April Newsletter
Welcome to the April 2024 Newsletter for the Live with ME/CFS blog.
Let me know what you think, what you'd like to see in the next newsletter, or if you have any comments or questions at [email protected].
Life
My condition continues to be excellent, and I had another very active month in March! I was busy every week with appointments, shopping, going to the movies, and seeing friends. I’ve also had the energy to begin--little by little—to work on clearing and decluttering in our home, which is long overdue! Every cleared shelf or drawer feels like a huge victory! Last week, we enjoyed a wonderful weekend visit with my family to celebrate Easter, and it was so thrilling to be able to help with dinner and enjoy my family’s company. On our last visit, for Thanksgiving in November, I was horribly sick and needed a second nap in between dinner and dessert. It is just great to be living my life again and able to enjoy spending time with friends and family.
As I explained last month, this huge improvement since last year is due to two factors. I finally got my chronic yeast overgrowth under control (a very common issue in ME/CFS, long-COVID, and Lyme), thanks to a change in diet, and eliminated those awful flu-like aches, the heavy fatigue, and the severe exertion intolerance. My current diet is about the same as I reported in this video on carnivore and keto diets: about 97% (maybe more like 90% now) carnivore (meat, fish, eggs, butter), with small servings of non-yeast-feeding veggies and/or avocado each day. Another major factor in feeling so good is that I spent a full year working with my doctor to normalize my thyroid function. I just couldn't see the full benefits of that until I got the yeast overgrowth under control. That's the way it is with these complex immune disorders; sometimes you can't see the benefits of one treatment until you tackle another aspect of the disease. I have not experienced a single crash from over-exertion (or for any reason) yet in 2024, which feels like a miracle.
Book Quote of the Month
“It was like he’d stepped through a hinged door, and on one side his life was made up of rushing, rushing, rushing: to get in the shower, to run a razor down his cheeks, to get a cup of coffee, through traffic, through paperwork, to a meeting, to another meeting, looking for a parking spot, arguing down the telephone, back into the car, out to find a perp, out to make an arrest, back into the car, back to the coffeepot, over and over and over. And now there was mostly silence, the flap of a bird going by in the morning, the tulips he’d planted as bulbs before Halloween now pushing through the hard earth like a row of green blades.”
--- from Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane, a wonderful novel about life and all of its messiness: joys and sorrows, love and loss, grief and healing. This quote is from a character who went through a very traumatic injury that permanently disables him, and I thought it captured that feeling of Before and After that occurs with so many of us with ME/CFS who suddenly went from well to sick in a single day. You can read my review of the book and listen to a sample of the audio on my book blog.
From My Book
"Release Pent-Up Negative Emotions
Although this is easier said than done, it is so important for our well-being. When corrosive feelings like anger, fear, guilt, and resentment are held inside, they eat away at us emotionally and often make our physical symptoms worse. Just recognizing that the anger, anxiety, or other unpleasant emotion you are holding onto is hurting you can be a step forward.
First, make sure you have fully acknowledged and accepted what you are feeling. Denial can be even more harmful than the negative emotion itself. Writing can be very therapeutic. Try to write out your feelings—of hurt, abandonment, and resentment— to get them out of your head and onto paper. Be honest and allow yourself to grieve. Then, tear up or even burn the paper, as a symbolic way to say good-bye.
You can’t change the past, and you can’t change other people—but you can let go of old hurts. Your own response is the one thing you have control over."
--- from the chapter Spring Cleaning for the Spirit in my book, Finding a New Normal: Living Your Best Life with Chronic Illness, available everywhere (links here).
A Look Back
Living for Today and Looking Forward to Tomorrow
In this post from April 2015, nine years ago, there are surprising parallels to what I am experiencing in April 2024. Then, I was just recently improved after—you guessed it—treating yeast overgrowth. It’s amazing how many times I have had to relearn that lesson over the 22 years of my illness! In the post, I try to describe the amazing feeling that I’ve been experiencing recently, too: of living my life again, feeling motivated, and excited for the future. It’s a feeling of joy and gratitude. Take a look and consider how your life has changed (or stayed the same) since 2015.
My Recent Videos
(Note that these are my chronic illness videos; my Youtube channel also features videos about books, if you enjoy reading or listening to audio books. Last month was mostly book videos, which is another indication that I felt so much better!)
Chronic Illness Vlog 3-10-24: Still Doing Well! A Busy Week - a peek into a week of my life, plus which treatments have allowed me to feel so much better.
Chronic Illness Vlog 4-1-24: Out in the World, Home Improvements, and Easter - another vlog from last week, with comments on what it feels like to be living my life again (albeit with naps!).
Connect with me on:
My blog: http://livewithcfs.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/livewithmecfs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livewithmecfs
This message was published Friday, April 5th 2024 at 11:16AM Eastern Standard Time (US)
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