Helpful Self-Talk Anyone?

[flyagaric]

Hello all,

I think I’m seeking some emotional validation and reassurance. My symptoms are kicking off again after a couple of years of almost-freedom, and I’m finding it hard to adjust my mind frame. I’ve had 3 laps, pain management, and made endless lifestyle changes. I have wonderful support at work and amongst loved ones, but nobody really understands what I’m going through - I hold no grudges about that, I’d rather nobody had to go through endo!

I just think it’s important to feel understood, at this point. I’ve come a long way with my mental health but endo always seems to be able to get the better of me. I normalise and minimise my symptoms so easily, then I rush recovery - I think because I just wish I was better after a period/flare up and struggle to accept that recovery isn’t always linear. I also feel the pressure of ‘normal’ life and responsibilities taking priority - like I’m only allowed so much time to recover before other things are more important. But rushing back into life is just not helpful, for loads of reasons. It’s exhausting to constantly address during a hard time, but I feel I’ve got the foundations of a healthy mind-frame - I could just do with a little help from people who actually experience this!

So, does anyone have any lines they tell themself when they feel backed into a corner like this? Self-loving, self-soothing self-talk?

I’ve found it really helpful to have a solid line to tell myself when I feel like the world’s on top of me. I just can’t seem to find the right words for struggles brought on by endo. Any suggestions are welcome.

I’d also like to quickly say that I’m confident about medical choices I’m making for myself, so medical advice isn’t necessarily needed - this is more for the mental health side of what we go through.

[Mindfullness4791]

I'm sorry to hear you are experiencing a flare. It's so debilitating 🥹 I have a preliminary diagnosis of Adenomyosis and experienced a long flare-up at the beginning of the year. I didn't use self-talk but did find yoga videos on YouTube specifically for Endo/pelvic pain. That helped mentally and physically.I hope you start to feel better soon x

[Hidden]

I think I understand where you're at, and I say things like "everyones hard looks different, this is my hard and I need to rest. Rest is productive. There are different types of rest which one do I need today. " also a lot of breathing and this too shall pass.

Sending gentle hugs

[Cocoacupid]

Hun as you said you need time to rest and relax. After having three operations it puts pressure on physical health. I always think of things this way. Mental and physical health go hand in hand so if the physical is struggling your mental health will struggle too. I’m struggling a lot with my symptoms while waiting for endo bowel surgery. The symptoms are definitely debilitating. I do still work but I’m

Not sure how long I will be able to as at times can hardly walk with the cronic pelvic pain. I find that trying to focus on a good few points to feel thankful 1 that am alive after an infection went to sepsis and 2 that I have now after twenty odd years got a diagnosis and that am not crazy for feeling extreme pain. Step one ☝️ to looking after your mind is do at least one thing everyday that makes you feel more positive. Step 2 like you are doing already surround yourself with positive people that care. If these steps are not working ask your doctor for some

Counselling. As I suffered badly with my mental health before I have always had like counselling and things now they say instead of. A personality disorder it’s autism so I feel like a weight lifted off my shoulders for that and also when they said had severe endo I was actually very relieved. Sometimes I think you have to grief for the life you haven’t experienced due to illness to then let it all go to try and focus on just the here and now. If you focus on the present moment in time and forget about the past and future and just take baby steps on the here and now I think that will help your mindset. The other thing I find that helps is always thinking that someone in the world is a lot more worser off than yourself. That helps me to actually feel more grounded and helps me to not focus on myself and helps me be less selfish. This may not work for you. But it has helped me by looking at the bigger picture. The only reason I have done this is my mum for while as she has chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia has made me demise my pain and how could I possibly be in pain when she is the only one I felt with pai . She later apologised for this when my consultant showed us the images from my lap. That thinking helped me to focus on others. Sometimes I think when we are caught up in pain we focus on that but by trying to do things and think of others it’s helped me not to forget the pain but it’s helped me to get on with my life to some degree. As by doing something I think I feel the pain a little less. Good luck 🤞 xx