People who deal with Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue often feel alone and that no one understands. The best support you can receive is often people who start off as complete strangers, going through the same thing as you are, but alone the way, they happen to be going through the same things you are and often you create a little family of your own. Online support groups can be awesome! :)

But...It is with no doubt...that when it comes to pain, men and women are treated differently.We've seen it with the cervical check scandal. Every day millions of women around the world suffer from chronic pain but many remain untreated.Pain conditions affecting women have a significant global impact. Yet, there is still a lack of awareness/recognition of pain issues affecting women. Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of women than men around the world; however women are less likely to receive treatment. Research has shown that women generally experience more recurrent pain, more severe pain and longer lasting pain than men.

Many people are also unaware that certain pain conditions are more prevalent in women than in men. For example, fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by chronic widespread pain, is significantly more prevalent in women (80-90% of diagnosed cases are women). Other conditions that disproportionately affect women include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), chronic pelvic pain and migraine headache.

If you’re still with me reading this (men and women) you women of Ireland out there... living with chronic illness, you’re honestly pretty damn fierce. You fight through pain and fatigue and symptom flares (on top of monthly period pains and etc) every day while still trying to live the best life you can. You deal with doctors who don’t always know how to help you, acquaintances and coworkers who may not understand how you can “look fine” but still be sick and perhaps your own anxiety and depression due to the stress of your condition. And, you still manage everyday challenges like work and family.

Yep, that sounds pretty damn fierce! Happy International Women's Day to all you beautiful women out there! Sending gentle hugs xxx