How to work without dropping from exhaustion.

Sometimes we can get so busy trying to complete our long list of tasks, that we forget to take time out for ourselves during the day.

By time out, I mean taking breaks to keep hydrated, to eat a meal, attend to the calls of nature or to just sit and contemplate one's navel or day dream.

It's important to our mental health as well as our physical well-being.  When we are chronically ill with fibromyalgia for example, we need to learn to pace ourselves between tasks. And here I must say, one should just enjoy the rest break and not feel guilty for taking time out.

It takes a bit of planning to feel productive as well as pacing oneself in order to not suffer too greatly the next day. Here's what I do...

• I write down just the main and most important things I want to achieve by the end of the day. 

• Then I pencil in how long each task should take. 

•  I work through that list with breaks in between. 

• I allow 15 minutes between tasks. 

•  When I see how soon I can be finished, it usually motivates me to get going. 
  

• Visualising how the house will look better after helps too.

• Using Sylvia's lists can be helpful too.
  

Working out how long the list of tasks should take ensures that regular rest breaks are taken to ensure you don't run out of spoons before the list is complete.

There's nothing nicer than reaching the end of your list and feeling a sense of accomplishment without working till you drop from exhaustion...

I am going to stay in bed.

 

Some days don't go well. Like today. 

My fibromyalgia was paining me badly and I was so tired that I could hardly breathe. But I really wanted to bake some no knead bread to accompany my pea and ham soup for dinner tonight.

I prepared the soup and decided to do it in the slow cooker. Knowing I had a flare and practically no spoons, I bought all pre diced onions and garlic and carrots and as far as the preparation went, it was not too taxing on me.

Covering the dough to proof, I made Chris and I a cup of tea and literally crashed into bed for a nana nap.

Coming out a bit later,  putting  the dough into the dutch oven, I bent down to get something out of my cupboard- my back seized on me and I couldn't rise back up. Leaning on the cupboard door, there was an almighty crack and the pine gave way and the door broke off from the hinges. I felt so upset.

I decided to check on the soup and to my horror, I saw that I had forgotten to turn the power on by the power plug. It was far too late to set it going for dinner time. 

Because I had no energy, I asked Chris to transport the crockpot of prepared soup to the fridge. I just didn't trust myself.

It's so true that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. No truer word ever for a fibromyalgia sufferer. 

I am hoping tomorrow will be better. If not, I am going to stay in bed.

Just when we came up for air!

 

So today I had just finished ordering my groceries online when I received the news that all of our home state, Victoria, is going into a five day lockdown starting tonight at midnight. It was a snap decision.

I have been preparing for this, so it didn't catch us unawares. Well, the timing caught us unaware, but the possibility that we could be forced to stay home again didn't.

Since the lifting of restrictions that saw us locked down for nine months, I have been gradually adding extra tinned foods, non perishables and drinks to our pantry. 

I have been gradually getting extra prescriptions and insulin injections made up in case of another snap decision by the Victorian government to enforce a lockdown. I am glad I did.

Although it is supposed to be for five days, with this virus mutating and so on, one never knows. It is  best to be prepared.

With no visitors allowed to our home and nowhere to go,  it will be easy to recover from my most recent fibromyalgia flare that has seen me unable to think clearly, let alone write a blog post. 

I won't be feeling guilty for going to bed during the day, but even so, I would prefer the freedom to come or go as I feel led. 

We Victorians are getting old hands at being cooped up at home and it can be depressing. Especially as we were just starting to relax and relish going for drives and visiting family. 

It was certainly a lovely time and we should have known it wouldn't last long. Typical of events with this horrid virus... it took us back to nine months lockdown just past and coming just when we came up for air!

   

Devious little dictators.

 

Well, today I woke up with some spoons! As I sit here talking to you, I have a list of things I want to achieve. But I have to treat spoons with respect, or they will be my undoing.

Having spoons is so novel and rare, that I find instead of rejoicing, I am afraid. "Why would you be afraid of having some spoons?!" you ask. Good question.

Feeling energy or having spoons is so unusual and longed for, but it's fraught with dangers for the unwary. Dangers of overdoing and ending up with no spoons not only for tomorrow, but a few days after.

Spoons have the ability to dictate your life: you must treat them with respect. The desire to run with them is sometimes overwhelming. The urge to clean, shop or socialise is great. It can consume you.

And spoons will consume you, if not treated with respect. By respect I mean, circumspect and planned activity. For if given into, the spoons will not only be evaporate quickly, but so will your joy, optimism and future few days.

Like a lion tamer, appreciate the power behind these beasts, and hold them back with whip and chair if necessary. They will then serve you well, if allowed some calculated leeway as you pace yourself in small bursts.

Remembering to pace oneself is so critical to enjoying those spoons. And surely, spoons or extra energy should be an occasion to rejoice, but given that they have the  power to rule you , for the unwary, they can be devious little dictators

The spoons have won!

I have been trying to become a night owl. It seems that everything comes together after dinner.

The morning stiffness is gone, the pills have kicked in but the clock says it's bedtime. I am not ready to go.

My thinking is clearer after dinner. And the wisdom that comes from twenty plus years of fibro and chronic illness has kissed me on the face and whispered, "Stay with me. The night is but a pup!" and I have tried staying.

I have persisted in being a night owl until the book falls over my face, or I have woken with a start because my head has dropped onto my chest as I have fallen asleep in front of the TV or computer. And this has set the tone for the next day. 

It is not unheard of for me to fall asleep in the passenger seat, garrotting myself with the seat belt as Chris drives us to an appointment or shopping. The midnight productive hours have not equipped me for a fruitful, productive day and I find myself fantasizing about my bed.

The day seems so long, and half way through, I succumb to bone weariness and crawl into my bed. The night owl has flown to sleep until evening, and though I could sleep until then, I know it's not likely.

You could say that the circadian rhythm has won. As much as I would like to be a night owl, fibromyalgia and other illnesses will call the shots and a nighttime ritual of early retirings  will be in order. Just to survive the next day. Just to have some spoons!

After a recurrence of fibro flares, I can see that for me, being a night owl is not an option and I am better off having a regular bedtime. The circadian rhythm has won! And by dictating my lifestyle choices, so have the spoons!

 

I hope his mother's not nearby!

So I went into my laundry to check on my dryer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move very, very fast from Xena's litter tray area.

Moving the laundry hamper out of the way, I saw a brown baby snake. He looked like a worm but he had a fat head of the snake variety.

I knew it wasn't a worm because he was too fast and as I watched him, he slithered back under the door into the back yard.

Flinging open the door, I thumped my broom to scare him away, but he had already disappeared. Probably under the house.

There's a half inch gap under the back door. Enough for a baby snake to get in. Chris is going to fix a metal door draught stopper strip along the underside of it.

It's made me slightly (much) frightened. Not that I wasn't expecting to run into a snake eventually with living in the country. I just didn't expect that it would be in my home!

I hate snakes and confess to momentarily thinking of moving or burning the house down! But I quickly came to my senses.  I hope his mother's not nearby! 

At least it has a name!

Most of us  have waited  many years for a  fibromyalgia diagnosis.  Meanwhile while we wait,  we have been  treated as malingers and have often been  offered ill  informed advice from  people who don't even understand what  fibromyalgia is.  Many of us have been  dismissed by doctors or told it is all in our heads as they write a referral to a psychiatrist! 

We Fibromites know it's not in our heads but our muscles, tendons, neck, knees, and joints. We can hardly stay awake in the daytime, and given that we can't even sleep at night in comfort, we are often sleep deprived and anxious as we await our diagnosis. One that we are hoping will be key in helping overcome this horrid syndrome as well as validate our pain to others. 

All these things prior to diagnosis are all brutal in their own way. And most pain relief does not really help us even after a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. The pain is debilitating. So are the flares which are limiting. The spoons for daily living are scarce. Or non existent. 

It hurts us further that the fibro fog that robs us not only of clear thought but words, is the only thing that people can notice. All other stuff is invisible therefore to some our pain doesn't exist, especially as we usually don't look sick... 

As there's no cure and very little that helps, our life doesn't change much after a diagnosis of fibro.. but even so, it is some small comfort that at least it has a name! 

 

Another repeat: flarus maximus

 

I am beside myself in pain with my fibromyalgia. My muscles are feeling like they are being shredded as I move them. It is agony to extend them and typing kills me...

The weather has been inclement- very changeable with summer/winter in one day and frequent showers. It plays havoc with my fibromyalgia.

I am done in. Truly done in. I cannot stand the pain and need to sleep forever... yes. forever. just to escape. the. pain. and I painfully talk to you,  tapping out letters like a woodpecker. 

The depression and sense of failure threatens to overwhelm my consciousness: I have no friends to speak of for I only have enough emotional energy today to try to continue to exist without taking all of Chris's Tramadol as a desperate way of going on... or not.

It's a lonely path.  However,  I just realised that I do have a friend who requires no emotion of me: my bed. Yes it's my one only true friend at the moment.  I am giving in. Today is going to be cancelled due to my "flarus maximus".

I just want to stay in bed!

So today I woke with everything aching and no spoons. Yes, another flare of fibromyalgia. Actually, I am pretty sure my body is permanently flaring, it's just a bad day. Another one.

Everything within me says that I should stay in bed, but today is our grandson's birthday and a BBQ has been organised. I simply have to go.

So far, I have showered, dressed and breakfasted. The shower almost killed me this morning. The water felt like thousands of needles pricking my sensitive skin and it was a real effort to raise my arms to wash my hair.

I was so worn out by the end of my drying off that I had to lay down for a bit. Dressing came much later, as did taking our bloods and administering Chris's insulin injection.

We have to leave soon and we are fortunate in that our hosts live close by. A long drive today would be too off putting and we usually love going on long drives. But not today.

When we get home I will be doing a light dinner for us and that is all. It has to be. And I have to be content with that.

Fellow fibromites will know that when you have no spoons, even breathing is an effort. If it wasn't for making memories today, I would be content with posting this and going to bed. I just want to stay in bed! 

 

A bit of a wash then au revoir!

So today our fifth wheeler is getting cleaned on the inside and after that we are going to take it to get cleaned outside and put it up for sale.

I have mixed feelings about it really. Our dreams of touring round Australia turned to dust when I tore my meniscus in my left knee and since then I have also damaged my right knee. I walk like Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz! 

The RV was well suited to the Fibromyalgia lifestyle as it was small and easy to clean. But after tearing my meniscus, even the two steps to the bedroom and ensuite were too difficult to negotiate. In the end, I was housebound as it has seven steps at the entry.

We haven't thrown out the idea of travelling altogether. Eventually after selling the fiver, we will buy a campervan that is easy for me to get in and out of and go away for weekends. That is the hope anyway.

Today's to do list:

•  I have dishes to do, 
•  make our bed
• fold a load of washing from yesterday.
• Fish, chips and salad for dinner