High performers PR survey

[Martin aka paused||M.E.]

I have talked to hundreds of patients when I still had the energy to work as an OMF Community Ambassador whose focus was mainly on raising money but also advocating.

What always amazes me is the energy with which most of us lived most of our life before the illness. Academic degrees, workaholics, artists, people who were always above average seemed to me to be particularly susceptible to the disease.
Stress, for example, permanently weakens the immune system.

perhaps a factor that contributes to the development of the disease?
what was your life like?

 

[christiankatz]

I have talked to hundreds of patients when I still had the energy to work as an OMF Community Ambassador whose focus was mainly on raising money but also advocating.

What always amazes me is the energy with which most of us lived most of our life before the illness. Academic degrees, workaholics, artists, people who were always above average seemed to me to be particularly susceptible to the disease.
Stress, for example, permanently weakens the immune system.

perhaps a factor that contributes to the development of the disease?
what was your life like?

I've found the same thing talking to others with ME. Most of us were incredibly active and with high energy levels before. I did long-distance cycling along with very long steep hikes in the mountains. No matter what I did, I still had too much energy to spare. Most that I've talked to with ME were similar. It seems like there's an article out there about it somewhere. I can't remember.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

I was never very physically active but I played varsity basketball in high school. Before ME/CFS, I worked 60 hrs/wk at my IT job, was raising our 2 young kids with my husband and was caregiver of my aging mother.

The stress probably compounded my management of this illness in early stages but the clear triggering event was EBV. After EBV, my life was never the same.

 

[Irat]

https://www.natrolive.com/blog/2019/4/22/stress-part-2

https://www.natrolive.com/blog/2019/8/26/me-amp-stress-limbic-kindling

‘stress’ doesn’t just mean emotional stress. It can also be things like an infection (viral, bacterial, fungal/mold), physical or mental trauma, inflammation or even environmental toxins such as pollution, pesticides and heavy metals (eg mercury or lead). Your body responds to all of these (and more) with its stress response .......
The exposure to the stress can either be a short-term but high intensity exposure.

 

[Martin aka paused||M.E.]

https://www.natrolive.com/blog/2019/4/22/stress-part-2

https://www.natrolive.com/blog/2019/8/26/me-amp-stress-limbic-kindling

‘stress’ doesn’t just mean emotional stress. It can also be things like an infection (viral, bacterial, fungal/mold), physical or mental trauma, inflammation or even environmental toxins such as pollution, pesticides and heavy metals (eg mercury or lead). Your body responds to all of these (and more) with its stress response .......
The exposure to the stress can either be a short-term but high intensity exposure.

Please stay on topic

 

[Irat]

Please stay on topic

Hmm I think I did.because what I m saying is that yes all kind of stressors accumulate,weaken the immune system ,can reactivate viruses etc,...or did I get your question wrong ?

 

[Spanky88]

I was always a very physically active kid and running around and biking. Always on the move.

Right before I got ill Iwas working 40 hours a week in manual labor. I would volunteer to do yard work for elderly people on the weekends and I would spend several hours on that. I also was bodybuilding 5-6 days a week for at least 2 hours a day. I was taking lots of ephedra and caffeine to push though it all. I also was taking anabolic steroids through the time period. I think between the drugs and the massively over doing everything physically it led to my illness.

 

[Martin aka paused||M.E.]

Hmm I think I did.because what I m saying is that yes all kind of stressors accumulate,weaken the immune system ,can reactivate viruses etc,...or did I get your question wrong ?

If you read my post and the headline it should be clear that I don’t mean infections, physical trauma etc

 

[Treeman]

It's been my understanding for a long time that stress is a trigger, physical or emotional and including stress triggered by infection

 

[Irat]

If you read my post and the headline it should be clear that I don’t mean infections, physical trauma etc

Oh yes...and that's what I and this article does say.........:Stress can also mean bad diet,too much exercise,always pushing over your limit,overworking,losses in life etc......and the brain does not differentiate if it's a virus,heavy metal toxicity,trauma, or "normal" life stressors .................anyway I was a pusher all my life and mostly overutilzing my sympathetic autonomic nervous system

 

[Judee]

I actually got sick at a young age (10 y.o I believe) so I cannot say if I would have fit that "high achiever" profile.

I had a hard time even then with brain fog and fatigue and multiple colds/flus through my growing up years. I finally had to quit school and finish by homeschooling. Even that was difficult.

 

[LINE]

Back in the day they called it the "yuppie flu" -meaning it was the over driven Type A that seemed to get it.

High performance requires high adrenal activity which is never good for any prolonged period of time. Research will clearly indicate that high cortisol or other adrenal hormones have a deleterious effect on the the immune system and other recovery systems such as redox.

 

[godlovesatrier]

The thing is I think the data is bias. When collected from certain places where crrtian people congregate.

For example on PR and other forums you can end up with people from professional backgrounds or IT backgrounds. That's because those people are more likely to analyse the disease due to their prior jobs and are more likely to think to find a forum due to past exploration and the nature of the job.

As for high performers etc. I think this can also be true and it's absolutely no criticism of those who are basically not around (around PR and forums like it). I think those who were not high performers in terms of physical pursuits and busy lives possibly even over achievers (as they call it in the states?) Are probably more likely to be on Facebook groups. I know from the Facebook groups I was in that most (90% I'd say) people are not interested in analysing the disease and as I say it's absolutely no criticism (of these people). Just what I've noticed over the last 5 years.

So I think it's hard to get a collation of data that is truly representative. Problem with all stats gathering I guess we can say the same for any analysis we do for recovery stories or anything else.

Just my thoughts

 

[blueberry]

Both my episodes of ME started when I was trying to work AND study (at post-grad level), then got a flu-like virus. Almost identical situations. I'm not a "high achiever" by conventional standards, but have always been passionate about my work and my music; at the time of my major relapse (five years ago?) after 12 years of almost 100% remission, I was also recording an album at weekends on top of work and study. There were several major stressors in the 2 years prior to that, including being flooded out of my home.

(Reading this back I can imagine people thinking why didn't I learn my lesson the first time round- I truly believed I was cured and never thought the ME would come for me again. Got that wrong!)

 

[Boba]

Yes. Was burned out the year before getting Covid. Never expected sth like this to happen.
Got symptoms the day I wanted to chill for a couple of months…

Edit: ADHD and undiagnosed anxiety didn‘t help

 

[Boba]

However I think I did what a lot of people my age do… I just stressed myself more about things. Was emotionally unstable and got angry very quickly. Anxiety…

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

Was emotionally unstable and got angry very quickly. Anxiety…

Covid-19 is a nasty bitch that will severely fuck with your emotions. I've found strength from realizing that it will eventually pass.

 

[Boba]

Covid-19 is a nasty bitch that will severely fuck with your emotions. I've found strength from realizing that it will eventually pass.

I had this pre Covid as well, now it is of the roof. I know 3 people who got serious psychological problems after the infection. 1 was close to suicide, the others developed panic attacks and depression.

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

I had this pre Covid as well, now it is of the roof. I know 3 people who got serious psychological problems after the infection. 1 was close to suicide, the others developed panic attacks and depression.

We need to survive this. I've found strength in reminding myself of the transitory nature of this virus.

 

[Boba]

We need to survive this. I've found strength in reminding myself of the transitory nature of this virus.

Too late for me. I went from healthy to bedridden in 4 months…