Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Support Group
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) describes a sense of exhaustion and post-exertion malaise, even when you have gotten enough rest and sleep. The disease is characterized by six months of incapacitating fatigue experienced as profound exhaustion and extremely poor stamina, and problems with concentration and short-term memory. The cause is unknown, but it is a...
I've just finished reading this online booklet called Recovery from CFS by Bruce Campbell. Just google that and it will come up.... He's a fellow who worked at Stanford and got CFS. Decided to figure out how to care for himself with serious pacing, documenting of the things that caused him to relapse, stress management and reduction, exercise and acceptance that his life was now different and he would have to live within this new life.
I won't continue to tell you more about it, it's worth reading yourselves. It's not that long and it's very easy reading. You can choose chapters and focus on individual topics. Passing it on. Oh, he also talked about how critical it was to have support from others with CFS in his life. So, here we all are!!!! I've had this illness for 30 years and I'm still learning all kinds of things about how to deal with it.... Amazing.....
(I'm also trying not to hit myself in the head with a hammer for not figuring some of this out for myself more efficiently by now! But then, We are all different people.....)
I won't continue to tell you more about it, it's worth reading yourselves. It's not that long and it's very easy reading. You can choose chapters and focus on individual topics. Passing it on. Oh, he also talked about how critical it was to have support from others with CFS in his life. So, here we all are!!!! I've had this illness for 30 years and I'm still learning all kinds of things about how to deal with it.... Amazing.....
(I'm also trying not to hit myself in the head with a hammer for not figuring some of this out for myself more efficiently by now! But then, We are all different people.....)
I was just diagnosed last September but I can look back and see that I've been in declining health for decades ~ I just didn't know why. It would be great to turn that trend around and see some improvement which I haven't yet though I'm finally under a doctor's care. I'm doing quite a lot with diet but I know I need to practice more mindfulness meditation and positive affirmations. Plus we're supposed to laugh more which I'm finding particularly challenging being homebound and having little social contact. They say it's much easier to laugh with people than laugh alone ~ though I do put some jokes up on the GiggleNGrins group :-)
I'm certainly looking forward to reading the suggestions in this booklet and appreciate so much that you shared it here Denise!
Recovery from CFS by Bruce Campbell is very easy to read -- short chapters so you can take frequent breaks.
A very simple positive is "I Am..." followed by what you want to be: healthy, strong, vigorous, energetic. etc. It's based on "I Am that I AM" in answer to "What is your name?" "I AM" is very powerful and states that you ALREADY ARE what you wish to be... If your affirmations say "I wish..." or "I want..." that's all you'll get -- wishing and wanting. State it as if it's already done and then release it. (If you wish...)
I highly recommend Laughter Therapy -- it was about the first best thing I did for myself. At the time I had satellite TV that included the Comedy Channel and would record all the standup acts I could. THen I could wartch them whenever and as often as I liked.
Then there's Netflix -- quite a few comics there. I've collected a short list of some of my favorites:
Tammy Pescatelli
Rachel Feinstein
Marina Franklin
Myq Kaplan
Iliza Scheslinger
Bill Burr
Christian Finnegan
Josh Blue
Some will no doubt not be to your taste but try 'em out!
I've read through #6 of Bruce Campbell's booklet and it's one of the best things I've read so far about CFS. The chapter about "Loss" really struck close to home. There's a lot more for me to learn about how to improve my health living with this illness. Looking forward to reading more about what you, Denise and Bruce Campbell have written about coping with CFS. Thanks for being here in the DS support community!