...DEFEAT Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: ...............................................................You don't have to live with it
  • Home
  • About
    • This Site
    • Martha
  • Book
  • Interviews
  • Further Lessons
  • Thanks
  • Contact

SEID/CFS Instincts – Don’t be Fooled

3/29/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
Instincts are frequently cited as the reason for our survival.  And I completely agree that we should follow our instincts as they are right.  I think we have an ancient ‘knowing’ that is programmed into our DNA from millennia of learned successes and failures.  Anthropologists have documented many of them.  And for me, I think we also have this ‘knowing’ at a cellular level.  Cravings come to mind.  And our bodies demand for rest.  But sometimes, as I unfortunately discovered when I was first struggling with SEID/CFS, our instincts can fool us.

Prior to my struggle with SEID/CFS, I was a type A on steroids.  It was instinctual with me to solve problems by throwing myself into them with everything I had.  I didn’t learn this from those around me.  Somehow, I was programmed that way.  And with every success, it only reinforced the method.  So as I first struggled with SEID/CFS, my immediate instinct was to push through it.  And as you all know from your own experiences, this approach completely failed me.  While my body was desperately calling for rest, my brain pumped out something that enabled me to push the pace.  I reminds me of the impossibly heavy objects that people are able to lift in emergencies.   And of course, it was unsustainable.  My body finally crashed hard and my brain was forced to relent.  Unfortunately this happened more times than I’d like to admit.

So yes, listen to your body’s instincts:  Exhaustion, cravings, pain, confusion, etc. and heed the messages.  My one caveat is to be careful to filter the messages through the logical part of your brain and ignore the frantic, desperate voice.  Even a healthy person can’t lift a car every day.  What are your instincts telling you?  What messages do you heed in order to recover from SEID/CFS?  Please COMMENT on this blog or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them with your permission.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.  And Guest Blogs are most welcome!

Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,
Martha

2 Comments

SEID/CFS Brain Fog – Write it Down

3/8/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
I was driving home at night last week and the lingering snow on the ground was a few inches thick.  With temperatures in the mid 30s, there was a wall of thick fog hanging over the snow and drifting across the roads.  In high school science class I learned that sublimation is the transformation of physical matter directly from a solid to a gas without ever becoming a liquid.  So the night fog was the result of the frozen snow skipping over water and going straight to cloud vapor.  And it reminded me of the frustrating brain fog I had when I was struggling with ME/CFS.
 
Kind of like the snow, my brain seemed to skip over the natural fluidity of conversations - the ebb and flow of ideas exchanged with another.  Or the transitional thoughts needed to get from a concern to a possible course of action.  Concrete thoughts wouldn’t develop and instead slowly leaked out of my head like a balloon with a pin hole.  I couldn’t remember what someone said a moment after they said it.  It seemed to dissipate into the air without ever registering in my brain.
 
After denying the reality of my memory struggles for awhile, I finally came around and tried to cope with it.  I started to write things down as I spoke with people and it helped me to keep the train of thought going.  And when I was trying to think through something on my own, I also wrote it down.  It felt stupid at first, but when it began it help, I appreciated the sense of accomplishment that resulted.

How are you coping with brain fog?  What strategies have you developed?  Please COMMENT on this blog or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them with your permission.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.  And Guest Blogs are most welcome!

Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,
 

Martha

2 Comments

SEID/CFS Progress - Look How Far You've Come

3/1/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
There’s an endless fence that runs along the edge of our yard.  The mower can’t get the weeds that grow close to it so not being fond of weed whacking, we’d been watching them grow and grow.  Last Spring, after discussing how unsightly they had become, we decided to dig up the weeds along the fence and mulch.  You probably know where this is going.
 
After three hours of digging, pulling, hauling and mulching, we had completed four sections.  We were sweaty, caked with dirt and tired.  My son observed that the fence was so long that it didn’t feel like we made any progress for all the work we’d done.  Of course, it reminded me of my struggle with SEID/CFS and the days that I felt the same way about how slow my recovery seemed to be.  Some weeks, I didn’t think I was any closer to being well again despite all my efforts at following the protocol and ‘doing the right things’.
 
Standing at the fence, it was my turn to say, “Don’t look at how far we have to go, look at how far we’ve come.”  That’s what my advocate said to me when I was struggling with SEID/CFS and couldn’t see the improvements in my health.  It was helpful to hear, “six months ago, you had to sit during a shower and someone had to wash your hair because you couldn’t hold your arms up over your head for that long.”  It was true.  Six months later, I could take a shower standing up.  OK, I had to rest before and after but it was progress.
 
So, we finished eight more sections in our third round of digging and mulching.  We still had a long way to go – not quite half way yet but what we had finished looked great.  And when you think about the long path to recovery from SEID/CFS, remember to look at how far you’ve come.  Are you seeing progress?  Please COMMENT on this blog or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them with your permission.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.  And Guest Blogs are most welcome!

Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,


Martha

2 Comments
    Picture
    Hello,  I'm
    Martha Kilcoyne

    Welcome
     to our Community!

    After struggling with CFS for four years I am fortunate now to be fully well and making choices about how I want to live my healthy life.  One choice is to be an active part of the CFS community and to offer one voice from the fully recoverd to the dialogue.  I'm glad you're here!   For more about me, here's my Bio.

      Join Our Community
      Enter your email address to
      follow this blog.

    Join

    For Books, Supplements, Sleep aids and more

    Picture

    Archives

    May 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Categories

    All
    Appreciation
    Attitude
    Being Positive
    Brain Fog
    Choices
    Community
    Connect
    Coping
    Data
    Diagnosis
    Doctor
    Emotions
    Energy
    First
    Food
    Funding
    Genetics
    Goals
    Gratitude
    Groups
    Guest Blog
    Gut Feelings
    Health
    Helping
    Holidays
    Hope
    Humor
    Immune Support
    Inner Voice
    Ion Channelopathy
    Irony
    Isolation
    Journal
    Log
    Mantra
    Memory
    Mind
    Negativity
    Nutrition
    Opinions
    Organizations
    Outlook
    Pace
    Participate
    Patience
    Patterns
    Personality
    Perspective
    Protocol
    Provider
    Pushing Too Hard
    Pushing Too Hard
    Record
    Recovery
    Relapses
    Research
    Resolutions
    Rest
    Sleep Depravation
    Step By Step
    Step By Step
    Strategies
    Supplements
    Support
    Take Control
    Take Control
    Thankfulness
    Vacation
    Variables
    Version

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Copyright © 2011-2012
    Triple Spiral MEDIA LLC