Since I was diagnosed with CFS, I have paid particular attention to my diet. I am very much aware of the relationship between what I eat and how I feel - when I eat poorly, I feel bad. In the last few days, however, I've not been able to eat much at all. I have been surviving on Fennel and Celery soup and rye bread because it is all that I can digest. Lucky it tastes nice!
Here is my recipe.
http://www.snacksby.com/recipes/1195
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Homeopathy update
After a few hours the tablets took effect. The wind became progressively more acidy, then it was almost suffocated. It is difficult to describe, but it was almost as if there was a bag thrown over it - it was still there but it couldn't get out. Over the course of the day the wind became less and less uncomfortable. However, there was a downside. I had spells of hot and cold shivers, headaches etc. Then I would be fine for twenty minutes, then the hot and cold shivers would return. By the end of the day I was completely worn out. I went to bed at around 10.30, but I was freezing. I used two duvets and finally got to sleep. I woke up at around 1am. The wind had returned and I was boiling. It took me some time to get back to sleep after that.
This morning, I started the whole thing again. Hopefully, after a few days of this the problem will be dealt with.
This morning, I started the whole thing again. Hopefully, after a few days of this the problem will be dealt with.
Tuesday, 13 February 2007
First experience of german doctors
When I moved to Germany to be with my girlfriend and to continue my recovery I never imagined that I would visit a German doctor so soon. I thought that I knew enough about my state of health to recover by pacing my activities and working on my diet. Nevertheless I was wrong. During my time in Germany I have been plagued by digestion problems. This was initially just trapped wind, which occasionnally caused some pain when the pressure built up. However, on Sunday last, the heat turned up a little.
Suddenly the wind was no longer trapped and causing pain, but free flowing and endless. I have been rifting continuesly since Sunday evening. This sounds comical, at worst embarrassing, but I can assure you it is much worse than this. It is extremely uncomfortable and the condition has worsened steadily since Sunday, with the air becoming more and more acidy and pressurised. Last night I could stand no more. I decided to go to the doctor. In Scotland I would have gone a long time ago, but a number of factors put me off going in Germany. The first factor is the unknown, what will the doctors give me? Will this undo the good work of my herbalist and doctor in Scotland? Then there is the language barrier. My German is hardly fluent and my medical vocab is not my most complete. Again, my timing here is attrocious. My girlfriend is fluent in both languages and would have been able to translate without problems. However, she is away at a conference until tomorrow evening. Could I wait until Thursday? I don't think so I was so uncomfortable that I didn't think this was an option. Further, on Thursday we were meant to be travelling to Essen to visit my family there. I'm not sure if this will happen or not.
So, I decided to brave visiting the doctor, hoping he or she would be fluent in English. Alas he was not, so I gave it my best shot of communicating 10 months of illness with particular emphasis on the last three weeks. I was rather proud of my efforts as the Doctor seemed to understand, but of course one always has niggling doubts. My bloodpressure and pulse were taken and were incredibly high! I was thrown back at this because these usually return normal like every other test. My pulse measured 120 and bloodpressure 156 / 68. I also gave a sample of blood but I am unsure what they used it for.
I was given the option of homeopathic or traditional approach, which was a difficult choice for me. I know nothing about homeopathy, but the natural approach appealed more than say an antacid. Although for all I know the homeopathic method, it may have the same effect. Nevertheless I chose this option and was prescribed gastricumeel, which is described as "relief of indigestion and heartburn. Helpful when overeating or eating bad food combinations".
This is not the most informative of statements but it is the best I can find. All I can do is trust in the doctor.
Anyway, after returning home, I checked my bp and pulse, which had started to lower. Now (3 hours or so later) thankfully, they have returned to normal. The airflow has not relented since taking my first tablet, but I will give my digestion some time. The other advice the doctor gave me was to eat little sugar, beans and pulses, onions, alcohol etc. and to drink herbal teas such as peppermint and fennel. Most of this I have been trying to do over the last few weeks, but I will continue and try to be more disciplined.
I will keep you updated with my progress. Meanwhile, I will try not to panic.
Suddenly the wind was no longer trapped and causing pain, but free flowing and endless. I have been rifting continuesly since Sunday evening. This sounds comical, at worst embarrassing, but I can assure you it is much worse than this. It is extremely uncomfortable and the condition has worsened steadily since Sunday, with the air becoming more and more acidy and pressurised. Last night I could stand no more. I decided to go to the doctor. In Scotland I would have gone a long time ago, but a number of factors put me off going in Germany. The first factor is the unknown, what will the doctors give me? Will this undo the good work of my herbalist and doctor in Scotland? Then there is the language barrier. My German is hardly fluent and my medical vocab is not my most complete. Again, my timing here is attrocious. My girlfriend is fluent in both languages and would have been able to translate without problems. However, she is away at a conference until tomorrow evening. Could I wait until Thursday? I don't think so I was so uncomfortable that I didn't think this was an option. Further, on Thursday we were meant to be travelling to Essen to visit my family there. I'm not sure if this will happen or not.
So, I decided to brave visiting the doctor, hoping he or she would be fluent in English. Alas he was not, so I gave it my best shot of communicating 10 months of illness with particular emphasis on the last three weeks. I was rather proud of my efforts as the Doctor seemed to understand, but of course one always has niggling doubts. My bloodpressure and pulse were taken and were incredibly high! I was thrown back at this because these usually return normal like every other test. My pulse measured 120 and bloodpressure 156 / 68. I also gave a sample of blood but I am unsure what they used it for.
I was given the option of homeopathic or traditional approach, which was a difficult choice for me. I know nothing about homeopathy, but the natural approach appealed more than say an antacid. Although for all I know the homeopathic method, it may have the same effect. Nevertheless I chose this option and was prescribed gastricumeel, which is described as "relief of indigestion and heartburn. Helpful when overeating or eating bad food combinations".
This is not the most informative of statements but it is the best I can find. All I can do is trust in the doctor.
Anyway, after returning home, I checked my bp and pulse, which had started to lower. Now (3 hours or so later) thankfully, they have returned to normal. The airflow has not relented since taking my first tablet, but I will give my digestion some time. The other advice the doctor gave me was to eat little sugar, beans and pulses, onions, alcohol etc. and to drink herbal teas such as peppermint and fennel. Most of this I have been trying to do over the last few weeks, but I will continue and try to be more disciplined.
I will keep you updated with my progress. Meanwhile, I will try not to panic.
Friday, 9 February 2007
Thursday, 8 February 2007
School Teaching
Today was my first teaching experience at a school level. I had volunteered my services to help with a few English classes that are tought by one of Christine's friends.
This was quite a big deal for me for a number of reasons. Firstly, I had to get to the school, which was an area unknown to me and I had to get there alone. Secondly, it was going in to the unknown when I hadn't been feeling great in the last couple of days. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I tend to get slighly panicky when I am in unfamiliar settings, particularly on my own.
The first surprise to me was that I was actually taking the class and not just helping out. I was given the topic of "Scotland and streotypes" and the goal of making the class chat to me.
This was not a problem at all. The kids were great and very chatty. We explored what they knew about Scotland, their perceptions of scottish people and discussed whether or not I matched those perceptions. It was a lot of fun!
I think there is a slighly different atmosphere in German schools than I remember from Scotland. In Germany the classroom atmosphere is definately more relaxed, there are no uniforms and while there is respect for the teacher there is certainly no hesitation to speak or chat etc. I quite liked this approach.
Actually, the experience was not too different from giving tutorials at university level and that tells you a lot about the attitudes of the kids! Also much like lecturing and tutoring at university the experience of teaching was completely draining. About 1 hr after the lessons I felt very,l very tired. I have resisted the temptation to take an afternoon nap so as to not disturb my patterns of sleep.
So it has been a good day and I am proud of myself for making it through trouble free!
This was quite a big deal for me for a number of reasons. Firstly, I had to get to the school, which was an area unknown to me and I had to get there alone. Secondly, it was going in to the unknown when I hadn't been feeling great in the last couple of days. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I tend to get slighly panicky when I am in unfamiliar settings, particularly on my own.
The first surprise to me was that I was actually taking the class and not just helping out. I was given the topic of "Scotland and streotypes" and the goal of making the class chat to me.
This was not a problem at all. The kids were great and very chatty. We explored what they knew about Scotland, their perceptions of scottish people and discussed whether or not I matched those perceptions. It was a lot of fun!
I think there is a slighly different atmosphere in German schools than I remember from Scotland. In Germany the classroom atmosphere is definately more relaxed, there are no uniforms and while there is respect for the teacher there is certainly no hesitation to speak or chat etc. I quite liked this approach.
Actually, the experience was not too different from giving tutorials at university level and that tells you a lot about the attitudes of the kids! Also much like lecturing and tutoring at university the experience of teaching was completely draining. About 1 hr after the lessons I felt very,l very tired. I have resisted the temptation to take an afternoon nap so as to not disturb my patterns of sleep.
So it has been a good day and I am proud of myself for making it through trouble free!
Monday, 5 February 2007
Just a blip!
I am happy to report that last Friday's off day was indeed just a blip. I have not been feeling 100% since, but in no way has it been a major set-back. Actually, with the exception of my digestion, I have actually been pretty good. The weekend was spent as a mixture of relax and recover and web design. I am currently working on a new web site to do with CFS. I hope to make it a central resource for high quality information on ME / CFS. The motivation for the website will be clear for anyone with CFS. There is so much information out there, but it is scattered all over the place. There is also a lot of misinformation and it is difficult to know what to trust and what not to trust.
Hopefully, by only linking to accredited research and well known sources the website might be able to help with this problem.
Watch this space for more information.
Hopefully, by only linking to accredited research and well known sources the website might be able to help with this problem.
Watch this space for more information.
Friday, 2 February 2007
Another set back or just a blip?
Days like today are extremely challenging. After a pretty good week, where I have felt my health improve continuously while achieving my goals (I will talk about these another time), today I cannot get the motor running.
It really started last night around 8.30pm. In the time it takes to flick a switch I went from feeling great, to completely shattered. It also coincided with a return of the chest pain and trapped wind that had all but faded during the week. I went near enough directly to bed - there was nothing else for it - and I fell fast asleep.
When I woke up this morning I felt terrible. It is not too uncommon for me to get days like these and they mean one of two things: just an blip day where I am off colour and don't get much done or a full set-back that means back to square one. I will find out the answer tomorrow. The important thing is, and I have learned this lesson, to stay postive and not to worry too much about it and try to get on with as normal a day as possible. Just don't over (or under) do it.
I have likened the feeling to a hangover. My head has a dull ache, my legs and arms are heavy and I generally just feel like crap. When I do finally manage to get out of bed, I just cannot seem to get the motor started. I struggle to concentrate on the simplest tasks and work is almost impossible. But, this won't stop me from trying. It is so frustrating because yesterday I was getting myself into the groove quite nicely and the week generally has been quite productive.
This is the nature of the beast - I keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow
It really started last night around 8.30pm. In the time it takes to flick a switch I went from feeling great, to completely shattered. It also coincided with a return of the chest pain and trapped wind that had all but faded during the week. I went near enough directly to bed - there was nothing else for it - and I fell fast asleep.
When I woke up this morning I felt terrible. It is not too uncommon for me to get days like these and they mean one of two things: just an blip day where I am off colour and don't get much done or a full set-back that means back to square one. I will find out the answer tomorrow. The important thing is, and I have learned this lesson, to stay postive and not to worry too much about it and try to get on with as normal a day as possible. Just don't over (or under) do it.
I have likened the feeling to a hangover. My head has a dull ache, my legs and arms are heavy and I generally just feel like crap. When I do finally manage to get out of bed, I just cannot seem to get the motor started. I struggle to concentrate on the simplest tasks and work is almost impossible. But, this won't stop me from trying. It is so frustrating because yesterday I was getting myself into the groove quite nicely and the week generally has been quite productive.
This is the nature of the beast - I keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow
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