed because with my book bag, plus the chair, plus my low musculature and the fact that most of my dislocations happen in my upper extremities from my EDS it's ridiculous to try to get that thing to move fast (heck at all). Luckily, people have been awesomely accepting and willing to push me if they have been available :) The closest parking lot to my classes is a faculty lot. There are 3 handicap spaces in it, they are all filled by the time I get there (7:30 am) and rightly so, because there are at least 2 staff in the building my classes are in that are in wheelchairs and several other handicap people in other ways. Technically, as a handicap placard holder, I'm allowed to park in any handicap space, or any next closest space to my destination if a handicap space is not available. Technically, the next closest space that is available would be a faculty space that is not handicap in that lot. However, I've been going to a much further parking lot and parking in a handicap space there because it's a student lot and a handicap space and wheeling to class and praying someone will pick me up on the way, or I won't run out of energy because I don't want to send the faculty member I kick out of their space to the other side of campus to park. I feel like I'm not handicapped enough to make them forfeit their paid for parking space. However, my friend made me think about it last night. She asked me if it fatigues me more to go to the further away parking lot and go that far. I said yes, she told me that I should be parking in the faculty lot then, because I need that space. The faculty member can surely walk the extra feet, I surely need the extra energy to wheel across the bumpy sidewalks and down the hall to save that energy for my studies. Didn't think about it like that before. But that still makes me feel uneasy. So uneasy that.... I have been seen pushing my own wheelchair from the farther away parking spaces to conserve energy and then if I need to sit down I will sit in the chair, take a break and get up and keep pushing it and then when I get in the building where it's all smooth, wheel down to class. Asinine I tell you. And if I thought I was concerned about people thinking I looked weird getting my wheelchair out of my car myself, and walking around the building myself without it throughout the day, how am I not concerned about pushing it down the street and not sitting in it? (I am by the way). So these are some of the reasons why I'm even wondering if I'm disabled enough. Or what makes us disabled enough. But then I have days where I don't balance well. Then I'm reminded that I'm disabled. Pretty severely infact. Like today. My town has a block party every year. I always go all day because my mom works for a church that has a booth and my aunt and uncle's photo shop and portrait studio have a booth so I go to "help out" (hang out) with everyone. Well, we knew I was already having a rough-ish week. So I brought my wheelchair and did not get out of it much at all. The sidewalk was crowded though when mom and I went to go get lunch and the place we were going to get lunch from was literally 100 feet from where our booths were. So I parked my wheelchair and we walked. I almost passed out and had to sit down immediately in front of the grill at the food place. Then when we got back down to the booth (after eating) I had to sit down immediately again to keep from passing out. Both times were separated by at least 30 minutes if not longer. The only thing in common was walking 100 feet in heat. We should have brought my wheelchair. Oops. Or maybe I shouldn't have stayed the full day this year, knowing that I wasn't doing as well this year and I'd had a bad week already. I mean, it wasn't really a bad week (minus Thursday, that was bad) but it was the first week back to school and after 3 months of doctor's appointments and no other obligations or schedules. Having to be places at certain times, plus doctors appointments, plus homework, plus realizing that this stuff is serious and that the stuff you are learning if you learn it wrong could like kill people was exhausting. Plus, I have to be up at 6:45 and out at 7:15 every morning this past week. Eventually it will just be MWF and probably Thursdays for infusions (but I can sleep once I get to those). Lectures are 4 hours straight and that's hard for anyone, let alone someone with brain fog and chronic illnesses. I have to get back into the groove of things and remember to find the balance. I have to remember how to be good to myself and be good to the world. Another thing my friend said to me during our talk in my front yard yesterday was that she very rarely lets people see her for a full day because she wants people to see her when she is able to show them her good parts and her joy and I want to be like that too. Therefore, that means, I will probably only be able to see people during school hours for right now. But it's so true, when I'm tired I'm not a happy camper, and my mom gets a lot of that unfortunately. But pain and fatigue does nasty things to people. But part of finding the balance is going to be making sure that I'm attempting to only show the good parts of myself to the world. That's the goal anyway. I told you...the word of the year is ambitious. So while I'm over here trying to find the balance of living in the extremes of being too un-active and too active, wheelchair or no wheelchair, extrovert or introvert, joy or sorrow, etc. you work on that for yourself too and look at this picture of me today looking awesome in my wheelchair with my zebra t-shirt on embracing the fact that I can be ok being in a wheelchair in front of thousands of people. I guess. Some days I can be ok with needing help and knowing I need it. And that's the start to finding the balance.

A new year offers the chance for new beginnings. However, when living with chronic illness, a new year can give rise to pain and uncertainty

Check out my best tips for travelling with chronic illness and disability. Learn what my emergency protocols and travel hacks are.

With all the information out there it's hard to know exactly what a healthy lifestyle is. Find out what God's health plan has been all along.

It’s time for the 2020 Chronic Illness Christmas Giveaway! Thank you to these 34 sponsors for making the holiday season a bit better with the ongoing pandemic!

The best chronic illness meme around. It can be super difficult to live with chronic illness and these helath memes can help others to understand chronic

This is one topic I have avoided talking about, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I haven't had a full resolution of symptoms. However, I have significantly improved my symptoms. I'll share interstitial cystitis treatment options below. My interstitial cystitis story My battle with interstitial cystitis (IC) started nearly five

How many of these have you seen?

The Chronic Illness Social Pod aims to provide an online space where people with chronic illness can advocate, and support each other on social media.

Here's what people with chronic illnesses do to help ER visits go smoother.

Sara shares about what life with chronic illness in Italy (Florence) is like in this post. Part of the Invisible Cities Linkup where locals share insight.

Do you struggle to find balance between your chronic illness and dealing with the stress of everyday life? Here are 3 fundamentals to help you manage both effectively by board certified health coach, Leslie Thorpe.

Traveling when you have chronic health problems can be tricky. Before you leave, ask yourself these 4 questions to make the process easier.

This is a new version of an article that was originally published as "26," about the early attempts to diagnose the cause of my chronic pain and other symptoms, and the many ways my access to medical treatment was blocked for years prior.

#2 is so relatable.

Fall back in love with yourself! Regain the self-love that your chronic illness stole with these five self-care activities and journal prompts!