Living with an illness or disability is hard, I suffer from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
To manage with ME I have several items that I class as necessities like My Husband , Daughter and Our Black Labrador Alfie, unfortunately they are unable to purchase or be replicated so instead I have listed what I keep in my spotty bag, Here are My ME Essentials.
I have this red spotty bag all ready packed and near the door of my bedroom, I need to ensure that if I am taken into hospital or I need to leave the house quickly that it is able to be picked up without having to look for several things.
Face Masks –
As we are still a long way off from being able to call our world as safe living environment I keep an unopened pack of face masks in my bag. I prefer the disposable masks over the cloth ones, I overthink things and start thinking about how you can tell if the place you put your face mask is hygienically clean. So for me as soon as I take it off that is classed as one use and it has to be binned even if that means getting a new one out after eating food.
Tens Machine –
If you haven’t already treated yourself to one of these I advise you to stop what you are doing and go to the link I have provided as its only £13.19.
My Tens machine has 2 channels so I can put pads on my back and also on my legs whilst being able to select 2 different intenstities. When I was still working I always had this in the car with me as driving on some medication that I take for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is far too risky.
I advise you to check the directions included with your medication before getting behind the wheel of a car as some medication can affect your ability to drive. Make sure you also check with your local law enforcement legislation as driving under the influence of medication even if it is prescribed to you can carry a fine or worse.
So instead of taking pain medication I would use my tens machine on a low setting.
Hand Splints –
On top of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis I also have Endometriosis and De Quervains Syndrome in both of my hands.
FamilyDoctor.Org states De Quervains tenosynovitis is a painful condition that affects the tendons in your wrist. It occurs when the 2 tendons around the base of the thumb become swollen. The swelling causes the sheaths (casing) covering the tendons to become inflamed. This puts pressure on nearby nerves causing pain and numbness https://familydoctor.org/condition/de-quervains-tenosynovitis/
As this pain can hit at any time I ensure that I always have my hand splints available as once that pain starts getting worse it makes doing anything very difficul
CBD Balm –
CBD Balm has been a fairly recent discovery for me. I have tried the tablets , whilst the tablets didnt help with the pain levels they did help reduce the anxiety that I find increases for me when I am in pain. Just applying the CBD Balm on my head when I get headaches works perfectly for me, it also means that I am not taking additional pain medication . Its great to be able to apply it just on my forehead and temples as it gets to work to reduce that tension build up a lot sooner than it takes for a tablet to work.
Noise Cancelling Ear Protectors –
Having ME causes pain in ways that a lot of people are not aware of. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Suffferers can get pain from too much light or reading for too long as well as just being over stimulated, yes they all cause pain but I find one that really bothers, Noise.
Any time people are having a loud party or even kids playing near to my house it affects me, if I am tired it hurts so much worse so being able to have ear protection to hand is an absolute necessity. Hospitals are particularly bad as these is always so much going on, on top of the noise you have bright lights everywhere, being able to just put these ear protectors on makes such a difference. Definately purchase these if noise causes you pain.
Dark Sunglasses –
As mentioned above noise and light can cause me pain. In my own home I can sit with an eye mask on all day but out in public it can cause you a few funny looks. Sunglasses however are perfectly acceptable which is why I have a pair in each of my bags , my bedside tables, the car and of course my spotty bag.
If you have any sort of pain associated with light then definitely but a pair of really dark sunglasses, they don’t need to be expensive just as dark as you can find.
Medication Box –
While this isn’t always in my bag it is always added to my bag if I need to leave the house. This one is perfect for me as it is has 3 sections for morning, afternoon and evenings. Each day has its own little box so if I am going away for a weekend ( I wish ) or I am going to be out for the day I just pick up what I need. No boxes of medication bulking up my bag all I need to take is in my medication box and I have 7 days worth of my medication.
I hope this helps others who have illness or disabilities and are unsure what works or does not work. For all of the items I have tried to supply links to items that I actually have but if it is no longer available I have substituted it with Amazon Top sellers. The links above for Amazon are affiliate links which really helps support my site , so if you use them Thankyou.
Should you have any questions or queries about living with an illness of disability then email them to me at ask@alishawhittam.com , I would love to help in any way I can.
Thankyou again
Alisha
Please find a link to my latest post and how I am trying to raise money for a wheelchair accessible vehicle https://alishawhittam.com/please-help-me-buy-a-wheelchair-accessible-vehicle/
We would love for your help , I appreciate that things are tight for a lot of people right now so if you are unable to donate would you please share it. Thankyou.