When Dorothy proudly pronounces the name of her illness: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I had to laugh a little, also felt a bit of sadness. As a long-term "unknown illness" patient I know exactly how she feels. Patients with an illness that bears a recognizable name would much more easily win others' understanding and compassion. Without a sounding name, you would just have to struggle through a painful/endless path alone and even endure being mistreated as a mentally ill person.
Body And Mind
When people have unknown body pain, they tend to blame their mental problems. However, I found that's not always the case. Very often, physical problems can be the true causes of our mental unwellness. CFS is such an illness that has been misunderstood as "mental problem" for long time. As a sufferer myself, I like to share with others about my struggling and fighting experience with this fierce invisible disease. --- This is the journal of my physical wellness.
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
"Chronic Fatigue Symdrone"
Monday, February 15, 2021
Caffeine and sleep
Finally, my body seemed tired of caffeine. About one month ago, I stopped craving coffee, drinking tea instead, and several days ago, I stopped craving tea, drinking water instead (how boring it is!). So for several days, my body has been caffeine-free, totally. What's the consequence? I slept well, naturally. I felt sleepiness in the nights and went into sleep about a half-hour after lying down. This had never been the case during my entire adult life.
Never before I was able to cut off caffeine so completely. I drank either coffee or tea. Though I learned that caffeine was not good for sleep ages ago, my direct experience never proved that theory to me. This time is different, my body rejects caffeine. Something changed inside my body. And what it is and what was the cause, I still do not know.
Life is full of mysteries.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Serious Improvement!
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Another milestone!
Monday, October 28, 2019
Finally, after 53 days
Interesting thing is, during the recovering, my body seemed to be working on some detoxification, which somehow related to my back pain. The detoxification also led to my weight loss - a totally unexpected result. Good for my heart.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Back Pain, Not So Soon
The previous two times back pain problem, both were much worse, but soon after I was able to stand, pain was gone quickly, as matter of a few days. This time, though condition was not so deadly, recovering is very slow. My "diagnose" is too much toxic element stored inside my body. The vegs diet actually helped. However, I found massage helped the most.
A brief timeline:
09/05, the day the symptom started.
2 weeks later, I was able to got out of bed and walk. After that point, condition has been stayed the same for another 2 weeks, until I found vegs diet helped.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
About to End
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Back issue
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Milestone
Not only I can have more physical activities, I am also able to talk more without suffering much shortness of breath, which was the main symptom I had for the past decade (forever!).
While my physical energy increased, my mental energy started going toward the opposite direction. I often feel "brain fog", memory lost, and difficult to think, to read and even to write. I quit writing (even in Chinese) anything serious over two years ago. I only hope, just like my physical energy, my mental energy would recover in near future so I could enjoy my intellectual life as I did before.
Nonetheless, I learned to accept. I try my best to feel content with whatever I have so far. "As good as it gets".
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Consequence
For years my focus was on my heart, and I did mostly cardio exercises. After this "test" - the bike tour I mentioned in previous post, I found that my heart was certainly improved, but my muscle seemed much weaker than before. Of course I always knew I needed some muscle exercises but my heart problem always always seemed more urgent. It's good that I finally improved my heart, and now it's time to improve muscles!