Results of 1 Yr. without crashing

[carolynlp]

A little over a year ago, I noted Dr. Davis' comment about his lab assistant going one year without a crash and subsequently recovering from ME/CFS. Even though I couldn't find more details on any forum, this seemed worth investigating and I began a similar effort. I did manage to avoid major crash events for a whole year, though I did have at least 3-4 close calls. As a result, I have improved significantly. Last year, I was mostly bedridden, managing about 1-1/2 hours of "up" time. Eating a meal and conversing with someone could just sack me and walking was iffy at times. One year later, I can do 3 normal hours "up" with low level activity, or up to 6 "sitting" hours; I'm also noticably less devastatingly tired in general. This improvement is a wonderful gift, so I'm carrying on for a second year.

My husband has been a huge help and participant in the no-crashes project. We bought a transport chair, and he's the "motor". He's also quite strict with me to make sure I'm not driving myself too hard since I'm not always in good touch with my body's needs. The man can say a hard, "No." For my part, I've learned to read the warning signs of an imminent crash. In order of arrival, these are: cold sweat; dizziness and/or heart palpitations; nausea; shaking. These signs appear rather quickly over about a 5-10 minute period, and if I get to the shaking part, it's too late.

In the past, have tried special diets, supplements, medications, etc. etc. to no avail, but crash avoidance has truly helped me. I encourage my fellow ME/CFS sufferers to try this if you possibly can.

Carolyn Pierce
Palo Alto

 

[Treeman]

I put my health improvements to resting too.
I try not to crash, but sometimes there are things I have to do due to having a young family.

I recently had to undertake a family occasion and crashed for 4 days, not helpful.

However a bigger problem I have is catching infections. I caught one in June and have yet to recover from it.

Congratulations on your improvement, hope you can keep it going.

 

[nolongerdiseased]

Wonderful to hear of your improvement. Learning to stay fully within your limits is so difficult to kudos to you (and your husband) there!

 

[Nord Wolf]

Laying in bed in a crash... I compliment you in your accomplishment and wish you another crash-free year!
Even if I'm doing nothing but resting, severe weather fronts and extreme barometric pressure drops can cause me to crash, whether I'm pacing or not.
But I agree, avoiding crashes seems to be one of the biggest, if not THE biggest aspects of steady improvement over time. Now if only the weather would cooperate. It is so frustrating when you are monitoring everything and following the cues of realtime heart rate, blood pressure, SpO2 levels, HRV, etc, only to have the trap door below open up and swallow you because the weather shifted.
But I'm glad to hear it is working for you!

 

[carolynlp]

Wonderful to hear of your improvement. Learning to stay fully within your limits is so difficult to kudos to you (and your husband) there!

Thank you for your kind words. I am far from well, but definitely improved. I wish you wellness, too!

Laying in bed in a crash... I compliment you in your accomplishment and wish you another crash-free year!
Even if I'm doing nothing but resting, severe weather fronts and extreme barometric pressure drops can cause me to crash, whether I'm pacing or not.
But I agree, avoiding crashes seems to be one of the biggest, if not THE biggest aspects of steady improvement over time. Now if only the weather would cooperate. It is so frustrating when you are monitoring everything and following the cues of realtime heart rate, blood pressure, SpO2 levels, HRV, etc, only to have the trap door below open up and swallow you because the weather shifted.
But I'm glad to hear it is working for you!

Dear Nord Wolf - Ah yes, the weather and emotional events surely trigger crashes as easily as exertion. Barometric changes regularly affect my sleep. (You'd think fog rolls in wearing hobnail boots amid clanging gongs!) Nevertheless, stay single-minded about avoiding crashes. You may improve enough to withstand the weather assaults and even more beyond that. The process just takes time, but that's one thing CFSers have lots of. Thank you for writing to encourage and affirm me. I wish you wellness and everything good.