Health

Weekly Roundup Monday 5TH Jan – Sunday 11th Jan

| Suzi Stamp

MONDAY 5TH JAN

I worked from 8:00am – 12:00pm. I’ve been feeling really tired since Christmas and have had niggling cold symptoms that have not amounted to much but have been quite annoying (runny/blocked nose, sore throat, aches), and I think that is what has been making me feel tired. Once I got in from work, I headed to bed and slept from 1:30pm to 3:00pm. I still wasn’t feeling great, so I had a bath once I’d woken up, which helped a little bit. Once Shane came home from work, we made a roast dinner with a Quorn Roast, roast potatoes, roast parsnips and carrots, broccoli and gravy.

TUESDAY 6TH JAN

I had the day off from work and planned to do some blog work. Shane left for work around 8:30am, and I played Animal Crossing for a bit while watching Below Deck. I then started working on some blog ideas and set up a blog calendar for 2026. I’m still feeling a bit tired, so I had a nap from 1:45pm – 4:25pm. We had decided earlier in the week, as part of our meal plan, to have shepherd’s pie for tea, so I started to make that once I was awake. We had that for tea with peas and an espresso martini afterwards.

WEDNESDAY 7TH JAN

We woke up at 7:45am and had coffee before Shane headed off to work for the day. I played Animal Crossing before getting ready for work. Snow has been forecast between 12:00pm today and 12:00pm tomorrow, so work was manic with people panic-buying everything both in the shop and through our online services. I was shattered when I got home from work, so Shane and I had fish and chips for tea from the local takeaway.

THURSDAY 8TH JAN

We woke up around 7:10 am and had coffee and cigarettes. There hadn’t been any snow, but it had been really cold in the night, and everything was frosty when we woke up, so Shane scraped the ice off his car and headed off for the day around 8:00am. We needed some things for decorating the dining area, so I placed an order with B&Q, including wallpaper, paint, brackets and a wallpaper hanging kit. I spent some more time on my blog calendar and did some laundry and other housework before heading to work for a 5:00pm to 10:00pm shift. Because snow was still forecast, people were still panic-buying, and the shop had been stripped bare of essentials by 7:00pm!

FRIDAY 9TH JAN

We got up at 6:40am and got ready for our work days. I worked an 8:00am – 2:00pm shift. I am still feeling ill and tired, so we had a nap when I got in from work for a couple of hours. The brackets that I had ordered from B&Q arrived, and I had a notification that the paint I had ordered for the kitchen was ready for collection, so we headed to B&Q to collect that. When we got home, Shane filled some holes, and we prepped the kitchen by washing the walls down with sugar soap, ready for tomorrow. We then sat and did some bullet journaling before heading to bed.

SATURDAY 10TH JAN

We were both off from work today, so we had a lie-in and didn’t get up until 11:20am! After a lazy morning, I booked myself in for a dreadlock maintenance and detox session with Threadloxx. The wallpaper I’d ordered was delivered from I Love Wallpaper, so I can start that tomorrow. We painted the kitchen, and Shane put up the brackets that had come yesterday. We did some more bullet journaling and watched Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in the evening.

SUNDAY 11TH JAN

We got up at a more respectable time of 9:45am today, though I still feel a bit tired and ill. Some more of my B&Q order was due to arrive between 10am and 12pm, so we didn’t want to miss that by lazing around in bed! The items got delivered at 11:00am, so Shane did another coat of paint on the kitchen walls while I painted the skirting boards and trunking in the dining area. Once the paint was dry, Shane helped me to hang the wallpaper on the back wall in the dining area. We had salmon fillets, new potatoes, mixed veg and parsley sauce for tea and watched some Taskmaster before heading to bed.

2026 – My Plans

| Suzi Stamp

It’s the New Year, and that means looking forward, making plans and setting goals. It is time to reflect on the past year and move forward into the new. I love the tradition of choosing a word for the year, and this year I’ve chosen “Rebirth” as my word of the year. After the awful start of 2025 and all that happened in the first 6 months, I am finally coming through the other side of it all, rediscovering myself and the things I enjoy, building new relationships, strengthening the ones I have, becoming myself again, and I feel that this word really sums up this journey into 2026.

A New Year is also the time to set goals and make plans for the year, and, as is tradition, I have set myself some goals and plans for the year ahead!

BLOGGING

  • More posts – aim for 3 to 4 posts a week
  • Range of posts – recipes, reviews, “On The Blog”, plans, places etc
  • More content on other platforms- Share photos to Instagram / Facebook
  • Build my audience/followers

Career

  • Grow my businesses – Dragon Dreadz UK and Bite Nails UK by advertising on social media
  • Aim for 5 clients per week
  • Update my hairdressing qualification
  • Undertake Team Leader Training

HOBBIES

  • Scrapbooking – at least once per month
  • Card Making – at least 2 times per month
  • Jewellery Making – at least 2 times per month
  • New hobbies – Try a new craft a month

TRAVEL

  • Festivals
  • Camping
  • Visit my family
  • Day Trips (Hawkestone Brewery, Bristol, Cardiff, the beach)

PERSONAL

  • Start keeping a proper journal
  • Restart Mindfulness
  • Work on routines
  • Graphics

HOme and garden

  • Finish redecorating the dining area
  • Redecorate the spare room
  • Redecorate the bedroom
  • Set up the summerhouse as our Craft Cave

HEALTH

  • Book a blood test with the dr
  • Take vitamins
  • Cook from scratch/meal plan
  • Work on sleep

LIFESTYLE

  • Stop procrastinating
  • 3 monthly life review
  • Read more books
  • Schedule me-time

RELATIONSHIPS

  • Plan more Besties Date days/Nights
  • Plan dates with my boyfriend
  • Get better at replying to messages
  • Plan cute activities to do on days off

What are your plans and goals for 2026?

Routine or Ritual? My Morning

| Suzi Stamp

Routines are really important for me. As an autistic, I have to have routines implemented into my day, otherwise I forget to do certain things (like drinking or eating). I have routines for weekly events too, such as watering my plants or putting the bins out. I even have a routine for how I get dressed (from the bottom up – socks first!). To me, these are pretty mundane and ordinary and done without much thought or have any kind of real effect on my feelings or thoughts; they are just things I do that help me in my day-to-day living.

Rituals, on the other hand, have a bit more thought and feeling connected to them, are a bit more magical and spiritual. I like to view my morning process as a ritual as it has a stronger effect on my feelings, thoughts and levels of productivity, and each part of it feels meaningful.

I love my mornings now; previously, when the ex-husband was living with me, there was no space or calmness for any kind of routine. Everything was too loud – the noise from the TV and radio, the chaos and untidiness of the house and it was impossible to function or even form thoughts properly. My mornings now are a hella lot different.

I begin my morning by getting up, normally any time between 6am and 8am. I stay in my pyjamas, brush my teeth, come downstairs, let Roxy out for her morning wee, and, while she is busy, I fill the kettle or prepare the coffee machine and prepare mugs for my boyfriend (yep, I have a boyfriend – more on that soon!) and myself.

We sit and have our coffee and a cigarette without the TV or radio on, just in quiet calmness. I often use this morning coffee as a Mindfulness Exercise. We talk about what plans we have for the day and how we slept, our feelings and thoughts, among other things. If it’s a weekday, my boyfriend heads off to work, and if I have an early shift, then I get myself ready for work. If I have a later shift or a day off, then I head to the kitchen.

I check Roxy’s food and water levels, empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away. I reload it with any plates, glasses or mugs that need to be done, I hand-wash any items that have been left over from the evening before (ones that don’t fit into the dishwasher) and wipe down the kitchen units and tidy as I go. This little bit of my morning helps me to feel like I have accomplished something on my list, and makes me feel positive and productive. I like having a clear kitchen, and having this little routine built into my daily ritual feels like I’m clearing away the previous day and greeting the new day.

I put the kettle on and make another coffee, sit on the sofa and have a cuddle with Roxy. I play a game on my phone, mostly puzzle games such as Killer Sudoku, Tap Gallery, or Scavenger Hunt. Puzzle games seem to help my mind wake up and start working properly, and I feel more awake and “with it” so they are really important for my mornings.

After I have done this, I feel like I can start my day. I’m awake and calm, feeling positive, my mind is clear, and I can then do all the things I need to.

How do you like to start your day? Is there anything that you would like to include more in your morning ritual?

Coronavirus, Lockdown and Me

| Suzi Stamp

***This post is image-heavy***

 

I’ve been off from work for a few weeks now, I was really poorly with something – aches, tiredness, shortness of breath, coughing and a sore throat which wasn’t good.  My temperature spiked on Easter Monday to 38.3 and by Tuesday I felt awful.  I phoned the dr and had a telephone consultation where he said from the sounds of my symptoms I could have contracted the virus but now it sounded like a chest infection as I was coughing up some funky coloured phlegm, and have been prescribed antibiotics.  The prescription was sent to my local pharmacy and I had a bit of trouble getting it – queued for ages at the pharmacy who couldn’t find my prescription so I had to call the dr to re-send it and managed to get my antibiotics on Friday.

I’ve been taking my antibiotics since Friday and am still feeling rough but getting better slowly and I’m so thankful that we have got an NHS service that can provide us with these things and take care of us.

I’ve been on lockdown and in isolation for nearly 3 weeks now and it can be a struggle, I find myself getting a bit lonely and my stress and anxiety haven’t been too good, and coupled with being ill it has been hard at times, but I have found some ways to cope and cheer myself up.  Our street takes part in the Clap for Carers at 8pm on a Thursday which I have been joining in with from my doorstep, its nice to see the neighbours and be part of something nice.  I have also been joining in with Frock Up Friday which is a fantastic group full of the most lovely people who all get dressed up on a Friday and post their outfits to the group, I’ve never been part of a more lovely and inspiring group!  It has even encouraged me to get dressed up during the week too, and I have been making an effort with my outfit and makeup choices each day.  I find that making an effort to dress up is making me feel a bit less ill and it has altered my mindset in a positive way.

And I am working on the 100 Day Project which runs for 100 days!  People can choose to do anything over the 100 days, I’ve seen people doing 100 days of baking, dancing, singing, sketching, sewing, all sorts!  It’s not just for artists and anyone can take part!  I decided to do 100 days of squares and am doing 8×8 inch squares which will all link together to form a big picture which I want to hang in my spare room.  I am using the project to try out lots of different mediums and techniques so the outcome should be really interesting.  I am a few days behind as I have been working on linking the pictures together and re-working some things as I go along so its not really been a square a day but, I have been “arting” each day!

Here’s some of my work on the project so far…

How are you all?  what have you been up to?  I hope you are all staying safe and well!

Coronavirus, Anxiety and Me

| Suzi Stamp

I have been in self-isolation for the past week and I am on the verge of returning to work after this 7 day period at home.  I have been ok physically but, as the coronavirus outbreak is worsening I am really starting to struggle with my mental health.

Last year I was absent from work with stress, anxiety and depression for nearly 6 months and up until a few days ago I felt pretty stable but now I am starting to struggle, especially with the anxiety side of my mental health.

I went shopping, as I usually do on payday and I normally buy much that I need for the month ahead.  In the days leading up to going shopping, I was hearing stories of the shops selling out of essentials that I normally buy monthly which started my anxiety levels to rise.

I get paid monthly, I live on my own, I have bills to pay and my monthly salary just about covers that along with food and other things I might need.  I have very little room monthly to save any money and budgeting for food is one way that I can keep in some kind of control of my finances.  When I went shopping (and I visited 3 different supermarkets), not one had items that I rely on for my monthly food shop.  I eat a lot of pasta, at least 3 times a week as I know that what I cook will do me for 3 meals (one that evening, then lunch with the leftovers for tea), there were no tins of baked beans that I eat on toast at least 2 times a week, there was no veg, the freezers were empty save for a few tubs of ice-cream.  There were no toilet rolls or dog food, laundry products, hand wash, bath products or bin bags.  This has caused me a lot of worry and expense.  I need to eat, my dog needs to eat and I have a budget that I really can’t go too far away from.

In the end, I was forced to buy dog food and pasta on-line (Amazon had some stocks available) but I paid over the odds.  Roxy usually has one type of food and I couldn’t get that so instead of spending the usual £9 on a bag I had to buy something that was similar in nutritional value and ingredients that cost twice as much.  And I have had to bulk buy pasta online spending a lot more than I usually do.

In addition to that, I am getting really anxious about how this virus will affect those around me, both my Mum and Dad are in the at-risk group and are retired and I am worried about their health and how they will manage in having to isolate themselves with things like food shopping and just remaining safe.  My brother is also in self-isolation for the foreseeable future as he is asthmatic.

I have been watching the news, not constantly but the important parts of it as the advice the government are giving seems to change on a daily, if not hourly, basis.  I don’t know whether watching it is making my anxiety worse or not but I do know that I would rather be armed with the facts and be up to date with advice that is being given.

I’m worried about going back to work, and I can’t help panicking about what would happen if I picked up the virus and carried it to my parents or transferred it to someone else and I am worried about how the virus could affect me.

I’m worried about what will happen with work and if the office will remain open and about working from home.  I was planning on getting broadband put into my home this month but can no longer afford to do so as my food bill was more than I had planned.  Not having broadband and having to rely on mobile internet might be ok for blogging and other general browsing but I don’t have enough data to work from home for 7.5 hours a day for 5 days let alone afford to do this indefinitely.  I don’t even know if working from home would be an option when the work I do means that I have access to personal data.

And I am worried about having an extended period of time away from work, whether I will still get paid, whether I will still have a job to go back to should I take leave and whether, if I have to have time off again due to my mental health (which was stable before this virus pandemic) whether it will go down as sick leave and how that will affect my sickness record and pay.

I am just really anxious and worried about everything at the moment and I’m struggling to see anything in a positive light with so few answers to any questions, the advice we are being given changing constantly and all these stupid people who are panic buying and making the situation even worse in the grand scheme of things.

Supporting Friends Througn Mental Illness

| Suzi Stamp

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With 1 in 4 people in the UK being diagnosed with a mental illness it is very likely that a friend or family member could be one of these people.  It can be hard to know how to help when you hear of someone getting diagnosed with depression which affects around 300 million people, or anxiety, two of the biggest mental illnesses in the Uk, or any other mental health illness, a lot of what is written on the internet is about how the person affected can help themselves, the types of medical help that are available or guidance notes for employers to follow.

I have been through a diagnosis of mental illness and had 6 months away from work with anxiety and depression coupled with stress, and I am still recovering so the following post is about how you can support friends through mental illness based on the things that helped me.

  • Let them know you are there for them. Just hearing the words “I’m always here for you” and knowing that it is meant was a big support for me.
  • Don’t ask “How are you?” as many people will answer with a generic “I’m fine.” Instead, ask how they are feeling. I have a friend who always sends me a text to ask how I am feeling and it has always given me the opportunity to really talk about my feelings, sometimes being able to share those things is easier with a direct question.
  • Ask what you can do to help. Sometimes the answer may be nothing but other times it could be to run some errands or even just sit and chat.
  • Ask what they would like to do, and have some suggestions for things if they say they don’t want to do anything. My friend would ask me this and I would say nothing a lot of the time as I didn’t want to waste their time, but they would always suggest things like watching a film, cooking some food or playing games on the computer which made me feel good that they wanted to spend time with me.
  • Always remember them in group plans. My friend was brilliant at this, even when I’m sure they knew I would say no.  There really is no worse feeling than friends making plans and not being included.
  • There were times that I didn’t want to talk and there were times when I really needed to let everything out and having someone to just sit and listen was so valuable.
  • Don’t judge. There were times, at the beginning of my mental health illness where I hadn’t done any housework for weeks, I was still in the same pyjamas 3 days down the line, my hair wasn’t brushed or even washed and I felt embarrassed but my friends never judged me or made me feel bad about it.  If you can, do a small task for them, like washing the dishes, sometimes that little gesture helps more than you can imagine.  On one of my bad days where I hadn’t taken a shower for a week or even gotten dressed properly one of my friends came round and sat with me while I took a shower, they picked out some clothes for me to wear then blow-dried my hair for me because everything had felt too huge and overwhelming for me to do myself and those little things made such a difference to my week.

I hope that this guide is useful if you can think of any other ways to help support a friend through mental health illness then let me know in the comments.

The Hidden Effects of Mental Health

| Suzi Stamp

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There are now so many prompts to talk about mental health from Time to Talk Day to Mental health Awareness Week where opportunities are given to learn about mental health or talk about mental health from a first-person perspective.  Things that get talked about, often, during these periods are the causes of mental health problems, symptoms, medications that can help, looking after our mental health, spotting signs in friends and family and how to help others.  The stigma attached to mental health is often talked about in great depth but one thing I have found that gets overlooked is the hidden effects of mental health.

So, what are the hidden effects of mental health?

People who have had mental health problems experience the hidden effects, which often go unnoticed.  Some of these things can be

  • Social circle shrinks

When you have mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression, it can be hard to stay in contact with friends, from calling, texting or attending evenings out, and before you know it, friends have drifted away.

  • Being overwhelmed

When my mental health starts to disintegrate, I stop doing things like cleaning my house or doing the washing up or laundry and as I get better, I can feel overwhelmed by all of the tasks that need to be done.  I also experience a sense of overwhelm when I go outside – to the shops, after a period of locking myself away in the house.

  • People treat you differently

Without wanting to, I have found that people’s attitude can change and they start treating you as if you are fragile and will break.  I have experienced this in work, where, even now, I still get concerned looks from my colleagues or do not seem to get to do the same types of work as others in case I cannot cope.

  • Lack of trust

I think that this lack of trust can be linked to people treating you differently, shrinking of social circles and the stigma that is still attached to mental health.  It can be hard to open yourself up to people and to talk about feelings, especially people you may not know very well.

  • Feeling trapped in a cycle

I often wonder if I will ever be well enough to be medication free or if I will have to rely on my tablets to keep me functioning at a level forever.  Sometimes it feels like I am stuck in a cycle of requesting my prescription, collecting tablets, taking tablets and doctor’s appointments to monitor my medications.

  • Slowing down

If people have to take medication for mental health there are side effects, which can affect memory and the speed at which we process things or our ability to understand things as easily.  This can be frustrating as we know we should be able to understand, remember or process things easily.

I can only write from my own experiences, though I do know, from conversations that I have had, that there are other effects that having mental health problems which all have a different impact on us.

Have you had any effects caused by having mental health problems?  I’d love to chat about your experiences in the comments.

Time To Talk

| Suzi Stamp

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Today is Time to Talk Day, an initiative bought about to help end the stigma that surrounds mental health.

Suzi (2)
http://www.time-to-change.org.uk

I decided that Time To Talk day was something I wanted to get involved with as mental health is something I have had dealings with over the course of my life and the stigma that surrounds mental health has always created a barrier that has stopped me from talking about my mental health.  And this stigma seems to be really silly, we all  have mental health, whether it is good, bad or you never think about it.  I think it is time to start having the conversations about our mental health, just as we do with our physical health, we need to normalise all health issues to the same level.

So, today I am going to share with you my mental health story. (You can find other posts about my mental heath here)

On a Monday morning, back at the beginning of September 2018, I got up to get ready for work and I just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t face the idea of getting ready or even leaving the house to go to work, I felt dizzy, a bit sick and really panicky.  I already had a routine appointment with my doctor booked in for that morning and I managed to leave the house and get to it.  I sat in the doctors waiting room and just didn’t feel connected to myself, it felt like an alien had taken over and inhabited my body.  I got called in to the doctor’s office and just burst into tears.  I told him how I was feeling and we went through a series of question and answers and he eventually told me that I had anxiety, stress and depression.  I was prescribed medication and given a note for 2 weeks away from work and asked to return to the doctor for assessment at the end of that fortnight.

Those first weeks away from work went by in a haze.  I got up, took my medication and either slept or lay on the sofa, I couldn’t carry out tasks very easily as my thought process was jumbled and everything felt too hard.  My concentration levels dropped which meant that I had difficulty in reading a book or even following a tv show.  I don’t know whether that was down to the medication or whether that was my brains way of shutting off in order to heal itself.  I told this to the doctor on my next visit.

I had a lot of side effects from my medication, from feeling too hot or cold, feeling sick, shaking, headaches, bad stomach, feeling like I was going to pass out, lack of appetite, I can’t remember them all now.  The worst was feeling really wobbly and light-headed all day, so much so, that I didn’t trust myself to get into the shower or have a bath.  I was really worried that I would fall or pass out but really needed a shower.  In the end, I had to ask a friend to come around and stay while I had a shower incase I did fall.

Over time my medication was increased as my anxiety levels were still really high and I went on to have further side effects from the medication which have now gone as my body has got used to the ingredients.

I still have problems, sleep is an ongoing issue.  Despite how tired I am and what I have tried, I am not sleeping very much day-to-day, but when I do sleep I am loosing nearly 24 hours as my body and mind try to catch up.  I have been referred to a mental health worker who will be working with me to improve my sleep soon, so hopefully, I will be able to sleep for a full night again.  I still feel anxious, worried and feel the panic start to set in but I have a few coping mechanisms which seem to work well for me.  I have had a few anxiety/panic attacks (you can read about the worst one here) but generally I am able to take control of them as I feel them coming on, distracting myself by doing something I enjoy seems to help a lot.

I have been off from work for around 4 months now and I can feel my old self starting to return.  My concentration levels are increasing and I’m finding that I am able to do more things.  I am finding myself enjoying things that I used to and am preparing to return to work.

I think that the main thing I want to say is that if you are feeling stressed, anxious, depressed or start to notice that your enjoyment in life seems to be shrinking then it really is worth speaking to a medical practitioner.  There is no shame to be had by saying that you are not ok, and seeking help for it.  I have also been blessed with having family and friends who I have been able to talk to and who have supported me through this period of time which has really helped me, whether it has been a phone call to ask how I am, a text or a visit, going shopping or cooking for me when I have been unable to, having a support network has really aided me along the way.

If you need to talk, there are lots of places you can turn to and a host of on-line support available as well as groups that meet in person, to find out what is available to you in your area Google is a good place to start.

And if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always drop me an email – my.colourful.life@outlook.com.

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Mental Health and Me – An Update

| Suzi Stamp

I spoke last month, in my mental health update here, about wanting to return to work in February and issues that I still had that were hindering returning to work, namely my problems with sleep.  At the time of that update I was waiting for a referral to some kind of therapy programme which may help me with my sleep issues.

I have now spoken with a member of the mental health team who went through an assessment with me and had a lengthy conversation about my sleep.  We spoke about how I wanted to return to work as I was feeling much better emotionally and how frustrated I am that sleep is now the biggest problem for me.  We identified some possible reasons why I’m having trouble sleeping including worry about returning to work (how it will affect me, what will happen when I’m back at work, others attitudes to me, as well as the general anxiety around my return), that my brain may not be getting enough mental stimulation now I’m getting better – a sign that returning to work would be good for me, how I am going to cope at work and having coping mechanisms in place, as well as anxiety about getting back into a work routine and balancing my work/home life.

We spoke about medication and the option of increasing the dosage during my return to work phase and seeing if that will help with sleep, and we spoke about having a key worker who would work with me 1 on 1 with issues I may have.   I said yes to both, so now I need to return to my doctor once the assessment has been recorded in my notes and request a dosage increase and wait for a letter regarding my key worker.

I have also been referred to Occupational Health by my manager so I can have a chat with a medical practitioner with regards to returning to work and what things work could put in place to support me in returning including a phased return which my manager suggested.  I have the appointment on Tuesday.

In all, I’m feeling pretty optimistic about everything.  I would have liked to return to work this past week but realise that there are certain things that need to be done before I can return.  I also think that implementing a phased return would be really helpful as it means I would be returning gradually and I won’t be feeling so overwhelmed by it all.

I will post an update once I have seen the Occupational Health practitioner and know what is going on more!