stress and myositis

Stress and Myositis

We know we cannot avoid stress; it’s simply a part of life. Whether it’s stress over our finances, relationships, job, health, or the health of a loved one, stress takes a toll on our body. For those of us with chronic autoimmune diseases, such as the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, generally referred to as myositis, stress can be even more damaging.

It has been shown that stress can diminish our immune system, cause disease, and increase inflammation.  With this information, it is important that we learn to better cope with the stress in our lives.

There are many ways to cope with stress. Unhealthy ways include keeping our emotions bottled up or using drugs and alcohol as a stress reliever.  However, I want to focus on positive ways to manage and cope with the stress of life.

Some healthy ways to help reduce or cope with stress:

  • Avoid people who seem to stress you (when you can).
  • Learn to say NO when you are overworked or being taken advantage of.
  • Express your feelings rather than keeping them inside.
  • Compromise when possible and focus on positive thinking.
  • Try to adjust your schedule to better manage your time.
  • Learn to forgive others and to forgive yourself as we may feel guilty for trying to focus on our own needs.
  • Keep a journal to help release your emotions.
  • Try and connect with friends and family to talk through some of the issues that are stressing you.
  • And, of course, try and eat healthy and get a good night sleep.

The list above is only a beginning; a set of helpful coping tools we may overlook as we go about living our busy lives.

We must remember to focus on our own well-being. When I am overstressed and unfocused, my muscle disease, polymyositis, and the several other chronic illnesses I have, quickly become worse and I find myself in a flare.

For me, dealing with stress was always an “at the moment” method rather than a well-thought-out plan. I was continually moving from one issue to the next without much thought and certainly without learning anything of value. If 2012 taught me anything it was my way did not work, and I needed to employ a long-term strategy in how I cope with stress.

What have been the major stressors in my life?

The year 2012, a difficult year for me and my family due to cancer diagnoses and deaths, allowed me to put stress coping tools into real life practice.  My father, grandmother, two uncles, and my partner’s grandmother, who was like my own, all passed away. My step-father had a major heart attack, my mom was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer with mets to the brain, and my cousin, who is the same age as me, was diagnosed with cancer.

Add to those losses the stress over my health and finances and 2012 was a very trying year.

As we all know, the stress of losing a loved one is difficult on its own. The stress of losing so many loved ones in a single year, on top of the other major issues in my life at that same time, seemed downright unbearable. So, how did I cope?

I tried to remain focused on each situation individually because if I thought of it all together, it was too much to handle. By allowing myself to realize that each loss was separate, I was better able to focus, make peace, and grieve in a better way.

I did not turn to negative thinking, as easy as it would have been. I carefully remained positive and on alert, should unhealthy ways of coping try to sneak in. I tried to learn from each situation and hold on to the healthy coping tools that worked so I could use these again in later difficult and stressful situations.

How do you manage stress in your life?

Enough about me.  I would like to hear how you handle stressful situations.  What techniques do you use?  Meditation, massage, journaling, counseling? How does stress affect your #MyositisLIFE?

Tags:

Author:

Jerry Williams, the Founder and President of MSU, was diagnosed with Polymyositis in 2003 at the age of 27. Since his diagnosis, Jerry has made it his mission to help others living with the rare disease, Myositis. To this effort, Jerry is involved in many different aspects such as education, writing, helping support and answer questions from patients and caregivers, social networking and website development, and much more. (NOTE: Some things are posted under Jerry Williams but he is not the true author. This is because he manages the website.)

View more information: Jerry Williams

3 Comments
  1. Thelma Farfan 3 years ago

    I was recently diagnosed with polymyositis and im learning to cope with it althought at times it is very hard. Im on prednisone 60 mg. I find it hard to get around without the use of a walker, I am always scared of falling which I have several times and causes me to lose my confidence.

  2. Jerry Williams 11 years ago

    HI Karen and thank you for joining us! So sorry you have to go through all of this mess.
    I know, once I got down to 20 mg, my doctor started first by decreasing by 5mg’s until I got down to 10 and then did 1mg at a time to prevent any adrenal issues or cushings.

    Be sure to check out our Facebook Support Group: Polymyowhat: Understanding Myositis. It is a great group of over 120 people just like us!

  3. Karen Brown 11 years ago

    Thank you for being out there. I was diagnosed in June, 2013 with Polymyositis. Although I never had the biopsy that the doctor ordered. I did not need to have any other expensive test to give me a diagnosis, I had every symptom. The treatment would be identical whether or not I had the biopsy, so I have not done it. I wanted to treat the disease with diet. The rhuemotlogist told me that would not work. You fill me with hope! I am doing the Paleo diet, and am on 50 mg of Predsisone daily. I plan on tapering off slowly. Do you know of a safe taper schedule below 20 mg?

    Thanks for sharing your story, so others do not feel so alone.

    Karen Brown

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2024 Myositis Support and Understanding Association (MSU). All rights reserved. | View our Privacy Policy, Terms, and Non-Discrimination policy. MSU is a charitable organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Federal ID #47-4570748.

View COVID-19 resources and updates, and stay tuned to your state, local, and federal health agencies, along with the CDC.

Log in with your credentials

or    

Forgot your details?

Register for Free Membership

Send this to a friend