Models with chronic illness

[NorahLourdes]

Hey everyone,

Does anyone else strugge with balancing camming with the unpredictable nature of a chronic illness?

I really like the performance aspect of camming, but think I'm going to have to transition to making content and selling other services (dick ratings? skype sessions maybe? I'm impossibly bad at dirty talk by voice but okay with sexting...) because I am in a horrible illness flare.

The kind of camming I do on SM is very physically intense (lots of penetration, bondage and BDSM impact play, etc) and my body apparently can't handle doing that as often. Perhaps I'm just on the wrong site, but SM has been so much more lucrative for me than CB that I've been able to cam less hours and less days per week and make more money, which is also beneficial, so idk!

I'm also pretty bad at getting any traction on social media so having a built-in paying audience allowed me to be successful there. I would love to make an OF or Frisk but i have zero confidence in my ability to get paying followers/subscribers. I've never made a custom and have very few video sales most likely because I don't have a lot of videos up on MV and they are extremely low rent lol. Working on that!

Anyway, I'm mostly wondering what others' experiences have been living with a chronic illness and being in this industry. I can elaborate more in this thread on my situation, I realize this is rambly af! Just knowing you're out there and what has worked for you, or that others have had similar struggles would be amazing.

I got into this industry bc as a mom and disabled person who also loves performance and creativity it really fits my needs, but that was when my illness wasn't relapsing...

TIA loves!

 

[Rose]

Me

I had two unplanned major surgeries this year. I became a sex worker because of my chronic illness.


Honestly, camming was terrible for my health. Switching the filming and texting with phone calls as supplement really made a huge improvement in my income and mental health as well as physical health. After 9 years in the industry, I can say my only regret is not working on my passive income as soon as I started camming in 2011. Filming has entirely changed how I can care for and provide for myself- financially and physically.

Switching to filming and texting was also hugely beneficial for my parenting. Being a parent is hard. Being a parent with chronic illness is harder. Being a work from home, self employed, chronically ill parent requires insanely careful and well thought out planning.

It’s doable though!! I’m about to celebrate a decade in the adult industry, and if I can do it, anyone can.
my income is THE only income for my family, and it allows my spouse to fully care for myself and my child while also managing their chronic health problems.

I know it is hard. My advice is to not be afraid of failure. Do the scary things and they’ll eventually pay off. Film all the things, even the stupid insignificant things, and they’ll pay off as well. You got this!

 

[MarieElise]

I have 3 chronic conditions and a very painful separate issue with a hip joint. I don't want to get into specifics out here in the public part of the forum, on what those are.

I don't think I am disabled, but holding a regular job is painful, and difficult. I also found that what I went to school for was too emotionally exhausting, and low paying, to be a practical long term career for me.

I am on a hiatus from SM right now, but I have had to switch over to mainly non-penetration shows when I cam regularly. I've had no issues with regulars being OK with that whatsoever. I used to do a lot of hardcore BDSM, but it's not so much my thing anymore. I burned out on it, in the internet context. Although Femdom can still be a lot of fun. I make a lot of content for the main clip sites, and I always have. I get a lot of my income from that. I also got into the stock market this year, and I am dabbling in that too. My boyfriend is more serious about that though and puts more work into being awake, up, and alert every weekday for the market.

I've been in the adult industry for 6 years, and I am very happy with it. It has given me way more freedom in life, and overall has been way easier on me emotionally and physically, compared with past career.

There is a lot of more detailed info regarding clipsites, fan sites and strategies to get them working for you, in the models only section of this forum. It is very valuable and helpful.

 

[NorahLourdes]

my income is THE only income for my family, and it allows my spouse to fully care for myself and my child while also managing their chronic health problems.

I know it is hard. My advice is to not be afraid of failure. Do the scary things and they’ll eventually pay off. Film all the things, even the stupid insignificant things, and they’ll pay off as well. You got this!

Your responses on my post about parenting and now this one here are just so amazingly supportive and helpful. I really want to transition out of camming and into making clips and doing texting and customs for all the reasons and it's so good to know I'm not the only one who finds camming hard on the body AND that you make doing this work... as your family's sole income!

Honestly, that's the dream. My partner is supportive, and I'd love him to be a full business partner but he's not very creative or self-motivated to learn photography or marketing so he'd basically be my employee lol. He's a great dad though and great at taking care of me when I'm not well.

As far as filming all the things, i think this is what I really need to do. I overthink a lot, and am concerned the things I want to film aren't sexual enough (like spanking/flogging, shaving, sploshing, wax play) or don't have enough dialogue or good enough lighting or framing or whatever. I have very little equipment and currently no help bc SO and I are temporarily living apart.

I'm so bad at social media too. I just want sites own traffic to do the trick...but alas! I guess if it's something i want to make there is a buyer out there somewhere??

 

[NorahLourdes]

There is a lot of more detailed info regarding clipsites, fan sites and strategies to get them working for you, in the models only section of this forum. It is very valuable and helpful.

I think I need to up my confidence so i can do more femdom and JOI and suchlike because even camming guys ask for it and I'm insecure about it even though I take on that role in my personal life sometimes (i'm a switch).

Re: the above quote, i can't get into the models only section yet... tried to get verified but I don't think I have enough posts...alas!

Thank you for sharing your experience to the extent you feel comfortable. I really look forward to getting into MO at some poitn!

 

[MarieElise]

I think I need to up my confidence so i can do more femdom and JOI and suchlike because even camming guys ask for it and I'm insecure about it even though I take on that role in my personal life sometimes (i'm a switch).

Re: the above quote, i can't get into the models only section yet... tried to get verified but I don't think I have enough posts...alas!

Thank you for sharing your experience to the extent you feel comfortable. I really look forward to getting into MO at some poitn!

I felt the same w joi and femdom when I first started, and now it's second hand. I can totally relate to that feeling. Before you know it, you will feel really confident w it though.

I've noticed that a lot on SM won't elaborate much on the joi or femdom, or be very specific about what type they are looking for. I try to draw it out of them a bit at the beginning of paid shows. A lot of them confuse humiliation fetish w femdom, and say "femdom" when they mean humiliation specifically. It gets confusing as heck lol. I won't draw too much out of them in free chat for obvious reasons. Once they are ready to pay I happily give them my full attention though (unless it is someone I already know and like). I hope that helps.

When I was first starting out I also bought a bunch of joi and femdom clips from other models, just to get a feel of more specifics. Everyone has their own style, it's kind of cool. But I get the feeling you are talking about, I had it for a while too. It will totally go away the more you do it, if you decide that it's something you want to do anyways.

 

[ChronicRoses]

I just started camming a couple months ago, but have been doing various forms of sex work for over 12 years (mostly IRL BDSM sessions). This post hit SO close to home and really made me feel less alone in my struggle. I have multiple chronic illnesses and severe chronic pain. I love camming so much, but it has been insanely hard on me, health-wise. I swore to myself that I'd work 5 nights a week, in 5+ hour shifts. I don't think I've actually been able to do that for even one week. I always end up out of spoons mid-week and have to take a day to rest. I'm used to BDSM sessions, where I am only working for 1-3 hours at a time and I'm guaranteed to make hundreds of dollars every time, because they are paid for upfront. I could do as little as 2-3 sessions a week, and still have at least enough to cover bills and basic expenses. Now I feel like I'm running myself ragged, and not even making enough for my daughter and I to survive. I too am terrible at gaining social media traction, I'm still very new as a cam model, AND I'm a bigger gal. Between all of the above... I don't have much of a following or really any paying regulars yet. Chronic illness has me so exhausted that by the end of a show I basically sleep (or try to at least) until I have to start getting ready for my next show. Which doesn't leave me any time to create content or try to make money any other way. Sorry for rambing/venting, and not really having any advice or tips for you. I guess it was just a huge relief to find someone else who understands.

 

[Rose]

I just passed 5000 videos. When I say film everything, I mean film EVERYTHING. The nonsexual bullshit videos sell the most.

Yes you fuckers! Pay for me to yawn for you perverts!!!!!!!

Seriously though, I mainly film non nude and lots of non sexual, or implied-simulated only, and it works well for me and my health. I had two major surgeries this year, both wholly unplanned and plopped on me with little notice, and filming has kept me not only afloat but growing my income. Fetish filming and femdom works REALLY well with all the intense requirements that vagina surgery healing demands.

For anyone with any form of chronic illness or pain or mental health or parents or time/physical constraints, I would recommend you take a chance at fetish filming. If I can make $200 on one terrible hiccup video, and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds more of me burping while I snack and watch trash tv, ANYONE can make a sustainable income via this same method. Seriously, my highest earning video EVER was of me pretending to be hugely pregnant via yoga ball in my dress, burping and farting, while fully clothed watching Plebs, yelling at my husband to please clean, and snacking on everything in sight..... No other sale has ever even come close to breaking that one....:

You got this
Don’t be afraid of failure. Be afraid of NOT trying and NOT making money, because even my biggest video flops have all sold at least once!!!! Who knows, maybe one day every single one of my video flops will sell and I’ll magically have a few thousand dollars in my lap all because I filmed myself doing stupid hilarious bullshit.

 

[ouija]

Wow I love this thread so much my struggles are mental health related but this all gives me so much hope!

As far as filming all the things, i think this is what I really need to do. I overthink a lot, and am concerned the things I want to film aren't sexual enough (like spanking/flogging, shaving, sploshing, wax play) or don't have enough dialogue or good enough lighting or framing or whatever. I have very little equipment and currently no help bc SO and I are temporarily living apart.

I have this problem as well... Limited budget and equipment/props, and also just being so new to everything I feel like it wouldn't be good or worth filming... For me it's partly my lack of confidence that the clip won't be interesting because I don't know what to do or how to be sexy enough or whatever. But to learn what to do, or how to do it, will take practice so might as well just do it. I'm sure I will learn as I go, and as I get better I can invest in more and better equipment/lighting/props...I don't know, I'm trying not to let my lack of competency get in my way of my productivity so I just kind of repeat to myself "it's ok not to have it all together yet, I'm still learning"
I don't have help with filming either... I just have a crappy little flexible tripod, my phone, and my webcam... I'm hoping to get a better tripod soon, and I saw these camera mounts on amazon that are aimed at people who make cooking videos that I really want to get/try out for filming above my bed. They look like those lamps on the end of a metal arm that clamps onto things and they're called overhead camera mounts. I don't know how well these work but it might be good to look into for more camera angle options? If I get one I'll update lol

I wish I had more to contribute, but I'm still figuring out how to work around my mental health issues... this year really keeps going, doesn't it?

What Rose said about fetish videos is really exciting to me, I've been wondering if there's any market for mukbang type videos...

 

[NorahLourdes]

I've been wondering if there's any market for mukbang type videos...

First of all, as far as not knowing how to be sexy enough, I just go with not trying to be sexy, since in my cam shows people have liked that I'm not explicitly 'acting sexy'. Not that this has translated into sales, but it's what I'm going with. I think if I knew what sites were good for fetish stuff I'd do better. I know when I was consuming it rather than creating it, clips4sale was the place to go, but honestly that site confuses the heck out of me.

As far as a market for Mukbang-type videos YES there is a market. People love to watch other people eat. Sounds like it would be on the milder/more mainstream side of feederism/stuffing/bellow bloating and could even incorporate aspects of sploshing if you want to get messy with it. Feel free to private message me if you want any insight into stuff people are into in the food and eating realm as its' one of my personal kinks!

I'd love to make content in that genre myself except I'm more on the cooking-for-you and encouraging-you-to-eat or sploshing/having food eaten off me side of things rather than the eating on camera side.

 

[NorahLourdes]

doesn't leave me any time to create content or try to make money any other way.

I feel this so much. Camming is the immediate way to make money when you don't have a following or a lot of content, but the time and spoons it takes to cam leaves us with no reserve to make content.... it's a catch 22!

I want to transition into just making content but I don't know how to get people interested in it without camming, and I don't have time to make content if I'm camming.... and also *money*.... eek!

No advice, but so much solidarity!

 

[Rose]

Wow I love this thread so much my struggles are mental health related but this all gives me so much hope!



I have this problem as well... Limited budget and equipment/props, and also just being so new to everything I feel like it wouldn't be good or worth filming... For me it's partly my lack of confidence that the clip won't be interesting because I don't know what to do or how to be sexy enough or whatever. But to learn what to do, or how to do it, will take practice so might as well just do it. I'm sure I will learn as I go, and as I get better I can invest in more and better equipment/lighting/props...I don't know, I'm trying not to let my lack of competency get in my way of my productivity so I just kind of repeat to myself "it's ok not to have it all together yet, I'm still learning"
I don't have help with filming either... I just have a crappy little flexible tripod, my phone, and my webcam... I'm hoping to get a better tripod soon, and I saw these camera mounts on amazon that are aimed at people who make cooking videos that I really want to get/try out for filming above my bed. They look like those lamps on the end of a metal arm that clamps onto things and they're called overhead camera mounts. I don't know how well these work but it might be good to look into for more camera angle options? If I get one I'll update lol

I wish I had more to contribute, but I'm still figuring out how to work around my mental health issues... this year really keeps going, doesn't it?

What Rose said about fetish videos is really exciting to me, I've been wondering if there's any market for mukbang type videos...

STUFF YOUR FUCKING FACE AND GET THOSE DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!! FACESTUFFING SELLS SO FUCKING WELL!!!!!!!!!!! Regardless of size, race, religion, sexuality, WHATEVER!!!! Facestuffing is one of those categories ANYONE can do hella well in.

I have an incredibly elastic stomach, bloat easily, and can eat like a food challenge binger at a competition so facestuffing type videos sell INCREDIBLY well for my tiny body shape. When I was pregnant it sold well too, but I couldn’t eat enough to really make it profitable. I’ve done things from the chicken bucket challenge to the whole chicken challenge to a donut box challenge and a simulated milk gallon challenge. That shit sells, and it sells well long term if you stay consistent.

 

[Knotty_Mara]

I love this thread! I also deal with multiple chronic illnesses, and while I've loved camming so far, it is definitely exhausting! I'm also trying to get more experience with femdom, especially humiliation and JOI since that seems to be the most popular, but I'm coming from more of a sadomasochist and submissive background.

 

[NorahLourdes]

I love this thread! I also deal with multiple chronic illnesses, and while I've loved camming so far, it is definitely exhausting! I'm also trying to get more experience with femdom, especially humiliation and JOI since that seems to be the most popular, but I'm coming from more of a sadomasochist and submissive background.

I feel you on coming from a masochist/sub background. I'm a masochist and a switch but I really only have a desire to top women and, strangely, my dom (we have a sort of obnoxious daddy/tomboy-princess thing going on). In any case, I talked to him last night about how I need to get my femdom on to make $$ but I am so not attracted IRL to male subs that It's hard for me to get into it. I think the key is seeing it as playing a role, and not embodying my true sexuality... but that's all speculative at this point.

 

[darcyduke]

This thread is absolutely brilliant. I have pretty horrific endometriosis, and chronic pain syndrome, and camming has allowed me to live a life that I'm happy with. I do have to take time off without notice, because of flare-ups, but I always feel able to 'pop back in' online and catch up financially. i don't know many jobs that allow for that...

 

[JustMilfnAround]

I'm actually getting ready to drop camming and go back to vanilla corporate work because camming is just running me ragged physically and emotionally while the analytical and thinking part of my brain is absolutely STARVING.

*Fibromyalgia, and uterine prolapse sprinkled with PTSD, anxiety and some god awful depression*

Camming is too much of a drain on me emotionally AND physically and TBH I think some structure would do me good along with a CONSISTENT INCOME. Camming has just turned into too much of a mind fuck for me lately and I would rather argue with people about documents and meetings than why I won't cram a 14" dildo into myself, call him "daddy" or fist my asshole. LOL

I just think I'll be better off at this point with my spreadsheets in a comfy chair with my cats sleeping all over the room while I panic over deadlines and can actually STOP WORKING at a specified time.

That is just me though - I'm sooo glad that it is working for all of you - it just isn't working for me anymore. Side hustling my OnlyFans is still on the table though for home renovations and unexpected expenses.

In some ways camming with a chronic illness is a massive blessing - ESPECIALLY for flare days! I just can't take the constant tech issues, stupid fucktard men and the absolute inconsistency of the income - it actually is making my anxiety and depression way worse than it was when I was working the corporate grind. It took me almost 2 years to admit this to myself because I love the freedom and flexibility that camming gives and I didn't want to give that up.....