Helping Your Partner Have a Restful Holiday Season

As we approach the Christmas period, it’s important that we prepare for this particularly stressful time of year. Even the most energetic, healthiest, and well-organized people can struggle with the expectations from friends and family, financial burdens, and pressures to have fun, drink, and be merry. This stress is felt in our relationships, as well as on an individual basis, and unmet expectations and unfulfilled promises may lead to holiday disagreements and fallings-out.

This is a particularly stressful time of year for someone with endometriosis, with a whole plethora of symptoms to make navigating the holiday season more challenging. Often filled with sugary foods and alcohol, both of which may cause painful flare-ups in some people with endo, Christmas also involves late nights, parties, and extended shopping trips. Being a part of this may cause a person with endo a miserable and painful festive period, while abstaining may leave them feeling isolated and alone.

As the partner of someone with endometriosis, I can help out my partner at this time of year, and gift them some respite and recuperation over the festive season. Here are a few thoughts that my partner and I have had on what you can do for your partner to make their Christmas period easier and more restful.

Be helpful

Firstly, physical help will be greatly appreciated. For example, do more than your fair share of the cooking on the big day, or be the one who rushes to the shops at 23:53 on Christmas Eve to pick up late minute groceries. Help write the cards, wrap the presents, and put the decorations up. Christmas is a surprisingly physical time of year when you think about it, so use that opportunity to help your partner if you see them struggling.

Be considerate

It’s important to make sure people feel comfortable in whatever they are doing, and this is no less important when celebrating. Forcibly encouraging, or just straight up forcing, someone to do something that you think is fun or what they should be doing is wrong and most likely no fun for them. Forcing someone to drink alcohol at a Christmas party, or persuading them to stay out late can have massive after-effects on someone with endo. It can lead to fatigue, pain and have repercussions for weeks afterwards. As the partner of someone with endo, know their limits and triggers, and be respectful of this. Be on their side when other people are trying to make them do something that you know will affect their endo.

Be accommodating

There are also lots of things you can do when endo is playing up at Christmas time. It is a time for family and friends, for rest and relaxation. Enjoy some well-earned downtime spent cuddled up in front of the fire, fall asleep in front of terrible movies, and revel in a break from routine.

Approached in the right way, the holidays can be just what someone with endo needs: time to wind down and recharge, see friends they haven’t caught up with in a while, and strengthen relationships with family.