Philip (Phil) England

October, and Autumn seems to have really arrived  with wind and rain! The early part of this month I felt very sluggish and tired, spent a lot of time in bed, I really think I have the seasonal blues!. Friday 7th: Had Nero as always during the day time, then in the evening had Cosmo and Harley, but before they arrived decided to invite Neil up to help me with them. Saturday 8th: Had a pain in my side when I woke up, it was there a little bit yesterday but only slight. Run Neil and the dogs over to his. In the evening pain was still there but worse, not bad enough to warrent phoning NHS111 or out of hours doctor. Sunday 9th: Feeling cold, and still have that pain, but it is easing. Monday 10th: Monday morning, start of a new week, same old problems. Back, neck and shoulders up to their usual thing, pain at a so-so level of 5 out of 10. I'm feeling cold and drained, but I must get the milk in though, so must summon up the energy to get out of bed! Tuesday 11th: The pain continues

Blog Entry: 24th August: Fibromyalgia pain flareup again - pain level 8 out of 10, I'm in agony, lower back and hips seem to be the worst  Not too sure why, but with each flare up I seem to get a few days either side of it when my back goes itchy and all I want to do is scratch until I can scratch no more! Blog Entry: 25th August: Well, it's Thursday, and after pain killers and CBD oil before an early night, I can say I'm ready to tackle the day. The flare up has well and truly been knocked down, pain level at about a 3 out of 10.  So it's a case of up and at it. Have a good day everyone. To those affected by the Liverpool shooting the other day, my thoughts are with you, it's a nasty thing to have happened, and God willing, it won't happen again.  But life goes on, and if we let things like this get to us we will just give up on living.

7th August - Blog Entry: Heat is building! Had a funny feeling I had over done yesterday, down and upstairs a number of times sorting my plant tubs out in the garden, before doing that going to Home Bargains and Tesco's, I ignored my limits and just kept on going, and now I am paying for it, not as bad as it could have been but still enough to stop me from doing much today. Should be popping to see some of the Cuppa and Chat group later this morning (if I can manage it!) 11th August - Blog Entry: In a scorching heatwave!  Woken up by a thumping headache, feeling a bit queasy, and my neck and shoulders are killing me! I hate feeling like this, just feel like hiding away when I feel like this, the heat isn't helping 17th August - Blog Entry: Finally it feels fresher! So I may have over done sorting out cupboards today, my back and shoulders are starting to play up!         I seemed to have only just moved things out and right back in, nothing got thrown away.... Pointless really.

  The mind is a strange thing, a few days ago a name popped in to my head, that name was Jason Campbell. I did a search on LinkedIn and found him, dropped him a message and we started chatting. Another name entered my mind then, Andrew Sampson, he was a strange kid, he had a strange family set up, he used to sit in the passenger seat of the family car and change gears, he was a strange kid. Sadly found out from Jason that Andrew was getting off a bus, slipped, hit his head and sadly died. RIP Andrew Now , why can I remember things from the past, yet can't remember what I have to do or what medications I have to take? We are currently in a bit of a heatwave, its too hot to move or do anything. Trying to stay cool and keep hydrated. I'm a fragile flower in the heat, I will probably wilt! Got a bit of a tingle at the moment, its kind of a sign a flareup is on the way, just what I need extreme heat and pain... not good. EDIT 18 th July 2022: I was right about the flare up, in gre

  Blog Entry: Monday 4th July Morning everyone, back killing me, neck feels tender, hay fever seems to be appearing again Later that day: Pain flare up 😭 going to try and lay down and attempt to get sleep. Blog Entry: Tuesday 5th July Didn't sleep too well, pain kept waking me up. At this moment in time it's at about 8 out of 10, think at its peak it was 9 out of 10 so a slight reduction Later in the morning: Pain slowly subsiding, its about a 7 out of 10 right now as of 11:30am Edit - 5:40pm: Still in great pain, it's at about 7.5 out of 10.   Edit - 8:30pm: Still in pain, it's at about 7 out of 10 now, going to put a CBD patch on, few more CBD oil drops and head to bed for an early night.   I have got a hospital appointment coming up on the 7 th July, you watch, I will be in a good day that day THOUGHT You know, trying to voice track a show when in pain takes a while to do, and can really hurt, yet I keep pushing myself. I enjoy doing radio, gives me

  19 th to 22 nd May 19th May Fibromyalgia is at it again, I had a feeling it would yesterday, pain up to about an 8.5 out of 10.   As I have mentioned before, Fibro is like an amplifier for the pain that I suffer with anyway. I have learned to live with it, I just carry on. Ok pain.... I'm going knock you down, or at least block you out!... it's all about pain management and learning to try to deal with it and not let it deal with you. Edit 1:45pm; finally starting to ease, been trying to focus my mind on other things to get my brain to turn down the pain it's at 6.8 out of 10. Edit 8:30pm; pain down to a 4, will it ever go down lower? I'm always in some kind of constant pain   20th May Thumping head this morning, is there a storm on the way? Sure do feel like it 21st May Not long up, very achy this morning but will get by, fighting the pain again, trying to take my mind off it, it's a difficult thing to do, but it can be accomplished if I t

This week has been mental health awareness week.  I suffer with physical issues; Ankylosing Spondylitis, Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia acts as a kind of amplifier, boosting the pain, and other issues.  These physical issues really affect my mental health  I get frustrated and stressed when I fail to do every day tasks. Currently, I have a problem with my left eye. Started off with floaters, and at the end of last year went blurry. I am awaiting an operation, that was due to take place, as I was led to believe, earlier in the year. I was then  told that my good right eye needs to deteriorate before they will do any operation.  Having a blurry eye is really reducing my enjoyment of life. Even though I have been given the green light for driving by the DVLA, I am unable to enjoy it and therefore find myself staying as local as possible. Going for long drives has gone out the window, so I can go to see friends and family. I contacted my local councillor, Paul Ll

Feeling fed up right now. My blurry eye is pissing me off right now and the floaters I can see too, the 25th May can't come soon enough. Fed up of my aches and pains. On the 8th May it was my birthday, I needed to get out. Managed a short walk around Clyne and then the Marina, all the time in pain, but trying to keep going. My left hip has been playing up for a while, and now the right one seems to want to join in. It's like my entire body is ganging up on me. Co-codamol, Gabapentin and CBD oil - the three things that help reduce, but not much. Now, why is CBD oil so expensive? Monday I went to see Juliet, she understands what I am going through. Had a hot chocolate and a catch up chat. I wonder when hospital appointments are going to start back up again? I really need a letter to get me moved out in to a ground floor flat. St Thomas or Mount Pleasant would be cool for me.

 Early May, and what a start to my birthday month it was 2nd May:  Every bone in my body is aching, my throat is sore, it hurts to talk, cold then hot then cold, been sneezing, been sick, got a headache... what is this thing I've got? and how have I caught it? Well it's not Covid, but still, how did I catch anything? I've kept wearing the mask even after the Welsh Government said we no longer had to. I've been really careful! 3rd May: Feeling a little better, but got a feeling my back is gonna be hitting me tomorrow 4th May: Just after 3am and OWWWWWWCCHHHH Aching from head to toe, slight high pitched noise in my ears, tingly all over, Fibromyalgia working with my Ankylosing Spondylitis to woke me up, hate this, I really hate this. Pain at level 9.5 out of 10 5th May: So after my full allowance of Co-Codamol, and Gabapentin backed up with 10 doses of CDB oil, the pain has FINALLY gone down to 7 out of 10, still not a good level but its getting there FACTS : The Co-

For the last few nights I have been waking up at about 2am and going back to sleep about half an hour later, not sure why. I seem to be getting around 7 hours sleep a night. Pain wise today, it's at about a 6 out of 10. The Fibromyalgia seems to be playing it cool and not pushing it's self too much so far today, but one thing I have learnt is it can turn just like that.  I try to keep  positive thoughts , which seems to help me manage to some degree, but even then it don't help much. There is always underlying pain every day thanks to the Ankylosing Spondylitis , Osteoporosis and the Carpal Tunel in my hands. Why do I keep a blog? I find it useful for keeping a record of daily struggles of life and my health. Keeping it is also a useful tool to help the DWP  my GP and hospital specialists understand what I am going through. You can visit me onbline facebook.com/philengland and twitter.com/philengland1 also my website philengland.com #staysafe

9th & 10th MARCH Yesterday afternoon (9th March) : Not feeling too good, back killing me to the extent it is painful to breathe, was alright when I woke up. Feeling really drained and a little sick. Pain killers just not helping  Laying on my bed, hot water bottle in middle of back, heat is helping a little, this could be a very long afternoon This morning (10th March) : Back a bit better, after about 6 hot water bottles and a nights sleep, still hurts when I take deep breaths, so even that's an improvement.  Wednesday 30th  MARCH So, another day in excruciating pain (9 out of 10), tingly skin, thumping head, took me a while to pick my phone up  and type this... it is only 3am. Hate this feeling, no amount of CBD oil or co-codamol will have any affect and being woke up by it really sucks. It's 7am and I am still in great pain all over, can hardly move, so fed up.  I must try and get up... somehow, can't spend all day in bed, knowing the kitchen needs a clean is dr

I was trying to get down stairs to put milk bottle out when my back decided to fire pain at me, it stopped me in my tracks  I am really getting fed up with it all, fed up of no quality of life, any life I do have is impacted by damn Covid. I have days when I am trapped in my flat, when I can even get out side the block to get some fresh air. Life can't get any worse right now, unless I catch Covid, then that would be the cherry on the top. I keep wondering why I am taking Co-codamol or my Gabapentin, until I stop taking it for a 48hour period, when I realise it does actually ease the pain I feel, no matter how slight.

Phil's Video Blog 220 view it at https://youtu.be/1evtteSNhV4 This video is also 'Phil's Food Network - Where Food Looks Good 2', you could say 2 videos for the price of 1! In today's video I make Potato & Cheese Bread from a recipe I saw on YouTube, and added to it for my tastes! Here's the recipe- The Bread: 90g Strong Flour (bread flour) 55g Milk A little Himalayan Salt For Frying: Melted Unsalted Butter / Olive Oil The Insides: 1 Potato (medium size) 2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise Grated Extra Mature Cheese Sprinkle of Parsley Sprinkle of Dried Chopped Garlic For Frying: Melted Unsalted Butter / Olive Oil Why not check out some designs that I have created if you suffer with Chronic Pain or Fibromyalgia Chronic Pain - visit https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/90959680?asc=u Fibromyalgia - visit https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/90962177?asc=u Don't forget my radio shows , which you can listen again via www.radiocatchup.site Saturday Breakfast - 7am til 10

So, in the middle of the night my body decided I didn't need any more sleep and woke me up. A tingly type of pain, which develops in to a constant aching pain which seems to then spread from my mid to lower back and then moves up the back to also cover the top part of my body. Sometimes I get one pain in the mid to lower part of my back and my neck and shoulders at the same time, then the two seem to join up. I am really not liking trying to live my life with pain, it really gets me down. Seems my medication isn't really doing much to counteract it, it eases a little, but that's about all. Think of it as the sound on a hifi. The pain I wake up with and live with on a daily basis is at 9 or 10 - full volume, which gets reduced to 6 or 7. I am ALWAYS in pain and that makes my life horrid.