It has been a long and slow road returning to full-time work. A few years ago my symptoms changed dramatically, shifting more heavily to the exhaustion over the pain. What was pretty typical fibro became more typical of chronic fatigue syndrome. I could barely stay awake during my work day and would sleep every night, all night and all weekend. I was always exhausted and barely functioning. I had to reduce my work schedule to 1/3 time. I stayed at this schedule for two years, then increased to 2/3 for a year and a half and now I'm back full time with a vengeance.
As a teacher, I'm usually re-energized in September having just had the summer off. By the time the weather starts to shift and get colder in October, my exhaustion is once again setting in. I'm once again struggling - I'm napping, falling asleep without meaning to and struggling to get through the day. The mornings are the worst - the pain and stiffness upon waking makes it hard to function. It takes a good hour or more for me to be able to move around somewhat normally. Most mornings I don't have the time to become functional before I have to start teaching.
While my pain and fatigue increases, so too do the voices of the many professionals I've worked with - take care of yourself! I need to focus more on self-care - taking time to breath deeply, to relax, to exercise and to eat properly. These things seem to be the first things to go by the wayside when I'm stressed or busy at work. Of course, they are the things that are essential to keeping the fibro demons at bay.
I look forward to having a long weekend to recharge my batteries and to once again reintroduce the self-care required to help me make it through the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment