Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy

Inflammatory bowel disease, ostomy, chronic pain, PTSD, and mental wellbeing.

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Tag: Chronic Illness

5th Mar 20265th Mar 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Uncovering the shared brain circuits of PTSD and chronic pain

Female in meditation
23rd Feb 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Why we need to talk about the mental impact of chronic illness

5th Feb 20264th Feb 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Braving the Big Talk – we don’t always need the “right” words

9th Jun 202526th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

The recovery loop: Why it’s never a straight line

23rd Apr 202528th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

More than surgery: When chronic illness becomes trauma

29th Jan 202530th Jan 2025 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Holistic, complementary, and alternative medicine – what’s the difference?

20th Dec 202420th Oct 2025 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Breathwork; scientifically backed breathing exercises to improve your health!

20th Sep 202428th Sep 2024 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Fibromyalgia – the journey so far

16th Nov 202316th Nov 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Healing trauma: What is trauma?

20th Jul 202320th Jul 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Know your rights | GP practices

18th Jul 202318th Jul 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Taking pills doesn’t make me weak

1st Jun 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

The tightrope of hope

20th Jan 202328th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Finding MY healthy lifestyle with IBD and an ostomy

16th Nov 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Changing seasons, chronic fatigue, and mental health

25th Oct 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Attending the pain management programme – part 1

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Older Posts

My #ADHD diagnosis was one week today, and while I’ve spent that time processing, a few things are starting to click into place. It’s a big piece of the puzzle. For a long time, #ChronicPain and #PTSD have been viewed as two VERY separate battles, but some recent research confirms a deep link. My latest blog post, The PTSD and pain link: What the research says, explores how medical trauma from emergency surgeries, hospital stays, or not being believed actually changes our nervous system - link in bio. Since finishing my #reiki training last month, I’ve been following my morning yoga practice with a "strengthening my light" meditation and some mini self-reiki. It’s been a lovely addition to the routine, but it turns out I was much more tired than I realised this morning. 😂 Yikes! 🙈 Spring must be on its way because I was out of the house today, without a hat! ☀️ The increase in people diagnosed with #ADHD in recent years made it impossible not to learn about it, just "in passing". Plus, some people around me have a keen interest in neurodivergence, too. It's not a rabbit hole I went down, but the more second-hand thing's I've learnt, the more I began to wonder whether it could be me. Then I wondered whether everyone thinks that about themselves? If you've ever looked at a restaurant menu and felt like you were staring at a list of potential landmines, you aren't being "difficult". I'm sharing how new research validates the food fear so many of us in the #IBD community live with for #EatingDisordersAwarenessWeek. SOME surgeries can impact fertility, but finding the facts and figures for your specific surgery can be difficult 🤯 It took me seven years after my #UlcerativeColitis diagnosis to finally talk about the emergency surgery, the sepsis, and the complications that followed. When I started sharing in 2014, I was doing it from a place of anger because I was tired of being misjudged. At the time, I didn't have the language for the grief I was carrying, and even the word "feelings" made me cringe. Not much of a roasting 😂😂 I'd love that! 🌿 Grief is a word we usually associate with losing someone, but when you are diagnosed with a lifelong #ChronicIllness, you are grieving too. You are grieving the loss of your healthy self, the person you were in your best memories, and the future you thought you would have. Don't worry, I haven't gone to the "dark side" 🙈
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Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy
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