AlwaysTired
Senior Member
- Messages
- 174
I began getting better (from CFS) when I moved to Phoenix in August, and continued to improve in the coming months. By November my CFS began being replaced by anxiety, as my nervous system suddenly came back to life. The anxiety became unbearably severe as the fatigue disappeared, and I had so much nervous energy that I could only discharge it by hard exercise and activity. There were days I would work out hard at the gym then come home and labor in the garden under the hot sun, and still be ok a day or two later (and no fatigue, just normal tiredness if anything the following day).
I went on hikes, sometimes upwards of 3 hours, running on the trails for most of the time to get the ridiculous amount of nervous energy out and relax.
So, I was sure that the CFS was gone and done with, as I was now at the complete opposite of the spectrum. I did expect that I would end up with less superhuman energy as the anxiety got under control, which it finally has.
That brings me to the past week. I began volunteering at an animal shelter at the beginning on February, and was ok energy wise with that. Then last Friday, after a moderate work out (wasn't needing to push myself as hard since the nervous energy wasn't as severe) I spent 2.5 hours at the shelter and had to leave because I began to crash. It was very busy and I was running around doing a lot, including carrying large puppies back and forth.
Spent the rest of that day mostly in bed, was in bed all day the next day (last Saturday, exactly a week ago), then able to sit on couch and watch tv and such by Sunday.
By Monday I felt OK again but the anxiety was back, so I went for a strenuous hike that was very rocky and all uphill (well in one direction. Was downhill and hard on knees with lots of loose small gravel that made the way down nearly as challenging)
I've managed to do a few errands since (this past week) but have begun feeling a level of fatigue I haven't experienced for about a year now. I struggle just to sit on the couch and watch tv or even write in my journal. I was making plans to work again, but now that this has happened I'm worried and feeling like that simply won't be possible.
Obviously I triggered a relapse, but what I am questioning is whether this past 7 days activity (most notably the hike) was too much too soon, or if it's going to be too much ever. Is it possible this is just a setback or is it more likely that CFS is never really going away and I will have to limit my activities forever. That I'll never be able to return to work, even if it's part time and sedentary?
I know no one can tell me for sure, so I'm just looking for probabilities here, and experiences of others.
Although the trails I was running on were much more level than the one I hiked on Monday (which I walked the entire way...nearly impossible to run it) I thought it was the same level of activity.
Now I don't know what to do moving forward, especially w/r/t working again...
I went on hikes, sometimes upwards of 3 hours, running on the trails for most of the time to get the ridiculous amount of nervous energy out and relax.
So, I was sure that the CFS was gone and done with, as I was now at the complete opposite of the spectrum. I did expect that I would end up with less superhuman energy as the anxiety got under control, which it finally has.
That brings me to the past week. I began volunteering at an animal shelter at the beginning on February, and was ok energy wise with that. Then last Friday, after a moderate work out (wasn't needing to push myself as hard since the nervous energy wasn't as severe) I spent 2.5 hours at the shelter and had to leave because I began to crash. It was very busy and I was running around doing a lot, including carrying large puppies back and forth.
Spent the rest of that day mostly in bed, was in bed all day the next day (last Saturday, exactly a week ago), then able to sit on couch and watch tv and such by Sunday.
By Monday I felt OK again but the anxiety was back, so I went for a strenuous hike that was very rocky and all uphill (well in one direction. Was downhill and hard on knees with lots of loose small gravel that made the way down nearly as challenging)
I've managed to do a few errands since (this past week) but have begun feeling a level of fatigue I haven't experienced for about a year now. I struggle just to sit on the couch and watch tv or even write in my journal. I was making plans to work again, but now that this has happened I'm worried and feeling like that simply won't be possible.
Obviously I triggered a relapse, but what I am questioning is whether this past 7 days activity (most notably the hike) was too much too soon, or if it's going to be too much ever. Is it possible this is just a setback or is it more likely that CFS is never really going away and I will have to limit my activities forever. That I'll never be able to return to work, even if it's part time and sedentary?
I know no one can tell me for sure, so I'm just looking for probabilities here, and experiences of others.
Although the trails I was running on were much more level than the one I hiked on Monday (which I walked the entire way...nearly impossible to run it) I thought it was the same level of activity.
Now I don't know what to do moving forward, especially w/r/t working again...