nichtszusagen: TT #28

Thursday, November 09, 2006

TT #28

Thirteen Things I've got to do to get over this CFS relapse

I wasn't even going to do a TT today because the fatigue is so bad, but I haven't missed a Thursday in over 6 months, so here it is. Plus, putting it all down like this is good motivation.

Admit that this is a serious relapse, not just a temporary setback. I should have known last weekend when we went out for Kaffee & Kuchen with my mother-in-law and I just stared at the cakes and they didn't make sense to me. I definitely knew this morning when I couldn't nuke some breakfast for the boys without sitting down.
Realize that half-measures aren't going to work. I have to do everything on the list, all at once, because they're all interconnected and affect each other.
Commit to my recovery program. This is a tough one, because it means that all the things on this list have to be at the top of my priority list, and putting yourself first is a difficult thing for us moms. The key is to realize that getting better helps the whole family, not just me.
Enlist my family's help, both emotionally and physically. Emotionally is no problem. It just takes being honest with them and not pretending I'm fine when I'm not. Physically--helping around the house, for example--is more difficult. The irony is that if I had the energy to direct the kids to do those chores that I usually do, I wouldn't need the help.
Believe that I can recover from the relapse. This isn't hard, either, but it is necessary. I know I can do it--I've done it before.
Get more sleep. Not just a couple of hours extra sleep on the weekend. It needs to be consistent, every night. One night a week with 7 hours sleep should be the exception, not because it's the most sleep I get all week, but because it's the least.
Strict rest cycles. No pushing myself to get things done. Lying down every couple of hours.
Avoid stress. Hah. Normally, my life is really stress-free. Lately, however, I've been bombarded. Sick pets, frantic phone calls from both my mom and daughter over relationship problems, stress at Carl's work, politics, and of course the stress from feeling guilty about having allowed myself to have a relapse. I've got to find a happy medium between taking on everyone else's problems and being an uncaring witch.
Graduated exercise. As much as I hate the idea, I've got to go back to the 15-second increments. It doesn't matter that just two months ago, I was doing nearly an hour of exercise at a time, and that I'd gotten there in 30-second increments. I wasn't this sick when I started doing that.
Eating healthy. This is another paradox. When I feel well enough to cook, and to insist on healthy meals, it's not critical that I do so. And unfortunately, when I'm not feeling well and leave the daily meals up to my husband and sons, we're likely to end up alternating between burgers and fries and bratwurst and fries, with the occasional rindswurst and fries thrown in for variety. The thing is, I feel better when I eat healthier. So, bagged salads, frozen veggies, frozen fish, stuff like that. And nagging, when I'm up to it.
Losing weight. That generally follows from #9 and #10, but I've also got to get strict with myself about stopping eating when I'm no longer hungry. A smaller body takes less energy to maintain. The hard part is that my body interprets the fatigue as a need for fuel.
Taking my vitamins and gingko. I've been doing that all along, but this is not the time to quit. Plus, I've got to go get some of our regular multivitamins with iron--the last time we ran out of vitamins, I sent Carl to get more, and he accidentally bought the senior kind, that has no iron. He eats enough red meat that he probably doesn't notice the difference, but I don't.
Patience. That is the hardest one of all. I want it to be over now, and I want to take shortcuts to get there. But I know they don't work.

I was going to link to some CFS sites, but I really don't want to deal with them today. Here's my Theory of Dealing with CFS.

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// posted by Darla @ 11/09/2006 02:04:00 PM

Comments:

You sound like you're handling this the best possible way. Your list is well thought out and comes from a healthy perspective. You're in my thoughts!!

# posted by

CJ : 11/09/2006 3:16 PM

Sorry to hear about the CFS. :( It sounds like you know what to do to deal with this relapse. Take care of yourself, and good luck.

Love the German "Kaffee und Kuchen", although I pass on the "Kaffee". ;)

I hope your fatigue improves soon. Before I was diagnosed with PLMD (Periodic Limb Movement Disorder) I was exhausted all the time, and one internist thought I had CFS, so I sympathize.

Take care.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 3:22 PM

hang in there and take all of your own advice. :)

# posted by

Carmen : 11/09/2006 3:30 PM

Chronic fatique sounds horrible and I hope you get rid of it soon. Luckily you seem to know how to handle it.
Good luck and thanks for visiting my TT!

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 4:10 PM

Thanks all for the support!

# posted by

Darla : 11/09/2006 4:12 PM

Hang in there and I hope that you can recover soon. Try to think happy thoughts and relax. Try pretending that you're somewhere else, someplace that is beautiful and relaxing. I do this when I get depressed. I get maybe 5 hours of sleep everynight, but it helps me to think positive and think about my family and what would make me happy. My body is tired, but I try to keep my mind strong so that I can function daily.
Take care and God bless you and give you the strength to heal.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 4:13 PM

The frustrations of CFS. My human is an acupuncturist and she has seen many people with this. Don't beat yourself up with it. It does come and go and that is beyond your control. You can do things that help get better, but remember, not your fault that it relapsed and relapsed hard.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 4:42 PM

Get better :) We are behind you.

And if you need a shoulder, my email addy's on my blog. :)

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 4:53 PM

This sounds hard, Darla, but you're an incredibly determined person, and you know what you've got to do, so I'm sure you'll slowly but steadily get better.

Very, very best wishes,

Laura

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 5:12 PM

Take baby steps, Darla. I'm giving good vibes to you!

Have a happy Thursday!

# posted by

Shannon : 11/09/2006 5:30 PM

Awwwwww {{{Darla}}} I hope you recover soon, and get better

I'm here when you need me :)

# posted by

Julia : 11/09/2006 5:42 PM

healing thoughts and prayers from me to you!
thank you visiting my tt this week and for the birthday wishes.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 5:58 PM

Hope you feel better soon. You certainly seem to have the right attitude.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 8:30 PM

Thank you for sharing. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and my rheumy is also looking at CFS too.

Right now, I'm not doing too bad, having cut diet soda totally out of my intake. But I will still read more of your site when I get home from work.

Happy TT...and hope you get to feeling better.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2006 8:46 PM

Hi, this is very serious and I happen to be really into nutrition.

YOU MUST take those vitamins.

And you must take organic natural food source vitamins. It's no good taking synthetic source vitamins, as they are not as easily assimilated by the body.

One a day vitamins are not good.

Buy separate vitamins, sorry I know this may sound like a hasssle but listen, this is critical.

Go to a health food store for vitamins, Whole Foods has very good prices. Take IRON at a different time than vitamin E, B, or C. Iron can irritate the absorbtion and fuction of the other vitamins.

Take a large dose of Vitamin b complex. Make sure niacin is in the vitamin.

Take flax seed oil about 2 tablespoons every morning with your breakfast.

DO NOT eat starch, including bread, cereal, corn rice potatoes and noodles. These turn to sugar in 15 minutes and your body doesn't know the difference between cake and noodles in your stomach, they are the same thing to your tummy and hormones.

I know this may sound difficult but CFS is directly related to eating starches.

I have more ideas but now I may sound awful and like a nag...no one believes me but this is a completely treatable syndrome it is from poor nutrition.

Later,
Candy

# posted by

Candy Minx : 11/09/2006 9:20 PM

Thanks for the ideas, Candy. I did a trial a couple years ago with the B vitamins, and that didn't seem to have an effect, and I do limit the simple starches, sticking to whole grains, but I haven't tried flax seed oil. And the separate vitamins confuse me. How do you know which ones and how much?

# posted by

Darla : 11/09/2006 11:28 PM

Wow. I've heard about this, and been "tired" before, but nothing like what you're going through. I'm glad you have so much support here, and access to resources via the internet. But yeah, I get tired of sites too, when I'm looking up stuff re: my boys. Sometimes I just get tired of looking, learning, and trying to figure things out.

Rest, lady, and I hope you do feel better sooner rather than later.

I've posted my Thursday Thirteen, too. Enjoy! ;)

# posted by

Chaotic Mom : 11/09/2006 11:31 PM

Oy! I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Darla. CFS is a bitch.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/10/2006 12:22 AM

I know how it feels... Have you ever tried a wellness total body massage? It always gives me a boost. It's not a solution on its own, but it really helps.
Thanks for visiting my TT. I wish I had SciFi-channel!

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/10/2006 11:32 AM

HI!

Okay, I will give an example...I almost posted on this with a photo on my blog, but my cameras batteries just died.

So I'll write it out. Do you have access to Whole Foods in your town? Oops, I just see you're in Germany, sorry.

Okay. Do not buy vitamins in the pahrmacy unless they are natural source. Do you have a natural foods store in your town? I just a little research on the area you live in although I am not sure what kind of shopping you have access to.

If you can find natural food source vitamins. Not made from synthetic chemicals. This really amkes a diffeernece.

I would suggest when you eat breakfast to take a B vitamin complex. A vitamin C and 400IU of vitamin E.

Taking these together helps each vitamin absorb and work.

Then at lunch time take a natural source IRON,

I suspect the vitamin B complex you originally were taking was synthetic, most people pick up their vitamins quickly and at a pharmacy. It makes huge difference to take them with vitamins C and E.

Let me know if you have a health food store, I would be willing to mail you some good vitamins.

That is how important I feel and what kind of difference they make for energy and absorbtion.

# posted by

Candy Minx : 11/10/2006 4:50 PM

Hope you feel better soon, Darla. Take care.
Vaishali

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/10/2006 9:27 PM

Candy,
Thanks so much for the suggestions. Germans are very into natural foods and supplements and organics, so I'm sure I'll be able to find them.

# posted by

Darla : 11/11/2006 12:08 PM

nichtszusagen

Thursday, November 09, 2006

TT #28

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