What I’m doing to beat CFS

Nutrition Plans

Nutrition is the science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism.

Physical Health

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It may also help prevent stress and depression, increase quality of sleep and act as a non-pharmaceutical sleep aid to treat diseases such as insomnia, help promote or maintain positive self-esteem and improve mental health.

Mental Health

Mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of mental illness. It is the “psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment”. From the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual’s ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.

Nutrition Plan…

Since my diagnosis I’ve made a few changes to my diet. Every morning I wake up and have a shake that includes whey protein, berries, banana, spinach, wheat grass, turmeric powder and sometimes creatine. I eat foods that are high in protein, drink lots of water and have given up caffeine, sugar, most carbs and limited alcohol usage to a minimum. Multi-vitamins, B12 and fish oil are also important so my body has a strong immune system.

Work / Life Balance…

I’m a workaholic which is probably how I ended up here in the first place. Some changes that I’ve made include working from home more, fixing relationships, enjoying the simple things and trying to stay positive. After all, what good is money if you don’t have your health right?

It was important to limit the amount of screen time before bed since the bright light sends a signal to brain. Use night mode on your smartphone and other devices if  you must. Pick up the phone and call a friend that you haven’t spoke with in a while. Let people know what happened so they can provide you with support. Realize that you may be depressed and do things that make you happy.

Physical & Mental Health…

This has been challenging and still a work in progress. I’ve turned to yoga and also activities in nature such as hiking to help. (It’s important not to over exert yourself or you may get worse.) Taking an epson salt bath, using red lights before sleep, lavender scents and other relaxing techniques have also been helpful.

Sleeping is still an experiment and notice this has the biggest impact on my short-term memory. I refused to pop pills such as anti-depressants and sleeping aids even though my Dr was quick to prescribe Lexapro and Ativan. I used to use marijuana to help with anxiety but gave that up because it didn’t allow me to reach REM sleep.