Seems to make it much worse and I'm not sure how to handle ridding my life of the stress that probably brought it on to begin with. CALGON!
Reducing stress has been a huge thing for me. I've reorganized my house to make things easier (and gotten rid of a TON of stuff!!!), cut down on activities for myself and my five homeschooled kids, and chosen homeschool and volunteer activities based on what adds enjoyment to our lives. My view now is that if it's adding stress to our lives, we don't need to be doing it. I've noticed a definite relationship between stress and pain levels.
I'm not sure how you keep up with 5 kids, but you go girl! I've got a 13 year old that I'm trying to keep up with and just one at home keeps me busy (my son is 21 and out of the house). I feel like there are things I'm going to have to reconsider the importance of at some point. I've always kept my house very clean and it seems like such a struggle these days. The house, the yard, keeping the cars clean/maintenanced, taking care of my two schnauzers, and looking for work has me exhausted! My husband is a disabled veteran and for the last several years he's been recovering from one surgery after another and experiencing severe depression and PTSD. The support coming home from living in Fort Campbell Kentucky for several years, was non-existent. Both our families (who are local) have become strangers to us and that stress has really bummed me out.
Now that I've got PsA I need to bring my stress levels down and I just honestly don't know how or what to do to achieve that ZEN like experience :) I can honestly say that it does help to talk to ya'll and getting your advice. Thanks and have a great day ALL!
LOL...some days I don't know how I keep up with 5 kids ... or 6, or 7, or 9 for that matter, depending on the day and who else's kids I'm watching ... I have at least one "extra" child 5 days a week, and on the days I have 9 kids, there are 2 1-year-olds, 3 3-year-olds, and the other kids are 6, 9, 11, and 12. It's crazy, but it's my life. We're adding an infant to the mix one day a week through November and then two days a week after that ... possibly up to 4 days a week. The good thing is that the kids basically entertain each other and the big kids love helping the little kids with their "school" work.
We have an hour of quiet time every afternoon. The kids are "banished" to do homeschool work or to go to their rooms and read or play quietly. The 3 year olds and 1 year old nap. I make myself some coffee or tea and read or watch something online. That helps prepare me to tackle the rest of the day. I also try to take an hour after the kids go to bed to meditate, pray, reflect, do Reiki, and center myself before dh gets home.
Heather, I'm with you, I don't know how to handle it. Hoping I can get some good info from the folks here, who have been living with this longer than I. Hope you can get it figured out for you!