...DEFEAT Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: ...............................................................You don't have to live with it
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ME/CFS New Year - Take a fresh look

1/1/2013

2 Comments

 
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It’s a hackneyed part of our culture that everyone makes New Year resolutions which we earnestly pursue for one month.  Then we return to our old habitual patterns.  And every year we resolve not to let that happen yet again.  So here we are.  For many, it’s a desire to improve one’s health.  If you’re struggling with ME/CFS, the stakes and the rewards are much higher than the average person who just wants to look or feel healthier.  For us, it’s about reclaiming our lives and our ability to be fully functioning and present – to be well again.

I encourage you to take a fresh look at your version of ME/CFS.  Hopefully you are keeping a daily log of your activities, sleeping/resting times, symptoms and medications.  Step back and take an objective look at your patterns.  Look for periods of wellness.  What preceded those periods?  Replicate those patterns.  Look for periods of ill health or crashes.  What preceded those periods?  Don’t repeat those patterns.  Look at your symptoms.  Which are the most debilitating?  When do they flair up?  How can you treat them in order to short circuit the flair up?  Look at your sleeping patterns.  How can you improve the quality of your sleep?  How can you make your bedroom into your version of slumber heaven – light, sound, comfort and sleep aids.  Your daily log needs to be mined for clues as you find your path back to wellness. 

If you’ve made progress this year and you’ve managed to shed some of the symptoms that were masking your version of ME/CFS, awesome!  As you take a fresh look, you may get a clearer view of the key or central issues which characterize your version of ME/CFS and some insight into new approaches, strategies and clues to your next steps.  It was through this methodical periodic review that I eventually unraveled my version of ME/CFS and was able to be fully well again.  What can you see in your ME/CFS patterns?  What will you focus on in this New Year?  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

2 Comments
Tim Boland
1/4/2013 06:07:57 pm

Your blog this week is so timely, Martha. As I have mentioned, YouTube is one of my favorite hangouts, and as it is possible to download videos from there legally, I will sometimes use an editing program to carve off just the audio part. Then I will burn a CD, put this in my new CD player (the other kept getting stuck at the end of some CDs) and turn the volume down to where I can just hear it. I have used some Buddhist chanting, Renaissance music, new age .. anything which I find calming and peaceful. Then I will often read, perhaps only for five or minutes.

I faithfully take my tiny sleeping pill and two tiny pain meds, last night I slept for over eight hours. Last weekend, after months of constant busyness due to business, I felt this accumulation of tensions and tiredness and just rested and slept nearly all weekend.

I have been attending more to patterns, some are so hard to break when it is things I love to do, like photography but I've realized that in order to really enjoy things, I need to feel relaxed and not too tired. My body lets me know, the key is to really listening, not something we are accustomed to in our driven culture, as you note.

Happy New Year!

Reply
Martha
1/5/2013 12:24:32 am

Thanks Tim. And a reminder to everyone to keep a daily log - yes, I am a nag about this. Don't depend on your 'brain fog' altered memory to understand your patterns and symptoms. Once you've kept it for a few months, there will be a gold mine of clues that will help you to unravel your version of this cruel disease. And may this new year bring you fresh insight into finding your path back to wellness.

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    Hello,  I'm
    Martha Kilcoyne

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     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.

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