Call outs from work, not clinical. I am in school during the week and work in a hospital as a tech on the weekends.

It's hard, on days you feel well, to hold yourself back, but it's important to do so. I used to do that all the time, I'd have a day that I felt great and I'd decide to do everything I needed to do all at once; I'd clean the house, go do groceries, whatever needed to be done. And then for the rest of the week, I'd be knocked on my ass. It took me a long time, but now I take it easy even on days I'm well. I still try to do a bit more than I do on days when I'm not well, but I've learned not to push myself that hard on good days. And, in the long run, it's meant more good days. Good luck!

M.

We're -all- guilty of doing that - pushing ourselves beyond our limits.

That is the single hardest thing I've had the deal with - seriously. The. Hardest.

I was a super-go-getter-on-crack before I got sick. When I got sick, my body -made- me slow down, but as soon as I started to feel a tad better - I wanted to resume my old schedule.

Don't do what I did. I felt guilty about taking it easy when I felt "meh" to "ok, I can probably deal with it if I push it" and before I knew it - I hit the wall and ended up in the hospital for a VERY long time. It literally took years to get back on my feet (literally).

Now - I have to look at it this way. I have a set amount of stuff I can do each day or not at all. Those are my choices.

Some things that might help: (Obey this rules if NOT flaring)
Do one house chore per day - not all at once.
Do one errand every other day or every 3 days - not all at once.
If you're given the opportunity to rest - do so (like the sign in/sign out thing). Why? So you don't have to "call out" on your job.
DO exercise - at least 15-30 minutes even if it's only stretching. Gotta get that blood flowing.
Take mini-breaks (if you can) to sit/lie down/ or drink some water. Even if it's just 5-15 minutes - it can help.

If you're flaring - don't do much at all. Stretching for 5 minutes would be my personal limit. During a flare.

These are not hard-n-fast rules. They're MY rules that I've had to develop the hard way.

Listen to your body. Don't push yourself. And, look for your own "restful opportunities".

Oh, and I know it can be annoying to have others tell you that you're pushing yourself too far - but often times, they see things much clearer than we do because we're simply too close to the problem.

I'm probably going to be penalized at work for having a 3rd occurrence because of this stupid disease. But I could not make it to work today. I'm thinking of looking into disability as some people have suggested it, but I'm not sure if I want to do that. I'm going to be a nurse, a very taxing job. I don't kno what to do now that I realize I push myself every single day, most of the time without a choice....