On Working with Endometriosis

Those of us that deal with chronic pain can find it extremely difficult to maintain long-term employment, especially with endometriosis, which can be very complicated to explain and almost always leads to being labelled the girl with 'those stomach issues who always takes time off work'/ I have tried to come up with some options and information that might help when trying to work and manage pain.

- Know your levels of pain

It takes a while to work out what you can work through and when you're on your way to full blown downtime. I've found that it's helpful to keep a pain diary or just make notes of pain patterns. This has helped me work out when my pain is likely to be worse so that I can prepare for it as much as possible.

- Prepare for flare-ups

I take a blanket with me everywhere, there's one in my car and I have one at my desk along with a hot water bottle and painkillers. There's nothing worse that having pain hit you with nothing to comfort you nearby.

P.S I also keep an oversized shirt nearby in case my pelvis/stomach area becomes inflamed so that I can undo the zip/buttons on my bottoms without worrying about being indecent.

- Look for the right type of work where possible

I'm sure you know this already, but it's worth re-iterating that part time work and temp work are very different.

Part time can mean fewer days a week or five non full days a week. The advantage of this is that if you know when your pain tends to be worse, you might be able to get hours that work around this. E.g. if you know your pain is worse in the mornings, then you can take on hours in the evening when you'll be feeling better.

Employers also tend to be a little bit more forgiving with part-time workers, especially those on a permanent contract than they are with temporary workers. Temp workers are usually there to replace other workers for a period of time, think of them as interim dams put in place to ensure the workplace is not affected by the permanent staff members absence. As a result of this they are very strict with their hours and have little patience for temporary staff members having to take time off work.

Another option is working from home, if you have a job that allows you to do that. That however is another post altogether.

I hope this helps.

Chi

Update: If you can, always have enough cash for a cab to get you home on your person - I have had to leave my car and get a cab home before!

Exercise Apps

Clockwise: My Pain Diary | Couch to 5k | Zombies, Run | The Walk

My Pain Diary – I don’t actually use this app, simply because I just make notes on my calendar for days when I am pain. But all the reviews I’ve seen suggest that this is a very useful app for making notes. If you use it let me know what you think.

Couch to 5k – Though this is meant to take you from zero exercise to doing a 5k. I think this is more suited to people who don’t deal with chronic pain as you have to follow the plan quite rigorously to get up to speed. Its still worth doing but you should probably allocate more than the stated 9 weeks for the program.

Zombies, Run- I love this app, it gives you really fun tasks to complete and the story pulls you in – well it pulled me in, enough to get me into my trainers and make me leave my house.

And Finally,

The Walk- This is great for getting your fitness level up. It gives you little targets and tasks, which make the long-term goals more attainable. You can complete tasks at your own pace and follow the story while you do.

What apps do you use when you need some motivation to exercise?