meredithhutton79

Blogging education, support, and coping strategies for Pain Warriors that offer an unfiltered, raw and deeply connected look at living life with chronic pain.

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

https://t.co/fq2iVHciv9

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

As I’ve posted on many occasions before, for those of us living with chronic pain or illness, the word tired doesn’t quite cover it. It goes beyond the tired experience that able-bodied people get from the odd night of poor sleep. The tiredness I feel goes so much deeper and it’s hard to explain just how tiring it is if you haven’t experienced full blown fatigue to that level. For me, it's a profound, bone-deep weariness that a good night's sleep cannot cure. That multiple good night’s sleep cannot cure. When you are a Pain Warrior, you aren't just managing physical symptoms, you are managing your mental health too and it’s like a full-time, high-stakes job that never offers a day off. This job requires constant micro-calculations about energy, medication, and activity, leading to intense decision fatigue. 

Eventually, the relentless effort of pushing through, of constantly battling your own body and maintaining a normal life, leads to a specific, heavy kind of exhaustion: Chronic Pain Burnout. This isn't just exhaustion from work, it's a physiological and emotional bankruptcy caused by a nervous system constantly stuck in a fight or flight stress response...........continued on blog:

To learn more about how chronic pain and burnout go hand in hand and what you can do to help yourself navigate it, head on over to my blog post here:

https://t.co/knyiKVkeIz

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

It’s disgusting how we are treated and expected to function without pain meds. I hear horror stories about patients being forced off their meds and given no alternatives and it makes me so grateful I have a doctor who isn’t doing that. My meds allow me to live a life outside of the bed, as I’m bedridden without it. I have Complex Reguonal Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in the lower half of my body and neck and back https://t.co/W5Fu7yMV36 medication doesn’t take my pain away but it offers me some quality of life. It’s enraging the way many pain warriors are treated.

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

https://t.co/GvyES3YVdM

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

When we talk about disordered eating, the conversation usually revolves around body image, weight stigma, or societal pressure, especially as women. Well-known eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are usually what come to mind first, but there are many different forms of eating disorders and, more broadly, disordered eating patterns.

For me and millions of people living with chronic pain, the relationship with food is fractured not by how we want to look, but by how we want to feel. This struggle within us moves beyond the psychological desire for thinness and lands firmly in the territory of survival and symptom management. It’s just one more area of chronic pain that costs us spoons that we have to manage. For Pain Warriors, a meal is less about nutrition or pleasure, and more about navigating a complex game with high-stakes trade-off.

If you live with chronic conditions like Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), fibromyalgia, endometriosis, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), migraines, autoimmune diseases, or anything else similar, you know that food stops being just fuel or pleasure. It becomes a variable to manage, a source of exhaustion, or a trigger for agony.

For example..................continued on blog.........

To read more on how disordered eating develops out of necessity in Pain Warriors, and what you can do about it, head on over to my blog post here:

https://t.co/lf77xP9Ml1

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

When we talk about disordered eating, the conversation usually revolves around body image, weight stigma, or societal pressure, especially as women. Well-known eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are usually what come to mind first, but there are many different forms of eating disorders and, more broadly, disordered eating patterns.

For me and millions of people living with chronic pain, the relationship with food is fractured not by how we want to look, but by how we want to feel. This struggle within us moves beyond the psychological desire for thinness and lands firmly in the territory of survival and symptom management. It’s just one more area of chronic pain that costs us spoons that we have to manage. For Pain Warriors, a meal is less about nutrition or pleasure, and more about navigating a complex game with high-stakes trade-off.

If you live with chronic conditions like Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), fibromyalgia, endometriosis, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), migraines, autoimmune diseases, or anything else similar, you know that food stops being just fuel or pleasure. It becomes a variable to manage, a source of exhaustion, or a trigger for agony.

For example..................continued on blog.........

To read more on how disordered eating develops out of necessity in Pain Warriors, and what you can do about it, head on over to my blog post here:

https://t.co/lf77xP9Ml1

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

https://t.co/FSLrTsaOJP

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

The Heavy Invisible Load: Beyond the Physical Pain 💔

This year, I'm going deeper into the "hard stuff"—the invisible load we carry with chronic pain. It’s not just the physical agony; it's the shame, guilt, and profound loneliness that makes our hearts heavy.

In my latest post, I dive into Body Image Distress, the quiet struggle when your body feels like a stranger or an enemy due to unpredictable pain, medication side effects, and the grief for your "Before" self. I share why standard body positivity advice often falls flat for Pain Warriors.

We deserve gentle acceptance, not forced celebration. I'm sharing compassionate, realistic strategies for coping:

Shift to Body Neutrality: Focus on respect and dignity, not forced love. Your body is fighting hard for you.

Radical Closet Edits: Ditch the clothes that remind you of what you've lost. Wear what fits and affirms you today.

Grieve the Loss: Give yourself permission to mourn the changes—it's a necessary step toward healing.

Separate Movement from Exercise: Gentle care is the goal, not exertion or aesthetic results.

Your body is a survivor of 100% of your bad days. Let’s lighten the load together and start honest conversations.

Read the full post here:

https://t.co/Qjx5idFOpt

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

https://t.co/thLmrZt5qW

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

After posting Part 1 of my post on transforming your living space, I went against my own advice, and did a lot around the house, organizing after Christmas and New Year's, and that sucked up my energy, resulting in me taking a mini break from blogging and social media. But I'm back, refreshed and happy to post Part 2 of transforming your living space.

Today's post covers the bedroom, livingroom and some universal tweaks you can do throughout your home.

Hope you all are doing well and that the new year is treating you well!

https://t.co/uBjm68JsNe

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

After posting Part 1 of my post on transforming your living space, I went against my own advice, and did a lot around the house, organizing after Christmas and New Year's, and that sucked up my energy, resulting in me taking a mini break from blogging and social media. But I'm back, refreshed and happy to post Part 2 of transforming your living space.

Today's post covers the bedroom, livingroom and some universal tweaks you can do throughout your home.

Hope you all are doing well and that the new year is treating you well!

https://t.co/uBjm68JsNe

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

https://t.co/zR4dbpZtQ2

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

For those of us living with persistent pain, our homes are rarely just a place to sleep. They are a meaningful nexus and at the center of our everyday life that serves as a sanctuary, a recovery room, and, at times, a frustrating cage. Our home becomes pretty much our everything. Since we are limited in what we can do, we spend a lot of time at home, and for me, my home and living spaces are really important to me because my house is my safe space, however imperfect it is. My space is somewhere I can be myself in. But, when chronic illness demands a calculated expenditure of limited energy, the physical layout and design of your living space become a critical, yet often overlooked, factor in determining your overall quality of life. A few extra simple steps, or an awkwardly placed item you access daily, can be the difference between a functional day and a debilitating flare-up. I resisted at first. I didn’t think it would make much of a difference in my day to day pain that I’d get just from moving around the house and going about my day, but by implementing a few changes, I am happy to report that it does make a difference. A substantial difference. Not having to bend or stretch awkwardly, or walk back and forth 5 times to get everything you need, has meant that I’m able to do more around the house. 

This is why adapting your environment is not about admitting defeat or giving into illness; it is about strategic optimization and immense self-compassion. By making intentional changes to your home's structure and organization, you can significantly reduce daily physical strain, preserve your limited spoons of energy, and, most importantly, reclaim a sense of agency over your life. The goal is to design a space that...........continued on blog............

To learn more on the positive impact that adapting your home can have on yourself and your pain levels, head on over to my blog here for Part 1 of 2 of this blog post:

https://t.co/iXwthxy9Rs

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

For those of us living with persistent pain, our homes are rarely just a place to sleep. They are a meaningful nexus and at the center of our everyday life that serves as a sanctuary, a recovery room, and, at times, a frustrating cage. Our home becomes pretty much our everything. Since we are limited in what we can do, we spend a lot of time at home, and for me, my home and living spaces are really important to me because my house is my safe space, however imperfect it is. My space is somewhere I can be myself in. But, when chronic illness demands a calculated expenditure of limited energy, the physical layout and design of your living space become a critical, yet often overlooked, factor in determining your overall quality of life. A few extra simple steps, or an awkwardly placed item you access daily, can be the difference between a functional day and a debilitating flare-up. I resisted at first. I didn’t think it would make much of a difference in my day to day pain that I’d get just from moving around the house and going about my day, but by implementing a few changes, I am happy to report that it does make a difference. A substantial difference. Not having to bend or stretch awkwardly, or walk back and forth 5 times to get everything you need, has meant that I’m able to do more around the house. 

This is why adapting your environment is not about admitting defeat or giving into illness; it is about strategic optimization and immense self-compassion. By making intentional changes to your home's structure and organization, you can significantly reduce daily physical strain, preserve your limited spoons of energy, and, most importantly, reclaim a sense of agency over your life. The goal is to design a space that...........continued on blog............

To learn more on the positive impact that adapting your home can have on yourself and your pain levels, head on over to my blog here for Part 1 of 2 of this blog post:

https://t.co/iXwthxy9Rs

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

Hi all, happy happy new year! I hope you all survived the holidays and are ready to take on 2026!

As 2026 opens, I am excited to announce that I have created an old school web forum called meredithhutton79's Chronic Pain Forum, that is a private, members only community for those of us who suffer from chronic pain.

I really think we can build something special that is safe, supportive, and empowering.

Click on the link below to join.

https://t.co/ezoA8OAfAU

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

Today I bring you the last part to my blog post on the healing power of gentle movement. Here are the links if you missed Parts 1 and 2:

Part 1: https://t.co/YN2InlKVbR

Part 2: https://t.co/b0KyKk9JKS

10 Strategies and Gentle Exercises for Pain Management

If you’re ready to start, remember the golden rule: Pace, don't race. Here are five strategies and five exercises to help you find your flow.

Strategies for Success

1. The "50% Rule": When managing chronic pain, the urge to take advantage of a "good day" can be overwhelming. The "50% Rule" is a critical pacing strategy that acts as a proactive defense against the debilitating "boom-and-bust" cycle. This cycle is the number one cause of setbacks, where you push too hard on a low-pain day, deplete your energy reserves, and then spend the next several days in a severe pain flare, essentially undoing any progress you made.

To implement this, when you feel like you have enough energy for a certain activity—say, a 30-minute walk—do only 50% of what you think you can handle, which in this case would be 15 minutes. The goal is to...........continued on blog...........

To learn 5 strategies and 5 exercises to start gentle movement in 2026, head on over to Part 3 of my blog post here:

https://t.co/FUfeJ18gAT

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

Today I bring you the last part to my blog post on the healing power of gentle movement. Here are the links if you missed Parts 1 and 2:

Part 1: https://t.co/YN2InlKVbR

Part 2: https://t.co/b0KyKk9JKS

10 Strategies and Gentle Exercises for Pain Management

If you’re ready to start, remember the golden rule: Pace, don't race. Here are five strategies and five exercises to help you find your flow.

Strategies for Success

1. The "50% Rule": When managing chronic pain, the urge to take advantage of a "good day" can be overwhelming. The "50% Rule" is a critical pacing strategy that acts as a proactive defense against the debilitating "boom-and-bust" cycle. This cycle is the number one cause of setbacks, where you push too hard on a low-pain day, deplete your energy reserves, and then spend the next several days in a severe pain flare, essentially undoing any progress you made.

To implement this, when you feel like you have enough energy for a certain activity—say, a 30-minute walk—do only 50% of what you think you can handle, which in this case would be 15 minutes. The goal is to...........continued on blog...........

To learn 5 strategies and 5 exercises to start gentle movement in 2026, head on over to Part 3 of my blog post here:

https://t.co/FUfeJ18gAT

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

https://t.co/iLNswmI5Vd

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

Today I bring you Part 2 of this blog post. If you missed Part 1, head on over here https://t.co/YN2InlKVbR to catch up. 

The Cost of Immobility: The "Deconditioning" Trap

It is tempting to stay in bed on high-pain days, and sometimes…oftentimes…this rest is necessary. There’s no question. On some of my higher pain days, where everything is overwhelming my brain and body because my pain is so high, all I can handle is laying in a quiet, dark room, that’s warm, and hope I sleep some of it away. My brain pretty much shuts off because the pain signals are so high and there are so many, that they overpower my brain and I’m not left with enough bandwidth to manage my day to day life. When it’s that bad, my capacity to function at that moment ceases. Any stimulation is just too much and I end up reduced to tears because I’m so desperate for it to stop. Happens every 2-3 weeks where I’m just so overwhelmed I need to shut everything off so that my brain can have the quiet. So while this rest is necessary, we have to keep in mind that, long-term inactivity often leads to a secondary set of problems that can be just as debilitating as the original pain:

1. Muscle Atrophy: Muscles that aren't used begin to weaken and shrink, a process known as atrophy. This physiological change occurs surprisingly quickly, with strength............continued on blog.............

To learn more about what the Deconditioning Trap is, and how it shows up and impacts Pain Warriors, head on over to my blog post here:

https://t.co/b0KyKk9JKS

[meredithhutton79 @Merehutton79]

Today I bring you Part 2 of this blog post. If you missed Part 1, head on over here https://t.co/YN2InlKVbR to catch up. 

The Cost of Immobility: The "Deconditioning" Trap

It is tempting to stay in bed on high-pain days, and sometimes…oftentimes…this rest is necessary. There’s no question. On some of my higher pain days, where everything is overwhelming my brain and body because my pain is so high, all I can handle is laying in a quiet, dark room, that’s warm, and hope I sleep some of it away. My brain pretty much shuts off because the pain signals are so high and there are so many, that they overpower my brain and I’m not left with enough bandwidth to manage my day to day life. When it’s that bad, my capacity to function at that moment ceases. Any stimulation is just too much and I end up reduced to tears because I’m so desperate for it to stop. Happens every 2-3 weeks where I’m just so overwhelmed I need to shut everything off so that my brain can have the quiet. So while this rest is necessary, we have to keep in mind that, long-term inactivity often leads to a secondary set of problems that can be just as debilitating as the original pain:

1. Muscle Atrophy: Muscles that aren't used begin to weaken and shrink, a process known as atrophy. This physiological change occurs surprisingly quickly, with strength............continued on blog.............

To learn more about what the Deconditioning Trap is, and how it shows up and impacts Pain Warriors, head on over to my blog post here:

https://t.co/b0KyKk9JKS