#chronic illness is hilarious

[queenlucythevaliant]

Want to rant about this post, because it makes me seethe every time I come across it. Nothing against anyone who's reblogged it, just want to give my two cents.

A migraine is NOT the same as a bad headache! Migraine a specific neurological condition which is frequently (though not always) characterized by headache, as well as numerous other symptoms. They're caused by some combination of nerve inflammation and uneven vasoconstriction/dialation in the brain. As such, there's no such thing as a "sinus migraine" or a "tension migraine."

Acupressure and massage *may* help to relieve some measure of migraine pain if you can stand being touched long enough, but it won't help the underlying neurological condition, which is more similar to a slow-motion seizure than any other type of headache. I'm sure pressure helps with tension headaches and maybe other types of headaches, as described, but those are not migraines! Words have meanings, gang.

However, in calling these non-migraine headaches "migraines" and then suggesting that they are easy to treat in this manner, the post suggests that migraines are a much lighter matter than they actually are. This, and discussions like this, cause real migraine to be taken less seriously by the culture at large.

Fundamentally, the thing about the original post that irritates me so much is that basically none of the people on it seem to have any idea what migraine actually is. There's been a move in recent years to try to make people more aware that medical language is very specific and shouldn't be abused (ie OCD isn't just "having a messy room bothers me," it's a specific disorder that, if untreated, can massively harm people's lives), which I think is great. At the same time, there's a growing tendency to pathologize everything, from personality tics to low-grade headaches, often in the strongest terms possible. While I'm not for the policing of language in general, I do feel that it's at best insensitive and at worst actively harmful to use specific medical terms in situations where they simply don't apply.

Most headaches are not migraines. Speaking as though they are leads to a misinformed attitude around migraine which suggests that everybody gets them, they're easy to treat, and they're not that bad actually. This attitude has caused me material difficulty so many times over the last nine years that I couldn't even being to tally it.

[starry-bi-sky]

i think i'm hilarious -- aka i made blood blossom danny au memes

all of these come from my DpxDC prompt "i am pushing the batdad agenda--" and it's corresponding additions in the reblogs ksdjlf.

i am. rotating them in my head. forever and always. personally i think there should be more batdad aus in dpxdc, their dynamic could be neat. :)

[snurtle]

I've been thinking about the templars lately. they were promised honor, virtue, told that they would be charged with protection of the innocent... And then those same people are systemically exploited and abused, abuse others because they're taught to regard everyone else as either sheep who need to be lead or potential threats. Never equals, except in their brothers/sisters-in-arms. They act as the guard-dogs and military arm of an entirely different organization that they're only a functionary member of but have no governing say in. Even the chantry aren't their equals- they function as the templar order's supervisors! And all this isolation and closing of ranks ends in disability, addiction, death, and abandonment by the system they spent their bodies in service of.

To top that off, retaliations against them just confirm the paranoia they were taught to embrace. It's probably a long hard road to get out of that hole.

Like, listen. the dichotomy of mage vs templars is a satisfying and easy one, but the system is tearing them apart too. have you ever heard of a retired templar?

at the end of it, mages and templars need to unite against the real threat. the chantry.

[introvertedx10]

[a-totally-reasonable-username]

Orthopedist was checking my range of motion and seeing how hypermobile my joints are and halfway through he actually muttered "damn" Under his breath and at another point he accidentally set a subluxated joint back into place and he was so freaked out and after he finished examining me he was so stumped on wtf to do with me he went to talk to his higher up and got a colleague to make an appointment for me with genetics testing so.... I think i'm winning?

[silentauthor96]

Shizuka: aww poor baby, you're just being fussy because you're sick 🥺

Hayato: he is literally always like this 🤨🤨

Shizuka: Shut up, Hayato 😠

[Vol. 25 Ch. 138]

[dayisfading]

having a chronic pain flare up from the acute distress caused by your employer denying a reasonable accommodation

[hussyknee]

hi! would you happen to know any communities (tumblr, discored, something along those lines) for people with autoimmune disorders? not like a i hope we all get better toxic positivity thing because we arent going to get better and neither a place that kinda sends you into a spiral ig? i'm looking for a community where i would be able to share my struggles with people, listen to theirs, and ultimately just exchange tips on how to make life better for ourselves.

Hi. I just usually followed the #chronic illness, #ableism, #cripplepunk, #disability, #spoonie tags and also @thebibliosphere and @naamahdarling. @compassionatereminders is a general sort of positivity blog by a disabled person, I also follow @cbspoons

To be honest, nearly all my mutuals are disabled and mentally ill in some way so I've never felt the need to go out and actually find anybody? 🤔 I've stopped actively following the disability tags on here a while ago because I was so angry and depressed that seeing other disabled people in the same boat started to depress me more. And if I want info on something specific I just search the tag on here. Goldmine of info I swear.

If you want information however, you really can't beat Disability Twitter. It hasn't gone anywhere, Muskapocalypse notwithstanding, and it's been a huge convergence point for information sharing and advocacy for Long Covid in the West. Iman Barbarin would be your starting point, she's @crutchesandspice on Tumblr but more active on Twitter. The Fat Doctor is also an essential follow (except their tweets are protected so they have to approve your follow request) and so is Kivan Bay. Honestly there's a huuuge overlap between Trans Twitter, Fat Liberation and Disability Twitter because they all come under the disability justice umbrella. Downside as always is that it's all very US-UK-focused.

You can follow me too if you like (Inflammatory Bowel Disease, chronic fatigue, arthritis, bipolar, salad bar of mental illness), but fair warning, I am extremely suicidally depressed rn, even though I've been getting a lot of help finally. I put all my downspirals under a cut and tag the shit out of those posts, but this blog might not be the best for your own mental health just fyi. 😬

Followers feel free to add any blogs you can think of!

[queenlucythevaliant]

Some graces after migraine:

I came downstairs after migraine at the beginning of a lunar eclipse and my dad said, "Are you up to going outside?" So we put on our coats and stood on the driveway, my Dad and me, and we watched the moon turn red. I remember my head on his shoulder, his voice softly talking about satellites and space. We could have stayed there forever.

It was the week before finals and I'd had nothing but migraines since Thanksgiving; but I took my steroid and the pain lifted for a while, and then I heard the bells ringing. The carillon bells at the church across the street were playing Christmas carols. I'd never heard them chime anything but the hour before. It was very faint, but I opened my window up wide and let the night air in. I pulled up my desk chair and listened.

A bunch of my friends were meeting up on a certain hill to have a picnic dinner and watch the sunset. I was post migraine, couldn't make it over there, so someone came and picked me up and drove me over. I was still too nauseous for the pizza they were having, so I brought a Powerade and a little bit of rice in a Tupperware. We laughed together, joked about my unorthodox picnic. After the sun had set, that same friend drove me back to my apartment.

[mumsthen3rd]

Finally got all my ducks in a row and made it official: I'm certifiably bendy 😂

[pocket-bibliotherapy]

The brain fog and apathy that comes with hypothyroidism are things I've rarely seen well-described. Hilary Mantel, of course, does it beautifully.

[introvertedx10]

And diarrhea

[milkweedman]

Hands have been a little better today so ive been carding the occasional rolag very carefully (have a full basket so i could maybe spin it tomorrow, if my hands arent ruined), and have also been crocheting a cotton washcloth mostly in double crochet, but i did a couple rounds of what i think is called lemon peel stitch (dc, sc to end on an even numbered row /US terms/) and its such a nice washcloth stitch. But also so annoying to work. And much more painful than just plain double crochet. I think when my hands are a little better i might make some small facewashing cloths out of that stitch. Probably different yarn though, im just using some old thick n thin millspun, which i dont love the texture of.

[eilooxara]

Ah the migraine is back again

Guess I'll die

[akascow]

i like when people ask me what i thought [insert diagnosis] was before i actually knew about [diagnosis] and i just say idk i thought it was normal i thought everyone did that (they infact did not do that)

like my therapist asked me what i thought my autism symptoms were as a kid before i actually knew i was autistic and i was like idfk i just thought i was super introverted

because what am i supposed to say😭 how am i supposed to know not everyone feels the same as me HAHA no one told me shit

lowkey thought my light/sound sensitivity was normal lmao no kat its not

[madonna-wh0-re]

So I finally finished my grad cap and it says ‘Knap time’ with 3 flint-knapped arrow heads….

Because I’m a narcoleptic anthropologist