Hi Lulu: I've heard this is a common thing, feeling better on a new treatment, then you do extra cause you feel better and you want to take on the world, but then you crash. I'm on a course of healing and my doctor told me I was doing better but said to absolutely NOT do anything more than what I have been able to do--to continue to rest as much as I can. It's hard, because we want to go, have fun, do stuff.

Regarding your house and work, I would say yes and yes. Yes your work is making you sicker and yes you should sell your house if that will give you the oppty to rest and get better. It sounds like you are on a hamster wheel right now and if you don't change something, nothing will change. Do you have someone to help you navigate the sale of the house and move to an apt? That would be key.

I do not have CFS and am not sure what ME is. But, I have Interstitial Cystitis which has chronic fatigue as one of the symptoms. When I am having my flare ups with the IC, I am so fatigued that I can hardly move or stay awake. Have you tried a health food store or talking to a nutritionist to see if there are any energy foods or herbs or essential oils that may help you? I have tried some stuff but, I have severe allergies to many things and can not take alot of stuff in fear of getting sick. I hope the best for you.

I felt the same as you. I went on short term disability from work, started Lyrica, felt great for 2 weeks, thought I could go back to work, but doc said wait.. good thing because I crashed so hard.. It has now been 5 years that I've been off work. I just thought I needed time to rest and get better so I could go back.
It's good you are checking into your options now so you can try to make a plan. Do you have short term disability insurance at work? Can you check into you FMLA (family medical leave of absence). That is where you start.

please get tested for infectious disease. i was in your situation with the thyroid pills since i have hypothroidism. Then my endo. doctor told me to see Dr.Chia in Torrance who focuses on infectious disease and CFS. i am positive for it and on a lot of meds but one, combined with his chinese herbs and another med, is giving me some energy

Same thing with me. I was able to keep working through the end of 2005 when I thought if I went out on STD and rested I would be fine, but I wasn't fine. Never going to fine I realize now.

I have downsized 3 times and gave away all my belongings. I found that I didn't need all those things, just a safe place to lay my weary head. It's amazing what I have learned to live without.

Hi all
Thanks for all of your wonderful advice and comments.
I have decided to cut my hours right down to under 20 and only two short days in the office, the rest at home.
I am sick of struggling through life and when all of my energy goes into working, there is nothing left for me! I am choosing not to live like that any more. I hope this is going to give me better balance in life.

Ruby, I noticed your bio states you've had CFS a little over a year now. You're really still learning about your illness and how it affects your body. I did the same thing the first year, kept working and pushing, just easing back enough on my hours and feeling guilty for it, and pushing myself all the way to a state of bedridden/barely breathing/barely brain functioning state. A big fat ZERO on the CFS scale. It took me another year to figure out how to manage myself. Trial and error. You have to start with doing absolutely nothing but the bare minimum of your own care. Then when you feel a bit better, add activity in baby steps. Pay attention to your body's reaction to activity and be aware that it can take 3-5 days for your body to react to something that you did. Read as much as you can about our illness.

More importantly, be kind to yourself. Over time you will learn to let the guilt go, not to stress over things that are really not that important, and accept that this is your life now and your main goal in life is to help your body so that your body will allow you to do some of the things that you enjoy. All the pills and treatments only help with the symptoms but the cause is still there. So when we're given something that gives us more energy, we over use our bodies and end up having to pay for using that evergy. It's a vicious cycle, and one that I don't think I doctors understand. You can provide an artificial source of energy, but as long as the REASON for the lack of energy is there the results will be the same, and more devastating since the false sense of energy means we are over active and therefore place a greater stress on our system.

Sorry, didn't mean for this to be this long. It just takes a lot of time to figure out what works best for you. Keep coming here to learn and vent. We understand your woes and want to help.

Take care,
Genie

Thank you Genie for your reply to Ruby's post.
I really like what you wrote. It's sound advice. I've been treated
for this for some six years. Still I tend to overdue when I'm
feeling good. Learning how to pace myself and say 'no' when
I need to are still my biggest challenges. Reading this before
the holidays is especially good timing.
Good wishes to you Ruby. Thank you for your post because
these are issues that many here have been and do struggle with.