Strategies for coping with a chronic condition

You can live with a chronic condition day to day, responding to its sometimes swiftly changing symptoms and problems. Or you can take charge and manage the disease instead of letting it rule you.

I found these great strategies while I was browsing the Internet and I thought I’d share them here. 

I have edited them down a bit, but there’s a link to the website at the end of this post.

10 helpful strategies for coping with a chronic condition:

• Get information. The more you know about your condition, the better equipped you'll be to understand what's happening and why. First direct your questions to your doctor or nurse. If you want to do more in-depth research, ask them about trusted sources of medical information on the Web. 

• Make your doctor a partner in care. Take responsibility for your care, and don't leave everything to your doctor. One way to do this is to listen to your body and track its changes. Learn to check your blood pressure and your pulse. Weigh yourself every day and chart your symptoms. This kind of home monitoring lets you spot potentially harmful changes before they bloom into real trouble. 

• Build a team. Doctors don't have all the answers. Seek out the real experts. A nurse might be a better resource for helping you stop smoking or start exercising. You'll get the best nutrition information from a dietitian. 

• Coordinate your care. In an ideal world, the specialists you see for your heart, your diabetes, and your arthritis would talk with each other every now and then about your medical care. In the real world, this doesn't usually happen. A primary care physician can put the pieces together to make sure your treatments are good for the whole you. 

• Make a healthy investment in yourself. Part of the treatment for almost any chronic condition involves lifestyle changes. Investing the time and energy to make healthy changes usually pays handsome dividends, ranging from feeling better to living longer. 

• Make it a family affair. The lifestyle changes you make to ease a chronic condition such as high cholesterol or heart disease are good for almost everyone. Instead of going it alone, invite family members or friends to join in. 

• Manage your medications. Remembering to take one pill a day is tough; managing 10 or more is daunting. Knowing about the drugs you take and what problems to watch out for is as important as learning about your condition. Talking with your doctor, nurse, or a pharmacist can put drug information into perspective. 

• Beware of side-effects. Read up on the signs of depression. Let your doctor know if you think you're depressed or heading in that direction. 

• Reach out. Look for a support group in your area and talk with people who have been through what you are facing. 

• Plan for end-of-life decisions. Spelling out whether you want the most aggressive care until the very end, or whether you'd prefer hospice care and a do-not-resuscitate order, can save you and your loved ones a lot of confusion and anguish later on. 

Source: www.health.harvard.edu