FIGHTING FATIGUE

I got an email from Healthy Living and it was about fighting fatigue if you've got a chronic illness. It's kind of interesting to me in a funny sort of way. I'll comment on the points that were brought out in the article and leave the rest to you.

Point number 1: See your doctor.

I've met a number of people who have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia or as in my case, a combination of both. Most of them will say the same thing I do. Our doctors are on speed dial. I don't think seeing my doctor any more than I do will help anything; short of having him move in with me. I think they're actually sick of seeing me.

Point number 2:  Get enough sleep.

I hate to get pissy at this point in the post but one of the markers of a chronic illness like Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue are sleep disturbances. Get enough sleep? Sometimes that's all we do! We sleep and sleep but it's not sleep that restores our bodies or our souls. We can take medication that would knock out a horse but sometimes that isn't even enough to keep us asleep. Most of us would give everything we had to get refreshing sleep; the sleep that allows our muscles and joints to heal. 

Point number 3: Aim for more refreshing sleep.

All I can say is WTF?  Go to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier. Don't watch TV in bed. Plan your evenings carefully. Who wrote this article? Are they on drugs???

Point number 4: Exercise for energy and to help you sleep.

It just keeps getting better and better.  At the bottom of this blog post I'm going to link to this article. You've just got to see the picture of this smiling, happy woman walking like she hasn't got a care in the world. There's not one look on her face that would give anyone a clue that she might have to crawl in the door because the pain is so overwhelming. Now I'm not saying that walking and gentle stretching doesn't help but that picture just really is annoying to me. The kicker of this point is that we shouldn't exercise late in the evening because it might interfere with sleep. Is anyone laughing yet?

Point number 5: Eat well to fight fatigue.

I hate to clue them in but I can eat like a champ and it has ABSOLUTELY no effect on the pain. Again, moderation in all things and as important as diet is you cannot make a blanket statement that this will always fight fatigue. Besides, when you carry the fatigue and pain that most of us do on a daily basis, I say Vive la Chocolat!

Point number 6: Step into the sunlight.

This is to bring to light (pardon the pun) the value of sunlight in setting our internal clocks. Again, I hate to be Debbie Downer but our body clocks are totally screwed up. Stepping out into sunlight isn't going to reset it. Sunlight can help us get valuable Vitamin D which we really need but I don't think it will help in the fatigue department.

Point number 7: Maintain a healthy weight.

I'd love to do this one. This has been the bane of my existence since I got sick. Between the autoimmune Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, the hypothyroidism and the inactivity that pain brings my calorie intake is down to almost nothing and I still don't lose weight. Except for the occasional chocolate binge my calorie intake is under 1200 a day. That isn't bad in anyone's book. I should be skinny. Hey, you tell me..............  Anyone else have trouble with this due to side effects of the Fibro and fatigue?

Point number 8: Manage Stress to fight fatigue.

I will totally agree with this one. Stress is a killer. The problem is these invisible illnesses is that there is fallout. There is a huge economic fallout that accompanies this illness. It's disabling and as hard as we try to keep some normalcy in life it hugely impacts your ability to make a living. Let me rephrase that. It hugely impacts your ability to make a living if your income is coming from a high stress environment. There's relationship fallout. Whether it be from spousal, partner, familial or friends, everything is affected when you don't want to be around anyone. People do not understand and they take it personally. Top it all off from the stress that most people think this is all in your head. Stress????? What do you think??

Point number 9: Try Aromatherapy.

Personally, I like this one but there are people out there that have sensitivities to any kind of odors or smells. For me, I love it.  It does help me and I love the Bath and Body Works instant aromatherapy rollers. I have two that I use. One is Instant Comfort and it's vanilla and chamomile. The other is called Sound Sleep and it's lavender and chamomile. I roll the comfort on my wrists and the lavender on my pillowcase. I don't know if it helps the ability to stay asleep  but it does smell good when my head hits the pillow.

Point number 10: Be good to yourself.

This is so true. We need to realize that there are certain things that we have to accept. Fatigue will be with us no matter what we do. We can manage it and management is so important but until they find a cure flares will always be with us. 

So I'll link to the article and see what you think. The exercise picture just really got to me.............

How to fight fatigue and stop feeling tired.

PERFECTION

It rained. 

The wind was  blowing. 

Then it stopped. 

There is a lot of emotion and introspection when pain hits. I think I'm still dealing with perfection issues and that is the basis of the problems I'm having right now. This disease brings to light that we are not perfect and, as much as we don't like it, we might have to ask for help. 

Help comes in different forms. Asking for anything has never been easy for me. I've always been the one who's offered help but taking it is another thing altogether. I abhor being in a position of weakness and that is what asking for help does to me. I know I shouldn't be that way but something in me hates accepting anything from anyone. 

Does it make me feel obligated? 

Maybe. 

I think it's more than that, though. I still say it makes me imperfect and weak. It makes me realize that I'm not as strong as I think I am and I can't take care of myself all the time. It's self-reliance and I may not be in total control of my destiny. I hate that.

I set this bar of perfection for myself. I don't care what it is. My biggest problem is that I've gained weight due to thyroid issues and inactivity. I can't accept it. I look at my face or my body and end up hating myself. If I'm not attaining the perfection that I set for myself then I've failed and I hate to fail at anything. I just want to give up trying to be perfect and just be who I am. 

If I do anything I do it all the way. I work hard, play hard and rest hard. I also got sick hard. I guess I've been perfect at that as well. I wake up everyday thinking that I'll set these realistic boundaries for myself and once again I find a way to count everyone of my imperfections. I find a way to include just one more task, one more email or one more activity that I know will hurt me tomorrow. 

I know all this and still I do it.

I do it and then I beat myself up for it. 

What does it take to reach a point of acceptance? Sometimes I think acceptance and resignation is the same as defeat. There we go again. Anything less than perfection is failure. I know I should let go and let God deal with it. All this faith that I claim to have has not remedied this in my life. I do have faith but I don't know how to let go and let God deal with these issues. In my head I know that I'm an imperfect being but the bar that I've set for myself is a different issue altogether.

How do I change that?

I really want to learn.

COOKING QUEENS TO THE COOKING BABES

The Cooking Queens are now the Cooking Babes.

This is what I almost forgot due to the lovely fibro fog that has consistently enveloped me lately. Every month a group gets together for dinner complete with good times and great food. The group right now includes family and friends that are like family, so it's a real tight knit group. We all love to cook and love to have any excuse to experiment with new recipes.  Last night we made pizza. Our wonderful and gracious hostess required that we wear pajama's which was pure heaven for me! I'll forever love her for that! I threw on a pair of sweats....there you go! She had lovely pomegranate martini's for those imbibing; but I, of course, brought my signature fountain diet coke. None of that for me while on pain medication!! 

The pizzas were fabulous and I hear the martini's were fabulous also! 

It lasted for three hours then I went home and immediately got into bed. I'm such a wuss but lately the muscle spasms have been getting out of hand. I really hate the isolation that the pain imposes on my life so the chance to get together with people that I love is too tempting to pass up. So I sucked it up and took some pain medication and went on my way. I had such a good time and I did learn how to season my pizza stone. I never thought about doing that but the pizza literally slid off the one that was seasoned. Just cover it in olive oil and put it on the top rack of the oven. Every time you use the oven just bake that stone and that's it. It's so simple, but then, the best ideas usually are. My daughter and I looked at each other in amazement....we'd never heard of that one!

So here's to the next chapter of the Cooking Babes. 

Just make sure to email me so I don't forget! 

IN THE MIX

I think

therefore, I am

This doesn't help me at all.

I'm pretty good at over-thinking my life. I'm back into the dig-it-up-and-resurrect-it-and-think-it-back-into-oblivion syndrome again. I have tried to look up this test that I'll have on Monday to no avail. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing but I know that I'm not looking forward to it. So I need to think about something else. 

Maybe a little free association ramblings.............

I was just on the verge of spring fever and then came the wind, cold and an increase in humidity. That is the perfect recipe for OW Soup and I've got a batch cooking right now. 

So far so good.............

Does anyone really have a real good day with this? I'm not talking about mentally.....I mean on a truly physical plane. Even on my good days, where I laugh and smile, I never really am out of pain. It might be semi-manageable but it's never really gone. 

What happens with you on a good day?  How do you really feel?

I am no stranger to thinking something to death. I'm no stranger to analyzing how I am or what I am doing with my life. I feel mixed up, unsure and then strong, confident and a warrior in charge of my life. I understand limitations and dislike them. I move forward and then take ten steps back. I see clearly and then everything is in a fog.

Let's take tonight. Finally, after a few months hiatus, the cooking queens are getting back together. I've looked forward to this for awhile but do you think I remembered it? Nope. My daughter sent me a text to remember to bring the rolling pin. What? The rolling pin? What and where? The humidity is climbing again and it seems that it affects, not only the pain levels, but the fibro fog.

I'm in an ambivalent state of being. I know that there will always be challenges but I'm in a coma when in comes to coping with them. A restlessness is surfacing.

I'm stuck right in the middle of acceptance and resistance.

CHOCOHOLIC HEAVEN

I need a sugar fix.

Right now.

It looks good.

It tastes good.

It feels good.

If I get stressed I want chocolate. I don't care what form it's in either. Right now I'm a little stressed and I've been good for so long. I figure it's time for a snack.  Also, I'm not a chocolate snob. I'll eat Hershey Kisses (actually I like the ones with the cherry cordial centers) as well as Godiva and Ethel M's. You would think a quart of chocolate Haagen Daz ice cream would be pure nirvana but when it comes to ice cream I lean toward the vanilla. Literally.

Lately it seems that chocolate can do everything.  Lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, prevents cancer, it enhances memory and alertness and prevents heart disease. It seems that chocolate can fix anything that's wrong with you. At this point, it is noteworthy to add that research on some of these claims was funded by Mars (as in the candy bar). There have also been studies that claim chocoholics live longer than people who don't indulge. This sounds good to me!

Here's to a very long life!

Some of the benefits of chocolate come from resveratrol, an immune booster, which is also found in red wine. So far this is sounding better and better. One of the main benefits is that it releases endorphins and boosts seratonin levels in the brain. Seratonin promotes positive feelings and fends off depression.

So after convincing myself how good this is for me I think I'll give in to the emo eating urge and go for it. The problem is that I'd rather have milk chocolate than dark but maybe I can control the urge by eating just a little of the dark chocolate. 

Didn't Hershey make dark chocolate kisses? Oh.........peppermint patties and Mounds. Oh yeah, snickers just came out with a dark chocolate candy bar. Let's see........what else? Dove dark chocolate candy bars and dark chocolate m&m's. 

There's hope for me yet.