Something weird happened at the weekend...I noticed a marked fluctuation/improvement in energy. I've tried to document it below:
Monday to Friday - I was in my usual M.E mode, zombified dream like state, mostly couch bound, initiating simple tasks a monumental effort, dragging myself out of the house for a short walk each day to feel like part of humanity...you get the idea haha!
Friday afternoon/night - I decided that after 5 months, my clean 'Stoneage Diet' & supplements weren't working, I already ate healthily before I got ill anyway and was in the shape of my life. The discipline involved in eating so healthily for virtually zero improvement seemed pointless, so I did the unthinkable on Friday night and ordered a Chinese Takeaway.
Saturday - I woke up feeling okay (well, okay for someone with M.E/POTS). Had a freezing cold shower and dragged myself round to a friend's house who was having a BBQ. For the first time in ages I could actually hold a conversation and had some of my personality back, I started off slow but by the end of the day was throwing a rugby ball about in the garden, eating burgers and even treated myself to my first beer in almost 5 months. I continued to feel okay so decided to go into town, I didn't drink but stayed out dancing/socialising til midnight...it was bloody fantastic.
Sunday - I barely slept (mainly due to the excitement that i'd managed to survive a day/night out) but I still managed to go out for lunch with my parents the next day in town, we walked maybe 2-3 miles and I felt relatively okay. In fact after a short rest in the garden, I even managed to go for a dog walk with my friend in the evening, although it was a bit of a struggle towards the end (orthostatic headaches/fatigue etc started to set in a bit).
Monday - Felt okay, maybe 60% normal, had a brain MRI with contrast at hospital that i'd had booked for a while, all good, left hospital feeling fine still. But then it all went downhill...I put tons of Garlic on my lunch and noticed that within about an hour, my stomach was causing me issues, I then felt that horrible whole body fatigue set in, my arms and legs started to go weak and my mental energy started to be sucked from me...back down to 40% ish.
I don't really know what to make of this but I just wanted to share it with you all, (not to gloat because I know there are people in a much worse position than me) but to try and understand which variables (if any) influenced my short lived improvement. My guess is the following:
Potential Improvement Variables:
- Good weather (it was 22C all weekend)?
- Cold Showers?
- Reduction of supplements?
- Addition of carbs?
Potential Worsening Variables:
- Garlic...my theory is that it boosts the immune system too much?
- MRI/contrast...doubt it had an effect but could have done?
- Overdoing it at the weekend finally caught up with me?
Anyway...back to normality all thoughts good/bad welcome!
Monday to Friday - I was in my usual M.E mode, zombified dream like state, mostly couch bound, initiating simple tasks a monumental effort, dragging myself out of the house for a short walk each day to feel like part of humanity...you get the idea haha!
Friday afternoon/night - I decided that after 5 months, my clean 'Stoneage Diet' & supplements weren't working, I already ate healthily before I got ill anyway and was in the shape of my life. The discipline involved in eating so healthily for virtually zero improvement seemed pointless, so I did the unthinkable on Friday night and ordered a Chinese Takeaway.
Saturday - I woke up feeling okay (well, okay for someone with M.E/POTS). Had a freezing cold shower and dragged myself round to a friend's house who was having a BBQ. For the first time in ages I could actually hold a conversation and had some of my personality back, I started off slow but by the end of the day was throwing a rugby ball about in the garden, eating burgers and even treated myself to my first beer in almost 5 months. I continued to feel okay so decided to go into town, I didn't drink but stayed out dancing/socialising til midnight...it was bloody fantastic.
Sunday - I barely slept (mainly due to the excitement that i'd managed to survive a day/night out) but I still managed to go out for lunch with my parents the next day in town, we walked maybe 2-3 miles and I felt relatively okay. In fact after a short rest in the garden, I even managed to go for a dog walk with my friend in the evening, although it was a bit of a struggle towards the end (orthostatic headaches/fatigue etc started to set in a bit).
Monday - Felt okay, maybe 60% normal, had a brain MRI with contrast at hospital that i'd had booked for a while, all good, left hospital feeling fine still. But then it all went downhill...I put tons of Garlic on my lunch and noticed that within about an hour, my stomach was causing me issues, I then felt that horrible whole body fatigue set in, my arms and legs started to go weak and my mental energy started to be sucked from me...back down to 40% ish.
I don't really know what to make of this but I just wanted to share it with you all, (not to gloat because I know there are people in a much worse position than me) but to try and understand which variables (if any) influenced my short lived improvement. My guess is the following:
Potential Improvement Variables:
- Good weather (it was 22C all weekend)?
- Cold Showers?
- Reduction of supplements?
- Addition of carbs?
Potential Worsening Variables:
- Garlic...my theory is that it boosts the immune system too much?
- MRI/contrast...doubt it had an effect but could have done?
- Overdoing it at the weekend finally caught up with me?
Anyway...back to normality all thoughts good/bad welcome!
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