Leva Pain Clinic: How I discovered the programme
Last night, whilst scrolling through social media, I came upon a post on the Fibromyalgia Action UK (FMAUK) Facebook page. They were sharing a post from a company called Leva Clinic. The clinic were asking for people to take part in the Leva Online Pain Management Programme for free in exchange for some honest feedback on the programme. Excitedly, I decided to join up on the spot as I would love to get in a bit more control of my chronic illness, live my life more aligned to my values and set new goals to help me with this. I thought it may help my readers to potentially explore using this tool, as well, by documenting my time on this programme. I would like to stress that I am not being paid to write this post and all opinions expressed here are my true and honest opinions.
What is Module 1 about?
There are 12 modules to complete on this programme all together and today I began Module 1. This is all about Understanding Pain and Goal Setting. A really prominent quote stood out for me on this page which I wanted to share with you which was:
“pain is so much more than a physical sensation!”
Leva Pain Management Programme
It affects us all both physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and economically. This got me to thinking about how my pain first came about and what impact it had on my life.
How pain first impacted my life
As readers of my blog know, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a few months after completing the Manchester Marathon and by this point I was in absolute agony across my whole body. Firstly, it stopped me being able to run for a very long time. I had to learn how to go back to 1 minute of exercise in comparison to the 6 hours and 35 minutes I was used to! It also affected my career as, although there were a number of reasons why I decided to leave the teaching profession, fibromyalgia definitely contributed to this. I couldn’t stand for long periods of time, bend over the desks to mark work, cope with the stress of teaching on my already exhausted body and struggled to keep my eyes open on most days!
What is pain?
This then led me to thinking about what pain actually is. My personal understanding of it is that it is your body’s alarm system that tells you something is wrong. It is a natural response to an injury or illness and is a way of keeping your body safe. From research, I discovered that it is often felt as a physical experience in the body yet no two people experience it in the same way!
3 types of pain
Pain can also come in 3 forms either acute, episodic or chronic. Acute pain is when for example you burn yourself and the body needs time to heal but the skin will heal and the discomfort will disappear. Episodic pain helps when you have pain from time to time, for example when you have sickle cell disease or period aches. Chronic pain though is pain that consists for longer than 3 months and there is often no cause or injury left to treat or get better from.
3 categories of pain
It can also fall under 3 other categories that often overlap which are nociceptive, neuropathic or nociplastic pain. Nociceptive pain is, for example, tissue damage or inflammation from a paper cut or broken bone. Neuropathic pain is nerve damage from things such as shingles and sciatica. Nociplastic pain is pain that changes how the nervous system feels and interprets pain. These include fibromyalgia and IBS.
What matters to me
The programme then got me to focus on what matters to me. In no particular order, these are:
- Being the best mum I can be to my little boy
- Continuing on my journey with Powerlifting and getting new PBs
- Continuing and improving on my journey with Sewing
- Strengthening and constantly improving my relationship with my husband
- Staying in touch with friends and being a good friend
- Breastfeeding my little boy for as long as we are both comfortable
- Learning new skills and keeping my brain sharp
These are who I want to be as a person, how I want to treat myself, others and how I want to be perceived. I want to be creative with my sewing, patient with my parenting, supporting and loving to my husband, kind and caring to my friends, motivated with my powerlifting and organised with my time. Knowing what is important to me and what matters to me, I wonder whether you can reflect on what matters to you? This will help you to set goals and stay motivated on your journey with fibromyalgia as you will always be referring to your values.
Mindfulness practice
As I’ve mentioned in my blog before, I have done quite a bit of meditation and part of module one focuses quite a lot on mindfulness. Although, I personally find mindfulness and meditation good in short bursts, I end up getting bored and feeling like there is so much more I could be doing. I’m probably a prime example of someone who needs to meditate more! However, this course teaches you more about what mindfulness is and how it is not just meditating. I must admit, after doing 4 or 5 of the meditations during the day today, I have felt a lot calmer and able to handle most challenges. It was also really helpful for me to do one before bed as just recently I’ve been feeling quite wired when I go to bed at the moment. Perhaps, I need to keep going with meditation and mindfulness and really give it a great go!
Summary
So, all in all, based on Module 1 so far, I can really recommend the Leva Pain Management Programme. It is informative, helpful, has actionable steps and a mixture of audio and reading so you don’t become too overwhelmed. It’s easily accessible, can be worked through at your own pace and I can’t wait to start Module 2. I’ll keep you abreast of my progress on each module!
Mummy the Fibro Warrior Top Tip:
- Really think about your values and based on these was specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timed goals you could put in place to make your life more aligned to your values. Start small!
If there is one takeaway I’d like you all to remember today is that there is more to us as people than our chronic pain condition. Find your values, interests, hobbies and work towards using these as goals. Don’t let chronic pain win. I need you to know you are doing the best you can, your child/children love you just as you are and you are Mummy the Fibro Warrior!
Until next time,
x
p.s. Have you taken part in the Leva Pain Management Programme? What are your values and what goals do you have? What is your understanding of pain? Please do let me know in the comments below!
[…] my previous post called ‘Taking Back Control of my Pain’, I discussed how I am currently trialling The Leva Clinic’s Pain Management Programme. I am […]