Blog
Writing about life with chronic illness, pain, and trauma
Articles for people navigating long-term health conditions, persistent pain, medical trauma, and health anxiety. Written from clinical practice and the research that informs it.
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When Your Doctor Says ‘It’s Just Anxiety’ (But You Know It’s Not)
You’re sitting in the GP surgery. Your heart is pounding. You’ve just explained your symptoms: the exhaustion, the pain, the way your body doesn’t feel like it belongs to you…
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When Physical Symptoms Leave You Wondering What’s Really Going On
You wake up with chest tightness. Again. Your first thought races to your heart, but then you remember your doctor said it was anxiety. So you try to breathe through…
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What to Do While Waiting for Test Results: A Guide
Your GP says the words “urgent referral” or “two-week pathway”, and suddenly your chest tightens. Your hands go cold. The rest of the appointment becomes a blur. You walk out…
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Grieving the Person You Were Before Chronic Illness
Your thumb pauses mid-scroll. There’s a photo from two years ago: you at a friend’s wedding, dancing without a second thought. Or that weekend hike where you packed nothing but…
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Understanding Isolation in Chronic Illness
You’re sitting with friends, but you feel utterly alone. They’re laughing about weekend plans while you’re calculating whether you’ll have the energy to make it through lunch. Someone complains about…
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Gut-Brain Connection: Managing IBS Anxiety Effectively
You’re queuing at the supermarket when you feel it – that familiar cramping in your abdomen. Your chest tightens. Within seconds, you’re scanning for the toilet, heart pounding, mind racing…
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How to Communicate Pain Effectively to Your GP
You already know that normal test results don’t mean nothing’s wrong. You’ve probably experienced being dismissed as “just anxious.” If you’ve been reading along, you understand why this happens and…
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The Emotional Toll of Unexplained Symptoms
You’ve finally got the appointment. You’ve waited weeks. You’ve rehearsed what you’re going to say. You walk in, describe the exhausting fatigue, the unexplained pain, the symptoms that are slowly…
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When Your Tests Are Normal But You Feel Terrible: What Now?
You’ve been to your GP. Again. You’ve described the exhaustion that makes it hard to get through a workday, the pain that keeps you awake at night, the symptoms that…
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Understanding Decision Fatigue in Chronic Illness
You wake up at 7am. Before you’ve even left the bed, you’ve already made twelve micro-decisions. Do I take the painkiller now or wait until after breakfast? Can I manage…
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