Chronic fatigue - damned if you do, damned if you don't
Bad days are going to happen whatever we try to do - even if we try to pace ourselves into a 100% scheduled robotic existence. Here's one thing that I've noticed:
- I wake up and I can't seem to get going.
- I feel rubbish. I can either a) rest it out, or b) do some things I had planned (in a careful kind of way).
Now, I've had plenty of practice at feeling quite unwell so I've tried both (a) and (b), and I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter which one you pick. If I try to rest it out, I lie there in a contracted state feeling awful and it's an unpleasant time. If I do (b) then I walk round in a stupor doing what I can until I can rest again - still an unpleasant time.
Conclusion: when I feel rubbish I naturally restrict my engagement with the world, whether I'm lying down or pottering around. It's this that helps my cognitive difficulties, not what I'm doing (as long as I'm not doing anything major). Indeed, if I can properly relax then I might even get a lucky break and feel OK for a bit.
To have confidence in this you need a baseline that you can return to. Never force yourself to do something that you know is beyond your limits.
- I wake up and I can't seem to get going.
- I feel rubbish. I can either a) rest it out, or b) do some things I had planned (in a careful kind of way).
Now, I've had plenty of practice at feeling quite unwell so I've tried both (a) and (b), and I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter which one you pick. If I try to rest it out, I lie there in a contracted state feeling awful and it's an unpleasant time. If I do (b) then I walk round in a stupor doing what I can until I can rest again - still an unpleasant time.
Conclusion: when I feel rubbish I naturally restrict my engagement with the world, whether I'm lying down or pottering around. It's this that helps my cognitive difficulties, not what I'm doing (as long as I'm not doing anything major). Indeed, if I can properly relax then I might even get a lucky break and feel OK for a bit.
To have confidence in this you need a baseline that you can return to. Never force yourself to do something that you know is beyond your limits.
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