What is the relationship between pain and menopause? Why is it often misdiagnosed in women or dismissed altogether? And what can we do about it?

This blog follows a discussion with one of our specialist clinicians on the topic and includes personal experiences related to this topic.

Does the very thought of planning a holiday leave you feeling exhausted? The idea of a long journey and sleeping in a different bed is enough to raise your anxiety levels before you even consider the expectations of yourself or others regarding what you will do whilst on holiday. Isn’t it supposed to be pleasurable or, at the very least, somewhat relaxing?

Having a diagnosis of ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia or Long Covid is not necessarily an end to engaging with activities including working. Here one of our team shares something of her personal experience of sustaining work whilst managing fatigue symptoms aswell as many accounts from past clients who have also been supported, through our specialist programmes, to re-enter work in some capacity.

In this article, Katherine Sewell, employed by Vitality360 in an HR role, shares her personal experience of returning to and sustaining work with long-term pain and fatigue symptoms. Vitality360 is a rehabilitation provider working to support people with persistent pain or fatigue to return to and/or sustain work. With her HR expertise alongside her lived experience of a chronic health condition, Katherine looks at some of the ways that HR departments/OH Providers/Employers can support people in a similar situation - including the use of activity management diaries, how to empower people considering capability vs capacity, and how to enable employees and employers to explore some of the issues collaboratively, utilising back to work planning.

As someone who has had ME/CFS for twenty years and counting, my heart skips an excited beat when my social media feeds alert me to a new intervention that claims it will help ease my symptoms or even lead to a full recovery like the one below! Are they worth investing in?

Here we offer our thoughts on various gadgets of this type.

What are the similarities and differences with symptoms of autistic burnout and other fatigue conditions that we see?

One of our team members shares her experiences of being autistic and having an ME/CFS diagnosis.

Known as National Sickie Day in the UK, the first Monday of every February is statistically the day when most workers are likely to call in sick, according to research first conducted by British law firm ELAS in 2011.

Experts attribute this to a combination of gloomy weather, post-holiday blues, and seasonal illnesses. What does one of our team, who is a specialist supporting people to sustain work with long term health issues, think about this?

It’s that time of year again when I decide that the moment has come to create a list of intentions and resolutions. Once the initial momentum of a shiny, fresh new year has dissolved into the relentless greyness of January and February it can be only a matter of time before the resolutions are pretty much discarded amidst a haze of vague guilt.

When planning a conference, or in fact any of our training, I always consider how people with fatigue can access it. I hope that the fact that the conference is online will in itself make it more accessible. We have deliberately scheduled regular breaks throughout the day to rest, move and get some refreshments, and asked all our speakers to stick to their allotted time slot. However we are aware that some participants will not manage a full day therefore we are recording every session and will make these available to participants for 2 months afterwards. That hopefully means that they can be viewed at a pace that suits you.

Burnout is a serious issue that can have a significant impact on your personal and professional life. By taking steps to manage stress and prioritise your well-being, you can prevent burnout and live a healthier, happier life.

We have an exciting range of speakers who are preparing for our forthcoming fatigue conference. In this blog, one of our team, Katherine, shares some of her experience of living with fatigue and what she is looking forward to hearing more about in this regard from our speakers.

“Fibromyalgia: It's like having an orchestra of discomfort playing in various parts of your body.”

In our latest blog we share some of our clients’ experiences of living with this often misunderstood condition.

Navigating work alongside the complexity of Long Covid is an extra burden that needs care and specialist support. Vitality360’s Beverly Knops outlines our approach in this article written for the Society of Occupational Medicine.

She highlights the importance of a personalised and flexible approach, and of using work as part of the rehabilitative process. She also discusses setback planning and not “waiting until someone is 100%” before returning to work.

We asked one of our specialist clinicians to reflect on how far we have come in the 4 years since the start of the covid pandemic, the challenges we faced, but also the rehabilitation successes in difficult times.

At a recent team event our team discussed the complexities of burnout. What is it exactly? What can employers and individuals do about it? Read more about our clinical opinion in this blog.

Recent studies demonstrate that workplace stress continues to rise and is at record levels, which means that employee burnout with symptoms of fatigue and pain is also on the increase. Here one of our team shares her experience and what signs to look out for.

Data reveals that a majority of employees are seeking out hybrid and remote working as employers are encouraged to offer ‘as much flexibility and choice as possible’. Here, one of our team writes about how working remotely and flexibly is bringing benefits to her in being able to sustain work.

A combination of various factors such as persistent sleep disturbance, living under chronic and sustained stress and having chicken pox as an adult, all meant that one day when I was at work for Hilton Hotels I was suddenly utterly incapacitated by severe pain. On another occasion, I recall standing at the bottom of the stairs, unable to go up them as my whole body felt like lead.

Returning to work following a virus or a period of long term ill health can be a daunting prospect. In this article one of our team utilises a particular model and her personal experiences to explore how it’s possible to sustain working with the support and adjustments from an employer, with a long term condition such as fatigue.

Modern technology has allowed us to stay connected during the pandemic, but it also has a habit of setting up addictive patterns of ‘doing’ and achievement. So how can we switch off in a way that will be restorative for our bodies and minds, and help us to embrace the ongoing challenges of the pressures of the cost of living crisis, for example, with resource and resilience? In this blog we offer some tried and tested approaches and strategies - some simple steps for switching off from work!