Live And Let Die
Senior Member
- Messages
- 104
- Location
- Las Vegas
I don't know who the king is, but I'm in the royal court somewhere.
I didn't know I had CFS until about 9 months ago. Previous I always pushed through as hard as I could as I am, as the saying goes, a gluton for punishment.
Throughout the past 10+ I look back at the cycles I would go through and I have now learned from them. Pacing and accepting this condition for what it is has help eased my mental well being (unless you catch me on a particularly bad day).
I have an addictive personality, which, coupled with a type A personality I can see that I have been self medicating for years. I still do to some extent. Now that I have a handle on CFS I will share some things that actually help my symptoms for some reason. I will also share little idiosyncrasies (mostly unhealthy and I do not recommend) that I find strange.
Who knows what doctors may read these forums and maybe little things will help them think of something they didn't already. This website and forums are extremely important!
Things that have a noticable effect on my symptoms:
DayQuil - or anything that has a nasal decongestant. Dayquil has been the best of them all. During times where I need to do taxing physical or mental work this works. I had one of those daily crashes the other day and I took some and while I wasn't back at baseline, it stopped the crash in it's track (Does not work in the abyss). Now keep in mind while it does increase my energy, I'm more prone to overdoing it and crashing harder.
Viagra - I won't get into too much detail here (I hear the booing), but for about 4 hours after I take it I feel overall better. It helps with the PEM associated to sex. If I do not have sex it seems to clear up my mind a bit and makes my body overall feel a bit less crummy.
Caffiene - I drink a TON of it on a daily basis. Just helps me push through on a daily basis.
Diet - The worse I eat, the better my baseline is. Fast food, snacks, beer ect. Don't ask me why.
Please don't go out and do this, it is NOT good for you. These are just my experiences. Ironically enough, the worst crash I ever had was when I had quit everything bad, smoking, drinking alcohol and caffine and was eating perfectly plus exercising 3-4 days a week for 30 mins a day. Then one day BOOM, the biggest crash ever. Lasted a couple weeks at least. Just doesn't make sense.
Idiosyncrasies
The more "hungover" I feel the the morning, the better my day will turn out.
I can get more accomplished in the day by doing things a little at a time. If I have 3 tasks for the day, I'll bounce around doing a little of each with breaks in between. I can do a lot of things, just not for a long time or consistently.
I drink a ton, always have. Doesn't matter what it is, I'm drinking all day long, water, juice, soda (diet). I've been this way since my early teen years.
I pee a lot, but not in relation to what I drink. I had a manual lymphatic drainage massage last week and probably peed 20 times that day after it.
My appetite is always good (Its a mental appetite, not a feeling of being hungry). But some days I have strange thoughts about food. Sometimes I crave carbs for days, other days it sugar (I'm really not a big sweets fan) but when those days come, I feel like I need to constantly eat candy. I've also had days where the thought of vegetables was actually repulsive to me. Strange.
Just things to chew on. I don't recommend any of my vices or bad habits, just taking an unbiased look at things and sharing them.
I didn't know I had CFS until about 9 months ago. Previous I always pushed through as hard as I could as I am, as the saying goes, a gluton for punishment.
Throughout the past 10+ I look back at the cycles I would go through and I have now learned from them. Pacing and accepting this condition for what it is has help eased my mental well being (unless you catch me on a particularly bad day).
I have an addictive personality, which, coupled with a type A personality I can see that I have been self medicating for years. I still do to some extent. Now that I have a handle on CFS I will share some things that actually help my symptoms for some reason. I will also share little idiosyncrasies (mostly unhealthy and I do not recommend) that I find strange.
Who knows what doctors may read these forums and maybe little things will help them think of something they didn't already. This website and forums are extremely important!
Things that have a noticable effect on my symptoms:
DayQuil - or anything that has a nasal decongestant. Dayquil has been the best of them all. During times where I need to do taxing physical or mental work this works. I had one of those daily crashes the other day and I took some and while I wasn't back at baseline, it stopped the crash in it's track (Does not work in the abyss). Now keep in mind while it does increase my energy, I'm more prone to overdoing it and crashing harder.
Viagra - I won't get into too much detail here (I hear the booing), but for about 4 hours after I take it I feel overall better. It helps with the PEM associated to sex. If I do not have sex it seems to clear up my mind a bit and makes my body overall feel a bit less crummy.
Caffiene - I drink a TON of it on a daily basis. Just helps me push through on a daily basis.
Diet - The worse I eat, the better my baseline is. Fast food, snacks, beer ect. Don't ask me why.
Please don't go out and do this, it is NOT good for you. These are just my experiences. Ironically enough, the worst crash I ever had was when I had quit everything bad, smoking, drinking alcohol and caffine and was eating perfectly plus exercising 3-4 days a week for 30 mins a day. Then one day BOOM, the biggest crash ever. Lasted a couple weeks at least. Just doesn't make sense.
Idiosyncrasies
The more "hungover" I feel the the morning, the better my day will turn out.
I can get more accomplished in the day by doing things a little at a time. If I have 3 tasks for the day, I'll bounce around doing a little of each with breaks in between. I can do a lot of things, just not for a long time or consistently.
I drink a ton, always have. Doesn't matter what it is, I'm drinking all day long, water, juice, soda (diet). I've been this way since my early teen years.
I pee a lot, but not in relation to what I drink. I had a manual lymphatic drainage massage last week and probably peed 20 times that day after it.
My appetite is always good (Its a mental appetite, not a feeling of being hungry). But some days I have strange thoughts about food. Sometimes I crave carbs for days, other days it sugar (I'm really not a big sweets fan) but when those days come, I feel like I need to constantly eat candy. I've also had days where the thought of vegetables was actually repulsive to me. Strange.
Just things to chew on. I don't recommend any of my vices or bad habits, just taking an unbiased look at things and sharing them.