"Health Tip: Coping With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" - From womenshealth.gov

leelaplay

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Tom Kindlon's post to co-cure of Jan 4 10

"Health Tip: Coping With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" - From womenshealth.gov, the Federal Government source for Women's Health Information (part of U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services)
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January 04, 2010

Health Tip: Coping With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

(HealthDay News) -- Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by extreme fatigue that makes it difficult to complete life's daily tasks.

It has no known cause or cure, but the National Women's Health Information Center says you can take steps to help manage its symptoms:

Keep an activities journal, particularly on days that you feel especially tired.

Look for patterns in your symptoms and eliminate or reduce activities that seem to trigger them.

Work with an occupational therapist to help you conserve energy and feel better.

At the end of the day, evaluate how much energy you had, compared to how much energy you needed to use. Doing so may help you better manage your energy.

As needed, take over-the-counter pain relievers and antihistamines that don't cause drowsiness.

-- Diana Kohnle
 

Lily

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Well that's a life-saver!!! I'm sure none of us would have thought of any of those things!!! Am I just in a very bad mood or what? And why does it bother me so much that it.........oh I am going to shut up, this is going no where good.....:headache::eek::Sign Help:









ETA: I guess I should be grateful that our government is thinking of us. Thank you IF, you always find the most interesting information - you're a :peach::D
 

leelaplay

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1,576
Well that's a life-saver!!! I'm sure none of us would have thought of any of those things!!! Am I just in a very bad mood or what? And why does it bother me so much that it.........oh I am going to shut up, this is going no where good.....:headache::eek::Sign Help:

So sorry loldershaw - didn't mean to bring you down. Maybe it's one of those days. Instead of taking things in my stride, I've reacted to others today by getting angry (rare), confused or down. This one made me laugh for some reason. I try to use things like this to work on my black humour muscle. I was thinking of commenting that it reminded me of the ads from the 50s with a doctor recommending marlboros, or the advice to housewives to put on their pearls and perfume, empty their minds, send the kids outside, and have dinner waiting for when hubby got home.

ps - have been meaning to tell you I love your signature.
 

Lily

*Believe*
Messages
677
This one made me laugh for some reason. I try to use things like this to work on my black humour muscle. I was thinking of commenting that it reminded me of the ads from the 50s with a doctor recommending marlboros, or the advice to housewives to put on their pearls and perfume, empty their minds, send the kids outside, and have dinner waiting for when hubby got home.

ps - have been meaning to tell you I love your signature.

:DYou are absolutely RIGHT ON!!!! I love that interpretation:Sign Good one::Sign giggle:

Oh glad you like the quote - I hadn't thought of it for a long time - it was always one of my favorites. cjbrennan happened to remind me of it the other evening - it took both our brains to remember it and who said it, but we did it!:Retro tongue: If I had another person around all the time with 1/2 a brain, I wouldn't miss the half of mine that's disappeared so much:Retro smile:
 

muffin

Senior Member
Messages
940
Are they kidding? Keep a journal? WHY? I sleep all day and night. What would I put down: slept for 20 hours. Go to an Occupational Therapist to conserve energy? WHO is that stupid? My friend is an OC with severe CFIDS and in bed 20 hours a day - she would fall on the floor laughing at that one. Just shows that they DON'T GET IT!
 

CJB

Senior Member
Messages
877
:DYou are absolutely RIGHT ON!!!! I love that interpretation:Sign Good one::Sign giggle:

Oh glad you like the quote - I hadn't thought of it for a long time - it was always one of my favorites. cjbrennan happened to remind me of it the other evening - it took both our brains to remember it and who said it, but we did it!:Retro tongue: If I had another person around all the time with 1/2 a brain, I wouldn't miss the half of mine that's disappeared so much:Retro smile:

Hi! That's what I love about this forum -- a festival of half-brainers, one of whom can always complete my thought! And most of the folks on this forum have 1/2 brains that put most people's whole brains to shame.

Thanks for the post, IF. Good exercise for the black humor muscle, indeed!
 

Martlet

Senior Member
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Near St Louis, MO
I don't think it is bad advice for newly-diagnosed patients. Some of you were already sick by the time I got ill in '92, but I had no clue what to do and all by myself I devised a system to try and discover my "safe" level of activity. It really did help me to stop pushing and crashing. So as I say, for new patients, this is probably good advice.
 

leelaplay

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1,576
Are they kidding? Keep a journal? WHY? I sleep all day and night. What would I put down: slept for 20 hours. Go to an Occupational Therapist to conserve energy? WHO is that stupid? My friend is an OC with severe CFIDS and in bed 20 hours a day - she would fall on the floor laughing at that one. Just shows that they DON'T GET IT!

Muffin,

I guess my reaction to the article was that it was too simplistic. But I think there are a few good ideas in it.

I've kept a daily journal since near the beginning. I find it extremely helpful in many ways. It started as I often couldn't remember things at the doctor, so we started a chart recording hrs of sleep, temperature, daily symptoms (for those that float) etc. Over time it developed to include types and times of any activity, energy level etc. It helps with pacing. It helps see long-term patterns......It is my written memory. The Canadian Consensus Overview includes some simplistic charts for sleep, temp and pain.

Not all pwmecfs are in bed all day. I don't know if there are any good ME/CFS literate Occupational Therapists out there, but if there are I think they could be helpful. Every drop of energy is precious. I've had to relearn almost everything to minimize energy usage and maximize functionality. There are things I've slowly figured out over time that help me conserve energy - efficiency of motion, little things like keep a bowl for garbage when I can cook so it's only one motion to clean-up after instead of multiple trips, getting slip-on shoes...
 
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