Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy

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

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Tag: Post traumatic stress

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

23rd Apr 202528th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

More than surgery: When chronic illness becomes trauma

It's #EndometriosisAwarenessMonth, and I'm talking about the frustrating diagnostic loop that so many of us find ourselves stuck in. When you live with #ChronicPain in the pelvic or abdominal area, getting a clear diagnosis often feels like a game of ping-pong between specialists. A memory popped into my head yesterday, that made me feel really icky. 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! 🌿
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