This week has been a tough one and I mean REALLY tough. I am pretty sure that I have not been this stressed, drained and exhausted for a few months and every bout of exhaustion seems to be getting harder to handle. So today's post is all about dealing with these times, when changes are happening, your life is getting stressful and this ultimately affects your health condition, whatever it may be. There are so many conditions out there where fatigue is one of the defining symptoms; ME, SLE, Fibromyalgia, RA, Sjogrens, MS.....the list goes on and on. The issue with fatigue is that the word itself doesn't even come close to giving it justice.
This week has been a tough one and the saddest part for me is that I know that even with the long weekend, it will be weeks before I am back to full strength. We all have weeks like this don't we fro time to time. I had the sunshine that set me off last weekend, killing the little bit of energy that I did have. The there was the change in hospital appointment, that was hard work to organize and mentally tough to go through. I have also accepted a new job, leaving my current company who I LOVE dearly and this is never a pleasant thing to do...makes me very sad. On top of this I have the usual financial concerns we all have getting to the end of the month, I have what I think is yet another ear infection and i'm learning the hard way that friendships and illness can be tough.
So now is a time that many of us with a chronic illness have to stop completely what we are doing, reevaluate the priorities for the next couple of weeks and take back the control over the disease.
Sometimes life can be completely overwhelming and we all feel very small in the big wide world, but there are bits that we can grasp onto, take back control over and change and one of those things is planning what is best for us so our health can get back on track. This is the time when we have to be strong enough to say no to things, be a little more selfish when it comes to the things we little can't do, know we shouldn't do and things we know are going to make us worse. It is times like this that you will need those that love you to understand and friends to give you space to heal, because if you don't have this time to yourself to get stronger you will prolong the issue.
So what can you do?
I am going to start off by planning my sleep pattern differently so that I am getting more than normal and if I am not sleeping I need to at least be resting in front of the TV or reading in bed. For now, whilst I am in the chronic phase this will most likely be everyday for a couple of weeks, or as close to that I can get. In order to relax, something that when I am stressed out I find really difficult, I am going to practice meditation and start up some YouTube Yoga lessons again....if you have never tried one they are great and you don't even have to leave your bedroom!
You can look at what you can do over the chronic period and what you can't do. It may be that you have a full calender of events lined up or just a couple in your diary, some you can do, some you just can't do. You need to be able to go through with a clear eye and make sure you keep something in that you can do, to give you a break and some social time. For me, it will be a case of, if you want to go for drinks, could we possibly make it coffees in the afternoon instead? There are always options for things to be changed, as long as everyone understands why changes are going to be made.
I will be looking at my diet today, so that I can make sure I am getting the best from it for my current state of health. I am going to be upping the fruit and vegetables for the rest of the week. I am lacking in iron and vitamin D, both of which I need to be taking in more of. On top of this I am switching from coffee to decaffeinated, or herbal teas. Cutting down on caffeine may seem counter intuitive, but actual it makes a huge difference to your quality of sleep. Finally I shall be removing as much sugar from my diet as I can. I have already switched to sweetners in tea and coffee, but I will be making sure that everything else I eat is low in refined sugars, so I am just getting natural energy.
I will take everything one day at a time. This is one of the things that is going to give me the best chance of recovering to a better quality of life. If I wake up and i am too exhausted to lift my head from the pillow then I will just stay there until I can. If I can't come out for afternoon drinks, or a shopping trip then I can't do it. With all the best intentions in the world, if I need a days of sleep, then I need a day of sleep. By following this plan I will also be in a better position to get more down on a good day so the effect is only positive in the wider picture.
