Today I feel like a sick person. bleh. I've been reminded that I still need to take special care of myself, that I still need naps, and that I can't push myself all day everyday. I need to remember this.
One of the most successful "treatments" for ME/CFS, if you can really call it a treatment, is a concept called "pacing." Essentially it means, pace yourself, plan ahead for activities, known when you need to slow down, etc. Carefully managing activity levels really helps.
I think that last thing I posted was about increasing the dosage of the LDN to 3mg, up from 1.5, and it's been a really really awesome thing. I felt like a not sick person, sortof. I haven't had perceptible spleen swelling or pain in weeks, and I can get through most days without a nap, although I'm not much good after about 6pm. If I nap around 2 or 3, I can be good til about 10ish. I was so completely thrilled to be able to plan a day away from my bed in the afternoon that I did exactly that, everyday. I needed to test my new limits, see how far I could go, what my body could handle.
It looks like I can go about 3-4 days without a nap before it starts to catch up with me, and if I pay attention one day in bed, or 2-3 with greatly reduced activities and increased rest will catch me up. I came down with fluey symptoms, headache, swollen head feeling, mild sore throat, soreness, and, well my anterior cervical chain, parotid, jugulodigastric, sublingual glands are usually swollen on a daily basis and they got worse. Still no spleen issues, and my head is more clear then it used to be when I felt crappy. OI symptoms are increased, and I noticed (not for the first time) a disturbing arrhythmia last night. I've often had weird tachycardia, and an occasional arrhythmia...but last night it felt like my heart was flopping around in my chest It was curious and unsettling. I immediately began to measure my heart rate on my carotid like I usually would so I felt the disrhythmia in my hands, and for a brief moment I actually felt the artery 'bottom out' It flattened because there was no pressure behind it for a moment.
Scary.
Really makes me wish I had some health insurance, you know? A Holter monitor maybe? yeah.
All my symptoms are greatly reduced when I take better care of myself. And luckily the LDN has helped me to feel much better, go a little bit longer with fewer symptoms. But the last few days have really helped me to see that I'm still a sick person.
grumble, grumble. I don't like being a sick person.
but at least if I slow down and give myself the rest I need, I don't have to *feel* like a sick person. The key will be allowing a positive self-care part of me to remember that I *am* still a sick person and I need to take good care of me. And then the rest of me can rejoice in not feeling sick all the time. Cause that's super cool. :) I had to learn new limits as I got sicker and sicker over the past year, and now that I'm seeing improvement, limits are changing again. At least the change is allowing me more activity and a happier existence. One Day at a Time.
Ok, back to resting for me.
Cheers.
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