No matter how fatigued you are you have to start exercising if you want to recover. Exercise means different things for different people. If you have CFS or any other illness with significant fatigue you need to work at your plan of attack much more carefully.
POST EXERTIONAL MALAISE Post exertional malaise is profound fatigue and exhaustion following mental or physical exertion and lasting for more than twenty-four hours.
Post exertional malaise (PEM) is a hallmark feature of chronic fatigue. PEM typically lasts at least twenty-four hours but for some people it lasts much longer. It’s very defeating to exceed your limitations and experience PEM. Continue reading to learn how to realize your limitations, stay within your boundaries and slowly heal, and build back your strength, reserves, and endurance.
PACING Pacing is a strategy in fatigue recovery based on building strength and endurance while preventing PEM. It’s a method that’s useful for anyone no matter if they have mild or sever fatigue. Pacing refers to the continual planning for rest, expending energy only within your limitations, stopping before you have any symptoms, and gradually increasing energy expenditure only when you have enough saved. The aim is to remain active but to not overdo and suffer the crash and burn. While this may seem common sense it’s human nature to be active and act “well” when you are feeling better. And it’s confusing and defeating when you suffer the consequences without knowing why. In fact it's Pavlovian after a while--you feel punished for doing the activity that causes the PEM. Pacing requires a continual evaluation and re-evaluation of your energy savings and your level of endurance and pulling back as needed in order to get needed rest.
Pacing is a way of managing your lifestyle depending on the here and now. It requires that you listen to your body. so if you have the energy you can engage or continue in an activity, you stop before you are tired, and certainly when you feel any symptoms you stop. Pacing also requires that you assess your level of energy savings before you start something and say no to things that you can’t do without exceeding your savings. The great thing about pacing is that when done right and with discipline it really works.
Now that you understand PEM perhaps you can factor that into a clearer understanding of your bad days and stop beating yourself up. Because it’s our nature to want to be well, and be well now, it’s easy to overdo and extend our energy on days that we feel better. That’s the down side of pacing it’s very hard to have the discipline you need to say no, to pull back, and to stop before you are tired.
"The vast majority of patients I see get well with my standard work up with respect to a) vitamins and minerals, b) diet, c) pacing and d) sleep. All these things must be put in place to repair and prevent ongoing damage to mitochondria so allowing them to recover. For mitochondria to recover they need all the essential vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino acids to manufacture the cellular machinery to restore normal function."--Dr Sarah Myhill, UK physician and pioneer in the treatment of CFS. Excerpts from this post came from
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fighting Fatigue where you can read more about pacing and other healing strategies. Buy it on
Amazon.
POST EXERTIONAL MALAISE
Post exertional malaise is profound fatigue and exhaustion following mental or physical exertion and lasting for more than twenty-four hours. Post exertional malaise (PEM) is a hallmark feature of chronic fatigue.
PEM typically lasts at least twenty-four hours but for some people it lasts much longer. It’s very defeating to exceed your limitations and experience PEM. Continue reading to learn how to realize your limitations, stay within your boundaries and slowly heal, and build back your strength, reserves, and endurance.
PACING
Pacing is a strategy in fatigue recovery based on building strength and endurance while preventing PEM. It’s a method that’s useful for anyone no matter if they have mild or sever fatigue. Pacing refers to the continual planning for rest, expending energy only within your limitations, stopping before you have any symptoms, and gradually increasing energy expenditure only when you have enough saved. The aim is to remain active but to not overdo and suffer the crash and burn. While this may seem common sense it’s human nature to be active and act “well” when you are feeling better. And it’s confusing and defeating when you suffer the consequences without knowing why. In fact it's Pavlovian after a while--you feel punished for doing the activity that causes the PEM. Pacing requires a continual evaluation and re-evaluation of your energy savings and your level of endurance and pulling back as needed in order to get needed rest.
Pacing is a way of managing your lifestyle depending on the here and now. It requires that you listen to your body. so if you have the energy you can engage or continue in an activity, you stop before you are tired, and certainly when you feel any symptoms you stop. Pacing also requires that you assess your level of energy savings before you start something and say no to things that you can’t do without exceeding your savings. The great thing about pacing is that when done right and with discipline it really works.
Now that you understand PEM perhaps you can factor that into a clearer understanding of your bad days and stop beating yourself up. Because it’s our nature to want to be well, and be well now, it’s easy to overdo and extend our energy on days that we feel better. That’s the down side of pacing it’s very hard to have the discipline you need to say no, to pull back, and to stop before you are tired.
"The vast majority of patients I see get well with my standard work up with respect to a) vitamins and minerals, b) diet, c) pacing and d) sleep. All these things must be put in place to repair and prevent ongoing damage to mitochondria so allowing them to recover. For mitochondria to recover they need all the essential vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino acids to manufacture the cellular machinery to restore normal function."--Dr Sarah Myhill, UK physician and pioneer in the treatment of CFS.
Excerpts from this post came from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fighting Fatigue where you can read more about pacing and other healing strategies. Buy it on Amazon.