lior
11-06-17, 23:48
I've been experiencing something that almost fits the description of ME/CFS. I'm drowsy a lot of the time, with difficulty concentrating - 'brain fog' where I can't recall words or hold conversations/write emails. If I work hard, then I get very tired the next day and can't do anything.
This means that I can only work a few days a week, and the rest of the time I have rest days which may mean sleeping all day, or going out to my local cafe for a few hours to draw/write and then go home again.
This has been going on since October last year. 8-9 months. I worked for three weeks for a consultancy in January, 3-4 days a week, then got very ill again for 6-8 weeks because of those three weeks.
I don't have the physical problems that come with the ME description. So I'm not sure if it is ME - but regardless, I still am being affected a great deal by whatever this condition is, and I need support to deal with this. My therapist is good for talking about childhood trauma, but not for helping me to accept my frequent sleepiness or to support me making lifestyle and attitude changes.
I run a small business that requires a great deal of strategic thinking. It's an annual festival, and I started work on it in March to prepare for the September festival. I try to work on it a couple of days a week, but sometimes I end up working 4 days - then the week after, I get too sleepy to work at all. It's a delayed reaction.
Work is exciting and rewarding, but exhausts me. My work is extremely important to me. I don't have a set up where work can be done when I'm tired - it's not menial or routine. I'm concerned that my lifestyle is not good for my health in this configuration - maybe I'm being too ambitious to want to continue this work. It affects so many people - I don't want to give it up.
Today I'm having a bad day so it might feel more bleak than it actually is. What I really want is a sustainable set up where I can work (because it fulfils me) but not have to work too much, so that it won't adversely affect my health. I know I just need to stick to working 2-3 days a week, but I struggle because I really want to work more.
I would like some voices around me who also experience the sleepiness and who know what it's like to have to keep putting off friends you'd love to see because you're too sleepy that day... people who know what it's like to have had a full life, then have had to scale it right back to just living locally because even short journeys are knackering. I want optimistic voices who can help me accept my health as it is now, and can help me focus on the small wins and progress. I want to absorb the attitude of people who've got a set up that works for them. I don't want to dwell on the frustration feelings.
Are you one of those voices?
This means that I can only work a few days a week, and the rest of the time I have rest days which may mean sleeping all day, or going out to my local cafe for a few hours to draw/write and then go home again.
This has been going on since October last year. 8-9 months. I worked for three weeks for a consultancy in January, 3-4 days a week, then got very ill again for 6-8 weeks because of those three weeks.
I don't have the physical problems that come with the ME description. So I'm not sure if it is ME - but regardless, I still am being affected a great deal by whatever this condition is, and I need support to deal with this. My therapist is good for talking about childhood trauma, but not for helping me to accept my frequent sleepiness or to support me making lifestyle and attitude changes.
I run a small business that requires a great deal of strategic thinking. It's an annual festival, and I started work on it in March to prepare for the September festival. I try to work on it a couple of days a week, but sometimes I end up working 4 days - then the week after, I get too sleepy to work at all. It's a delayed reaction.
Work is exciting and rewarding, but exhausts me. My work is extremely important to me. I don't have a set up where work can be done when I'm tired - it's not menial or routine. I'm concerned that my lifestyle is not good for my health in this configuration - maybe I'm being too ambitious to want to continue this work. It affects so many people - I don't want to give it up.
Today I'm having a bad day so it might feel more bleak than it actually is. What I really want is a sustainable set up where I can work (because it fulfils me) but not have to work too much, so that it won't adversely affect my health. I know I just need to stick to working 2-3 days a week, but I struggle because I really want to work more.
I would like some voices around me who also experience the sleepiness and who know what it's like to have to keep putting off friends you'd love to see because you're too sleepy that day... people who know what it's like to have had a full life, then have had to scale it right back to just living locally because even short journeys are knackering. I want optimistic voices who can help me accept my health as it is now, and can help me focus on the small wins and progress. I want to absorb the attitude of people who've got a set up that works for them. I don't want to dwell on the frustration feelings.
Are you one of those voices?