When I developed ME\/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), I had never heard of it. I went to a doctor, hoping to get a prescription, and I expected to be back up to full speed in a few days. But, that didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
So, over the course of the next few years, I stopped at nothing in my effort to recover. My journey took me through trips to Mayo Clinic, an alternative medicine clinic, a nationally known medical facility, a whole body clinic with traditional medicine and counseling, and to numerous other doctors, chiropractors, nutritionists, and counselors. I didn\u2019t improve.<\/p>\n
In my determination to get my life back, I tried every remedy anyone suggested. I would give these trials several months, knowing that improvement takes time. But, then I would have to acknowledge that whatever I tried wasn\u2019t working for me.<\/p>\n
At the epitome of my desperation, I was determined to stay alert all day. I was seeing a psychiatrist and getting counseling. The prescriptions I used became more and more powerful, as I strained to \u201cjust feel normal.\u201d At one point I was drinking coffee off and on all day, using caffeine pills, ephedra (which is now banned in the United States) and numerous prescriptions to get me through the day. Unfortunately, I often crashed when they wore off. The toll of these and my illness led to a divorce.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, one thing that helped me was an on-line support group, which taught me this important principle: \u201cAccept it. This is your life now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, I manage through pacing myself. I need to filter activities through, \u201cWill I have enough energy?\u201d Some days, I am already exhausted by late morning. I have oppressive fatigue, mild headaches, and sore throats.<\/p>\n
For the most part, I have chosen not to tell people how I feel. My former husband got exasperated with hearing that too often. I would say that many people observing me don\u2019t know. When I hear people say, \u201cI am so tired,\u201d I wonder if they have any idea what ME\/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) is like. I would compare it to getting an inch of snow versus a full-blown blizzard and trying to get around.<\/p>\n
The best part of my life is my faith in God, which carries me, and lifts my spirits. I don\u2019t take the blessings I have for granted. God has provided for me, step by step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Humans of ME\/CFS When I developed ME\/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), I had never heard of it. I went to a doctor, hoping to get a prescription, and I expected to be back up to full speed in a few days. But, that didn\u2019t happen. So, over the course of the next few years, I stopped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lori_j.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humansofchronicillness.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}