I managed 48 hours with no painkillers, but in the end it was such a miserable experience that I've started taking them again. Not as many though - I'm going to do my best to take as few as possible.

I'm stressed and frightened today. I'm hoping that my private health insurance might actually cover hypnotherapy, because then I could definitely afford to see someone here in London. I've ad a couple of people recommended to me, though it sounds like they are psychotherapists who use hypnosis sometimes rather than dedicated hpnotherapists. In the meantime I'm still looking for audio recordings to help me.

I've just got through the day with no painkillers! I was very uncomfortable earlier on, but amazingly I feel so much better now (10.15pm). I'm hoping I can get through the night without resorting to drugs too. I have my iPad apps waiting ready for when I go to bed.

Yay! :-)

I've been finding self-hypnosis difficult, and am now looking for a London-based hypnotherapist to help get me started. In the meantime, however, I've found some quite useful iPad apps in the Apple Store, and have been using these to help me learn to relax. These apps are by Darren Marks and Glenn Harrold, who are both UK-based hypnotherapists. I find that I respond better to an English accent than, say, an American one, so it was good to find these. I don't go into a very deep trance or anything, but they do help me to relax a bit.

One thing I find difficult is relaxing when I am already experiencing pain (as I do most days). This is annoying, as I am hoping that self-hypnosis will be a tool that I can use to help me cope with pain, so I need to find a way to get past that pain in the first place so I can actually achieve self-hypnosis!  I'm not really sure what to do.