Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS) has become one of medicine’s most recent mysteries. First dubbed the Yuppie flu in the 1980’s by the media because it seemed to strike the young and the ambitious, especially woman, the condition continues to perplex and frustrate patients, physicians, and researchers.
CFS sufferers are plagued with a debilitating fatigue that can persist indefinitely. Their fluilike symptoms-fatigue(lack of energy), malaise(feeling bad),muscles aches, sore throat, low-grade fever, and swollen lymph nodes-often continue long after what they though was merely a bout with the flue, mononucleosis, or some other infectious illness. Depression, a common companion to many chronic conditions, can accompany the other symptoms of CFS.

20 COPING STRATEGIES

ESTABLISH A PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUR HEALTH-CARE TEAM.
Interview your doctor and see if its good match. Ask when he’ll take phone calls, when he returns them. Trust your intuiton. Learn about your illness, too, and don’t be afraid to ask question.

DO WHAT TOU CAN FOR YOUR BODY.
Practice the basics of healthy living” Eat a nutritious diet, get enough rest, and participate in a mild exercise programs, even if its just a five-minute walk.

GRIEVE FOR WHAT YOU’VE LOST.
You have to accept the fact you have a chronic illness. Learning to live with chronic illness that means giving up who you used to be and accepting who you are now.

LET YOURSELF FEEL YOR FEELING.
You have to go through the feeling of loss, of grief, anger, sadness when you learn you have a chronic illness.

DON’T BLAME YOURSELF.
Its not your fault you’re sick. Were programmed in this country to believe we can overcome anything if we work hard enough. You can’t let yourself feel guilty because you have this illness.

FIND SUPPORT.
It really helps to talk to other patients. A CFS patient and president of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Association of Minnesola in Minneapolis. You don’t have to explain a lot of things, and you can’t go through this feeling totally alone.
You might also want to consider seeking professional counseling, since depression often accompanies any chronic condition.

SPEND YOUR ENERGY WISELY.
Several patients talk of using their precious stores of energy like coins froma piggy bank. You carefully ration every ounce of energy.

SET REASONABLE GOALS.
If you’re having a bad day, maybe your goal shouldn’t be to get groceries, but to take a shower, get dressed, make a sandwich, and do the dishes.

BE ENERGY EFFICIENT.
I sit down on a stool in the kitchen, I don’t stand. When i take laundry down to the basement. I take a book or the newspaper along and I say down there on a couch, so I don’t have to go up and down the stairs several times. Get a handicapped parking stickers; have your groceries delivered; hired someone to clean the house.

SCHEDULE REST PERIODS.
One woman I know takes what she calls’power naps’ lunches so she can get through the day at work. It’s critical that you schedule rest before and after activities.

SET PRIORITIES.
Make a list of what you must do, would like to do, and what doesn’t matter. When all your living must be done in a few hours a day, and with only a small amount of energy, you begin to realize what is truly important.

LEARN TO ADAPT.
Maybe you’re too sick to go to a movie, but you can ask a friend to bring over some Chinese food and watch a movie on the VCR. People who really love you don’t care if you cook them a gourmet meal or send out for fried chicken.

KEEP WORK AND HOME SCHEDULES ON THE SAME CALENDAR.
You don’t want to have a big meeting with your boss and a birthday party for your three-year-old scheduled on the same day.

REALIZE YOU HAVE LIMITS.
Remember that everyone-even healthy people-cant do everything. Try to be realistic about what you expect from yourself.

HAVE FUN.
Keep your social outlet. Maybe you cant entertain your friends the way you’d like but that doesn’t mean you don’t have something to share with them. If you have three hours of energy-work two of them, but spend one having coffee with a friend or taking a short walk. Keep the balance in your life

DON’T IGNORE YOUR SEXUALITY.
You may have to schedule sex when you feel good. Night is not the best time-you probably feel better at lunch or in the morning before you get out of bed.

KEEP A JOURNAL.
You don’t have to write in it everyday but it will help you see the patterns. You’ll realize how awful you felt on the darkest days, but that you moved past that and felt good again.

REMEMBER YOU STILL HAVE CHOICES.
Exercise your choices. Those feeling of control help fight any feeling of depression.

KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR.
The movies I watch, the books I read, are more upbeat these days. I’m dealing with enough difficulty and pain on a day to day basis.

LIVE FOR TODAY.
CFS patients are living with the unknown, and living with the unknown is frightening because it reminds us were out of control. So maximize the known. If you feel good, then enjoy today.