Do You Ever Begin Something Thinking You Are Able To Do It

[sarct]

and midway you completely crash? I tend to be doing this a lot. I will start something feeling fine, and then all of a sudden I am hit with it, and have to lay down. It's hard for me to guage what my limits are, because they vary so much day to day. And I feel fine until I start a project, like weeding, or cleaning my wall...I will be doing great and then BAM, I am on my back unable to do anything or even think.

[Katja]

that happens to me, exactly.

[bjt22]

I am the worst at this. Laying flat on my back in bed, I can often imagine that I can do all sorts of things. Sounds easy until I get up.

I think for me this is a kind of a denial that I'm still in even though its been 13 years since I had a diagnosis. Part of me really does want to think that I can do more than what I can really do.

[dezyrae2]

I did just that today. I went to basketball practice to help my fiance which i used to do myself and i hardly did anything and my heart rate shot up, i started sweating and i lost my breath. I was only up about 10 minutes. I get very frustrated cause i used to coach my own team and i sometimes feel like i can but days like today remind me just how sick i really am. It is very frustrating. I hope you feel better soon and dont over do it. I guess i should practice what i preach. hahaha

[jump]

Oh, I do this too! I suppose it's not really funny, but I do find it amusing that I keep getting myself in these situations... I think I'm so used to being able to conquer anything in life through sheer will and determination that I'm really struggling with just accepting that "being determined" isn't enough to keep me from collapsing!!

Recently I was visiting friends and they wanted to walk around for several hours in this park. Normally I can manage that kind of thing if I'm feeling well anyway and I walk slowly and take breaks on a bench every now and again. But this time I had a heavy backpack with me. And part of me knew this would probably be the "straw to break the camel's back," and tip the experience from manageable to unmanageable, but did I listen to that part of me? Nope! So today I am home in bed. Hopefully I will learn from this!!!

jump

[Ernie]

Hi,

I never feel good standing or sitting but sometimes when I am lying in bed, especially at around 2:00 a.m. I have so much adrenaline rushes that I feel I could run around the city. When I stand up, my BP goes down and I feel like ****.

Very often I have to stop what I was doing and lie down. I can cook for 5 minutes sitting in my wheelchair and then I have to go on the couch for 15 minutes. Then I go back for another 5 minutes and rest for 15 minutes. So for me, doing things is a long process.

[Tammy]

I do this all the time. It's sooooo frustrating. I always have plans for the day in my mind when I wake up, i.e., do dishes, do some laundry, run some errands, take care of kid, dogs, make meals, etc. THEN I stand up and usually I do well for the first 10 minutes and after that (as my hr has been cruising along) I'm completely weak and too sick to even function, so I have to lay back down and realize that I'm not going to get more than maybe one thing done, which is of course, take care of my daughter's needs as I'm able. Some days I can slowly get a load or two of laundry done and the dishes, but this takes me all day with lots and lots of breaks throughout. I'm so amazed that some of us are able to hold jobs, so there are so many levels of severity of this illness.

[bjt22]

I do this all the time. It's sooooo frustrating. I always have plans for the day in my mind when I wake up, i.e., do dishes, do some laundry, run some errands, take care of kid, dogs, make meals, etc. THEN I stand up and usually I do well for the first 10 minutes and after that (as my hr has been cruising along) I'm completely weak and too sick to even function, so I have to lay back down and realize that I'm not going to get more than maybe one thing done, which is of course, take care of my daughter's needs as I'm able. Some days I can slowly get a load or two of laundry done and the dishes, but this takes me all day with lots and lots of breaks throughout. I'm so amazed that some of us are able to hold jobs, so there are so many levels of severity of this illness.

You explained it so well. I have a couple of things a day that I feel are "musts"...I must get up each morning with my youngest two kids who are still in school. I don't have to do much...they're teenagers, but I need to be up with them. I also like to be able to at least supervise getting dinner around...many times very simple dinners that I can do with minimal help. And then, maybe a load of laundry. That's pretty much what I can accomplish in a day. If I do anything else, then one or more of these tasks has to give.

If I have a couple of days in a row in which I push...say I go out to a store or an appointment or even to someone's house....I can be down for several days following. Heck, if my kids all converge on a weekend and bring boyfriends, girlfriends, significant others, etc., for an evening's visit, I can be almost totally non-functional on Monday and Tuesday.