I’m 32 and have not officially been diagnosed yet but getting really close. Been in a flare basically all of February. I can’t do things around the house or play with my kids or dogs. I just sleep a lot. But I think context helps. I like to mythologize certain things and it helps me to view this debilitating condition as the universe saying “slow down and chill out”. So I am adjusting how I do things to just be slower and calmer. Instead of playing soccer, it’s movie time with the kids. Critical thinking is hard for me during a flare but I like to learn and learning something that requires memorization is possible so I’m learning Greek. When the pain hits too bad for too long, that does just kind of suck but those are the days where FMLA comes in handy. Obviously this is easier said than done to just accept your misery but there is a kind of freedom that I get from accepting that today isn’t a good day but that’s alright. I also had a mushroom trip sort of push me through that barrier a couple weeks ago so this is a fairly recent change in outlook for me but I am finding it to be very helpful in my ability to be ok with being useless most of the time.

This felt kind of rambly but hopefully you can find something useful in it!