With me, I see that having minimal stress is one of the biggest factors in my feeling better. I have a business which I run, and though I have delegated a lot of it over the past year, if I have a busy morning which requires phone calls, especially around stressful things, the pain I feel that day is often much more pronounced.
Before CFS, I still had a lot of stress at times, but I had a better ability to ‘disconnect’, to watch a movie or something on TV which helped to de-stress, to just put the stress aside for the day. Having pain which typically increases as the day goes by, there is a constant irritant, even on those days when pain is minimal. I’ve tried to describe it to some others that it’s like having a toothache all day, where the pain may subside but the pain resides in more than one place in my body with CFS.
I listen to a Chi Kung video nearly every day which on some days is remarkably relaxing as it is about developing a deep sense of our own breathing and our bodies. In the past couple of days I’ve listened to Joseph Campbell’s Mythos, I write to friends on YouTube and post videos there as I love to photograph. Today I went for a walk and it is uncommonly beautiful here, and I noticed I felt much less pain and happier. I do feel there is a real connection between feeling happy, uplifted or even having moments of pure silliness, these emotions bring some real relief. And I am doing much more than I was in my business a year ago, just able to work for longer periods of time, interspersed with very much needed periods of rest.
I have run into some who say that getting a lot of good sleep and rest really does not make a difference with CFS. I can’t speak for everyone but for me, sleeping and resting well makes a huge difference. Having a good sound sleep at night often makes a big difference, in a positive way, in how I feel the next day.
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Thanks Tim! How do you handle stress? Do you have any strategies that work? Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them. You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.
Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays. And consider being part of the conversation.
Be Well Again,
Martha
© 2012 TSM
If everyone who was suffering with ME/CFS were to write down of all the variables that affect them, it would be a long list. Life in general challenges us but add to that all of the knowns and unknowns of ME/CFS and it can be overwhelming. During the time when I was bedridden with ME/CFS, I must admit that for a good number of my waking hours each day, I cranked over that list. I allowed it to feed on the precious little energy that I had and erode my will to get well.
It was when I finally jettisoned the list and began to focus on one or two variables at a time that my health started to improve. Instead of wandering through the entire mine field where it was certain that one of them would blow up, I carved out smaller areas with a limited scope. Usually this would include a shorter timeframe to focus on and only a couple of life’s issues to act on. It didn’t always work but most of the time, it allowed me to intentionally focus the energy I had on things that were realistically within my reach.
How do you keep yourself within a realistic window? What strategies have worked for you? Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them. You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.
Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays. And consider being part of the conversation.
Be Well Again,
Martha
© 2012 TSM
When I was at my lowest point suffering with ME/CFS, it seemed like I had only one identity – a bedridden sick person. As I slowly began to regain some functioning, I would have brief periods of experiencing a different identity – a normal healthy person. This happened when I had a conversation about something I was passionate about and I could keep focused for ten minutes or maybe even half an hour. During that time, I forgot about ME/CFS. I stepped out of that label and, for a while, became free of it. Then, of course, it would end and I would ‘remember’ my situation.
As I grew healthier, I got to the point where half the time, I could actually participate in some normal healthy person activities and relish for a while in forgetting about ME/CFS and its cruelty. But it would end and I would have to ‘remember’ again. Straddling both worlds of sick and healthy was not only a physical challenge in terms of pacing, pacing and more pacing. It was a mental marathon ‘double life’ of moving back and forth between these two identities. Of learning to appreciate and revel in the times of acting and feeling like a healthy person and then handling the let down of remembering the reality of my situation. I worked hard at not letting the upside create an even lower downside. I kept my eyes focused on shifting the percentages – slowly and steadily – to more and more normal health person and less and less sick person.
How do you handle the Double Life of sick and healthy? What are your strategies? Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them. You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.
Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays. And consider being part of the conversation.
Be Well Again,
Martha
© 2012 TSM
It happens to me every year as the end of February approaches. Although I don’t see the signs of change in myself yet, one of my window plants catches my notice. There’s a new vibrancy in its color or maybe even a tiny sprout where a dead leaf has been dropped. Something triggers my attentiveness and before I’ve cognitively made the connection, I’m trimming, repotting and fertilizing all my plants.
What my plants have all been responding to, and what I’m also caught up in, are the longer days with brighter light streaming in my windows. And I think back to my ME/CFS days and remember how hard it was day after day, week after week and month after month to keep my spirits up. To remember my resolve to keep to the protocol, to allow myself the space to heal, and most importantly to cut myself the mental slack I needed. The only time I didn’t need to be intentional about being upbeat was when the light began to get noticeably brighter at this time of year. There’s a reaction to the increasing daylight that we experience on a cellular level. I’m sure there are reams of scientific studies that have investigated this response but I don’t need to read them. My sense of renewal and optimism are palpable. And during my ME/CFS struggle, it was a natural to see this NOT as the marking of another year of this cruel illness, but as the beginning of the year when my progress would get me to the next health plateau – the next stage of recovery.
I’m hoping that you are able to harness this brighter light and natural source of anticipation to carry you successfully along your path back to wellness. How are you utilizing this bright injection of renewed energy? Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them. You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.
Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays. And consider being part of the conversation.
Be Well Again,
Martha
© 2011 TSM
When you are struggling with ME/CFS, it’s hard to see anything else. ME/CFS controls your energy, your schedule, your choices, your physical comfort, your day, your night and your outlook. Everything you consider can be interpreted through your ME/CFS colored glasses with a dose of brain fog.
For someone with ME/CFS, it’s a necessity. It’s a survival mechanism. It’s reality. And fighting this reality is fruitless. Just more squandered energy and risked relapses.
Remembering that we have restrictions eventually becomes second nature. And as much as it totally stinks, it can develop into the way forward. Acceptance of this second nature or inner ME/CFS voice can bring rewards. Better choices. Better days. Beginning to experience better weeks.
For me personally, it took several knock down relapses before I understood this dreaded voice. Some days I wanted to throttle it. The message was one that I didn’t want to hear. But slowly, eventually, I began to listen. Do you listen to the cautionary messages of your inner voice? Are you learning to pace yourself better and avoid severe relapses? Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them. You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.
Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays. And consider being part of the conversation.
Be Well Again,
Martha
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