Why Aren’t I Recovering? 6 Mistakes That Our Chronic Fatigue Clients Make.

Chronic fatigue can be a confusing experience - for sufferers and clinicians alike!

We often hear from our clients that they feel like they have tried everything and just aren’t getting better. Many have tried to follow the advice of health professionals to rest more, but alas, their symptoms persist. Many get frustrated and impatient with their recovery, trying to push past their fatigue so that they can get on with life - returning to work, returning to exercise, going out for social events… Then find themselves two steps backward.

The chronic nature of such a condition means that people are left feeling hopeless and confused. “Why aren’t I recovering?”

This blog was compiled through our cumulative experiences within the Specialised Health team, witnessing the trials and tribulations of our clients as they move along their fatigue management journey. It’s written about them, for them. 

6 Mistakes That Our Chronic Fatigue Clients Make

Mistake #1. Trying to cram everything onto the days you’re feeling good.

This is the single most important piece of advice you will hear. If you’re having a day where you feel slightly more energised, keep those reigns held tight! Hold back, even if you feel like you can do more. We call this (unhelpful) cycling of activity levels ‘booming and busting’. The boom is when, on a good day, you maximise on the available energy and try to get everything done. The bust - is the consequence of that, i.e. being stuck in bed for 2 days following, because you did too much. 

We often see people cycling through boom and bust cycles over the course of the day (feeling good in the morning, crashing in the afternoon) and over the course of the week (working 3 days in a row and needing another 3 days to recover). Try to smooth out your activity levels evenly over the day and week (we call this pacing), and your energy levels should start to smooth out too.

Mistake #2. Thinking that the most efficient way is the best way.

While it may feel like a smart move to get all your errands done in one go while you’re out, there’s a good chance that you’ll pay the price for it afterward! This is actually a prime example of booming and busting. Yes, you might save yourself a trip to the shops later in the week, but was that worth the two days it took to recover afterward? Doing the groceries, then going to the post shop, and then to the mall to buy a birthday present for your Great Aunt might be pushing the limits juuust a little bit. 

Split up those tasks into shorter, more manageable chunks, and spread them out evenly over the week, even if it means that it takes longer all up. The same applies to your household chores - you’re better off doing one task (or even half a task!) over 2 or 3 days rather than trying to do all 3 in 1 day!

Mistake #3. Being an ‘active rester’. 

Type A personalities are the typical culprits for this one because they prefer to be busy and productive! In the past, you might have found that gardening, reading a book, or going for a walk were restorative activities for you. With chronic fatigue, resting means actually resting. Sitting down and listening to some gentle music. Having a warm bath. Meditation. Active resting is not really resting at all.

Mistake #4. Resting all the time.

Okay, now we’re confusing you aren’t we…First we were talking about not resting properly, and now we are talking about resting too much! How much is too much?

That’s the golden question, one that we, unfortunately, can’t give you an answer for. While the body needs rest - resoundingly YES - it also needs some stressors on the system to nudge it towards change. Doing nothing all day will not help your recovery! This is when enlisting the help of biotechnology (activity watches, HRV monitors) and an awesome EP can help to create some more clarity around your body's needs for rest versus (helpful) stress.

Mistake #5. Not realising that cognitive, emotional, and social fatigue all add up to the total fatigue experience.

Everyone knows that physical tasks make you feel tired… But did you know that fatigue comes in a few different flavours too? Cognitive tasks cause cognitive fatigue (think, 3pm slump at work), emotional situations cause emotional fatigue (think, going to a funeral), and social environments cause social fatigue (think, introverts at parties). 

Any activity that engages your brain can be fatiguing - driving a car, watching a movie, playing playstation, chatting to a friend - regardless of whether it involves any physical exertion. It’s important to factor in the whole rainbow of fatigue stressors, because it’s more than just the physical stuff you’re doing that influences how you feel. 

Mistake #6. Comparing yourself to your pre-illness self.

This is one that can take a while to process - often there’s a period of grieving that must be done while you adjust to your new normal. It’s not easy to come to terms with the fact that your body is struggling with what it once did with ease. You may have run marathons in the past, but walking to the letterbox is its own marathon now! There’s a process of ‘recalibrating’ that needs to happen - things affect your body differently. 

Because of this, people sometimes underestimate how much activity they actually do in a day. If you were previously a runner, then walking should be easy, right? Wrong. Even those lower intensity activities can build up - some people accumulate between 10,000-15,000 steps simply walking around the house! Small tasks, when done repetitively, still create a stressor on the body that needs to be managed.

A More Hopeful Conclusion

Learning how to manage your fatigue really is a journey - it’s re-learning your body and what it can tolerate. There will be mistakes, there will be times that you push that little bit too far…But take it all in as opportunities for better understanding yourself. 

And don’t give up hope! With time and with patience, you can gradually build up to return to those activities you once could. Trust us, we’ve seen it!

Author: Yolanda van Vugt

Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Content Creator at Specialised Health

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